Scuba Experience

July 3, 2007

Margaret Novak

This past week was awesome!! We went down to a coastal town called Salango to create a new scuba project. The idea of this project is to offer scuba classes to people in the local community so that they will be able to have an opportunity to develop ecotourism as an alternative to their current fishing industry. The system works because volunteers pay the locals for room and board, and then they can use that money to pay for the scuba equipment. For example, we paid the amount of money it took for them to rent the equipment (the instruction was free thanks to our dive instructor, Peter) and in turn we had someplace to sleep and 3 great meals every day.

We (Max, Veronica, Dominica (Ecotrackers), Mario (Swiss student) and I) left Quito Monday night at about 10:30 pm. The bus ride to Salango took about 15 hours total, so we finally made it to Salango around 1:00pm on Tuesday. We arrived at the community museum, and set ourselves up in these little cabanas right on the beach; they were really cute and also quite comfortable with two beds in each room. As soon as we got there, we met our scuba instructors- Peter (a dive instructor from the Galapagos) and Suzanne (an assistant scuba instructor and a professor at the University of Delaware). We also met the six local boys from Salango that were taking the scuba course with us. We started our classes right away and watched various educational slideshows on Peter’s computer. It was really interesting to learn about scuba diving as I didn’t know anything about it before hand.

After class, we went to eat dinner in the little restaurant owned by some of the people taking scuba classes with us. All of the food was really good; we got to eat a lot of seafood, which I love. We also ate a lot of fried bananas and rice. Later on, Mario and I went to the beach and I found all sorts of cool shells, including the infamous spondylus shell, which used to be used as a form of money in Salango 5,000 years ago.

The next day we had another scuba class and then we went out on the boat for some real practice. We learned how to set up all of our equipment and then headed into the water. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be; I was pretty warm with the wetsuit on. I didn’t think that I would be nervous scuba diving, but after I got under the water, I realized that it kind of scary to be breathing underwater. However, it was also very exciting!! On our first dive, we just kind of got used to the water and our equipment. The locals boys learned their PADI skills with Peter while Mario and I just swam around and looked at cool stuff on the bottom of the ocean floor. It was kind of cloudy out, so the boat ride home was a bit cold, and everything in the boat got wet and salty (including Mario´s towel, which was completely soaked and smelled of fish….) We changed on the boat, and it was impossible to get the wet suit off, I had to have some help!! Those things can really stick! When we got back, we all went to eat dinner and just hang out.

The next day, we had class again, and then went out for our next dive. This time, we went to a different part of La Isla Salango and we dove much deeper (about 10 meters/30 feet). We saw all sorts of exotic animals including manta rays, sea cucumbers, star fish, sea urchins, tropical fish, a tiger snake eel, white coral, and one of the guys claimed that he saw an octopus. This time down, Mario and I practiced our emergency ascents and other skills, such as how to breathe from your buddy’s regulator. I will admit that I was pretty nervous for the first 5 minutes that I was 30 feet underwater because it is hard to imagine what you would do if all of a sudden you didn’t have air, but after we practiced what to do in such an event, and then I felt much better. We swam for quite a long time, and then got back to the main land at about 3:00 pm. We ate lunch and then went into Puerto Lopez to return our equipment. In Puerto Lopez (only about 5 or 10 minutes from Salango), we hung out for a while and ate dinner. Then, Mario, Peter, Susana, and I went to a little bar called La Playa and drank some caipariñas near the beach. It was a good time, and we even managed to create a whale costume out of a gray dress for Mario to wear to the whale festival the next day.

The next morning, it was time to study for our final exam. We had one last class and then we got our PADI books and started to review for our certification. We all went to the beach to study because the sun was finally out. At this point in time, we not only studied for our certification, but we also finalized the plans of our new international organization called Ecobuzos y Econavigantes (Ecodivers and Econavigators). It was really interesting to see how an organization can be created with just a group of people and an idea. Max jotted down notes while we all discussed the statutes of the organization. After a couple hours, we had decided that the organization will have different locations throughout the world that will offer environmentally friendly water activities, such as scuba diving, to members, volunteers, and people of the local communities in order to create more opportunities for those local communities. After we had created a concrete plan, Max typed up the proposal for Ecodivers and Econavigators. Then, we all went back into Puerto Lopez for the whale festival. It was really fun! Everyone was dancing in the streets and celebrating whale season.

The next day, Mieke, a volunteer from Belgium, and I went on a tour to La Isla de la Plata (The Poor Man’s Galapagos) and it was awesome! We saw humpback whales on the way and on the way back while on the boat. That was cool. The island is part of the Machalilla National Park. It is protected, and therefore had the most amazing assortment of nesting birds. We saw the blue footed booby, the nazca booby, friggots, and we even saw an albatross!! The birds were so used to friendly humans that they weren’t scared at all and we could get within feet of them. We also saw some type of small snake while on the island.

After we got back, we met up with Peter, Susana, and Mario, who went scuba diving again that day. I am a little jealous as they saw sea turtles, but I also had a blast, so it worked out. We ate dinner and hung out at a bar called Clandestine near the beach for a while. That night, Mario and I slept at the house that Mieke was staying at (owned by one of the guys that took the course with us) as the cabanas at the museum were being taken over by students from the University of Florida. The house was quite nice, and we had comfortable beds to sleep in.

The next day, Mario and I headed back to Puerto Lopez as we had to get our pictures taken for our dive certification. We hung out and shopped a little bit (I had to buy a hammock) and then we settled down at the little restaurant called Spondylus again. Susanna and Peter didn’t get back until late, but we got to say goodbye. We got the bus at about 7pm and then the ride was only 10 hours back. (Why did it take 5 hours less on the way home??) We arrived in Quito at about 4:45 am and came back to the Ecotrackers office to sleep on the floor as Mario didn’t have the key to the apartment. So, now we are back, and I am missing the beach!! I had a wonderful time and I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone else!!!!!!!!

We are currently sending more volunteers down to Salango. Hopefully more of the local guys will be able to pay for the PADI certification with the money that the volunteers pay for room and board. That is one of the biggest problems that we are facing; the local people don’t have extra money for scuba certification and equipment, and scuba can be quite expensive. However, with more volunteers, more funding, and more organization of the project, they will be able to reach their goal of creating new scuba opportunities in the community. And with our new organization Ecodivers and Econavigators, we will be able to accomplish much in the development of sustainable water use and recreation throughout the entire world. I think that Ecodivers and Econavigators will be able to make a great difference, as I have already seen what is possible in the little town of Salango.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES FROM OUR RECENT SCUBA COURSE IN SALANGO. AND CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE!!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF HUMPBACK WHALES FROM OUR TRIP TO LA ISLA DE LA PLATA.