Today I woke up around 6:30 and began to slowly get ready for the day. I got changed and prepped my bag to leave the hotel. Around 7:45, my roommates and I went downstairs to get breakfast. The breakfast options were of good quality and there were many options. I chose to eat an english muffin with butter, a few pieces of bacon, and some very tasty potatoes.
Around 8:10, everyone began to make their way to Tait’s room for the last presentation in the states. Haley presented her presentation about tourism. The brief information that she provided about the founding of the islands was cool to hear about, and it was also interesting to learn about the different spots that are tourist hot spots. Also, the information provided about the improvement of the roads on the islands were very intriguing. A brief timeline that she gave was that in 1535, the islands were discovered, after 1832, the islands were used as a penal colony, in 1835, Charles Darwin came in and spread knowledge, and then from this knowledge, in 1986, the first marine reserve was created. During the 1960s, the attraction of tourism in Ecuador's islands increased greatly. By 1965, the first airstrip was opened. By 1998, the government had to restrict migration to the islands in order to meet the demand for tourism. During this year, the islands were also able to have 24 hour electricity. Haley also talked about the use of zoning on the islands. Zoning allows for designated land use in order to make up for the fact that the urban infrastructure is weak. This presentation also facilitated discussion about tourism. A main starting point of this conversation was that if tourism did not exist, that there would be minimal invasive species, overfishing, eutrophication, as well as microplastic presence. This was then followed up by the explanation of Ecuador's sustainable development initiatives such as sustainable roads.
We left our hotel around 9:30 in the morning, and arrived at our hotel in Guayaquil around 10 pm. We had dinner across the street from our hotel which consisted of mushroom risotto and fresh orange juice. After dinner, we met in a room for Diego’s presentation. Diego’s presentation consisted of an extensive overview of the Galapagos Islands.
Around 8:10, everyone began to make their way to Tait’s room for the last presentation in the states. Haley presented her presentation about tourism. The brief information that she provided about the founding of the islands was cool to hear about, and it was also interesting to learn about the different spots that are tourist hot spots. Also, the information provided about the improvement of the roads on the islands were very intriguing. A brief timeline that she gave was that in 1535, the islands were discovered, after 1832, the islands were used as a penal colony, in 1835, Charles Darwin came in and spread knowledge, and then from this knowledge, in 1986, the first marine reserve was created. During the 1960s, the attraction of tourism in Ecuador's islands increased greatly. By 1965, the first airstrip was opened. By 1998, the government had to restrict migration to the islands in order to meet the demand for tourism. During this year, the islands were also able to have 24 hour electricity. Haley also talked about the use of zoning on the islands. Zoning allows for designated land use in order to make up for the fact that the urban infrastructure is weak. This presentation also facilitated discussion about tourism. A main starting point of this conversation was that if tourism did not exist, that there would be minimal invasive species, overfishing, eutrophication, as well as microplastic presence. This was then followed up by the explanation of Ecuador's sustainable development initiatives such as sustainable roads.
We left our hotel around 9:30 in the morning, and arrived at our hotel in Guayaquil around 10 pm. We had dinner across the street from our hotel which consisted of mushroom risotto and fresh orange juice. After dinner, we met in a room for Diego’s presentation. Diego’s presentation consisted of an extensive overview of the Galapagos Islands.
Expansion of knowledge
Tourism
Tourism was a large part of the discussion from the presentation on January 2nd. I know that Ecuador has been making an effort to promote ecotourism or sustainable tourism in order to reduce the negative impacts that comes with elevated tourism. To study how smaller, rural communities view tourism, a sample population was selected and interviewed. Surveys were also a measurement of tourism in this study. Sample populations had to describe their work and how many locals participated in their business. Figure 1 depicts the different levels of impact of tourism on San Miguel natural and cultural resources. It was concluded that in smaller communities, tourism can prove to be very beneficial for the ecosystem, but that a community needs to be attractive to tourists. For example, a religious community is more attractive than a farming community to the majority of tourists.
Figure 1: A bar graph showing the different impacts of tourism on different parts of the community.
Ecuador as a penal colony
According to the article on Ecuador's history, "Galapagos Colonists," Ecuador was suggested to be turned into a penal colony in 1832. This suggestion was made by Coronel Ignacio Henandez with the idea that two islands, Floreana and San Cristóbal, would be converted to house prisoners. Years later in 1944,Isabela Island was adapted to house prisoners. The reason why all of these islands were turned into penal colonies due to the fact that the islands are so isolated. While these penal colonies were functioning, the prison guards had the prisoners carry rocks a distance away from their holding cells. This was later dubbed the "Wall of Tears" and is considered a memorial site on Isabela Island. A few years later in the late 1950s, Ecuador ceased all of the penal colonies located on its islands.
Works Cited
Galapagos Colonists. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.galapagos.org/about_galapagos/about-galapagos/history/human-discovery/colonists/
Rodriguez, J., Limones, K., Villafuerte, J., & Hormaza, S. (2008). Journal of Arts and Humanities(JAH)32Sustainable Tourism Experiences in Ecuador: Implementing Social Knowledge’ Construction Process in a Rural Community. Journal of Arts & Humanities, 7(4). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18533/journal.v7i4.1360
Rodriguez, J., Limones, K., Villafuerte, J., & Hormaza, S. (2008). Journal of Arts and Humanities(JAH)32Sustainable Tourism Experiences in Ecuador: Implementing Social Knowledge’ Construction Process in a Rural Community. Journal of Arts & Humanities, 7(4). doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18533/journal.v7i4.1360