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Galapagos Student Expedition 2014
University of Miami

• The Galapagos Islands:
  An Incredible Journey
  
  It was three weeks. But it went by in a flash. Fourteen students and two professors, in the 2014 University of Miami study abroad expedition to the Galapagos Islands. We started out at the Panama Canal. Then we flew to Ecuador, which governs the Galapagos Islands, and spent a day in the largest city, Guayaquil... Read More
• Taking a look at the Panama Canal
  
  Shortly before 5 p.m., the cruise ship Ocean Dream entered the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. Sixteen of us from the University of Miami had been waiting hours for the ship to make its move. We were on the first leg of a three-week long summer abroad study program...Read More
• Decompression chamber saves lives
  
  Dr. Gabriel Idrovo, a middle-aged man with a round face and salt and pepper hair, was standing beside a massive, white machine in his medical center in the Galapagos Islands. The machine looked something like a small spaceship. The immense, cylindrical contraption, with a couple of round windows and a...Read More
• A cooking school in the Galapagos
  
  The air is thick and hot, even though the sun has been gone for 15 minutes. It's typical of the Galapagos' weather, but within the confines of the kitchen, the sweltering heat is overwhelming for someone not used to being on the equator. [10 minutes before show time] There's the...Read More
• Marlin Fishing in the Galapagos Islands
  
  The wind was gusting from the east and the twin Suzuki 250-horsepower outboards were roaring. The Big Fish, a 35-foot sport fishing boat, was pushing through five-foot seas in the Galapagos Islands, an archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. The waters of the Galapagos...Read More
• Practicing medicine in a faraway place
  
  Dr. Gabriel Idrovo, 51, runs a private medical practice on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. He treats patients for all kinds of illnesses and he operates a decompression chamber for divers who stay underwater for too long or come up too quickly. He first came to the Galapagos when...Read More
• The Ah-hah moment in the Galapagos
  
  John Leeson has a hooked nose, bald head, and sunken cheekbones. He cranes his neck out the airplane window at the distant cliffs, rocks and sloping volcanos of the Galapagos Islands. He’s hogging the view, and his wife, Terry, puts a hand on his shoulder to pull him back. He...Read More
• Sea lions, often friendly, can turn hostile
  
  To me, Galapagos sea lions are among the most bizarre creatures on Earth. Their unpredictable tempers, sounds and overall activities leave experts “curious” according to Diego Páez, a professor and researcher at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito on the island of San Cristobal. San Cristobal is one of the...Read More