Thursday, February 20th at 6:30pm
Barb Vockroth & Angie Kirst – Galapagos Islands
Barb and Angie at the Equator
Join us at 6:30pm for the February 20th meeting of the Horicon Marsh Bird Club. Bird Club members Barb Vockroth and Angie Kirst will be speaking about their recent trip to the Galapagos Islands. The meeting is open to the public and is held at the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center located at N7725 Highway 28, Horicon, WI.
Tremper Travel Club provided an opportunity to travel to the Galapagos. They explored Quito at the beginning and the end of their 10 day trip, which included touring the colonial quarter of Quito which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. A “high point” was visiting the Intinan Museum to discover how the Incas determined the middle of the earth. Then they actually stood in both hemispheres.
From Quito they flew to San Cristobal to begin their Galapagos adventure. They visited three diverse islands in the Galapagos including Santa Cruz, home of the Charles Darwin Research Station and Isabela, the largest and most populated island. Each island was its own world with different species of flora, fauna and diversity of topography. It was amazing to see species of tortoises, penguins, finches, iguanas, boobies and sea lions not seen anywhere else on earth. It felt like prehistoric times as they hiked on lava rock and snorkeled through lava tunnels that held an incredible diversity of marine life.
Returning to Quito they hiked Mindo Cloud Forest and visited incredible butterfly gardens and hummingbird preserves. They experienced the diverse cultures of Ecuador by enjoying musical performances and weaving demonstrations. They also learned to haggle at the markets and eat guinea pig. They were impressed by the pride and respect of the people of the Galapagos and Ecuador toward preservation of their environment for the animals and future generations of inhabitants.
Barb and Angie are retired teachers from Beaver Dam. They also are volunteer naturalists at the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center.
