This post features student writing.

¡Hola! We are having a great time during the final few days of our program. Here’s a recap of our first day in the Galápagos:

We woke up at 4 AM in order to catch our flight. When we landed, we were all revived to be back at sea level and able to breathe deeply.

Our first stop was to see the tortoises on the island of Santa Cruz. We learned how to tell the difference between female and male tortoises: the females have curvier shells. We also tasted the guayaba that the tortoises love to eat. I thought it was really good.

On our way to the Charles Darwin Research Center we saw tons of iguanas lounging on the street.

At the research center, we learned about the turtles that are being bred for various islands. The different turtles were organized by a number and color written on their shell.

They collect the eggs from the turtle nests and incubate them at specific temperatures for males and females. The keep the turtles for 2-4 years before releasing them into the wild.

We saw the famous Lonesome George, who was taxidermied and preserved in a cold room. He was 120 years old when he died and the last of his species.

After the research center, we went to see the beach. There were tons of bright red crabs hidden among the rocks. There were also pieces of purple coral that I used to spell the Putney name.

After the beach we returned to our hotel and relaxed until dinner.

¡Hasta luego!

— Li A.