BH Students journeyed to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands

BH Girls explore the Galapagos Islands

Over spring break, 14 students in grades 10-12 made the long journey to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Once we arrived in Quito ...
Over spring break, 14 students in grades 10-12 along with Mrs. Briggs and Miss Kirk made the long journey to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.  Once we arrived in Quito we met our tour guide Jose and we did a walking tour of the city.  We visited the church of San Francisco and the church of gold- La Compania. Both were very beautiful.  We were also able to go to the Intinan Museum at the middle of the world. The girls had a great time seeing all the demos and even trying out some of them! Shannon was the only one able to balance an egg on a nail head!
After some time in Quito we headed to the Amazon where we travelled the same route as Spanish conqueror Fransisco de Orellana took as he searched for spices and gold.  We visited a local Quichua family that showed us how they built their homes and cooked, and even gave a us a chance to try out the blow gun! Maya was able to hit the monkey "target"!  Next was a walk through the town to see a demonstration of clay pot making.  We had the opportunity to do part of the service portion of our trip at a school in the village. We had organized gift bags for the kids and cleaning kits for the school. We were able to play basketball, soccer and even had some piggy-back races wit the local children.  We took a hike through the Amazon and were able to see many different trees. It was quite the experience to hike uphill for 2.5 hours with the humidity!  We also had the opportunity to visit a butterfly farm and see the different stages of metamorphosis, including a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.  Also in the Amazon we visited an animal rescue shelter and had the chance to see capuchin monkeys, macaws, tortoises, spider monkeys and toucans.

In the Galápagos Islands we visited the Charles Darwin research station on the island of Santa Cruz.  We also had the chance to visit the island of Floreana where we saw many sea lions, giant tortoises, blue footed boobys and even a penguin!  We had the chance to spend  some time in the ocean swimming and snorkelling. Our last day on the islands we spent doing a tour around Santa Cruz. Had the chance to see many more animals in their natural environment including land and marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, and many more sea lions and blue footed boobys! Our last afternoon was our service at Fundar-a local group that works at preserving and sustaining the environment.  We participated in tree planting and brush clearing to prepare the ground for tree planting.  It was hard work but very rewarding! Many of the girls talked about wanting to come back to volunteer again.

Our last day was spent travelling back to Quito and once we arrived we were fortunate enough to be able to visit the Telerifico, a cable car that took up up to an altitude of 4000m.   It allowed us to have a great view of the city and the clouds even cleared allowing us to see the Pichincha Volcano.  It was fascinating to see a volcano at the equator with a glacier on it! It also gave us a real experience of the lack of oxygen at higher altitudes!

Check out more photos on our Facebook page here.
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Balmoral Hall School

630 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3C 3S1
Tel: (204) 784-1600 | Fax: (204) 774-5534 | info@balmoralhall.ca
Charitable Registration No. 12994 3932 RR0001
Our mission at Balmoral Hall School is to inspire girls’ imagination and the courage to excel, to reach, to lead, to care.

We are a nondenominational independent day and boarding school, educating students from Junior Nursery to Grade 12.