Censo/Rio bamba/Cotopaxi

Day 1 (February 1)

We got back from the Amazon and had our last formal day of classes in Quito. As a class, we decided to use our final session as a review for the final. The review went well but I had so much to do before the end of this module. I had a research paper, a case study and a presentation to prepare for on top of reviewing for the final, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Sitting in the dark hallway franticly typing my paper and preparing for a very late night of studying I got an E-mail that tomorrow's class (the final) was canceled! Instead of class, we needed to take our passports to the immigration office and get our censos. The censo is the official ID for no non- natives and with out it we can not enter the islands. Up until this point our passports where with the lawyer getting a special stamp… When dealing with the Ecuadorian government, everything takes a little bit longer then expected. This is because they are currently re writing their constitution so there are literally no rules for how things need to be run. I brought the required documents to the official at the front desk, he barely glanced at the paper work and handed me my ID card in a matter of minutes. However, my friend Megan, who had the exact same documents as I did spent two hours fling out additional forms! It was a nightmare.

After that mess we got back to the hotel, began packing both for Rio Baba and the Galapagos as we had less then 24 hours upon coming back before leaving again. That night I also finished writing my paper, sent it to the proof, and made a power point before going to bed. Overall, it was a very productive day.

Day 2 (February 2)

The next morning we loaded on to the bus for a 3 hour drive up to the highlands. I used this time to read the article and take a few notes. When I did look out the window, I saw amazing patchworks of farm land on the sides of mountains. Women dressed in colorful alpaca scarves and dresses walking bony cattle across the road often stopped and waved as the large bus roared by their humble cement houses. It amazing to see how little these people lived on. It made me begin to evaluate the things that I take for granted in my own life.

We arrive at the school and where greeted by an exuberant gut named Dave who showed us around campus. This school like the one in Quito has a culinary program; however, their focus is on pastries, deserts and chocolate. We where led into the bakery and where allowed to sample anything we wanted. I tried some heavenly truffles and a bit of cake. Yum!

Unfortunately, as much as I would have liked to explore the city, we had a bunch of class work to finish. It was a challenge to sit in another classroom and watch presentations when there was a whole new city outside. One presentation sticks out in my mind as being interesting, A woman cam in a spoke to up about the status of the indigous women in the community and her efforts to combat domestic violence. Something like 60% of the indigenous women experience domestic violence, but it is a part of their culture and so it is a hard to find the line between intervention and changing the way of life for these people to be “more civilized”.

After 2 long hours of presentations, we had a wonderful lunch and went back upstairs to participate in a language exchange with some of the locals. One of the more programs that the school offers is English classes and so the school wanted to give their student and chance to practice their English and us a chance to practice our Spanish. I have a great respect for anyone that can speak two languages…the kids did extremely well. And I…I need much more practice. I am going to pick up as much as I can while I am on the island.

After the meet and greet we all loaded back on to the bus and whet deeper into the highlands to a base camp for one of he highest peaks in Ecuador. The base camp was a hostel style hotel in the middle of an indigenous farming community. Because of the altitude, it was considerably colder then the temperature I had been enjoying in weeks previous. I was thankful for the big sweatshirt and genes that to brought with me. By the time, we go to the base camp the sun was beginning to set and there was a cold drizzle beginning to come down. We took a short tour of the farms looking at the alpaca and sheep that they sheer and use the wool to make hats and sweaters. It was amazing to see how these people get by on so little. We had a big dinner of my favorite potato soup and a lamb chop (most likely from that farm we just saw). About halfway though the dinner the power went out and so we ate dinner in the dark and I studded for the final in candle light. After about two hours the power did come back on which gave me a chance to brush my teeth and jump into bed. It was so cold in the lodge that I could see my breath as I walked about the cabin. I was thankful for the two big alpaca blankets that where on my bed.

Day 3 (February 3)

At 7:00 the next morning we where given a huge breakfast of local eggs, fresh fruit, bread, hot chocolate, tea and juice. The warm drinks did wonders for taking the chill out of my system. Once we where sufficiently stuffed we packed up all of our thinks and began the days hike. We walked for about an hour in the arid regain of the highlands climbing ever higher. We where 11,000 feet above sea level so there was much less oxygen. I was very easily winded. The sky was over cast and so even when we reached the summit you could not see much down below. According to our guide, on a clear day it is possible to see the ocean.

We came back down the same way we went up and got on to the bus that took us to another base camp where we hung out for a little bit and sipped cinnamon tea until Carlos, the professor, announced that it was time to take the final. I had been studying for a while, but I was tired from the walk and feeling a little goofy from the altitude, so it was a bit of a challenge to focus on the task. Luckily the exam was pretty easy so I think I did well. We ate lunch at the base camp and then went out rock climbing. I tried it but it was so cold that I could not feel my fingers, so I did not get very far. I spent the reset of the time waling around and just enjoying being out of Quito.

After everyone had a chance at rock climbing, we left the highlands and headed to a hotel back in the center of rio bamba. The hotel was amazing compared to the loge we stayed in the night before. Big comfy beds and best of all….. a warm shower! It was the best shower I have had since arriving in Ecuador. This week is a holiday that is celebrated across south America known as carnival. It is the same concept as Marti Gras, sin as much as you can before ash Wednesday. There was a carnival party at the school and so a few of us went to check it out. Upon walking into the gym where the party was held it felt a bit like a high school dance…with lots of alcohol. We did not stay to long, we where tired and there was more traveling to do tomorrow.

Day 4 (February 4)

Light breakfast (good coffee) before getting back on the bus and going to Cotopaxi an active volcano. We all took pictures of a pretty crater lake. On the way to lunch, we saw wild horses in the distance and beautiful mountain ranges. When we pulled in to the base camp, we saw several horses in a corral and we asked our guild if we could ride instead of go on another hike. So, over lunch our guide worked arrangements to get all of us settled up we went horse back riding though the mountain range. The horse I had ha a lot of spunk to it and really wanted to run, it took a lot of pulling to get him under control at first, but once I was able to get him under control it was an amazing experience that I will not soon forget.

Once we all dismounted it was back on the bus to drive part of the way up Cotopaxi clouds had rolled in and it was starting to rain. I fell asleep on the bus ride up there when I did wake up we where surrounded in the thickest fog I had ever seen, and then I realized we where so high up that we where inside a cloud! I could not see a foot in front of me, I don’t know how our driver did not manage to drive us right of a cliff! It was pretty eerie.

Out of the clouds, down from the mountains, past the indigenous women and children taking the livestock home from the fields. Back to the loud dirty and the hotel that I had called home for the last month. I was tired and feeling a little sick from all the changes in altitude. When we finally got back to Quito it was dark, Fernando the guy who lovingly served us dinner each night was waiting for us. This guy truly loved his job was so happy to serve us dinner. ***out of context: I remember the first weekend that we had free we where unsure if dinner was covered by the school or not so we all went out for a big dinner. However, upon coming back to the hotel Fernando was waiting for us with the door open and pouring us freshly made juice. Not of us had the heart to tell him that we had just ate, so we ate again…it was like not telling mom that you where coming home for dinner…so guilty*** I will miss him. After dinner I came on line just to tell people I was still alive, and then spent the rest of the time before bed making sure I had everything packed because the very next morning we would be leaving for Galapagos.

Amazon and back (January 28-31)

Day 1 (January 28th)

The last weeks have been crazy, and the madness is going to continue well into next week. I figure that I had better take a moment to blog before I forget all that has happened. On Friday January 28th, we go up at 6am to take a bus to the air port for a half hour flight to Cocas. It was the shortest flight I had ever been on. In the 30 minutes that we where up in the air the flight attendants manages to pass out news papers, drinks and pastries and come by with the trash can before touching back down. It was quite a spectacle! Landing in Coco’s we took a “bus” to a near by port for the next leg of our adventure. The Bus reminded me of the cattle trucks that used in Mexico, only with seats. The dock was connected to a hotel with bathrooms which we all wanted to take advantage of. While we where waiting a squirrel monkey came down form the rafters to say hello. I took plenty of pictures of this first glimpse of “wild” life! On to the boat, we went with hunter orange life jackets and all of our gear. I manage to sit up front in hopes of soaking up some of the Ecuadorian sun, but I ended up just soaking up most of the river! By the end of the 2 hours, I was soaking wet. Besides that, the trip was beautiful! Everything so green and there where many birds flying over head. However, we also passed many completely bare patches and saw sites of oil drilling. It put the reasoning for why I am here into perspective.

The Amazon is being destroyed at a rate of several football fields an hour. Seeing what I saw on the river, it is easy to think that the forest is an unlimited resource. However, it’s not unlimited and there is so much left to be discovered it is scary that it is being destroyed at such and alarming rate. It was an impression that will stay with me for a long time. The main resource that it causing so much degradation is the oil that is underneath the rich soil. Hundreds of hectars of land, many with indigenous tribes have been destroyed because of large companies like Shell coming in and drilling. It is estimated that the Amazon has 57billoin dollars worth of oil. This is enough oil to sustain North America for 13 days.

The next leg of our trip was back on another cattle truck down a dirt road where we bumped and bounced for another two hours. The ride was loud and dirty but we passed houses of indigenous people, so that was interesting to see. From the bus, it was on to another boat for the final leg of our journey. The cannel for this list part was much more narrow and we where able to see turtles and caimans (small alligators) along the river bank; it was also less disturbed as it is part of a large national park. Scarlet macaws flew over head and monkeys shook branches as we passed by. It was something out of a movie, just unreal that a place this beautiful exists in real life.

At 4:00pm after traveling all day, we finally reached the Tiputini Biodiversity Station. It is a fully furnished research station complete with wireless internet and a full kitchen. We went to our assigned cabins and I took a nap before heading down to dinner. For dinner, we had a large plate of beans and rice (one of my favorites) with fresh mango juice. It was just the think I needed after a long day of travel. An interesting thing about the dining hall is that it is completely open with no screens or doors. At night, the insects would be attracted to the light and the bats would come in and eat the bugs! It was a little alarming the first time that it happened, but it was really cool. After dinner, we played a short game of cards before heading to bed.

Day 2 (January 29^th)

Wake up was at 6:00 weather you liked it or not. The howler monkeys would begin making noise and wake up everyone else in the jungle humans and animals alike. It is a really odd sound sort of a cross between a barking dog and manic laughter. Breakfast was at 6:30 and them we broke into groups for our fist guided trek into the Amazon. I was so excited to get out there that I quickly became annoyed with my group member fro not being ready. Finally after several trips back to the cabin and several ounces of bug spray we where off! Immediately into the hike, our guide found a huge bug clinging onto a tree. It was so well hidden that it took me a long time to see it even though he was pointing right at it. There are designated trails I Tiputini that we stayed on the best we could but it did not make the hike very easy. We trekked there water and mud, over log brigs and under 500 year old tree branches. It was amazing to see all the different plants. Some plants are used to treat different ailments and others can cause them. Our guide seemed very knowledgeable about the different uses of the plants, it was interesting. Despite and endless amounts of plants and animals that we encountered, the walks where very challenging and I came home after each one muddy and dripping in sweat. It was after the first walk that I enjoyed the best cold shower ever.

After lunch, it was off to another hike in the forest, this time to a lagoon. The lagoon was home to all sorts of birds and bats. The little canoe that we where in was so wobbly in the water that I thought for sure we where going to tip into the murky green water. However, we did not tip. Instead, we saw about 20 different species of birds of all different shapes and colors hidden in the brush the lined the lagoon. After the lagoon, we climbed a rickety observation tower to get a view from above the canopy. It was beautiful and a very clear day so you could see quite far. Dinner and a lecture about the studies that have been conducted at the research station followed the hike and then it was off t bed and to prepare to do it all again in the morning.

Day 3 (January 30^th )

Woken up by more monkeys. The 3^rd hike was just as intense as the others but frequent sightings of monkeys and toucans made it bearable. We came back and took a quick dip in that Amazon River to cool off. The river is silty and so it has the color of chocolate milk. It was a bit scary at first going in for the first time knowing that piranhas lived in the waters. However, after the hike I was to hot and dirty to care! The cool water felt amazing. Lunch time again and then off into the jungle for our final time. We did a canopy walk that reminded me of the high ropes courses that I used to do at summer camp. The view form above the canopy was neat, just an endless sea of green. Sometimes, birds and butterflies would dart out and there where tons off bugs that very quickly found us. I took some great pictures from up there. That night after diner, we all got into one of the boats and went exploring the Amazon River in the dark! One of the head researchers brought his spotlight and he was able to find lots of Caymans and frogs along the bank. It was neat to see all the creatures, but it was very peaceful. Since there is no civilization for many miles, there was no light pollution, the stars where amazing.

Day 4 (January 31^st )

Another big travel day. We must leave the jungle just the same way we came; boat bus, boat, plane. It was a bit depressing to leave the jungle, I felt that there was so much more to see and discover, I could spend a whole term in Tiputini and still have more to learn, it is a place that not many people get to see in their life time and I was very fortunate to spend any time there at all. On the way back home between the second boat ride and the final plane ride back to Quito, we had a 4 hour layover in Coca. We stayed at this odd hotel near the river with a swimming pool, and a snack bar. After a soda and an ice cream, I decided to go exploring. As I walk around the property, I saw an area that contained little dishes of rotting fruit. It did not take me long to discover why there where there because before my eyes a small squirrel monkey jumped down from the tree and began eating the fruit. Like a typical tourist, I whipped out my camera just as 3 others joined him. These monkeys had no fear of people and so I was able to get close. I was joined by a few of my class mates; we sat under their tree and watched them play. Eventually they came down to investigate us! One monkey came right up to me and started digging though my purse and even tried to steal my Oreos! I am so glad that Megan got picture of that.

After we had enough of the monkeys, it was time to finish our journey back to Quito. Tired, dirty and excused we found our way back to the hotel and got instructions for the next phase of our journey…Rio Bamba, and then to GALAPAGOS!

so much to do....

So much is going on right now...I have half a post written about my adventures in the amazon and I need to start a new one about the Rio Bama trip that I just got back from. on top of that i am going to the islands tomorrow and I don't know when I will be on line next

There will be another BIG post from me soon...but tonight I need sleep.