Jatun Sacha

Ever since Ecuador made its decision to designate all the uninhabited land of the Galápagos as a national park, conservation efforts to help preserve the islands’ biodiversity have slowly been reversing the damage made. However, without the help of different non-profit organizations, these improvements would probably be a lot less prominent. The Jatun Sacha Biological Reserve in San Cristóbal, where I spent most of my time on the island, is one of these organizations.


Tucked away deep in the highland forests of San Cristóbal, Jatun Sacha’s station is a gem mostly out of reach from the typical tourist. Right outside of town, the roads immediately turn to dirt, and as we make out way up into the forest, they gradually become more narrow and muddy. The vegetation around the roads also becomes increasingly thick. I eventually feel in awe of the fact anyone would have ever been able to make their way through the thick vegetation and steep hills to make a settlement.

The station itself is a lot more modest than I had imagined. There are only a few small cabins, a mess hall, and two houses for the volunteers, each with their own toilets and showers. These structures were all simply built by past volunteers from concrete and wood.

 Besides building the station, the volunteers work towards the foundation’s goal of conserving the highlands. These highlands, although a pivotal part of the island’s delicate eco-system, have been almost completely neglected by other conservation and governmental agencies.

The Galápagos are a popular tourist destination, but lack of fruit and vegetable production on the island itself means hotels and restaurants must import the produce from Ecuador’s mainland in order to cater to visitors needs. However, quarantine regulations are consistently ignored, and it is projected that at least two exotic species enter the island each day. These species may become invasive and threaten, or even lead to the extinction of endemic plant and animal species on the island.

My first day at the station, fellow volunteers and myself worked to help eradicate Mora bushes around the immediate vicinity of the station.

Mora is the species of plants that the blackberry and raspberry belong to, and is one of the more aggressive of invasive species.

I think it’s important to note that the work the Jatun Sacha volunteers do is not easy by any means. Hacking down Mora bushes in the middle of the hot and humid forest while mosquitos swarm around you is physically demanding in every sense.

Even so, it was amazing how these volunteers, who came from all over the world, and in many cases are there for weeks and months at a time, maintained such positive attitudes.

The Galápagos are a destination most travelers always dream of going, but most people imagine spending their time laying on the beach, and hiking amongst exotic creatures.
It takes a special breed of people to happily spend the majority of their time on the islands doing such demanding and important labor; tucked away deep in San Cristóbal’s forest highlands, the Jatun Sacha foundation is the place to find them.