The pirates came and called it hell

Buenas.
Much to update on.

I left you at carnival - popular 4 day celebration before lent begins and it's celebrated differently around the world. In the Galapagos, people pelt passersby with eggs, water guns, paint, shaving cream, etc.

I wasn't able to participate too much in the celebrations because during the prime of them we had class. Class ends a week early but it's more intense during the weeks we do have it. I did manage, however, to be attacked with lipstick by the locals when I walked outside for a break during class.

... whammy! After I got most of it off.

The professor that I have now for evolution is actually the codirector of GAIAS and we have to be on our best behavior and work our very hardest. It's the evolution section - the one that I wanted the most! - and of course, it totally sucks. All math. Horribly thick accent, I would probably get more out of it if he just taught in spanish. Nothing interesting, nothing I will retain. To make up for that letdown, I've been doing my own reading and research, which has been my absolute favorite thing to do. Evolution is crazy and complicated and incredibly disorganized. It's crazy to think that we all just as easily could have not existed. And, obviously, I couldn't be in a more perfect environment.

So we went on a field trip on Saturday around San Cristobal.

First we went to Leon Dormido ('sleeping lion'), or Kicker Rock as it's called in english. It's these two giant rocks that are a ways off the coast of the island. As you know, the islands were formed by volcanos, and when that happens, there is a lot of pressure. So rocks jutting off from the main island are like little offchutes of all that pressure. Pretty bright red algae covers the rocks and there are lots of tropical fish, starfish, and... *gulp*... sharks. I swam with sharks! The visibility at Leon Dormido was terrible so we couldn't see that far below us, which makes it a little scary. Sharks are my number one fear and I think that's pretty rational. Sharks kill things all the time. They have scary sharp teeth. They are bigger than me. ...Rational. So when I jumped in the water and checked out the big blue below my flippers, seeing the silouhette of sharks lurking a couple meters below me freaked me out a bit. A lot a bit. It's crazy being scared in the water - being a land creature, you aren't in your element at all and there really is nowhere you can go if something comes after you. I don't really remember being scared like that at home. So I tried exploring for sharks a bit but pretty much stuck to the algae and the fish. Call me a baby, but I'm not worried about it. I choose life.

Then we went to Punta Pitt for a hike. It's still part of San Cristobal. This is where the pirates landed, and upon looking at all the semi-desert plantlife - prickly thorns, cactuses, black serpent lizards (marine iguanas), and giant black basalt rocks - called the Galapagos 'hell on earth'. If only they had spent some time looking around, right?

The photo to the left is right when you get off the beach. Those rocks are all volcanic ash and very easily eroded. We wented hiking for a while and we came to the photo on your left. I can't just over the top and around the corner of that area is the lush jungle-like parts like El Junco with the miconia bushes and the banana and coconut trees. We saw some red footed boobies and Nazca boobies.

Boobies and sex - Now, I bet you are wondering what's the difference between red footed boobies and blue footed boobies and Nazca boobies. That would be sexual selection and siblicide.

Blue footed boobies use their brightly colored blue feet to show off to potential mates (thus their bobo dance). The brightness of the blue are indicators of health, and women like to picky the really healthy ones to mate with.

Red footed boobies are also sexually selective, but they evolved a little differently on different islands and instead of using brightly colored feet, they use markings on their faces. So they have normal, reddish orange feet but they are still of the booby genus.

Nazca boobies aren't so much sexually selective as they are brutal. They participate in obligate siblicide, and I'll explain that from the beginning.Mom lays 2 eggs, one big & one small. Eggs hatch several days apart, larger one first. Older, bigger chick pushes younger sibling outside of nest under the supervision of Mom. Younger chick peeps for mom's attention and gets eaten by frigate bird/mockingbird/just sits there dying while Mom ignores. Crazy right? The moms let that happen because they would be exerting themselves so much trying to care for 2 chicks rather than one and they wouldn't be able to participate in the next reproductive season. And they favor long term reproductive success.

Thanks for letting me geek out!

Last place we went to was isla lobos, where we snorkeled and played with sea lions. They literally played with you! They blow bubbles in your face, swim around you, there are pretty fish, I got knocked into a large rock and now have the bruise the size of a modest watermelon on my upper thigh, there was a sizeable shark so we all had to band together..... good times.