I Loved Camp When I Was a Child and I Love the Galapagos Now

Sometime I feel like a child. I’m not known to be emotional, but knowing I’m leaving the Galapagos tomorrow is really causing me to be reflective and a bit sad. I’ve only been here for one month, but over this month I’ve developed close bonds with many people. It’s a bit like camp actually.
The town is small and we run into each other every day. I’m not sure how it happens, but some days I’ll pass one person 3 or 4 times within 2 hours with each time stopping to kiss them on the cheek, say hello, where are you going now, and welp, I’ll probably see you in an hour or so, adios! We don’t ever make plans really. We take each day as it comes. If we make plans for the next day or a few days in advance we end up changing them, dropping out, or end up disappointed with how our planned activity turned out. So when the lunch hour comes, we give each other a call or sometimes just walk to the kiosko’s (the street of restaurants with all the local food), and end up meeting each other for lunch. Then at lunch, we ask what one is up to for the afternoon (the siesta hours) or for the evening. If one says, “oh, I think I’m going to go to Tortuga Bay, or to Las Griatas”, all of a sudden 2 or 3 or all of us say, ?oh that sounds fun, I’ll be up for going too” and it turns into a fabulously fun time with friends. I really wish moments like these would be carried on in the states on a daily basis. I leave for Quito tomorrow, and after a week in Quito my world is going to change again.
There isn’t going to be any more running into people spontaneously throughout the day, there isn’t going to be any more group lunches or dinners, or going snorkeling during our long lunch hour, or discussing who’s going to drive for the night- instead we all walk, walk to meet each other and walk each other home- there isn’t’ going to be any more pausing for a few minutes during the morning walk to visit a friend to watch the sea lions and pelicans beg for scraps of fish from the fisherman at the fishermans pier, there isn’t going to be any more of making plans at the last minute which turn into some of the most memorable moments of our lives.
The people I have met here in the Galapagos come from all over the world: Australia, Bolivia, UK, Germany, Norway, Israel, Sweden, Ecuador, Colombia, and of course the United States too. We come from different cultures, different locations, different customs, and different jobs, yet we all share similarities. Similarities in which act as our foundation: a foundation that is strong. I hate to have this part of my life come to a close. And I hope these friends of mine do visit me when they eventually travel to the United States. The United States is so vast, so much to see and do; I really hope I have the privilege of showing these amazing people part of my country and continue our adventures together.