Islas Galapagos - San Cristobal

Ok been a bit Slothful in updating the blog, but one of the reasons is that part of living on a small group of islands (Population about 30000) is that broadband speeds resort to tortoise like pace in a big way (no darwin awards for that one please.

So now we are back on mainland terra firma normal service should be resumed (thanks Stevie G for the reminder of our duties :0) ).

Anyway we landed on San Cristobal Island (Pop about 2000) and we had signed up for some back breaking volunteering out in the sticks, no kidding it really was. There was a 45 minute truck ride half on tar road and half on dirt track.

The volunteer project is run by an organisation called Jatun Sacha (this means Big Forest, there is some irony there). Jatun Sacha is based solely in Ecuador and has stations throughout the country but Elena Maria is the only station on Galapagos and we were there.

if you want to know more about Jatun Sacha and about the Elena Maria station on San Cristobal island then have a look at:
Jatun Sacha

The station is based in the "Highlands" about 250 metres above sea level not very far it seems, but on Galapagos, this means big differences in temperature and rainfall. In these islands where you have rainfall you have mosquitoes and boy there were loads here. We had bucket loads of DEET and did use it all, as well as face masks and long sleeves, somedays the air in the forest was black with them. The good news is that our skin feels fresh and radiant after the chemical skin peel; only kidding DEET is an organic compound (chemists amongst you will love that play on words).

The station has two houses for volunteers to live in, Casa Vieja and Casa Nueva:

View from the veranda of Casa Nueva looking back to the comidador (eating house)

..View from Casa Nueva veranda on a good day...What is the plant on the left?

The accomodation is basic but has all you need to survive, mosquito nets, cold and cold running water, and a vaguely tepid shower, and an offsite bar nearby where rum is bought by the bottle only and comes with a free two litres of coke (alcohol is strictly prohibited on the station).

It was very comfy though with hammocks on the veranda, and the cold showers were very welcome, because we were hot.......after working (easy tiger).

The station is permanently staffed by Caesar, Lidia, Eduardo, Miguel and Pedro Pablo, the last being the cook so he is the most important person.

The aims of the station are in the link above, but the real work is clearing about 200 hectares of Mora (or blackberry to you brits). This is an aggressive non native species which outcompetes slower growing endemic species, namely Scalesia and Miconia. These trees are critical to the sensitive ecosystem and support a complete range of wildlife. So our work to a great extent consists of cutting down the mora using machetes and then replanting scalesia trees. This work can be on the station land or on Neighbours land, because Jatun Sacha is trying to spread the word about hte inportanceof conserving the endemic species.

In fact the Miconia species occur only on San Cristobal, i.e. this is the only place on the planet where it grows, so once its gone it's gone.

Besides this critical reforestation  there is maintenance work to complete around the station, i.e. helping with the cooking, filling bags with soil and planting seedlings; both endemic species for conservation and some controlled introduced species (i.e. tomato, aubergine and broccoli for us to eat). We have even built a new toilet and shower block ready for 2011...phew.

...Meredith snoozing at morning break after cutting mora...

Section of field, after cutting, the mora is the white stemmed plant in the foreground...on the left is a Scalesia, and on the right an orange tree....I know it looks grren, but believe us its orange.

Here is a closer look at that tree again...there is a very thin donkey behind it.....you can just see his.....ok enough its a papaya tree!

...Working for the Parque Nacional filling bags with volcanic soil ready for planting those endemics....

This a view of El Junco lake at about 650 metres, where we tore out mora by hand...This is an extinct volcanic cone, and is the only fresh water lake on any island on the galapagos and is home to an endemic crustacean, This only exists in this lake on San Cristobal Island, nowhere else in the world! note the volunteers who appear to be in another world...

So volunteers days would start at 0700hrs with breakfast, 0800hrs work until 1030hrs, then pausa; 1100hrs work til 1200hrs then pause for lunch, then break unbtil 1400hrs; finally work until 1600hrs. easy life eh! only 6 hours. But forgot to mention the in 60 % humidity and with Mosquitoes the size of Darwins finches; it was tough.

Well that's a little about the Jatun Sacha organisation, the Elena Maria Station  and the work that the volunteers do, the next blog will be about the animals we met...then once we've talked about the volunteers we'll tell you about the wildlife,  which was utterly brilliant......and utterly tolerant of us humans..