From November 24 to December 6, 2008 I had the opportunity to visit the Everglades, the historic city of Quito, and the enchanted islands called Galapagos Islands. This is an adventure I will never forget!  This website is an attempt to document with words and images the activities and places we were able to see.  

The purpose of this visit was educational.  Toyota International graciously provided a grant to 30 USA educators, selected from a pool of 1,000 applicants, and 10 Galapagueño teachers to be part of this educational project. The project aims to promote cultural and international understanding and to develop awareness in the area of environmental conservation. During our stay in Galapagos we toured the islands and visited the Charles Darwin Center, Finca Puerto Chino and had a tour of the Fabricio Valverde recycle plant. We had ongoing environmental worshops, a lecture by Felipe Cruz on the Isabela project and a meeting with the local Board of Education on educational reform. I also met with local artists, visited local school and had a glimpse from the inside based on many conversations I had with Galapagueño teachers.

Presently Galapagos is in a state of rapid population growth as a result of a booming tourist industry. This growth explosion is affecting these islands in many ways. It should be noted that last year the Galapagos Islands were added to the World Heritage Danger List by the World Conservation Union.

My goals for this website are to describe the purpose and activities of this educational project, create photo galleries to show some of the biodiversity of the islands, use the site as a teaching tool for my technology classes and provide information for those interested in learning about these Islands.