JANUARY 5, 2016
The flight to Guayaquil was only 30-40 minutes, when we went outside it was much warmer than Quito. The city was more Americanized than Quito, it was very similar to a city I would see back home. We walked on the Malecón 2000, which ran along the Guayas River, we saw iguanas going after a bird’s next at one of the parks. We were trying to find somewhere to eat but most of the places were closed, but we found somewhere to eat off of the Malecón 2000.
Later on in the day Sydne and Sara presented on Energy and Transportation in Ecuador, 79% of energy is from oil and Ecuador exports 413,000 barrels of oil every day. Oil accounts for 40% of Ecuador’s national budget. The Incas started the first road system and the oil companies sponsored road expansion. The bus system before 1996 is Quito had many issues of breaking down, there was not a schedule but then the trolebus was created. The trolebus runs on hydropower electric motors, there is a schedule, it is inexpensive, and it runs much faster than a regular bus. The Galapagos Islands mainly use diesel as fuel source. Seymour Airport on Baltra is LEED certified and all of its power comes from wind and solar. After, Nick and I presented on the volcanoes in Ecuador and Galapagos geology.
Later on in the day Sydne and Sara presented on Energy and Transportation in Ecuador, 79% of energy is from oil and Ecuador exports 413,000 barrels of oil every day. Oil accounts for 40% of Ecuador’s national budget. The Incas started the first road system and the oil companies sponsored road expansion. The bus system before 1996 is Quito had many issues of breaking down, there was not a schedule but then the trolebus was created. The trolebus runs on hydropower electric motors, there is a schedule, it is inexpensive, and it runs much faster than a regular bus. The Galapagos Islands mainly use diesel as fuel source. Seymour Airport on Baltra is LEED certified and all of its power comes from wind and solar. After, Nick and I presented on the volcanoes in Ecuador and Galapagos geology.
JANUARY 6, 2016
Today we went to Churute Mangroves Ecological Reserve, a howler monkey hike, and to a cacao farm for lunch. On our way to Churute we stopped at fruit stands on the side of the road guaba machete and zapote. Guaba machete was white and fuzzy, it was like eating delicious, wet cotton. Zapote tasted like a mango. We had pineapple and a banana on the bus, it was the most delicious pineapple and banana that I ever had.
When we arrived to Churute it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen, the forest before the mangroves were so much different than the mangrove trees. Mangrove forests are tropical dry forests. The root of the mangrove forest grow above ground, during high tide the roots are under the water, we could see the water line of the trees. On the soil below the trees there were a bunch of crab holes, when vegetation from the trees fell down the crabs would come out of their holes and grab the leaves to eat, they kept the understory of the forest clean. Black mangrove tree leaves were salty because they sweat salt in the heat from the saltwater in their ecosystem. We went on a motorized canoe ride through the forest, we saw Ospreys, roseate spoonbills, egrets, and brown pelicans. The roseate spoonbills were the most interesting birds I have ever seen, they have a white head and chest and pink wings and legs. On our way out of Churute we went on a howler monkey hike, we didn’t get to see any of the howler monkeys but we could hear them. We saw a pile of fruit shells that were left behind by the howler monkeys and we saw fire ants.
Our last stop was a local cacao farm, we had lunch here and everything was so fresh, it was one of the best meals I had on this trip. We got to makes chocolate while we were there. Cacao trees grow cocoa beans in redish pods that grow straight out of the tree’s trunk. The beans are in a white, sweet pulp in the pops. To make chocolate the beans are dried out, roasted, and the shells were rolled off of the bean. The beans are then placed in a grinder then it can be made into chocolate bars. The cacao farm didn’t use any insecticides or chemicals on their plant. They grew cacao trees resistant to insecticides, they were called CCN-51. This insect resistant cacao tree was made by grafting an old plant was combined with a new plant and it would be wrapped for 21 days. When we got to the hotel we immediately searched for a laundromat but there weren’t any, instead there was a place where we just dropped out laundry off over night and they did an entire basket of laundry for five dollars. |
More about Guayaquil
Guayaquil is about the same size as New York City, it is shaped by the estuaries. There is no underground infrastructure in Guayaquil because it uses to be made of mangrove forests and swamps. It only took two years to build the Malecón 2000 and the botanical gardens in it only consist of native plants. Guayaquil is home to more than 376 species of birds. There are a lot of farms surrounding the city, we stopped at a rice field and learned that when there are a lot of snails the famers drain the fields so the snails are exposed for the kite birds to eat. The houses in rice fields sit on stilts to keep animals out and so their house doesn’t flood during the wet season. Farmers place plastic bags around bananas as they are growing to keep it green for when it’s exported. (All information given by our tour guide)
JANUARY 7, 2016
Our stakeholder meeting was cancelled so today was a free day. I went to Iguana Park and there were tons of iguanas just walking around. We went to a clock tower on the Malecón 2000, we climbed all the way to the top because we thought we were allowed to but it turns out that we weren't, a worker left the top door unlocked on accident. Then we went shopping and picked up clean laundry. We had dinner on the Malecón 2000.
Emily and Reshma presented on the biodiversity in the Galapagos. The animals arrived to the island by swimming, flying, floating, or by accident. The islands actually have low biodiversity, I always thought the islands were really biodiverse. There are 32 mammal species (only 6 land), 28 reptiles, 42 sea birds, and 34 shore birds. There a lot reptiles on the islands because they can live longer without food and water. There are anywhere between 10,000 and 50,000 sea lions that inhabit the island, threats to their population are El Niño, diseases, and floating plastic. On the Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island there are about 192 pink land iguanas, they are critically endangered and are threatened by demographic/genetic stochasticity. On Santa Cruz there are 9,000 singing male large tree finches, they are vulnerable from development, invasive plants, and parasitic flies. The Galapagos Hawk only has 270-330 individuals left from human persecution. El Niño causes algal blooms to die, increased sea levels, and corals are stressed due to high ocean temps. The major threats to the islands are increased human population and invasive species. In 1959 Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation had quarantine system to combat invasive. The education system in the Galapagos is lacking, if it is improved it will help the locals better understand the importance of their home. Next stop the Galapagos Islands! |
SUSTAINABILITY in Guayaquil
Guayaquil had a trolebus system, it is much more efficient than regular busses. The trolebus runs on hydropower electric motors. It has designated lanes so car traffic does not affect its schedule, this makes it more attractive to commuters to switch from driving from place to place while sitting in traffic to taking an inexpensive, fast-moving form of transportation. Guayaquil is surrounded by farms, this makes locally grown food widely available. Instead of food being shipped across oceans or flown over continents, people just have to take a short drive to a local farm or market. Another sustainable practice in Guayaquil is that in cemeteries people aren’t buried, they are placed in mausoleums and family members have to purchase a lease on it to keep their loved ones body inside of it. If they do not renew their lease the body is disposed of, this prevents vast open spaces being dedicated to dead people. The lease will only be updated if the family member wants to visit their deceased but if all family members who were alive with the deceased die, the dead body will be disposed of and the mausoleum will be open to a new dead person.
There are also a few unsustainable practices in Guayaquil. Although there is a trolebus system, there is still an extremely high density of cars on the road. In Quito the bus system is well-developed, keeping people from using their car as often. The trolebus system in Guayaquil is not built to support a city with the population it has, it may be preventing some people from driving their personal cars but it appears that most people still drive their cars. There were no renewables in Guayaquil, the city is in a sunny location on a body of water, this is a good situation for solar panels and wind turbines. The addition of renewables would reduce the city’s carbon footprint. The location of Guayaquil is the most unsustainable thing about it. The city used to be a mangrove forest, mangroves protects shorelines from storms. Mangrove forests also help prevent erosion but their complex root system and they maintain the water quality by filtering pollutants. (Florida Museum of Natural History)
There are also a few unsustainable practices in Guayaquil. Although there is a trolebus system, there is still an extremely high density of cars on the road. In Quito the bus system is well-developed, keeping people from using their car as often. The trolebus system in Guayaquil is not built to support a city with the population it has, it may be preventing some people from driving their personal cars but it appears that most people still drive their cars. There were no renewables in Guayaquil, the city is in a sunny location on a body of water, this is a good situation for solar panels and wind turbines. The addition of renewables would reduce the city’s carbon footprint. The location of Guayaquil is the most unsustainable thing about it. The city used to be a mangrove forest, mangroves protects shorelines from storms. Mangrove forests also help prevent erosion but their complex root system and they maintain the water quality by filtering pollutants. (Florida Museum of Natural History)
Works Cited:
Florida Museum of Natural History. (n.d.). Importance of Mangroves. Retrieved from https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/southflorida/habitats/mangroves/importance-mangroves/