Day 2: NY & Guayaquil Our official day of travel was here! We began our day with a continental breakfast provided by our hotel. Once breakfast concluded, it was time for a presentation by Haley on tourism and conservation in the Galápagos Islands. She began her presentation by discussing the start of ecotourism, the effects of human population on the islands, the future of sustainability, and conservation. Haley informed the group that ecotourism around the Islands skyrocketed in 1934 with cruise ships. The capacity of human tourists rose from in the 80’s to the 2,000’s. Due to this increase of tourism, many Ecuadorians migrated to the islands to be provided with work and stability. In order to preserve the beauty of the islands, a $100 fee to pass into the borders of the islands were implemented. This fee is given to the National Park, municipalities and other island services in order to preserve and protect the beauty of the islands.
Anxiously awaiting for our flight
Next she discussed the threats of the islands due to human introduction. Three main reasons of threats are pollution, invasive species and overfishing. In the past and present, the islands have faced oil and trash pollution. The influx of boats and other water vessels have caused an increase of oil exposure to the waters. This has caused a decline of species and environmental degradation. The influx of human traffic and improper methods of recycling has caused an increase of trash pollution which has further caused a decline in species and environmental degradation. The large population of marine species had caused an increase of commercial fishing. Large commercial fisheries and even recreational fishers began to fish for the most unique species, sharks especially. Even after a law was passed to decrease the allowance of fishing, illegal fishing persisted due to the absence of penalties when or if caught. Unfortunately, fishing continued and by catch of species increased causing a decline of marine species. Lastly, she discussed with us the future of sustainability and conservation of the islands. We learned that in 2007, Ecuadorians proposed to be fossil fuel free by the year 2020 and they planned to have their power plants run strictly on vegetable oil. To improve the roads of transportation, the process of paving the dirt roads have been carefully examined and discussed. The sewage and recycling treatments of the islands have also been re-evaluated. To try to limit the amount of pollution, both the sewage and recycling are packed and shipped to the mainland for further treatment. Furthermore, to help protect the islands and stop the introduction of invasive species, bio security checkpoints were installed to control any agricultural contamination’s that may contribute to the introduction of invasive species. The measures taken for tourists to enter the islands are very and. Many of the funds received by tourists helps to fund the protection and functionality of the islands. Without tourism, the islands would not exist today.
Some girl bonding and lunch while we wait
Once the presentation of the day was finished, we packed up our belongings, jumped on another shuttle and headed to JFK airport! After a difficult self check in and TSA checkpoint, we finally made it to our flight gate. From there, we had a few hours to spare so everyone went to grab some lunch, snacks and any last minute things needed for the trip. Once the few hours had passed, it was finally time to board and depart for Guayaquil!
After a long 7 hour flight, we safely made it to Ecuador where we were greeted by our tour guide, Diego Maldonado. Once we had checked into our first hotel of the trip, Exe Hotel, we were detoured to the hotel across the street where we were served our first Ecuadorian meal, cheese and mushroom risotto. Once dinner had concluded, we made our way back to our hotel where Diego gave us an introductory presentation about Ecuador. He discussed with us the many wonderful things we would be seeing in the next 15 days, from the different species, cultures, and ecosystems of Ecuador. Once Diego had finished his presentation we were once again off to bed, anxiously awaiting for our departure to the Galápagos Islands!