Coming to an end

As our trip comes to an end I am realizing just how much I have really learned over this entire experience.  This was an adventure that has changed my life forever.  I believe I have learned more about myself, my limits and my abilities in these ten weeks than I have in my entire life.  It wasn't easy leaving my comfort zone for such a long period of time, but it was completely worth the stress.  There are a lot of things that we have correct in America, but there are more things we don't.  Change is inevitable for Americans. Our way of life is not sustainable, and just saying things need to change is not enough anymore.  Our actions and our demands have drastic effects on all parts of the world.  This trip has opened my eyes to how the world really works.  I now have a different connotation with what it means to be an American.

Hermoso

The landscape was much more desert like than I had expected.

The clearest water I have ever seen. 

A giant sink hole higher up in elevation on the island. There was much more vegetation here, and it was always colder.

The rings are not as clear on this tortoise, so it is at least 100 years old if not much more.

Me trying to understand the life of a giant tortoise.

Getting ready to snorkel.

Guys only

Getting ready to scuba dive.  It was one of the most incredible experiences in my life.

Where did you get that banana?

The bananas are carried along the cable on the top of the walkway.

This is why it is an herb and not a tree.

The distribution of bananas is a great example of how connected our world really is.  In the United States, I grew up eating fresh fruits year round, yet I never really knew how it was possible. I knew they had to come from somewhere near the equator, but the rest of the process was mysterious. I wanted to know the procedure from tree to supermarket. As we arrived to the banana plantation, all I could see were banana herbs everywhere. Herbs, because one of the things we learned at the farm was that bananas do not actually grow on trees!  They are an herb. I finally saw the entire process first hand.  It was a great experience, but I'm not sure if I should continue eating them now.  Not for unsanitary reasons, it was actually quite clean. It is because of the mistreatment of employees.  I heard how one of the thousands of farms can make about 100,000 dollars in one week, yet the workers lived in the poorest conditions I have seen in Ecuador.  The thought of miles and miles of bananas being shipped halfway around the world also bothers me.  This has a huge environmental impact. They are an environmental disaster when the environmental damage of the shipments is combined with pesticides, fertilizers, and land clearing.  Just like any other crop grown in a monoculture, there are environmental consequences.  The only difference with this crop is that there are also people being mistreated along with the environment. Though it is amazing that we can get this delicious fruit in the U.S. any time, I'm not sure it is worth encouraging this kind of behavior from banana companies.  Bananas are an extremely globalized products, and it showed me just how powerful the demand of the United States is.  We demand to have bananas year round. If we want something, someone will find a way to deliver. That is a guarantee.

Galapagos

Sunset on Isabela.

The tortuga gigante.  This one was at least 80 years old.

Sea lions!!

A land Iguana eating  cacti. They aren't usually seen eating. We got lucky.

Marin Iguanas soaking up the sun.

Land iguana soaking up the sun.

Charles Darwin developed his theory of the Origin of Species while on the Galapagos Islands.  Stepping onto these islands is like stepping back in time.  The animals here were not introduced to humans until rather recently in evolutionary terms, so they don't have an instinct to run from us.  This makes the islands like a zoo without borders.  I was expecting tourism on these islands, but I was surprised to see just how limited it was.  Most of the islands are completely off limits.  Ecuador is doing a great job preserving their amazing national treasure.  This is extremely important, because there aren't many places in the world like this. It is difficult to support tourism on such beautiful islands without destroying them in the process, yet in the Galapagos it is managed extremely well.  I didn’t think there were not many tourists, because the entire time I was comparing them to the Hawaiian Islands.  Both sets of islands are volcanic and have amazing ecosystems, but Hawaii has completely developed cities with skyscrapers.  Also, as far as I know there is no limit on moving to Hawaii.  Here on these islands the government knows exactly how long I would be there.  Consequently, they would come looking for me if I wasn’t on my scheduled flight back.  Even the residents of the islands are not allowed to stay if they are not working.  In today’s globalized, overpopulated world, it is amazing that only 20,000 people live on these islands. We were not overcrowded with people, as we would have been on Hawaii. 
I was surprised though to see that the majority of the tourists were not from the United States. Most were from Germany or the UK.  Another surprising thing was that all of the owners spoke English.  Some of the storeowners spoke four or five languages, but their best language other than Spanish was English.  English connected everyone on the island.  For example, I saw a German man speaking English with an Ecuadorian, and they were laughing and making jokes.  It was a cluster of cultures, using English as the common language. America has such a huge influence on the world that our imperialistic globalization is connecting everyone. The United Sates has such a large impact that these countries don’t have a choice not to speak English.  The U.S. has influence in every country of the world somehow, so it is inevitable that English has connected these countries. Though English may be “forced” on some cultures, it is connecting them to the entire world when they learn it. This is the best example of globalization I have seen yet. 

Actually living in Ecuador

My electric shower.  Notice the breaker box under the showerhead.

The first time that Spanish was a problem was when I met my family.  In the U.S. I met foreign exchange students in high schools and colleges, but it is hard to understand how difficult it is for them. Having been in their position has really changed my perspective.  I now know how hard life is in a different country.  Everything is different, the way I take a shower is different, and even the way I lock the door when I leave the house is different.  I think that the security here was the biggest difference that I noticed.  I grew up on a farm, so there was no reason to lock the house or keep your car locked.  Here it is different.  I don't see car theft as being a big problem here, but everyone that has a car has it locked behind a steel or concrete wall.  These walls might be the only reason that car theft is not a problem.  My routine to get into the house is as follows: I open the front gate with one key: then open a steel pull down door with another key, and finally unlock the deadbolt with the third key.  Our school doors aren’t even unlocked. This seems excessive to me because of where I am from, but it is completely normal here. It is different for me to be completely locked in the house.  I understand locking everything when I leave, but it is hard for me to grasp the concept of locking myself into a house.  It actually seems more dangerous.

However, I think my shower is even more dangerous.  I have to first flip the breaker on the breaker box directly under the showerhead. Then, the 220V wires running to the showerhead heat the water as I use it! Finally, when I am done I have to turn the switch back off while I am standing in water.  I’m curious how many people are electrocuted by these things.  Simple daily tasks are harder here. It seems that life goes a little bit slower here, so there is time to unlock a few extra doors and flip a few extra switches.  The old way still works, so why change it.  These are just a few cultural differences I live with.

Travel Bug

Grasshopper being eaten by fungi

Best mode of transportation in the Rainforest.

Canopy view

Sloth

Our next adventure took us to an even more remote place.  We were deep in the Amazon rainforest on a river called Tiputini.  We started our journey from Quito and had no idea what kind of an adventure we were in for.  It took a full 12 hours to get to our destination.  Our modes of transportation went in this order: bus, plane, bus, boat, bus, boat.  When I think of secluded in the United States, I think of an old farm road or a house that isn't around anyone else.  Here secluded has a different meaning.  A twenty-mile trip could require a boat, car and a hike.  The jungle makes twenty miles into a day trip.  In addition, guides are needed to make sure you don’t get lost.  Wondering around alone would be suicide. Again, I had a feeling of fear, because we were even further from civilization than we were in Junin. 

We stayed at a research station for the week. It was hidden in the middle of the jungle underneath of hundred foot trees.  We saw it all: ants the size of quarters, and trees that had roots taller than I am.  Everything is bigger in the rainforest. It was one of the most beautiful places, and it is justified as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  We always hear about how we should save the rainforest.  It is difficult to understand the importance of preserving the rainforest without having been there.  There are so many things there that we don’t know about.  There were plants that we asked the guides about, and they had no clue what they were.  Anyone with any level of education can learn something by visiting these forests. Everything I saw was completely new to me.  I saw fungi that were eating a dead grasshopper.  No other bugs could touch it because of the fungi’s toxicity.  The more of the rainforest we destroy, the more undiscovered secrets we destroy as well.  If not to preserve the rainforests for science, it is worth preserving them for their natural beauty.

Carlos and his farm in the Cloud forest

View from the farm

Our guest house on the farm.

The next journey took an extra two or three hours from Junin. We had to take another bus then hike for an hour. It was worth it. At the farm, we were told about some of the struggles they went through with mining companies.  They tried to destroy the land for extremely small amounts of copper and other minerals.  One ton of the earth only yields thirteen pounds of copper.  As copper becomes rarer, it is profitable to mine in places like this.  The copper yield in Junin is less than a tenth of the copper yield in most mines, but it is still profitable to mine.  These forests are the lungs of the world, and we are choosing copper over fresh air.  It does not make any sense to me.  As they continue their struggle, they like to have visitors.  This is because they like to educate people about this problem, and they like to show them why these forests are worth saving. Carlos showed us their different techniques of farming, which made much more sense than the way we farm.  Instead of using a monoculture, he planted all different crops right beside each other.  Consequently, there is no need to rotate crops.  Not to mention, the coffee tastes better, because it is in the shade of other plants.  The coffee doesn’t need nearly as much attention either.  It makes perfect sense, it is more natural than 50 acres of corn that needs pesticides, fertilizers, and crop rotation.  There is a lot we can learn from Carlos, and I hope that his ideas catch on in other countries.

Cloud forest

Playing soccer with the children of Junin.

When we first set out on our journey to the cloud forest, I expected a remote area.  My perception of remote before this trip was an hour outside of the nearest city.  I was completely wrong!  We traveled deep into the forest along roads that hugged the mountain side. As we finally reached our destination, I had a real taste of remoteness.  It was intimidating being so far away from society, knowing that if something happened medical care was hours away.  Yet hours from anything, there was a village. They needed nothing to continue their way of life, and they were content.  We saw this same village on the documentary Under Rich Earth.  A copper mining company was trying to mine in the area, and this village was going to have be relocated. They wouldn’t be able to live there, because the destruction mining would cause to the environment.  They have a much more cooperative way of living with the earth than we do.  Instead of retaliating, they were calm and peaceful about the situation. They didn’t turn to violence, and it is the only reason that the mining company didn’t win.  They only want to continue their way of life, and the company was interfering with it.  It isn't only the copper companies, it is the people demanding the copper like you and me.  Copper for our cars and our electronics has to come from somewhere.  Since demand is high, the companies will go to extreme measures to profit from it. Does our desire for the newest electronics and cars come at a price? It does, the earth and villages like these pay.