Galápagos' essences

Galápagos poetry Love is everywhere, love is nature !

A VIDEO TO ILLUSTRATE THIS PARADISE !

YAMOR

During the first week of September, there is a Celebration called “Yamor”, the natives do a wonderful festival to honour the “Pacha Mama” (mother earth) for the gift of nature and life.

I was astonished when I saw the beautiful colours, and the locals dancing and singing, everybody joined the celebration, they shared with the others the scarves, flowers, and smiles! All the community was enjoying the popular music, very different for me, with natural instruments and many flutes, so at the end of the day I played with them!

I also tried the typical drink, it is prepared with seven different kinds of maize, and it tastes very good! It’s like a shake with an acid flavour, it doesn’t have alcohol, and so all the children were drinking it too. They taught me many some songs in the native’s language, for the different rituals, there were very natural, bouquets of typical flowers like tribute and incenses to create the atmosphere. When the sun came down, they did an amazing march, with costumes that imitated trees, butterflies, flowers, birds, and they chose the queen of Yamor, a young women dress like a nymph. I just have a word: unforgettable!!!!

Doing some volunteering !

Today, I’m going to narrated you, how I spend my day in this incredible place. When I wake up, I help the family where I am staying to prepare breakfast. It becomes a very interesting activity, I always try a new fruit, there is so much in this world that we don’t know! Then, I walk with the children to school, a poor school, without many books, or chairs, even pens. However, the children enjoy being there; they share their stuff, it’s very grateful to see them. In the morning I do a music volunteering activity, with my guitar, we sing, I teach they how does it works, a little bit of the history of the instrument, and we try to do some polyrhythmics, percussions , choral pieces ! After that, we have a pause, I like to go with them, play typical games, and you know what? They explained me very well! I love children! In the afternoon, I teach them dancing and French, they love doing corporal expression, relaxation, and dancing in groups! They don’t find French so fun, but a student told me “I think that if we learn more, we can have more fun with you “It was adorable!

After school, I like to go for a walk on the beach, I like to get lost in this paradise. Then I walk “home” and we prepare dinner, and we talk and talk, like if I was in my true family, I think they are kind of, and you? What do you think about having a second family in other part of the world?

A little bit of history

Charles Darwin and the Galápagos

Diving with iguanas and tortoises :)

Do you want to learn more about those animals ? Iguanas Tortoises

Darwin’s footsteps expedition

Hello again! Do you want to follow me in the Darwin’s footsteps expedition? Yesterday, I went to the Tortuga beach, an amazing place full of giant turtles! The islands are famed for the endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, so I was glad to be there, discovering the history of life, and feeling like Darwin! The giant turtles can reach a weight of over 400kg, and lengths of over 1.8 meters!!! It is the largest specie of turtle ever known!! Imagined how insignificant I felt! I thought “How can exist so wonderful and eccentric animals?” I was blind by the beautiful beach, where around fifty turtles were walking! Then, I went to the Darwin’s Island, is the smallest in the Galapagos Archipelago, and we can find a big variety of marine life. I saw the whale sharks, the manta ray, the dolphins and the marine iguana! That has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea; my first thought when I saw them was “All in this island is stuck in another age!”, again I was impressed by the size of the marine iguanas, up to 1.7 meters! And I learnt that they can dive over 10 meters under water! The landscapes were absolutely fabulous, and combined with those bizarre animals, the sound of enigmatic birds, the vegetation, the blue and transparent water, Wow!

I'm here !!!

Today, I left Uruguay, and I discovered another magical part of the world, the Galápagos Islands! When I got off the plane, I was scared; all was new for me, the weather, the people, even the ocean. The island is like a paradise, with amazing animals and plants, huge turtles, trees, and birds. Is very hot, the sun burns my skin, I realized that the hat wasn’t enough protection, and I had to drink too much water to keep hydrated. The people are very nice, I’m happy to meet them, they are friendly, and they told me many things about the history, the traditions, and the country. The family with I will stay is composed of a couple with two children, a little girl called Guadalupe, and a boy called Luis. They were very excited to meet me!!! They asked me lots of things about Uruguay, and tomorrow they will show me the school where I will do my volunteering activities. I think this is going to be an unforgettable experience, I’m enjoying myself and it’s just the first day! I hope I will survive in this eccentric jungle! Lol, Mel....