Finally here

So after a journey, door to door, of 36 hours I finally arrived on the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands. I was hit with that wall of warmth that seems so exotic to anyone from Britain. Due to the fact it’s a world heritage site every tourist on arrival has to pay $100 and so I begrudgingly handed that over at immigration. I was then met by a representative of the volunteer company who took me to the house of the host family who I will be living with for the next 6 weeks. My room is extremely basic as I expected, with just a bed, a small bedside table and an area to keep my clothes. There is actually a fairly sizeable TV in my room, but after two minutes attempting to turn it on I came to the conclusion that it probably hadn’t worked in a very, very long time.  Around 12:30 I had lunch with the father (great lad), his daughter and the grandmother. Now I may have quit Spanish very early on in my A-levels, but shout out to Mr. Urreaga for at least teaching me enough so as to have just about enough to hold a brief and basic conversation. My first meal consisted of soup to start , followed by a main course of a rice dish containing sausages and peppers accompanied by fried bananas. Since lunch I’ve been told to expect fried bananas a lot and I’m fairly confident it’s something I could get used to. Eventully.

At 3 pm I was taken for a tour around the town. The main hub of activity is by the port on the boardwalk with an abundance of cafes and bars. However it wasn’t the shops that attracted my attention. Being in the Galapagos I expected to see wildlife all around but I did not expect Sea Lions to use public benches and sidewalks as areas to sunbathe. The temptation to hug one of them was all too much and I had to be forcibly restrained, tasered and escorted away. I hope people pick up the subtle sarcasm there. After I had been shown around town I was taken to the headquarters of the volunteer organisation where I will be teaching each day. At the moment there are about 9 or 10 other volunteers mostly from all around Europe and a couple from Canada. Speaking to the director of the project, He told me that the town has a population of just over 6,000, with 45% of the population being children. Ecuador has the second highest teenage pregnancy count in South America and so I’m bracing myself for the moment where I see a pregnant 14 year old.  I’ve been told that on Friday morning I will be going to the giant tortoise park to help clean up the area, so I will let you all know if my attempt at stealing one is successful or not.

That’s about all for now folks, but stay tuned for more hilarious antics on a regular basis.