Mauka and Makai

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent by splitting the group up two, half went to other smaller islands and snorkeling with our guide Venus.  The other half spent the day with our guide Nic Andrade, a second generation Santa Cruzan, and with Sam Ohu Gon from the Nature Conservancy.  We have been so blessed to be in the company of such knowledgeable and skilled people.  Sharing their knowledge of the issues and successes of managing the critically delicate ecosystems of the Galápagos.   The lessons the students are learning her are with out a doubt giving them a deeper understanding of the issues we face back home and are inspiring them to be the architects of their solutions.

Below are the photos from the Santa Cruz Highlands and Las Plazas islands.

Here again are our students looking at transitions zones from where human activity, like farming and cattle ranching, have compromised the endemics and invasives have taken over, to the National Park, where endemics (miconia) are becoming the majority of the foliage.  Still, even in the Scalacia trees (they look like giant broccoli trees) and the Miconia are compromised by invasives like blackberry.