So we are in the Galapagos to teach a course for the University of Miami on acoustic ecology—recording and preserving the sounds around us. These may be nature sounds, human sounds, and anything in between. There are 17 students with us, 4 profs, and our 2 kids. There are 4-5 assignments each student must complete before the end of the second week when we go back to Miami. Although we see them about 14 hours each day, today was a day for individual meetings and check ins to see how everything is progressing.
Reality check: Galapagos is definitely not for everyone. Santa Cruz Island was pretty touristy with lots of shops and restaurants, window AC units in the hotels, hot water and internet everywhere. Isabela Island, however, is a completely different case. We didn't have hot water for 3 days, no AC—only fans, and a limited number of restaurants and opportunities to shop. There are very few cars and trucks here, and most people walk or ride bikes everywhere. Open air chivos (busses) or water taxis are the method of transportation between islands. Please don't misread this as a negative. It is what it is. We weren't expecting a vacation trip to some tropical island, but rather we hoped to enjoy the opportunity to visit a culture that has remain largely unchanged in probably 50 years. It's been a fascinating to get a peek into another culture so different from ours.
We have recorded hours and hours of sounds around the four islands we've visited. The college students are now all gathering sounds as well. Tomorrow we head out on a 10-mile hike up the side of a volcano. Livya will remain behind and visit a local elementary school with Dominica (a little girl age 6 whom she met this week). Liam will hoof it with the rest of us. Should be awesome as we will pass through 4 different climate zones and many soil textures. We're hoping to gather sounds from the footsteps passing over various materials to see what it sounds like.
Spread your wings!
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