#357 July 14: Currents do not cross the equator but rotate and stay in either the Southern or Northern Hemisphere.
#358 July 15: Ecuador’s main
products: oil, bananas, flowers
(especially roses – should have remembered this from the rose parade!) and
cacao. They are very proud of their
cacao and are highlighting it in their “slow, local” food initiative. They are also proud of their flower
production. Most (90%) of it is run by
women and has resulted in the development of child care initiatives.
#359
July 16: I knew that the equator had 12 hours of
daylight with little variation all year, but I never had thought about how this
would benefit the production of agricultural products. I do remember when I was in Alaska and they
were having 20 hr a day of sunlight in August, they credited that as the reason
they were able to grow HUGE pumpkins and vegetables even though they had a
short growing season.
#360 July 17: Ecuador is used to compulsory vaccines, and as a result
they did not question their need during the pandemic (it did not become
politicized). 90% of the population was
vaccinated in 100 days! They also
consented to a 5 month lockdown, where folks were confined to the houses with
only short 2 hr. windows given every few days for grocery shopping and errands.
#361 July 18:
Ecuador and Galapagos and countries along the equator do not experience
hurricanes or cyclones.
#362 July 19: Gravity is
slightly less at the equator resulting in you weighing a little less!
#363:
July 20: The Galapagoians are trying very hard to rid
their country of envasive plants and animals.
Among them are goats, introduced with 3 goats in 1959. By 1970 their numbers had increased to
40,000!
#364
July 21: Most of you probably know about “lonesome George” the last
of his type of species of Galapagos tortoise.
He died 20 years ago (and has been taxidermied and is on display in a
crystal case – sort of like Stalin!).
Diego is another tortoise who had a better outcome. When his species was
about to die out, they found a tortoise at the San Diego zoo with the same
DNA. Galapagos reclaimed him and he was
able to breed with the females. His
species went from 5 specimens to over 2000 in just a few years!
#365 July 22: When we toured Quito, it was hard not to notice the
electrified fences and barbed wire protecting the apartment blocks. I looked at David and said, “These are not
for keeping out the bears and deer.”
Their problems with the Narco-gangs were evident in this and the
presence of armed guards at our hotel and at stores in the tourist areas. While
we always felt safe, it was a little disconcerting.
#366 July 23: We visited a cathedral in Quito similar to the
architecture of Notre Dame. But instead
of scary gargoyles, they used their own indigenous animals instead, such as
iguanas, tortoises, birds, etc. The rose
window also featured indigenous flowers.
#367 July 24: the tides in the Galapagos are 6-8 feet. That seems big to me. I looked it up, while
it obviously can vary, a typical tide is 3 feet.
#368 July 25: Only 100 boats
are allowed to tour the Galapagos. This
rule has been in effect for since it became a national park in 1996. Everything from who can be a guide, who can
own land and where is highly regulated.
I can only imagine how much the certificate for one of the boats costs
and how it is probably handed down through generations or sold for big bucks!!
#369 July 26 We saw graffiti on the sides of
the cliffs. Some of it dates back to the
30’s and 40’s. Our guide, Lulu told us
that it was a tradition dating back to the 1700’s or earlier for a ship to
write its name and the date it sailed on the cliffs. They stopped the practice when the islands
became a national park.
#370 July 27 I saw the Southern Cross in the sky and
sharks in the water chasing flying fish!!!
(actually occurred July 3)
#371 July 28 We saw large sinkholes that actually looked
in size and shape like large quarries.
They were formed from pockets of magma gasses that collapsed as the
volcanoes formed and then eroded. This
process takes millions of years!!
No comments:
Post a Comment