A cold shower is my favorite part of the day

The Galapagos in the tourist brochures is a paradise. The highlands, on the other hand, are less of a paradise. I have never been tree planting before, but from the stories I´ve heard I think life at the Jatun Sacha station is similar. Similar in that it´s uncomfortable all the time (hot, sticky, surrounded by bugs). Different in that instead of getting paid, we´re actually paying to be here (to be fair, I´m sure we don´t work nearly as hard as tree planters). I´m actually glad to be cutting mora (very invasive blackberry bushes), and planting trees...it´s like a tax for visiting, since increased tourism is putting a major strain on this unique ecosystem. It´s nice to be able to have somewhat of a positive impact on the island (and relieve a little bit of my guilt). I´m also glad I don´t have to do it longer than four weeks.

We have had an incredible amount of rain in the last week, which has caused a bit of damage, most notably:

1. So much water flowing down the river breaks the connections in the water pipes and cuts off our water supply.
2. Mudslides, downed trees, and major erosion makes the road to the station impassable (it´s not a good road to begin with). After a rain storm we go out and fix it (I use the term ´fix´ loosely, it would be more accurate to say ´we make it barely passable´) and then we get another hard rain during the night that washes out the road again. This morning we had to walk half an hour to meet the taxis.

Our station manager, Cesar, has never seen so much water in the eight years he has been here.

So, life at the station is an adventure - challenging and rewarding. But don´t get me wrong, the coastal region of the Galapagos is a paradise. Beautiful beaches...sea lions everywhere! I´ve also seen blue footed boobies, frigate birds, marine iguanas, lava lizards, and giant tortoises, but the best part is the snorkeling. Huge sea turtles, and loads of colourful tropical fish. Sting rays and sharks are also quite common but I have not seen them yet. A group of us are taking another extended weekend and travelling to Isabela (4 hours by boat). It´s the largest island, not very heavily populated, and seems to be most people´s favorite one to visit.