CRLS students are tanned (or sunburned), still tired but exhilarated and inspired after returning from the recent CRLS Science Department trip to Ecuador and The Galapagos Islands over April break.
The trip, organized by CRLS teachers Mr. McGuinness, Ms. Augustine, Ms, Borrelli and Ms. Hart, encompassed the historical city of Quito on the mainland before heading west into the Pacific Ocean and landing on the UNESCO World Heritage Galapagos Islands for five days of exploration.
Staying first in the cultural heart of historic Quito, the capital of Ecuador, with an active volcano on the horizon, students got to see multiple examples of cathedrals, monasteries, and presidential palaces representing hundreds of years of indigenous and colonial history as well as city plazas filled with many smiling faces while sampling local traditional foods and crafts.
It was the Galapagos Islands that drew our real attention and we traveled to Santa Cruz Island as our base for exploring some of the most important sites in the world for natural history and evolutionary biology.
Blue footed boobies greeted us off the ferry and frigate birds flew overhead as we passed Galapagos sea lions basking in the equatorial sun. Over the course of five activity packed days on the Islands of San Cristobal, Santa Fe, and Isabela we got to see giant tortoises, green sea turtles, sally lightfoot crabs, reef sharks, skates, eagle rays, marine and land iguanas, penguins, Darwin’s finches, plants, and animals that are found nowhere else on the planet and so many tropical fish that it was hard to keep them all straight.
The mix of unique culture and biology made this trip an experience of a lifetime for all involved and one that will not soon be forgotten as we return to the hustle and bustle of our lives here in Cambridge.
Thanks to all who helped make this trip possible and supported our adventure and keep an eye out for our next Galapagos adventure in 2017.
Cheers, The Galapagos Crew.
Check out a video of us swimming with sea lions:
Photos:
Page Header: This was of students only, visiting a historic church and monastery in the center of Quito.
Photo 2 (on right): This was of a smaller group of chaperones and teachers-- we were standing on the equator!
Photo 3 (on left): A once-in-a-lifetime photo op with a Darwin Finch and Jake S.!