Hey all,
I am privileged to be the first to make a post on our blog. We only left the comfort of home 3 days ago, but have all had many great experiences in such a short time in this beautiful place. After a stressful bus and plane ride, we finally arrived in Guayaquil on Tuesday night. We quickly found our hotel and got a bit of sleep, only to wake at 6 AM Wednesday morning to board a plane to Balta. After arriving in Balta, we took a journey (which included a boat ride across a natural canal) to the island of Santa Cruz. After that, we boarded a bus, made a stop at a giant tortoise sanctuary, and eventually arrived in the town of Puerto Ayora, where we have spent the last two days teaching English and computer skills to students ranging from 8th to the 13th grade. While this has definitely been a challenge, we have all bonded well with the students and found several things in common that we could build on (including some of the girls teaching us their version of hip hop dance....needless to say, we got our shake on)
Yesterday afternoon, we took a boat trip, with several stops along the way for snorkeling, the first of which was Sea Lion's Islet, where we were able to swim with wild sea lions. They were very playful animals, and played with us the entire time we were in the water. Our next stop was Shark's Canal. Although we only saw one shark, we saw several stingrays, parrot fish, and angel fish. Our last stop was a short walk over lava rock to a local swimming hole with the the clearest water I have ever seen.
After class this afternoon, we will take another boat trip to the island of Isabella. After we land, we plan to go to a tortoise breeding ground and a place to watch wild flamingos. Hopefully there will be another post soon to keep you all informed.
All the best,
Artie Grizzle
I am privileged to be the first to make a post on our blog. We only left the comfort of home 3 days ago, but have all had many great experiences in such a short time in this beautiful place. After a stressful bus and plane ride, we finally arrived in Guayaquil on Tuesday night. We quickly found our hotel and got a bit of sleep, only to wake at 6 AM Wednesday morning to board a plane to Balta. After arriving in Balta, we took a journey (which included a boat ride across a natural canal) to the island of Santa Cruz. After that, we boarded a bus, made a stop at a giant tortoise sanctuary, and eventually arrived in the town of Puerto Ayora, where we have spent the last two days teaching English and computer skills to students ranging from 8th to the 13th grade. While this has definitely been a challenge, we have all bonded well with the students and found several things in common that we could build on (including some of the girls teaching us their version of hip hop dance....needless to say, we got our shake on)
Yesterday afternoon, we took a boat trip, with several stops along the way for snorkeling, the first of which was Sea Lion's Islet, where we were able to swim with wild sea lions. They were very playful animals, and played with us the entire time we were in the water. Our next stop was Shark's Canal. Although we only saw one shark, we saw several stingrays, parrot fish, and angel fish. Our last stop was a short walk over lava rock to a local swimming hole with the the clearest water I have ever seen.
After class this afternoon, we will take another boat trip to the island of Isabella. After we land, we plan to go to a tortoise breeding ground and a place to watch wild flamingos. Hopefully there will be another post soon to keep you all informed.
All the best,
Artie Grizzle
No comments:
Post a Comment