We made it here to the Galapagos islands- this is my 2nd internet cafe that i tried to blog on. so again if you are blogging or using the internet in the G. islands, there are plenty of internet cafes, but not all of them are able to access a blog or website.
I will impart as much knowledge as i have learned already- this is from speaking to bartenders, taxi drivers and a person who is really into green, and she also lived here for 6 months.
first off, there are many recycling bins in G. islands. in fact each household has 2 bins, trash, recyclables. there is a landfill here, but so far, havent spoken to a local regarding this. Recyclables are shipped out to the mainland. the problem they have is a lack of staff to process the materials. despite the environmental aspects of living in g. islands- unfortunately there is still bottles and plastic bags laying around in the ocean, the rocks and roadside. not as much as it could be, but still, i would consider it alot!
currently, am in san cristobal, where water is not a problem. apparently they get their water from rain. dont know how they collect it, because havent seen too many rain barrels. usually all the houses have some kind of rain collection on the roofs. will have to check it out with my limited amount of spanish.
there are sea lions everyplace, and signs all over- not to touch anything. pretty hard when you are walking a trail and lying right in the middle of the trail is a sea lion, who of course is not going to move for a mere human!
here is the cost scoop. we flew in from guayaquil to san cristobal ($362.00 round trip) our hostal, san francisco, is right on the boardwalk, ($10.00 a person) food is more expensive here than the mainland. Breakfast was $3.50, (toast, fruit, coffee, egg) still less expensive than the US. we didnt sign up for any tours, thinking we would work it all out when we got here. day trips, such as snorking will be about $50 and if scuba diving about $100 for the day. not too bad. we rented a taxi (and driver) for the day, $40.00- 4 hours) to take us to several beaches, los ggalapagos, a tortoise location, where they are in the wild, el junco lagoon, which is a fresh water lake. oh and of course the wind farm, of which they are trying to get away from any dependence on oil.i wish i could show the pictures, but forgot my camera.que lastima! but must sign off now, have to go interview more bartenders!