Grand Teton National Park

If Yellowstone National Park is the crown jewel of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), then Grand Teton National Park is the runner-up. Grand Teton National Park is the only other national park within the GYE landscape, and therefore plays a critical role in protecting the land, wildlife, and history of the area. Unless land is designated as a national park, national monument, or a wilderness area, then it still may be open to mining, logging, or ranching even if it's public land, such as a national forest. Just north of Jackson, Wyoming, Grand Teton NP is a major lure for the nature-based tourism economy of the GYE.

With breathtaking vistas of the jagged Teton range, wildlife viewing opportunities, and places of historic importance, your visit to Grand Teton will be unforgettable! Like Yellowstone to the north, Grand Teton NP is also home to herds of bison, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn. You are also more likely to see a moose near the banks of the snake river than in most other places of the GYE.

From a historical perspective, the valley floor on the teton range was not always thought of as an off-limits wilderness. As settlers began flooding into the area, John D. Rockefeller Jr. became concerned that this area would become just another western city along the rocky mountains. As a wealthy son of a wealthy father, Rockefeller began purchasing land all around the valley floor and eventually donated his land to the federal government to eventually become the national park we know it as today.

Historic buildings can still be visited around the valley floor, such as some old cabins and barns along  what is known as Mormon Row. It is here where 5 Mormon families settled into the valley, which up until that point was known as a rough bachelor town. The Mormon settlers brought with them values of religion, community, and education.

One of the famous pioneer barns at Mormon Row

Family selfie at Jenny Lake

    

Escape to the Galápagos Islands

It's time to talk about an unreal impact exploration in an unreal place. We're talking about the Galápagos Islands! I visited the Galápagos Islands with my family in 2017 and was completely blown away by how incredible this place truly is. It's like living in side a real-life wildlife documentary. Being able to take an up close glimpse of the rare and endemic species of this archipelago is unlike anything else you will ever do. Rest assure, your visit to the Galápagos Islands directly funds the continued conservation of this natural wonder and contributes to the local economy.

The Galápagos Islands were annexed by it's neighbor Ecuador in 1832. There are 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. They were first discovered by Spanish explorers and conquistadores who accidentally came upon them while on their way to Peru from Central America. The Spanish took note of the peculiar wildlife, like the Galápagos tortoise and the marine iguana. The area was not suitable for human settlement, however, due to a complete lack of freshwater on the islands. For hundreds of years, the Galápagos Islands were a strategic and convenient pit stop for pirates who sailed around the new world and Pacific Ocean. The giant tortoises were used as a source of fresh food as they could be stored on board ships and eaten during long voyages. Due to this exploitation, the Galápagos tortoise population plummeted, and certain subspecies have already gone extinct on some of the islands. Efforts have been underway for several decades to restore the Galápagos tortoise population.

Map of the Galápagos Islands

Even from a logistical standpoint, visiting the Galápagos Islands was unlike anything I've ever done.We flew in from Quito, Ecuador and landed at the main airport on Baltra Island. From Baltra Island, we took a short ferry ride to Santa Cruz Island where we then took one of the many taxis (which were all pickup trucks) to our hotel in Puerto Ayora, the largest human settlement in the Galápagos. I was amazed to find out that the entire archipelago is a national park, though there are designated zones for human settlement. We passed by several cattle ranches and even a tortoise ranch on our way to town.  

Pricing: Entrance fees for Galápagos National Park are $100 per adult and $50 per child, unless you are from the Ecuador, the Andean Community, or any Mercosur nations. Although this price is not cheap, this is where your vacation directly impacts the conservation of a natural wonder. 

My lovely wife, Neysla, posing by a sea lion and pelican at the main port in Puerto Ayola. Those guys are regulars here. This little port is just like any other commercial port in Latin America where locals buy and sell sea food.

Now, on to the fun stuff. The first things we wanted to know about the Galápagos Islands were what to go do and see. We weren't in a financial or even logistical position to plan way ahead or pay tons of money to book a tour with a big tour company, but we found everything we needed right on the main street of town, just 2 blocks from our hotel. Despite all the warnings about planning ahead that we read online, there were plenty of tour companies in town hungry to take anyone on one of their many tour options. Of course, we wanted to see the tortoises, so we visited one of the nearby tourist ranches that lies at the border between the human settlement and wildlife zones. These ranches are really the best place to see the tortoises up close, and boy are they HUGE! These guys can weigh up to several times my own weight, and I'm not skinny!

                                     

A massive dude along our hike to and through a sweet cave

The trick to getting a good shot with the wildlife is to position yourself directly in front of or behind the animal. Park rules are strictly enforced, and you must be 2 meters away from all wildlife.

Next, we wanted to see the birds. I had seen documentaries about the Galápagos Islands and learned all about these beautiful birds with funny names, like the Blue-footed booby. For this adventure, we took a boat with a different tour group to Seymour Island, just north of Baltra Island where the airport is. We saw lots of Blue-footed boobies and Royal Frigatebirds.

Puffed-up Royal Frigatebird

 Blue-footed Booby

 We saw lots of these land iguanas on Seymour Island

Last, but not least, we wanted to snorkel. Snorkeling in the Galápagos was the coolest thing ever. We snorkeled in two places during this short trip. First, we took a hike with a tour group right on Santa Cruz Island to this awesome volcanic crevice on the beach where tourists like to snorkel. I saw tons of fish and took amazing videos with my (at the time) brand new GoPro camera.

Snorkeling in Las Grietas, a super cool volcanic crevice on Santa Cruz Island. This is a popular spot to snorkel on the island.

Hiking out to Las Grietas.

More epic snorkeling was had on our way out to Seymour Island. The tour group stopped at this little, rocky islet where we saw tons of sea lions chillin' out in the sun. As soon as you hopped in the water they all swam up to you. It was the coolest thing ever!

 Up close and personal with a sea lion

If you're looking for the trip of a lifetime and want to make an impact while you travel, then plan your trip to the Galápagos Islands! You will not regret it!

Yellowstone National Park

This blog will start off by highlighting one of my favorite places- Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world! This place is a true wonder of nature and has inspired people for generations now. Since it was first established in 1872, Yellowstone has shared it's beauty and wonder with millions of Americans and citizens of the world. Today, the area surrounding Yellowstone National Park, known as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), creates a $1 billion nature-based tourism economy. That fact alone is amazing to me. With so many natural landscapes being developed and/or destroyed, preserving and protecting areas of natural, historic, or cultural importance is of the utmost importance. As extraction companies still want a piece of the riches beneath the earth in the GYE, the $1 billion nature-based economy provides a solid argument for safeguarding the natural riches that abound here.

Although Yellowstone protects 2.2 million acres of pristine wilderness, controversy and political debate rage over issues of  entrance fees, access to land, wildlife management, land development, and recreational uses. This blog will highlight these issues more in depth and hopefully inspire you to come experience the magic of the GYE yourself! This place can truly impact you in ways you will ever forget.

 

Family photo with a steamy, stinky yet still very pleasant geyser.

Iconic Yellowstone Wildlife: Success and Controversy

For anyone who is already familiar with Yellowstone, one of the first things that comes to mind is the magnificent wildlife you'll find there. Here you can find the big 5 of North America: bison, wolves, grizzly bears, moose, elk, and black bears. Yellowstone bison and wolves are particularly interesting animals whose existence is both a conservation successful story and a political controversy. 

For the bison, Yellowstone can make the claim that this is the only place in North America where plains bison have roamed continuously since prehistoric times. That's quite the claim! Estimates are that bison once numbered between 30 and 60 million before European colonization and exploration. As the newcomers advanced westward into the interior of the wild west, many were amazed to find a wilderness full of wild beasts. On Lewis and Clark's famous voyage, they made mention of seeing an endless sea of bison across the open plains. Those days are long gone, as American settlers sought out to build a new nation from coast to coast. Bison were eradicated to make way for railroads, cities, towns, and farmlands. Destroying bison was also a strategy pushed by the U.S. army to suppress the plains Indians who also 'stood in the way', according to their "Manifest Destiny" ideology that the wild lands and "wild savages" must be tamed for the U.S. to achieve its ultimate nationhood goals. Hence, the bison, or buffalo, were destroyed almost to the point of extinction and only 24 bison remained inside the newly established Yellowstone National Park. President Teddy Roosevelt called for the protection of the remaining bison and these early conservation efforts led to the successful recovery of Yellowstone bison. 

The story doesn't end there, however. As Yellowstone bison recovered from the great slaughter of the westward expansion, they eventually became too numerous for the nearby  ranchers' comfort. Yellowstone bison carry a disease know as Brucellosis, which they originally got from European cattle in the first place. Ranchers fear their livestock will get infected by the bison who wander out of Yellowstone, which is why in 2000 the Interagency Bison Management Plan was established to limit the number of wild bison living in Yellowstone to 3000 individuals. Every year, park officials send hundreds of bison off to slaughter and haze the wandering bison back into park boundaries. Wildlife advocates strongly oppose these actions and call for increased tolerance for bison who wander out of park boundaries.

Wolves are an even more polarizing species. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the government sponsored predator eradication programs which sought to eliminate wolves and grizzly bears from the American west in order to livestock operations. By 1926, the last wolf in Yellowstone had been killed. Wildlife advocates called for the reintroduction of wolves in the 1980s and early 1990s, and after much debate and fierce opposition by local ranchers, wolves were reintroduced in 1995. Since then, wolves numbers have grown to over 500 in the GYE. Wolf watching is now a major economic driver for the GYE's economy. Personally, I haven't seen one yet, but I really hope I spot one this summer!

If you are an animal lover and love to get close to nature, you've gotta visit Yellowstone and experience a real-life American safari. The best places to see bison and wolves are in Hayden and Lamar valleys, though you are virtually guaranteed to see bison almost anywhere in Yellowstone. Yellowstone National Park is truly and impactful exploration that you will never forget!

Welcome to Impact Explorations!

Welcome to my blog, Impact Explorers! The mission of this blog is to promote sustainable tourism to amazing places where your tourism dollars spent can have an impact of some kind, which at a minimum would be on yourself! Here on this blog, I will document my personal explorations and discuss the social, economic, historic, cultural, or environmental issues surrounding each of the places I visit. I hope you find this information useful for making plans to have an impactful exploration where your visit can help a greater cause!

This blog will take you all over the U.S.A. and even the world. Here is a little sneak peak: