I wrote this to a sister who is thinking of traveling to see the Galapagos Islands -
We, wisely, are working more than we are sightseeing. I am spending more time
with people than with nature. I would plan your trip for other than this time
of year. It is the hottest part of the year. They say it should cool down a bit in May. Every
island is different and no single one has all the unique animals.
There is a very beautiful beach (Tortuga Bay) right here but you must walk for
about 45 min to get there. And another trip to get back. There is a lovely
wooden walkway over the lava and through the cactus but it is long and it is
hot. We didn't see any marine turtles but we did see the two different tracks
in the sand where two came ashore to lay their eggs. We saw a dozen or so
marine iguanas, and a baby shark in the crystal clear water of the inland arm
of the ocean. The sand is very fine and very white. There was one area where
some guys were surfing. The other area is perfect for toddlers and old people
and anyone who would like to swim or kayak or snorkel or scuba dive I suppose.
There is nothing for sale. There are no trash cans. There is a ranger to tell
you not to hang your towels on the mangrove trees. It is pristine and beautiful
but not for the frail. No vehicles can get there. We saw it and had to
immediately return for a meeting. I saw only one shell. It was tiny (1/2 inch
long and all white) and I lost it! I didn't see any life on the few large rocks
next to the water. Only a tiny bit of seaweed was on the sand. Not many birds
here either. We haven't told the missionaries about the beautiful beach they
cannot go and see.
The Charles Darwin scientific station is not far from downtown either. It is free
and well worth a visit. Well, it was free for us because we just went. Everyone
else came in groups from their hotels with a naturalist and they learned more
I'm sure. We saw the tortoises at all stages of life and three large (yellow
and orange) land iguanas. I was amazed that this huge tortoise was climbing
down a very steep slope covered with large and sharp lava rocks. He slid
several times and he had what looked like a puncture hole on the top of his
shell. I can't imagine that he could right himself if he got turned upside
down. They are fascinating. I would like to learn more. They have area of
endemic plants with labels that are very interesting. There are also buildings
that looked like they had exhibits but we had a meeting and not everything was
open yet.
We have also gone to the Laguna Las Ninfas which is right here near the
chapel. Again there is a lovely wooden walkway through the mangrove trees over
the water where the inland sweet water joins the seawater. There is a sign that
says "Did you know that some fish live in trees?" It is true. You can
see tiny silver fishes swimming among the branches that are underwater. Twice I
saw them jump out of the water in unison, like they were trying to catch a
mosquito or something. They are so small and silver that it just looked like
sprinkles of water splashing. Very cool. We were carrying our computers from
the chapel so we need to go back and walk the whole length of the pathway
unburdened.
The "port" is very fun. The water is turquoise. The lava rock is
black and there is no sand. I have seen the fisherman's area where small boats
dock and the fisherman unloads a picnic cooler or two full of fish. There are
two women with big cement tables and sharp knives who cut up the fish and place
them in other picnic coolers. I didn't see any ice. They are surrounded by
pelicans, a very large sea lion (waiting for handouts) and tourists with
cameras. A little further down, the cargo port is not much wider than a big drive
way and everything is unloaded by hand and placed on pickup trucks. There is a
long pier where pleasure boats could dock and there are some lovely boats
anchored further out. It all seems very friendly and casual. The next time I
was there by the cargo dock, the space was full of kids jumping off the side, a
big dog was swimming with them and some moms were watching over their kids.
Everything seems to be all purpose. There are also some statues, a sign with
instructions for what to do in case of a tsunami warning and a park for the
kids. There are expensive stores and restaurants and a block away mom and pop
stores and ladies feeding people in front of their houses. I love it because it
seems like everyone is able to engage in whatever business opportunity they
think might be successful and some are very successful indeed. (Olga Fisch is
here. I went to her store in Quito. I can't afford to buy anything there but it
is lovely and beautifully displayed. If she has a store in Guayaquil you should
go and see or at least check out the website.)
I have seen three sea lions (One was at the bank on a ledge that overlooked the
ocean, I would like to have an office in that bank with a window that looked
out over that ledge.), marine iguanas, pelicans (way bigger than I remember
seeing before), frigate birds overhead, some shore birds, lizards and finches
and canaries and sparrow like birds. Foreign countries (in my limited
experience) don't have seagulls like the ones in California. I did see one dark
gray bird that looked like a small seagull and later I saw a list of birds that
had "lava seagull" listed. I'm guessing that is what he was.
I hope we get to see more but all is well. The animals are great and the people
are even better. There was a RS party to celebrate all of the women who had
birthdays in the first quarter of the year. I was impressed with the turnout.
Some of the women would have been very comfortable in any ward in the US
(except for the language perhaps) and others were very poorly dressed and with
several missing teeth. Everyone seemed genuinely interested and involved with
everyone else. Nobody parties as well as Spanish speakers. They played games,
they danced, they were good sports and "paid their penalties" when
they lost at the games. One had to sing like she was in an opera, one had to
act like a monkey. They even did karaoke with the church TV and a special
microphone. They had a great time and I went home before it was over.
Lewis is frustrated that the houses don't have numbers, no one knows the name
of the streets (even the taxi drivers) and we can't clean up the records
because we cannot even begin begin to find people. They only go by the name of
the barrio and some verbal description of where the house is. He has figured
out how to get a map that has all the street names but it is too small to read
without a magnifying glass. He has a plan to record the number of the power
pole that is nearest the house plus the name of the street in addition to the
name of the barrio. Some branch leaders are enthused about the idea, we'll see
if we can gather the information and get it in the records. At least it would
get a person near the home.
We are excited about General Conference. The missionaries plan to have 30
investigators in attendance. They work so hard I'm sure they will. We passed
out a lot of invitations too. Lewis has to slow down giving away the BofM's
because we are running out but we have plenty of pamphlets.
Enjoy General Conference with us.
Love, Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill
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