Day 13 - Midweek projects and hanging out with giant tortoises

Team Conservation 

Today was our final day working on the school garden, although we were all tired from the days before we were able to power through and finish the walkway. We learned a bit about native and endemic species and then planted trees in the spaces we had made. This involved digging holes in extremely rocky soil which proved to be a lot of work, don't worry we didn't let the boys do it for us, even though they still offered to whenever we picked up a heavy tool. We also spent a lot of time talking to and getting to know the students as this might be the last time we see them. We also got the chance to meet an English class to help with their conversational English. Their teacher paired us up in speed dating style and we exchanged emails so we can be pen pals, as even after just 15 minutes of talking we could see that their English had improved (much more than our Spanish!)

Team Book Bus

We arrived at a bigger, louder school and it was intense. We were told that we had 150 kids to handle but we were prepared as we had written down a plan and everyone knew what we had to do. We began with the Hokey Cokey but it failed as the kids thought it was funny to keep falling on top of each other. After a couple more games we split into different classes and began our activities. We read the books, and did the arts activities and included a couple songs including Che Che which the kids loved. At break we learnt some of the games the kids play and play with them before going to our next class. This time the book was "We're going on a bear hunt" and did other craft activities and free reading which went well. Then we said goodbye to the kids and returned to the town. 

After we cleaned up and relaxed after our projects we headed out to the lava tunnels and saw more giant tortoises. When we arrived they offered free organic Galapagosian coffee and lemongrass tea which was muy rico (delicious). We split off into two groups and began our tour. We learnt more and saw over 100 year old tortoises. We even saw them relaxing in their own mud bath spa. Then we descended into the cold and dark lava tunnels, where we listened to how they were formed. Inside some of the tunnels there were lanterns and underneath where the light was shining plants and ferns were growing which was really cool. 

Once we had explored the lava tunnels we came back and got a chance to explore the local area and buy some souvenirs. Then we went out to dinner in the food market Street , in one of the restaurants a couple of girls ordered grilled chicken and it was "life changing" (Ella's words).