Amy and Ian's Most Excellent Ecuadorian Adventure

The Spectacular Antisana Reserve, Ecuador

2009-04-21T15:38:00.014-04:00

Ian, Janet and I visited the magnificent Antisana Reserve the day before we left Ecuador, and a fitting last day it was. The landscape was incredible, I've never seen anything quite as beautiful. These pictures don't do it justice, it's just impossible to capture such grandeur in a small image on a screen, but that didn't stop me from trying :-)

Fausto drove us there and did all the necessary preliminary paperwork to allow us entrance to Antisana. There are 4 checkpoints along the way, and if you don't have the proper signed documents you are not permitted to enter.

If you would like to have Fausto take you there I highly recommend him, he was receptive to all our demands and made birding very enjoyable for Ian. Be sure and give him at least a few days lead time for him to get the necessary papers. His email is

presidencia@tzanzaworld.com at Tzanza Tourismo in Quito.

Phone (593)2 2546348

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Ecuadorian shepherdess.

Our first checkpoint, you must have your papers.

The terrain when you first enter the reserve.

Milk collections are taken twice a day, the dairy farmer leaves this blue milk can full of milk at pre arranged locations. The milk collector here drives around, pours the milk into containers in the back of his truck and leaves the empty can to be filled up at the next milking. A very efficient operation, the dairy farmer doesn't need to store or deliver his milk any farther than the road.

The new, very comfortable van Fausto drove us around in.

Stout-billed Cinclodes.

Another check point. More on this one later...

We're very high up now, around 13,000 feet.

If your computer doesn't cut it off, you can just make out Ian on the far right bottom corner.

Ian and Fausto were off walking around when Janet started feeling very badly from the altitude. She's had several heart surgeries, and her heart was not liking the this part of the Andes. We headed back to the last checkpoint at 10,000 feet, where she felt better.

Moorland or Paramo vegetation.

Paramo straw and our van very tiny.

Just wide open space and this flock of sheep being driven across the road...

...by a very colorful shepherdess.

A beautiful sight!

A very unusual sighting of an Andean Fox

After we dropped Janet off we continued on, I think our highest was around 14,000 feet.

The only other vehicle we saw up here was driven by our friend Eduardo, from San Isidro! We'd left that part of the country a month before, it was great to see him again. He was driving a group of birders and here he's hanging out with our other friend Fausto, even though they'd never met before today. Don't they look good together??

Such lovely undisturbed land.

Checkpoint up ahead.

Antisana Volcano 18,800 feet. We never did quite see all of the top, but it made a great backdrop!

Many lagoons and small rivers.

Andean Gulls were enjoying the warmth from the road.

Janet made friends with Gorge and his dog, they spent about 3 hours together and he was very kind. He made her tea and taught her some Spanish, sharing family stories.

The checkpoint were we used the bathroom and picked up Janet.

Whoa!! That's a lot of pictures!

Heading back to Quito, about and hour and a half away. To do Antisana justice, it's best to plan on spending most of the day for your trip. We were picked up at our hotel around 7:30 and arrived back around 4:30.

Which Camera? Which Lens?

2009-04-03T07:58:00.009-04:00

I've received many questions about cameras and I thought I'd try and answer some of them here. Fausto in particular wanted to know about my camera versus Ian's camera that Ian used to take the wonderful bird shots on his Picassa photo album. We both have Canon EOS digital SLR cameras, mine the entry level Rebel series XTi and he has upgraded to the 50D. Both of these bodies are fine cameras, mine is lighter and smaller and has many of the same features as the 50D, but the 50D can shoot many more photos per second, a big plus when shooting birds. It has other fine features as well, and Ian loves his camera. For more precise reviews check out http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

We both purchased our cameras online, Ian from B & H Photo and mine from buydig.com. I tend to keep things simple and mainly use one lens for everything, even though I have other lenses. I don't like to carry a lot of weight, and for that I sacrifice some quality, but I usually have my camera with me. Ian is more of a perfectionist and has 2 lenses he keeps with him most of the time, and his photos are much sharper and crisper than mine. As in other fields, there are always those darn trade offs.

Either of these camera bodies will support any other compatible lenses. I occasionally (when he lets me :-) use Ian's 24-105mm on my Rebel XTi with excellent results.

Ian's 50D body with his 2 month old, fuller range telephoto lens. L Series.

24mm - 105mm f/4 L IS (image stabilization) and USM.

$1059 just for the lens at B & H.

All photos of the 50D are taken with my Rebel XTi, and visa versa.

50D camera body from the back. Nice large LCD screen.

The L series Canon lenses always have a red line on the lens, you can see it from this angle at the top of the photo. Sign of distinction :-)

50D with the 24-105mm and a turned around hood cover (comes free with the lens)

My Rebel XTi body from the back.

This is the camera and lens that took most of the photos in this Ecuador blog. I also used my small point and shoot red Sony T100 camera (seldom) and I borrowed Ian's 400mm lens for one day.

My lens is by Sigma, not Canon. It has a range of 18mm to 200mm and I find it's great for landscapes or zooming in on a face far away. B & H sells it for $400. I am still looking for a Canon lens that has as large a range in an L series.

The main lens Ian uses to shoot his bird photos. Canon Telephoto fixed focus lens of 400mm. (400mm f/4 L USM)

B & H it goes for $1140. Ian does not have IS on this lens, if it did have image stabilization it would cost around $6000. It is an L series, note the red stripe.

This photo was taken with Ian's 50D and 24-105mm. The previous one was with my Rebel XTi and Sigma lens.

50D with the 24-105mm Canon lens.

Rebel XTi with the Sigma lens at 18mm, widest range, from our apartment balcony.

Canon 50D at it's widest range of 24mm on the 24-105 lens. If you had the 400mm lens on you would get none of the foreground, but maybe a soccer player nearly full frame.

The color is different in each of the above photos because of the way each camera processes the info. I may also have my camera set on a different internal color setting then Ian has on his. They were both shot at ISO 400, f/10 on the AV setting.

Enlargement of the 50D photo. The detail holds up better than with the Rebel and the Sigma lens.

Rebel XTi shot blown up, enlarged to show that the detail isn't very sharp. Important if you are enlarging your photos. Not so much if you are posting them on a blog at the size you took the photo :-)

Maximum zoom with the Sigma 18-200mm zoom.

Maximum zoom with the Canon 24 - 105mm lens.

New blog on Washington D.C.

2009-02-18T10:43:00.003-05:00

I just finished a now post on my Washington D.C. blog. There are still many more amazing places and people we saw in Ecuador that will be posted here in the coming weeks. So don't give up on this blog!

But if you want to see where we are in D.C. click on this link or the blog link on the right side called "Where are Amy and Ian now".

http://whereareamyandiannow.blogspot.com/

Walking back to Otavalo after the Raptor show.

2009-02-11T21:24:00.018-05:00

January 8, 2009

This lovely child shyly greeted us at the entrance to the Condor Park, 5 km outside Otavalo on top of an isolated hill. As there were no other vehicles in sight we asked the taxi driver that brought us there to come back in 2 hours to pick us up, but he never returned. I guess the $3 fare wasn't enough to entice him back. Turned out to be the best thing for us as the walk back down to Otavalo was incredibly beautiful.

The arena for the raptor show overlooking everything.

This is a rehab center for injured birds, 90 percent of the birds that come here are released back to the wild.

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

American Kestrel in foreground and Aplomado Falcon in the background.

Aplomado Falcon

Janet and Ian were huddled in this Adobe courtyard trying to stay out of the wind. Janet took this photo of me returning from a fruitless expedition to find some hot tea.

Making the best of a windy waiting-for-the taxi-that-never-came.

Note handmade mud walls.

Condor in captivity.

We start walking down the hill. The taxi in the distance is someone else's and the last car we saw until we were back in Otavalo.

Farming barefoot.

Volcan Imbabura.

An older woman bringing a very large bunch of sticks up the hill, very hardy! No rest home for her.

Stunning views of Lago San Pablo. It's impossible to capture how grand everything looked in a small photo.

Some kind of three sisters growing system, the vine wrapped it's way around the corn and another plant was just starting. Don't know what the purple flowers vine plant is called...

Lago San Pablo.

A determined shepherdess coming for us, asking for money because we took a photo of her pigs. Even after we gave her some money she would not allow photos of her. I shot this from my hip before the conversation started. In Spanish.

Same woman from previous photo walking up the hill with her flock of pigs and sheep.

Tree tomato tree.

The actual tree tomato fruit, makes a great juice, but Ian didn't like it at all.

Our destination after a lovely 2 hour walk: Otavalo.

A modern home, maybe condos?

Close up of a more traditional home in Otavalo.

Hotel El Indio, Otavalo, Ecuador

2009-01-29T18:24:00.007-05:00

Hotel El Indio. January 6 to January 11, 2009

Fausto, our driver from Quito, showed us 4 or 5 hotels and we chose this gem a block from the Plaza de Ponchos. We used the nearby internet cafe, had large windows with lovely views and our own private patio off of our room. A room with 3 beds and private bathroom cost us $40/nt total, no breakfast or internet included. Great room, great price. There is another hotel in town, Hotel El Indio Inn, that is rated higher than this one, with internet, but none of their rooms had windows facing the outside, only an interior courtyard. This place was a much better value.

The hotel appeared to be owned and operated by a family, and the side entrance was turned into a lingerie shop. This is the wife selling some of their popular underwear.

Janet buying some of the goods from the daughter. I bought some, too, friendly service and good prices:-)

The second floor was where the owner's family lived. We had a room on the 3rd floor, a healthful walk up the stairs. We didn't see any elevators in Otavalo.

The hallway outside of our room.

View from our window.

Janet unpacking. The clear surface on the right was soon covered with my luggage and stuff and not seen again until we checked out 5 days later. Our patio was through the red curtains.

The Lonely Planet guide book accurately described the decor as "inadvertent 1970's mod ambience". The mural.. well.. it was a one of a kind work of art.

Lunch on our patio.

More views.

The bathroom and bedroom were very clean, just a bit quirky. Never did figure out how to get hot water out of the sink, only the shower reliably delivered hot water.

Working on a nearby roof.

Nighttime in our room. We had cable TV with English speaking channels from the States.

The lobby, heartbeat of the owner's family.

Interesting decor in the lobby.

This lobby was an important extension of family life, meals were taken here, babies fed or nursed, dogs and friends hanging out and watching TV, all the usual activities of a private living room. We enjoyed walking through this public place on the way to our rooms with a friendly buenos tardes from everyone. I shot this photo from my hip, I didn't want them to see me photographing them eating...

The family dog, very sweet.

Living was casual, but there was always someone around to answer our questions, hold our purchases if we didn't want to take them upstairs, and offer a friendly smile. It was so casual I only gave them my first name at checkin, no passport or last name was ever requested and it was fine to stay on a day to day basis and pay at the end.

There were plenty of empty seats, these 2 men just liked to be close. They may have been brothers or cousins. Another hip shot, I accidentally cut off their heads.

The roosters were very vocal right outside our window every morning. Janet could only take it for so long without a good long night's sleep, and this is the rooster that drove her...

To get her own room facing a different, quieter street. This room was $10 per night, complete with private bathroom

The owner of our hotel, walking in the market. This is typical dress for men of the region. Ian dubbed him the great white hunter :-)

The family dog checking out the passers by.

A Parade in Otavalo, Ecuador

2009-01-26T18:51:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

The parade started right after we'd checked into our hotel, around 4 pm, what a great welcome to my favorite town. Lively people making music and dancing, very informal and I have no idea what they were celebrating.

After the parade Janet and I checked out the famous Otavalo Market, what a treat of color and texture. I bought one of these hammocks and had a good time bargaining. General rule of thumb is offer half of what is initially quoted. And be prepared to walk away.

This is now in my living room, a lovely work of art.

I think they enjoyed the bargaining as much as I did. Janet bought one of these gourds as well.

An unusual spelling...

At the end of an eventful day of travel from Quito, settling into our new lodging, parade and market we found our favorite pizza place, cozy and very good food. We went back 3 more times in the week we were in Otavalo. Pizzeria Siciliana Ristorante, at the corner of Jose de Sucre y Juan de Dios Morales. Telf: 062925999. Live music Friday and Saturdays.

Driving North to Otavalo

2009-01-18T13:40:00.008-05:00

Giant Hummingbird, photo by Ian. Note the size of this largest of all hummingbirds compared to the barbed wire.

About this Post:

Tuesday, January 6th, 2008 Janet, Ian and I drove with Fausto to Otavalo on the Panamerican Highway. We stopped at many places on the way, a lovely drive through the Avenue of the Volcanoes.

Today, January 18th:

Arriving home last Thursday night to Boston after an easy day of travel, we found snow on the ground and a taxi with a partition between us and the driver. $45 for a 15 minute drive, OMG culture shock! In Ecuador it would have cost $5, and we would have talked with the driver...

Joe came home on Friday for a week as there are no hotel rooms in DC due to the festivities of the Inauguration, great timing for us. Luke, Ian's friend from Maine arrived on Friday for a few days of birding with Ian, and they were so lucky to find the rare Ivory Gull at Cape Ann, specifically Eastern Point in Gloucester.

Ian's Ivory Gull images: http://picasaweb.google.com/goshawk227/IvoryGull#

I'm happy to be home and be with Joe again, looking forward to seeing friends this week. A great quote from my friend Susan "I love the experience of returning home from far away places: the familiar is brand new for a few bright moments."

Ian and I did indeed have a most excellent Ecuadorian adventure, it was fantastic and I hope to go back again many times!

I'll post the rest of our trip in the next 2 weeks, Ecuador has so many fascinating images to offer, I just need to edit the 8000 or so pictures into manageable groupings.

Janet and Fausto at the place we found the Giant Hummingbird, just outside of Quito.

The runway location of the new Quito airport, 45 minutes north of the old one, on the Panamerican Highway. Due to open in 2010.

Janet happily birding.

Landscape just before the crater.

Puluahua Crater, an very old volcano that is now a lovely pastoral home to a small village.

Locals enjoying the view from above the crater.

Close-up inside the crater.

A restaurant overlooking the crater, for special occasions.

The donkey turned his back on us at the last minute. The donkeys can be hired to take you down to the bottom of the crater. Photo by Janet. Ian, me and Fausto.

Street vendor, in the highway, selling Guabas.

We bought all this for a dollar!

Inside the Guaba, you eat the white fuzzy stuff, kinda sweet, and spit out the black seed.

More yummy fruit, sucking mangos. Para chupar.

Delicious!

Chirimoya also sold on the way to Otavalo, a great drive sampling all kinds of food.

A different Equator stop than Ian and I did a month ago, much less touristy, nice views and we were the only ones there.

Janet, Ian, and Fausto checking the GPS to find the exact Equator.

This area is known for it's flower growing, exported all over the world.

Cayambe is known for it's Bizcochos, melt in your mouth little morsels of dough resembling pie crust. A big hit with all of us, too.

Ian checking out the Bizcochos.

Scenery as we approached Otavalo.

Images of Old Town Quito

2009-01-12T08:22:00.002-05:00

Fausto took us all over Old Town Quito, here are a few more images of our 4 hour walk.

Ian after too many churches.

Plaza de San Francisco

Rock Pigeons on fountain.

The famous angel on Pancenillo, little bun shaped hilltop.

Detail inside a church.

One of many images of a Mother carrying her sleeping child.

Pretty courtyard off of Ronda Street.

Janet at the vegetarian restaurant we lunched at after our tour. Community dinning with a wait at the door.

Ronda Street.

Ecuador: President and Preamble

2009-01-11T17:56:00.002-05:00

The Ecuadorian President has set aside Mondays to attend the changing of the guard at the Plaza de Independencia in Old Quito. It's a well received event and free to all. We enjoyed all the pomp, splendor and people.

President Rafael Correa Delgado at his balcony with the honored school children of the week.

Plaza de Independencia before the changing of the guard.

Ian, Fausto and Janet.

Ecuadorian Preamble

We, the sovereign nation of Ecuador

Recognizing our millennial races, composed of women and men of diverse backgrounds,

Celebrating the natural environment, la Pacha Mama (Mother Earth in Kichwa - the primary indigenous language of the Andean region), of which we are a part and which is vital for our existence,

Invoking the name of God and recognizing our diverse forms of religiousness and spirituality,

Appealing to the knowledge of all cultures that enrich our society,

As heirs of social struggle for liberation, facing all forms of domination and colonialism,

And with profound obligation to the present and the future,

We decide to create

A new form of citizen coexistence, in diversity and harmony with nature, with the intent of attaining a better form of life, el sumak kawsay; ("sumak" is the Kichwa word for beautiful or marvelous, while Kawsay is the word for existence, costume, culture and life)

A society that respects, in all its' forms, the dignity of people and communities;

A democratic country, dedicated to the integration of Latin America -the dream of Bolivar and Alfaro - peace, solidarity and with all communities and people of our earth; and,

In exercise of our sovereignty, in the City of Alfaro, Montecristi, the province of Manabí, we give ourselves the present.

For more check out this blog:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/riahl/1/1222978500.html

The constitution, voted on in October 2008, also aims at ameliorating the living situation for the youth of Ecuador (that comprise a majority of the population). It promises free education through University for all Ecuadorian citizens, gives the right to vote to people as young as 16 and allows people to serve as senator (a democratically elected position) at 18.

Tour of Old Town, Quito

2009-01-09T11:10:00.002-05:00

The neighbors request no sexual work on this street.

On Monday the 3 of us took a tour of Old Town Quito with Fausto, our trusty guide. We saw many churches, which Ian did not like, and a great changing of the guard with the Ecuadorian President in attendance. Here are some of the Church images.

Fausto drove us to Otavalo on Tuesday and we've been here ever since in a little hotel off of the Plaza de Ponchos, where the biggest market in South America sells it's wares. The roosters add ambiance, and the owner's family that seems to live in our lobby is always there to greet us, dog and small child included. $40/nt for all 3 of us, it's an authentic Ecuadorian experience, complete with hot water and private bath.

We've seen many, many wonderful places and people over the last week, but no internet at Hotel Indio, so blogging requires a trip to the internet cafe, and there is just too much shopping and exploring to do. Janet, Ian and I only have 5 more days left and are making the most of it!

Our group doing the sights of Old Town.

Around Quito with Janet and Ian

2009-01-04T19:19:00.004-05:00

Janet arrived safe and sound from CT at midnight last night at our hotel, Nu House. Today the 3 of us happily walked around the rather quiet city of Quito. Being a Sunday after the New Year most of the residents were on holiday at the seashore, but the park was busy and the weather was perfect.

Our hotel in the background, and the Plaza Foch cafe where we had dinner.

Sophie.

Hanging out in the plaza.

Parque El Ejido weekend art show.

Eating oranges in the park.

View towards the Ave Rio Amazonas.

Janet having a soft spot for a child asking for money.

Don't know the name, but was told you eat them raw out of their pods.
Ian and Janet.

Selling colorful goods.

Guilliermo, a thirteen year old video expert. We've visited him several times.

The store where he works, selling legal bootleg DVDs. A common practice in Ecuador.

Art on the rooftops...

Holding hands.

Night scene in the Foch Plaza.

Street view in the Mariscol, New Town section.

Our Friends in Mindo

2009-01-03T13:56:00.006-05:00

Arriving in a town where you know not a single soul is part of traveling, finding wonderful people that become your friends is one of the unexpected joys of traveling. In Mindo we met Gary and Karen through our hostal owners, Susan and Luis. During the 12 days we explored Mindo they were always there to lend a hand, drive Ian/us birding and give us the gift of their company. For this Ian and I are very grateful!

We had dinner with Gary and Karen nearly every night during our stay in Mindo, this is one of the first dinners at Caskaffesu were Susan showed us her baby Armadillo. The baby was a present for Christmas, it had been abandoned by it's mother. Susan gave it to a rescue group that released it to the wild when it was able to fend for itself.

So cute!!!

A poster advertising all that Caskaffesu has to offer. It's a wonderful place to stay, comfortable, clean, quiet and very helpful owners. Good food, breakfast is included in the $16.80pp per day, and credit cards are accepted. I'd heartily recommend this as THE place to stay if you are in Mindo!

Birding at the Mirador Rio Blanco in Los Bancos, one of our first outings.

Luis, Susan's husband.

View of Rio Blanco.

The birders: Karen, Gary and Ian. I tagged along and took photographs.

Gary and Karen moved here from New Mexico. 4 years ago they started the process of moving permanently to Mindo, and they bought 50 hectares, about 110 acres, of land. This photo is of the entrance to the land and the road that is the in process of being built to get to the site that their house will be built on. They have been living in a rental near Mindo for the last 6 months while the construction is being undertaken. Brave souls, on an extraordinary adventure.

Another of our dinners after they've spent the day birding with Ian.

They are parrot lovers, this is Karen with her parrot Paco, who came from a parrot rescue group in New Mexico.

Karen and the dog that followed us to the waterfall. Mindo Loma.

Arriving at the waterfall after a strenuous hour and half walk up and down mountains was so rewarding!

Finding the birds on the way.

Gary.

Note the small used-to-be-white dog next to Ian.

We had so much fun with this 1 year old dog, he bounced up and down the trail, in and out of the jungle for 3 hours without slowing down once! Totally full of dirt and very happy for the chance to go on a walk.

Lunch at El Siete, a restaurant on the main road at the Y.

Excellent meal of llaping gachos and salad, yumm.

Susan and Luis, owners of Caskaffesu. They were peace corps volunteers 20 years ago in Ecuador, returned to the United States to work 2 jobs and save up money for 15 years to come back and build their dream, Caskaffesu.

Susan taking a food order from a large group of 20 people.

The courtyard eating area.
Our room is top right, in blue.

Nice view from our room.

Susan talking to Karen and Gary, at the coffee machine.

Inside our comfortable room, cleaned daily.

Our last meal at Caskaffesu, the famous not to be missed banana cake with chocolate.

Gary and Karen's rental house at a higher elevation than the town of Mindo, more in the cloud forest. Built by an artist, it's very quirky.

Gary and Karen were so kind to us during our stay in Mindo, and then they drove us back to Quito, icing on the cake! Thankfully, they had some errands to do in Quito, but I wasn't looking forward to taking the bus at all.

We stopped at this Hosteria Alemana to look for the Giant Hummingbird. Did not find that bird, but other new ones were found.

Sad to say goodbye. Thank you Gary and Karen, we will keep in touch.

Images from Mindo, what a great town!

2009-01-02T15:42:00.006-05:00

Recycling in the jungle. I think they mean ground, not floor :-)

River rafting is a favorite activity all year round.

Milk jugs like these are outside front doors on delivery day.

Please don't eat me.

Images from the top floor balcony of the Dragonfly Inn, main street, Mindo.

Thirsty dog, right outside our hotel.

Darling puppy and child on Christmas Day.

One of very many hotels, or hostals in Mindo.

Watermelon juice.

Banana flower.

Fried yucca and guacamole.

White horse in the middle of nowhere, not even tied up.

Another hotel around town.

Morpho butterfly. Or owl eye butterfly.

Evening on New Years Eve in Mindo, Ecuador

2009-01-01T14:18:00.004-05:00

The festivities were in full swing when we out for dinner. Here are a few of the images from around town.

Andres, from our internet cafe, gladly posed for me. He has a tongue ring. Scary, eh?

Giant speakers for giant sound that continued all night until 7 am. Unlimited energy to party!!!

The master of ceremonies was very vocal throughout the night.

Effigy of George Bush and company. The shoe thing was very popular.

Black bean burritos and salad for dinner, $5 for the entire meal for 2 people and we ate outside on the sidewalk.

The people of Mindo live outside, they don't seem to spend all the time we do inside and in our cars. Few people have cars, they walk everywhere or jump in the back of a pickup truck. So life is mainly in the streets and shops open to the outdoors. Carrying tables??

Many, many sidewalk vendors, especially on weekends and holidays.

I took a photo of these children, then 2 more joined in and I spent a happy half hour taking their photos and showing them the results on my LCD.

The girl on the left kept trying to hug the girl on the right. She didn't like to be hugged at all and kept shoving her away.

He really wanted to see how he looked in my camera.

These effigies were burned in the street last night, not the park as I thought before.

A party bus, maybe? Seemed to just go around the block that the park was on, over and over again.

Birding effigies, I think was done for fun, not maliciously??

Street scene, closed off to the few cars around.

Cleaning up the next day. They sweep everything, even if it's dust on hard packed dirt.

Our internet cafe where I am right this minute posting this blog. Tomorrow we go back to Quito, and our friends Gary and Karen have offered to drive us there, fantastic!!! We'll be at the Nu House Hotel where I can Skype with Joe again, yay!!!

Happy New Year or Feliz Ano Viejo

2008-12-31T17:39:00.003-05:00

In Ecuador the celebration today is to usher out the old year. There are very large speakers all over Mindo, music had been blaring all day in the streets and people are happy. Wishing you a Happy New Year full of interesting new experiences!

Man on the street, not too much traffic so everyone walks in the street.

I love this photograph.

Masks are for sale for the celebration. At midnight effigies and masks are burned in a bonfire at the park, a popular figure to burn for many years has been our President Bush.

More masks for sale by a young person.

Beautiful girls.

New Year's, or Old Year's decoration.

Time for a haircut.

At our internet cafe.

A poster for tonight's festivities, it's going to be a big celebration!

A store front for activities in Mindo.

Our hotel room for just one night, tonight. The Dragonfly Inn next to a river that I hope will drown out some of the partying tonight.

Dragonfly Inn.

Same place, one of the corridors.

Mindo Canopy Adventure (Zip Line)

2008-12-31T12:01:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Ian and I went to the top of a mountain and zipped around for a bit. The ride up on a 3 wheeled vehicle was part of the fun!

A collection of this very popular transportation here in Mindo.

You wouldn't believe how bumpy the ride was!!! No shocks and our butts were off the seat in mid air for some of the ride! Lots of laughing.

Our trusty driver.

The view from the back seat.

I did the one on the far right.... The Mariposa.

Getting ready.

All ready to go... kind of.

Me doing the Mariposa, which means butterfly. It was fun!

One of our guides showing us the ropes.

After we had the whole place to ourselves a large group came in. We stayed so I could photograph them.

A demonstration.

Understandably tentative.

A little heap from the guide. I did it all by myself, so did Ian.

A real mariposa.
The walk back to town.
View of Mindo from up on the mountain.

People of Mindo

2008-12-30T16:33:00.005-05:00

Some images from my walks around Mindo. I've taken 3800 photos for far, and still want to take more!

Ian and I will be in Mindo for the New Year celebration and head back to Quito, the big city, on Friday. Tonight we'll go listen to the Frog Concert on a lagoon with our friends Gary and Karen, today we hurled ourselves down a zip line in the jungle canopy. Photos to come, we survived!

Just hanging around. The pace is much slower here.

A series of photos, I couldn't decide which one to use and Ian suggested I use them all. They tell the story of how beloved the children are. I love the dog, too!

Birding near the river that is used for river rafting daily.

Bruno.

Mimosas.

Visiting in the middle of the street with plants on the roof....??

Most shops are open to the outside all the time.

Jungle Birding at 5:30am.

2008-12-27T10:42:00.003-05:00

I'm becoming much more rugged on this trip, all because of Ian's passion for birding. Somehow he talked me into getting up at 4 am, traveling on another bumpy dirt road for an hour and then trekking through the jungle in the dark at 5:30 am! While trying to secure sure footing in the mud, hanging onto a wet rope, when there was one, keeping my flashlight directed toward the steep ground, I was thinking: what the heck am I doing here!!!!

We saw some amazing birds and it will be one of many experiences that will stay with me.

A time exposure shot in the dark just before sunrise. There were 3 of us tourists, 2 drivers and the man who makes it all happen: Angel. We're in a hut on the side of a mountain waiting for the famous Cock of the Rock to appear.

The famous Cock of the Rock bird. Yes, he does look a bit odd, his beak is hidden in his feathered top hat thing, so he looks beakless. Ian took this photo from our hut, long exposure, too.

Waiting for the Antpitta, Maria.

This is Angel, a small time Ecuadorian farmer who 5 years ago decided to see if he could feed Antpittas by hand. Before him no one could see these beautiful birds as they stay hidden in the low brush. Now he's trained other people to feed these birds in various locations throughout Ecuador. He makes a living off of offering birders a close up of the birds, walking through his extensive trails and feeding them breakfast afterwards. He loves his birds, has given them names and they respond to his calls and let him touch him!

The Giant Antpitta, Maria. Photo by Ian.

Our group for the morning. Angel is the one with the stripped pants.

We hiked all the way down to the river from the top of the mountain, and back up again! There was a different species of Antpitta here, but I don't remember the name.

Ian taking the photo of the Antpitta.

Another beautiful Antpitta, they have lots of personality. Name anyone? Photo by Ian.

Not a sharp photo, but so stunning in person. There are so many gorgeous hummingbirds here!

The view from the top, where we had breakfast after being in the jungle for 5 hours.

The main area where Angel has his business, t shirts, bathroom, kitchen and eating area.

The red truck is one we hired, with driver Byron, to bring us here from our hotel. Byron was a very enthusiastic birder in training and kept up with us the entire time.

The site of a wonderful breakfast cooked fresh just for us.

Note the open window on the left, that's the kitchen.

Bjorn, the other birder in our group. From Finland. Great hat.

Views of the area.

I liked this idea for steps, it worked well and used readily available resources.

Merry from Mindo

2008-12-25T16:24:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas from Ecuador!

Warm and sunny here all morning, it may rain this afternoon. That
seems to be the usual for Mindo, we're in the cloud forest in the
Andes with spectacular views everywhere.

Ian and I have been traveling now since November 15th, it'll be 6
weeks on Saturday and what a wild adventure we've had so far! We have
8 days until my friend Janet, one of the Waybacks, so named because
we've known each other since way back in the early 70's, comes to
Ecuador. Janet will arrive January 3rd and travel with us until we all
head back to New England on January 15th.

Looks like our adventure to Ecuador is going to extend itself to
Washington DC. Joe won't be in Medford when we get back home, starting
January 5th he's been assigned to a temporary detail in DC, not to
exceed 120 days, a long time! We've been apart way too long already,
so Ian and I are working on a way to go to DC for most of the time Joe
is there. Ian doesn't have any commitments until his banding job
starts up again for Spring migration on April 15th, so I'm hoping
we'll be in DC from end of January until April.

As for now, Mindo is lovely and we'll be here until we go somewhere
else. Not sure where that will be, but on January 3rd I'll be in Quito
to pick up Janet and then on to... maybe Otovalo? Town of weaving and
beautiful fabric.

We've been very lucky to meet Gary and Karen, Americans that are now living in Mindo and like birding. Our hotel owners introduced us and they've taken Ian, and sometimes me, birding every day we've been here, it's been great! This photo is of land they've purchased here in Mindo and are presently building a road to the house site.

Mirador Rio Blanco, an astounding view, this photo doesn't do it justice.

Orchid.

Hummingbird, but I don't know which one as Ian is off birding with Gary and Karen. He's seen 65 different species of Hummingbirds on this trip. We have one species in MA....

The main street in Mindo, there really aren't too many more, just some side streets. People were partying hard last night though after Christmas midnight mass.

Christmas morning breakfast outside in the patio of our hotel, Caskaffesu.

Caskaffesu, our hotel. Our very nice, clean room is top right, blue area. $35 a night and it includes breakfast.

Doorway into our room.

Unknown name to me. Toucan.

Moving to Mindo

2008-12-22T07:55:00.004-05:00

The drive to Mindo ended up taking all day, and was the bumpiest ride I have ever been on. Worse even than Costa Rica! Ian loved it, he saw an awesome amount of birds and the countryside was spectacular. Our driver was excellent, very accommodating of staying at a place for 2 hours to bird, he brought snacks and managed the pothole ridden roads like a pro. I am so glad I didn't rent a car, I never could have driven the roads we were on. If you ever need an excellent driver/guide to get you to Mindo call Fausto Gomez at Tzanza Senses, tourism consulting and travel. (593) 2 2546 348. or email at fgomez@tzanzaworld.com His English is fluent and he charge $90 for a day that went from 8:30am tp 5pm. Usually it's a 2 hour drive from Quito.

Trogan.

The bumpy, muddy road.

Tree at the Nu House hotel we stayed at.

A better photo of Rhiannon and Susan.

Monday morning and Ian and I are on our way to the small birding town of Mindo on the western slope of the Andes. We hired a driver and 4 x 4 vehicle to take us there, found them while walking around looking for somewhere else. The trip includes 4 stops along the way to bird, a coffee break, or tea for us, and delivery to our new lodging at the Dragonfly Inn. A place they recommended to us. It should be an all day excursion, it will be fun to be in a moving vehicle that isn't a taxi or a bus.

More photos of our day will be posted if I can find internet in Mindo...

View from our room in Quito, taken with Ian's 400 mm lens.

We had dinner in Quito with our friends from La Selva, Susan and Rhiannon. We really enjoyed sharing all the joys of La Selva with them.

Visiting an Indigenous family

2008-12-22T07:47:00.007-05:00

Our guides took us to see the home of a family that lives an hour walk from the lodge. 9 children from the age of 24 to 2 years old live on the property, the 24 year old son has a wife and his own home. The parents were not there when we visited, and the children were taking care of themselves. Many families live on the Napo River, each house about 2 to 10 miles from the next one. They make a living growing coffee beans and mainly eat yucca in many forms.

It's Christmas Eve and seeing how people live without any of the privileges most of us have is very sobering. The children walk 2 hours to get to school, one way. No cars, no electricity, no refrigeration, no TV, no reading material. Luckily they don't need any heat :-)

So from Ecuador to North America here's wishing everyone a thankful and Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays with those near and dear to you.

The main room in the house, all made with bamboo and palm found nearby. There were only benches in this room.

Lovely children.

The house is built off the ground to keep the mice and other creatures out.

Nature's toilet paper, soft and fragrant.

One of our guides, Pedro, con crazon de tigre, with the heart of a tiger.

We all tried our hand at using a blow dart gun.

This new mother is 16 years old, married to the oldest son.

The youngest child, he'll be 2 in February.

The kitchen.

Laundry, bathing and washing area are on the Napo River.

The cocao beans grow in this, where chocolate comes from.

Doing the wash in the river.

This was the only luxury item we saw in the house.

The Jungle around La Selva

2008-12-21T21:27:00.007-05:00

A hike through the jungle revealed beautiful creatures of incredible variety. Here are just a few photos of what we saw.

Walking through the jungle with Ian and our fantastic guide, Rodrigo. He was able to point out birds and animals we would never have seen on our own.

There were at least 6 different varieties of monkey, each one faster than the last one.

Scarlet Macaw.

The parrot lick is a big draw for tourists, and what a show! I took this photo with Ian's new 400mm lens.

Hoatzin.

An extra large bamboo. Everything in the jungle comes in extra, extra large!

Ian and Rodrigo.

Extra large Millipede.

I believe this is a Dragon Lizard.

The dining room at La Selva, just thought I'd throw in. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in the lodge payment, as are the guides.

A scary, beautiful spider.

Nature's protection.

Staff member who helped with the boats.

Me, after 10

hours in the jungle hiking up steep hills and being incredibly rugged :-)

Napo river view.

Pedro, a guide, and Rhiannon, our friend we met there, Piranha fishing.

Marco, a guide, also Piranha fishing. Some were served for dinner that evening. I swam in the same water, but they don't bite people, just fresh meat bait.

On a hike with Rhiannon, her mom, Susan and our 2 guides.

Bromeliads growing on everything.

Bullet Ant, named because it's bite feels like a bullet. Marco picked it up, but don't do this at home.

Traveling to La Selva Lodge

2008-12-21T17:20:00.004-05:00

La Selva Lodge from a canoe.

Tuesday, December 16th, 2008, Ian and I traveled to the La Selva Lodge on a lagoon off of the Napo River. The Napo flows to the Amazon and is the main artery of transportation in the Ecuador Amazon basin. There are no roads after Coca, only boats of all kinds and footpaths that hug the shore of the Napo from Coca to Peru.

There were 4 of us in the group that were in La Selva together, a mother and grown daughter made up the rest of our group. Flying to Coca from Quito at 10am, then a motorized canoe to the La Selva hut on the Napo. From that hut we walked for 20 minutes on a narrow bamboo boardwalk, then another canoe ride, with paddles, no motor. The staff from the lodge carried our luggage, and we carried our backpacks. Yes, it was hot. Humid, too. But when we arrived there was a welcome drink and food before we were taken to our cabins. La Selva has a wonderful location, food, cabins and guides. The entire experience was fantastic! http://laselvajunglelodge.com/ for more information.

Prop plane that took us to Coca. I saw the wheels being lifted up after take off, a nice short half hour flight.

Our motorized canoe.

Our canoe at the dock at La Selva.

Napo River at the hut.

Along the Napo.

These very strange looking birds were abundant. Hoatzin.

La Selva provides rubber boots for all guests, required during jungle hikes. If you don't wear them you'll get chiggers. I found this out the hard way...

Our cabin.

The entire lodge is run by men, about 30 of them. They do all the cooking, cleaning, upkeep and do is very well.

My mosquito net. There weren't really many bugs, not as many as you would think. At any rate I put bug repellent on every day.

One of the stops on the Napo river where the Saturday market is located.

Back in the city of Quito.

2008-12-15T19:26:00.006-05:00

Ian and I have spent the last week in Quito, quite a change from the eastern slopes of the Andes. Walking around town is always a treat, the people and their activities are fascinating to me, I love photographing everything! Fortunately, I edited so here are just a few.

Tomorrow we fly to Coca then canoe for several hours to the Amazon basin to La Selva Lodge for more birding and back to nature. Ian has a possibility of seeing 400 life birds, just to put that in perspective there are only 345 he's ever seen in Mass.

We'll be back in Quito over the weekend, then bus or rent a car or private driver car out to Mindo, another birding town on the western slopes. The adventure continues...

Holding hands, walking arm in arm and just general affection with each other is very common in Ecuador, no matter how cool you are.

A young child patiently waiting for his Mom at an ATM machine.

Notices at the lavanderia near our hotel. Hoping my Spanish sounds better than their English.

Warning sign at the Teleferico.

More cool guys at the Teleferico.

We went up the mountain in the 6 person cable car with this family.

Slopes of Pichincha, the top of the Teleferico.

Birding. Ian found 2 lifers.

Volcan Pichincha.

View from our hotel, Rio Amazonas.

Inside our room.

More from our week in Quito

2008-12-15T19:15:00.005-05:00

Just a few more photos, if you can stand a few more :-)

Vegetarian rolls at a Thai restaurant, not very Ecuadorian...

Night view from our hotel room.

Plaza Foch and the hotel in the background I booked for our next stay in Quito. Nü House Hotel. As all roads lead back to Quito all hotels have a 'keep your bags until you get back' policy and we seem to always leave a bag or two. I've found some excellent deals on hotel rooms by booking with www.hotelscombined.com

We're eating very well, and not just fruit, but fruit makes the best pictures!

Artisan market.

Our bus to Mitad Del Mundo where we stand on the equator!!

Guango Lodge, Ecuador December 8, 2008

2008-12-15T13:30:00.003-05:00

Guango is the lovely sister lodge to San Isidro, we stayed for a night on the way back to Quito. We arrived by bus, but a much easier transfer as Guango Lodge is right on the main road, not set back several miles like San Isidro. Wonderful humming birds everywhere, the sword billed is incredible. Carmen's Mom, Senora Bustamente and Byron who is their Administrator, the position I had at San Isidro, were warm and charming.

http://cabanasanisidro.com/pages/guango_lodge.htm

Female Tourmaline Sunangel.

Tropical Birding Tour led by Nick.

The dining room and lounge area at Guango. Great food!

Senora Bustamente and Byron very kindly drove us back to Quito in their truck, along with Andre, a new friend we met at Guango. Andre works for the Rainforest Alliance in Ecuador, teaches hotel management and his English was excellent.

Another beautiful unknown to me plant.

Papallacta River flowing next to Guango.

Another view of Guango Lodge from the trails and river area.

Much enjoyed fireplace as it was cold and rainy outside.

Entrance to the lodge rooms and dining room area with fireplace.

Cows on their own strolling on the main road where we waited for our bus from San Isidro.

Waiting for the bus.

On the road again.

Our departure point of Cosanga on the way to Guango.

More San Isidro photos.

2008-12-12T21:02:00.004-05:00

Ian and I were fortunate enough to be at San Isidro for 16 days, an Andean cloud forest lodge I would highly recommend to anyone.

Another exquisite view, this one from the Mirador.

Entrance.

Playing pool our last day there with Maestro.

Inca Jay from my bedroom window.

Jungle bamboo.

Paula.

Tree tomato growing in the San Isidro greenhouse.

Maestro, a very trustworthy longtime member of San Isidro staff.

Pool in the Mirador with Carmen and Mitch's son and nephew.

Manana and Blogging, Nov 29

2008-12-10T15:34:00.001-05:00

More San Isidro Photos.

The children of San Isidro staff.

Agouti.

Sandra, my favorite of all the hard working people at San Isidro, with Patricia's 11 month old daughter, Paula.

Wilson and Marcelo talking birds.

Fawn-breasted Brilliant Hummingbird.

Jane and John at the hummingbird feeders.

Edgar, Maestro with Paula and Jose Maria.

It's manana and I still haven't made it to Baeza. I looked up manana
in my macbook dictionary and it means sometime in the future. Hummm,
gringo that I am I thought it meant tomorrow :-)

I've written and attached photos to about 4 blogs since I last had an
internet connection that could actually post them to my blog. I write
them as an email and save them in my drafts folder, but I'm not sure
how they will look when I send them to blogspot. I know the photo
captions disappear, but hopefully the text will remain. The dates may
not come out right. So if you eventually see them and the order is all
wrong you'll know why.

I'm sitting at the hummingbird feeders, under the shelter, and a
beautiful Watusa in Spanish, Agouti in English, has come to the edge
of the clearing to feed. So cool! A mammal about the size of a cat,
black short fur, long nose. I'll try and get a photo...

I did! I stayed very still about 20 feet away and he came back to eat
the hard corn left out for him. I can hear him crunching the corn with
his teeth, he eats like a squirrel holding the corn in his paws.
Another one came along by the path, and I got a photograph him/her,
too. I have an 18-200mm lens, but at times like this I'd like to have
a 300mm, at any rate I got some good pictures. I've been here for an
hour and he's still eating! I stood very still next to the hummingbird
feeders, they are such beautiful birds and I hear their humming at
high volume sitting here, there are at least a hundred of them flying
back and forth very busily in their hummingbird way. So much beauty
everywhere here in Ecuador.

One of the drivers was looking for me, didn't look at the feeders, he
said he could take me to the bus stop after lunch. If nothing else
comes up :-) Maybe manana is today!

First week in Cabanas San Isidro. Nov 28

2008-12-10T15:28:00.008-05:00

The cabin where Ian and I stayed, very comfortable, as are all the accommodations at San Isidro.

Dinning room at San Isidro.

Looking into the Mirador and Cabanas area.

Cock-of-the-Rock Trail.

The Log Trail.

Ian on the Antvireo trail.

Ian taking Louise and Hans, from Holland, birding on the trails.

Maurice, Maestro and Marcello keep San Isidro in good shape.

Hanging out in the Mirador.

The fun loving group of birders from Britain, led by Mark from BirdQuest www.birdquest.co.uk

Carmen has the red top and is standing next to Mark, who is holding paper.

Imelda preparing dinner.

Patricia, the head cook.

Lunch in the kitchen.

The dining room.

Written Friday, November 28th, 2008

I sit on my front porch in the sun, enjoying the warm and rain free day, birds singing everywhere in the lush vegetation. It's quiet this morning as the American Thanksgiving Birding Tour, led by Mitch, left at 5:30 this morning and the staff are all done with their work. No lunch today as the group took their own box lunches and won't return until dinner time, 7pm. These are hard core birders, a friendly group of 8, plus Mitch their leader, Ian now co-leader, and their driver.

Cabanas San Isidro, www.cabanassanisidro.com, is a wonderful place to work and to visit. Carmen, owner and jefe, is a charming woman who loves the rainforest and is very connected to her land and her people. All the guests I've met have loved it here, the cuisine is like dinning at a 5 star restaurant in Boston, and everyone is pleasant, friendly and wants you to feel comfortable. One of the goals of the lodge is to attract birders and other naturalists so that money raised from revenues paid to stay here can go towards buying more land for conservation. The grounds and trails are beautiful, with the main buildings on about 5 acres, surrounded by 2000 more acres. Buildings include a dinning room/kitchen next to Carmen and Mitch's home. The cabin where Ian and I stay is near the dining area. Down the road a bit are about 10 cabanas where the guests stay along with a beautiful Mirador common area for all to enjoy. This includes a terrace overlooking the mountains and the hummingbird feeders, a lounge area and a TV area (there are no TV's in the rooms). I've been here nearly a week and realized I haven't walked on a paved road in that time as all the paths are natural and add to the rainforest feel.

I love working here! When the buses arrive with the guests, and we never know for sure their arrival time, the staff yells the equivalent of "the plane, the plane!!" and we all dash up to the parking lot to greet them. Bags are taken and Patricia, the main woman who knows everything when Carmen isn't here, tells me which rooms go to which guests and I show them to their room. All have been English speaking, some Brits, some American, one Swede who spoke English. I tell them about the details of staying here, where to get filtered water, don't flush paper down the toilet, keys, and any laundry? If anything actually has to be done, like laundry, I tell the staff about it and they take care of it. So basically I'm the go between Spanish and English people. The guests are lovely and I enjoy talking to them and finding out where they are from, how their travels have been, etc.

I don't do anything at breakfast, I get up later than the 5 am eating time they choose. One group left the lodge at 4 am, they took their breakfast with them! Some days, like today, there is no lunch as they took box lunches. Dinner is every night at 7 pm and we've had as many as 18 to serve at one time. I check to see that the tables are properly set, turn on the music and get ready to fill orders for beer and wine, which the staff helps me with. I help bring in the food and set it in front of guests, there are always at least 3 courses, and there are oohs and aahhs over everything and questions to answer about ingredients. Carmen is a very talented chef, she puts flavors together in ingenious ways that has everyone wanting more. Sometimes I sit and eat with the guests if it's appropriate. I joined them last night for Thanksgiving dinner. Ian eats with 'his' group at every meal. Patricia is in charge of the kitchen and has been taught to replicate Carmen's recipes, which she does with great skill, I translate the menu for the guests. And eat it, too!! Best food ever, Ian also loves it. All dietary requests are accommodated, so our vegetarianism isn't a problem.

There are about 2 to 3 hours of work for me every day, spread out over meals and guests arrivals. Walking in the forest, talking to the guests when they aren't birding, reading and taking/editing/sorting through my photographs fill up the rest of my time. I was looking for any other projects I could help with and Carmen asked if I would like to help her with her cookbook. Everyone wants her recipes. So she's going to send me what she has written up and I'll make sure the English is correct, to the best of my ability, and take photographs to go with the recipes. A project that suits me well as I love taking photographs and food. And I like being productive. It's amazing how much time you have in a day when you don't have to do the food procuring, preparing, cleaning up or dealing with mail and grown up things.

Ian is in bird heaven. He has moved up to the position of assistant leader under Mitch and goes off in the bus with the group of 8 everyday. I'm told, by many different guests, that he's a great birder, very nice to be with and what a great son I have. Things I never get tired of hearing :-) He carries the scope, spots birds, makes sure people get on the birds and takes over when Mitch goes for a quick break. Not bad for a 17 year old who's been here such a short time. Ian is learning so much from Mitch, and considers him to be one of the best birders in Ecuador. Did we luck out or what??!!

Carmen said we could stay until December 27th, but I'm not sure what our plans are going to be. After this group leaves there are going to be less guests here and the new ones are bringing their own guide and driver, so not sure where that leaves Ian. Mitch heads back to his main home on Sunday, and Carmen left yesterday, I don't think we'll see them for a week or more.

It's 10:30 am on Friday and I'm attempting to go into town this morning to find an internet connection that can send photos. The driver will drop me off in Cosanga and I'll catch a bus there into Baeza, about 15 km away. All on my own! I'm looking forward to going to town, I may get a haircut even, and just to poke around and see something other than rainforest for a few hours. So if you are reading this and there are photos you know it worked!! ( It didn't work, I'm posting this nearly 2 weeks later :-)

...The driver went off with Mitch this morning, so no ride for me today. It's beautiful here, the best day yet, I have shorts and a tank top on, sunny and warm.

Maybe I'll get to town manana...

Waiting for a ride. Nov 21st, Friday.

2008-12-10T15:23:00.003-05:00

Gas station that took us in for the afternoon.

Beautiful Cosanga.

Waiting...

...more waiting :-)

Stalin and his little girl who loved playing with the beetle.

Very helpful and friendly family.

Later on during the rain, another bus like ours.

Gas is $1.40 a gallon here.

A very cool Hercules beetle, unfortunately can get $200 or more on the black market.

Someone from Yanayacu was supossed to pick us up when we arrived at
the very small town of Cosanga. There was a mix up and our driver was
nowhere to be be found and no phone number to reach him at. So we
waited, for 3 and a half hours, the same amount of bus time it took to
get there.

The gas station was run by a very friendly family and they
commiserated with us on our situation. Normally we would have paid a
local person with a car to take us the 7 km to the reserve, but
today everyone was at the Walk of the Virgin. The town was deserted
except for the gas station family and the occasional person getting
off the bus during the afternoon.

So we waited for a long time, then decided it would be helpful if Ian
walked to the reserve, so off he went for what turned out to be a 2
hour walk, mostly in the rain. I hung out with the family and made
friends, they showed me beetles and we talked about life in Ecuador.
Did you know there is no postal service, at all, in the countryside?
None. You don't ever get any mail, unless you have box in Quito, 3 1/2
hours away. Imagine not getting any bills, magazines, solicitations or
advertising. All bills are paid at the place of service, electric
company, etc.

It turned out to be a pleasant way to spend the afternoon, Jose
finally arrived and we met up with Ian, who had arrived at an empty
reserve with the friendly dog, around 6pm. In the rain.

Yanayacu for 1 night. Nov 25 post.

2008-12-10T15:00:00.003-05:00

A beautiful setting, the main dinning area and general hanging out place.

Our room the next morning, puppy on my bed. Ian

using the wifi in the the bedroom!

So sweet!

Our bedroom.

Exquisite moths.

Ian and Beans.

Boots for whoever needs them.

The Washing rock, laundry taken to a new level.

Originally we had thought to stay at Yanayacu for 3 to 4 weeks. We
only lasted one night.

Not many people staying here, only one other guest, the older Polish man, Jose who picked us up hours late, and a young woman who lived there.

They cooked us a dinner of pasta and vegetables, showed us to our room
which began a night not to forget!

The rain was relentless on the tin roof and extremely loud, but not
loud enough to drown out the Polish man who talked in his sleep all
night. The walls were a piece of plywood, only 1 piece, and he may as
well have been in the room with us. Ok, not too bad, we didn't need to
sleep anyway. At 4 am the puppy, sweetest puppy ever, started crying
under the building we were in, which was open to the elements. So I get
out my flashlight and poke around in the debris under the building,
find him and bring him back to our room. He was cold and shivering until
Ian put him on his bed and he fell fast asleep. The puppy, not us :-)

Our room was very spartan, only 3 beds, no curtains, lamps, tables of
any kind, just very bare. Did I mention spartan? But we had wifi all over the property. Breakfast, which was included in the $15 a day, was whatever we found in the kitchen, Jose
and friend made up a breakfast but didn't ask us to join them. So Ian
and I ate some really good bananas. The view was lovely.

When I asked about a washing machine I was told they had a rock. See
photo of the washing rock, it's nice, flat and big.

We decided to walk the 3 km to the Cabinas San Isidro that we passed
on the way to Yanayacu, the only other place between us and the town
of Cosanga. Turns out to be the best thing we could have done. We met
5 other birders right away and Ian took off on their bird filled
trails looking for birds.

But the most amazing part is that Carmen, the lovely owner of this
birding lodge, offered us a room and meals in exchange for helping out
with administration. We had lunch that Saturday, went back to Yanayacu
and told them we were moving up in the world and would no longer be
staying there. We've been here 3 nights and I love it!!! I do miss the
puppy and the internet service, but it's so nice to be meeting birders
from all over the world who are also having a wonderful time.

The bus ride to Cosanga, Ecuador. Nov 21st

2008-12-10T14:55:00.001-05:00

Waiting for the bus in back of the main building.

Our bus stopping to let people off to get some food.

Roadside food lady, the potato pancakes were great!

Inside our bus, typico scene.

Paramo, the landscape at high elevations above the trees.

An awful accident, later we were told 7 people died.

Hanging out on the bus.

Elevation around 6000 feet.

Dropped off at Cosanga, now all we need is a ride to the lodge 7 km away...

Friday, November 21st, 2008

I was sad to leave the city of Quito and our plush hotel room, but Ian
was antsy to get to Yanayacu. He stayed in good humor during our week
in the city, but the low bird count was nearly more than he could
handle :-)

Another hair raising, no seat belt taxi ride took us to the main bus
station where buying a bus ticket is an event in itself. Pushy men
accosted us in loud voices demanding to know where we were going and
telling us we needed to buy our tickets from them. We chose a man who
said the bus was leaving at 11 am, and it was 11 am, so we gave him
money, overpaid it turned out, he rushed us to the back of the station
and flagged down our bus for us. And the journey began.

We didn't get the newest bus, but it was nice enough, had a TV in the
front with Jurassic Park playing full blast in Spanish. You know
you're in South America when you're hurling down a jungle road with
the sounds of people screaming Rapido! Rapido! and dinosaurs roaring.

You don't need to bring food on the bus, because every 15 minutes or
so vendors hop on the bus, walk up and down the isle and sell all
kinds of food: fruit, brownies wrapped in cellophane, homemade potato
chips (which I bought and were good). There was also a stop to get off
and buy food, the photo of the woman with the vats of potatoes and
meat. I got off but didn't notice that I had taken too long and the
bus was leaving. Apparently Ian had to tell the bus driver to wait for
me, I came running and wasn't left behind. But Ian was mad.

Nice scenery, Ian saw a Condor. There was an awful accident that
blocked traffic for miles, a huge truck ran over/into? 2 small cars,
nasty. 3 and a half hours later we were dropped off in Cosanga, one
gas station, 5 building town.
We enjoyed the ride, lots to look at in the bus and out.

December 2, Tuesday 9am

2008-12-02T11:18:00.002-05:00

This is day 18 in Ecuador, a beautiful country. We've met many
Americans who visited 20 or 30 years ago and never returned home. I
can see why, the people are friendly and helpful, the weather is
perfect and the landscape is stunning.

My Spanish is improving greatly, I still sound like a gringo, but I
can get my ideas across to the staff fairly easily. They call me
Senora, or La Senora, and I know most of their names, about 12 to 15
people, some shy, all very hard workers. They don't have access to
cameras, so I've been taking their photos and they have been eager to
see them on my macbook. Before I leave I'll have them pick their
favorites and send them real paper photographs. The baby is especially
preciosa. Some meals I take with them in the kitchen and listen to
their stories.

Yesterday a new guest from England arrived, Chris, who is an avid
birder and extremely well traveled. Even the Himalayas to find certain
birds, and he's here with his guide to find 4 or 5 specific species.
Ian befriended him so this morning at 5am the 3 of them took off in
search of the elusive birds. Today we have a couple arriving before
lunch. It's always fun to meet the new people and see what they're
about. This job is like having guests to your home but not having to
do the work of cooking or cleaning. I enjoy making people feel at
home, finding out about them and taking care of requests, such as "Do
you have a pair of rubber boots, size 42?" I ask the staff and they
get them for the guest.

I've tried to find an internet connection that will send photos, but
so far no luck. I even went so far as to take a bus to another town,
but the internet cafe didn't know how to hook up my macbook to their
internet and neither did I. Ian wasn't with me. I logged onto their
computers to check my email and let Joe know we're fine. I may walk
the half hour to Yanayacu, known around here as Harold's place, and
try their wifi again. I just need to get back here in time for lunch
and it's been a bit rainy this morning. Maybe I'll do it after lunch.
This where the manana stuff kicks in...

Just wanted to let people know Ian and I are doing well. Ian has seen
over 320 species of birds in our short time here, his yearly count of
species in MA is about 310. I love the incredible variety of birds,
very colorful, exotic and they have lovely songs. The Antpittas that
live here are very darling little ground birds that are given extra
worms by the lodge and fairly tame. Photos to come.

You can check out the lodge's web site at www.cabinasanisidro.com

San Isidro Adventure

2008-12-02T09:17:00.002-05:00

This photo should be at the end of the post, not the beginning...

Sunday, November 30th. We're at Cabanas San Isidro on the Eastern slope of the Andes.

I made it into the town of Baeza yesterday, but was not able to hook
up my laptop to the available internet connection, even with lots of
help from the young girl who worked there. So, I'll keep writing
because it keeps me sane, and others may read it someday, or not.

Bus rides in Ecuador are a bit scary. I don't hear of many ending up
over the cliffs, but the drivers do not inspire confidence. On the way
back to Cosanga, the driver was flirting with a young lady in tight
clothes and high heels that shared the driving area with him. He
passed a large cement truck on a winding road that he thought was too
slow. I thought it was a perfect speed for both of them. We came to a
single lane bridge with another bus heading for it too coming from the
opposite direction. Neither bus slowed down and met on the bridge
windshield to windshield, inches away from touching! This time the
entire group of passengers in our bus inhaled at once in a big
oooohhh, in Spanish. So I guess this wasn't a common occurrence, they
said nothing about the crazy passing of the cement truck.
Turned out our bus driver was the more macho, and the other bus had to
back up.

To add more excitement the bus TV was playing a Bruce Willis movie,
loudly in Spanish, with a chase scene of Bruce driving a tractor
trailer through freeway underpasses, LA?, while a stealth bomber was
flying low trying to annihilate him. Great sound track when you're on
the bus in the mountains of Ecuador! Maybe the action movies are there
to distract you from knowing when you careen off the road into the
great beyond, you'll just think it's the movie.

The guests that have been here for a week left this morning. Breakfast
at 5:30 and I joined them to say good bye. It's sad to see a group
depart, I get attached to a few of them, and then they are gone. We
exchanged emails and as they are birders we may see them again, very
nice Americans.

Ian went with them, and will have to find his way back to San Isidro
on his own, on a public bus. He's used to the groups private bus, but
decided to give it a try, he didn't want to miss today's birding. The
staff will all leave this morning as we have no other guests until
tomorrow, so I'll hold the fort down on my own. There will be one
other person around to take care of the grounds. No fancy meal
tonight, I'll be fending for us with whatever I can whip up from the
kitchen.

I miss Joe. I liked it much better when we were able to Skype every
evening when we were in Quito, but I haven't talked to him in over a
week. Skype is great, when we have a high speed internet connection we
can see each other on our laptops and speak in real time, so cool, and
there is no extra charge above the usual internet connection. Great
technology.

Here's a photo of the American birding group that Mitch led as they
were on their way back to Quito. I asked them to gather together for a
group photo, but some birds flew overhead and distracted them. Typico
behavior for birders! Ian's on the far right.

An amazing development!

2008-11-22T17:23:00.003-05:00

Ian and I arrived safely at Yanayacu biological reserve yesterday, but my was it primitive! That I expected, well maybe not quite such basic facilities, but there weren't any people staying here except for us and a rather keep to himself Polish man.

The bus ride was 3 and a half hours and vendors hoped onto the bus every 15 minutes to sell us something. Pleasant and entertaining.

Ian and I visited the San Isidro Lodge 3 km away this morning and really liked it and were contemplating jumping ship and staying there. Turns out the owner, Carmen, needed someone who spoke English and Spanish to take her place while she left town for awhile and asked if I'd do it in exchange for room and board. YES!! I am so excited to be moving there, they are coming to pick me and Ian up in a few minutes, but there is no internet connection there. It's a lovely lodge, one of the finest in Ecuador with excellent cuisine. Yes, cuisine, not the banana we had for breakfast here at Yanayacu.

We are both very excited, we met many birders over lunch today and I had a crash course for 2 hours on how the place is run and now I'll go to it. Can you believe it?? Amazing to me, that's for sure. I'll get to play hostess and help people have fun. Carmen said we could stay as long as we wanted and gave us a lovely 2 bedroom 1 bath bungalow to stay in.

Ian already took a group on a birding expedition this afternoon, he's in his element and loving it!!

No photos as they are too slow to download, but I'll be back...

I'll miss getting the comments and the connection to all of you.

Old Town Quito, Ecuador

2008-11-20T18:28:00.010-05:00

The things we saw today! (as in on Mulberry street), everywhere Ian and I went had another surprise for us.

Tomorrow we leave for Yanayacu Biological Reserve in the Andes rain forest, so this is the end of any city photos for while.

The Lavanderia. The day started with dropping off our laundry at the local hole in the wall.

5 pounds of laundry washed, dried and folded for $1.80. No need to own your own washing machine here.

Walking through the Parque El Ejido we came upon a comedian doing a show to a large group of laughing fans.

Street vendors and fresh fruit are everywhere.

There was a huge peaceful protest by university students that stopped traffic and took over the street for a mile.

Culturo authentico.

Iglesia de la Basillica do Voto National.

Not sure why someone parked their car halfway into the store???

Wonderful babies everywhere being held instead of in a stroller or baby carrier.

The main attraction is this plaza, a must see in the tour books.

A communal lunch in a very popular vegetarian restaurant. If there is a free chair, the next in line gets it, so we ate with other people. Two women we met said they commute an hour a half each day to work! Lunch cost $2 for the complete meal of the day: soup, main dish and dessert and was delicious.

La Ronda, a famous street featured in "The Week".

La Ronda above and below, very picturesque.

More street vendors, this time with fresh coconuts, yummmm.

The Military College.

Not sure what kind of internet will await us at our next stop, and we are going to be there for a month. I know it's not going to be anything like the hotel we've been in the last 6 days! Here's what the directions to the reserve had to say: The bus is only $3 for a 4 hour trip... ask the driver to make sure you get off where you are supposed to... walk for an hour ... look for Jose... the dog is friendly...

A hike to the Forest

2008-11-19T22:40:00.010-05:00

Ian was feeling better this morning, so we climbed the steep streets to the forest we can see from our hotel. The day was warm and sunny, Ian even got a bit of a sunburn. I'm having such a great time finding interesting things to photograph, a city teaming with life.

Not sure if executives would be eating here, but a good price for lunch: $1.60.

Basic Spanish here: bread, milk and eggs. My Spanish has improved markedly every day, I can get my point across in most situations.

The entrance to the eucalyptus forest, or Parque Metropolitan, and the sign to announce it.

My favorite subject :-)

My first Bromeliad in Ecuador, I'm sure to see many more.

After an hour and a half hike to the top of this hill/mountain we came upon many school children laughing and playing. We think it may have been multiple field trips judging from the buses.

After a roller coaster of a taxi ride (I had my eyes closed for some of it) we visit the gardens at Hotel Quito were we may stay at a later date. See Ian's blog for his take on the taxi ride!

Hotel Quito dinning room on the 7th Floor for a fancy lunch.

View from dinning room.

More Quito views.

The mall where the MegaMaxi supermarket is located. The Spanish translation for food court.

A pretty girl doing a food demo at the mall.

Food, lodging and other details

2008-11-18T12:13:00.010-05:00

Ian's not feeling too well today, very weak and a sore throat, chills so I went out for supplies in the morning. So far today I've been posting to the blog and Ian's been sleeping a lot and watching Myth Busters on Discovery in English about sea sickness. Appropriate.

The entrance to this gigantic supermarket/department store. The guard told me no photos in the store, too bad as it was all fascinating!

Entrance to the shopping center that has the entrance to the MegaMaxi. I had no idea there was a market here on the second floor, just thought I'd take a look inside the building.

Don't really know what this is, but a helpful fellow shopper said I could eat it like a kiwi. On the receipt it rang up as pitahaya granel. Looking it up on the internet I think it may be Dragon Fruit. Anyone know for sure?

The cheese empanadas that Ian loves, warm from the oven, 5 for $2.63.

3 Kiwis for .77 cents. Papaya .63 cents. The peach nectar, Durazno here in Ecuador, Melacoton in Spain, in the carton is $1.52. The Miami Herald International Edition is at our door in the mornings, nice touch. The grocery bag on the right is to show that they are advertising biodegradable bags and asking people to clean up... it's your planet.

The lobby of the Sheraton, our timeshare, very luxurious and spacious. This

will be the best lodging of our whole trip and we are thoroughly enjoying it!

The Sheraton, white building with small black windows, from our bus stop.

How we managed to pull off a 2 month trip to Ecuador:

First off you need a loving, supportive husband who thinks it's a good thing for his son and wife to broaden their horizons by experiencing life in another country. And who supports his son's birding passion.

Then you plan ahead. Years ago we moved all of our spending to one milage accumulating

credit card, which I hope is still solvent.

To get the most milage points charge everything you can on it, but this only works if you pay off

your balance every month and don't spend more than you have. Hmm,

maybe our government could take a lesson here.

So we were able to fly to Quito on our miles/points we have

accumulated for many years on our credit card. For our first week in Quito we used a

timeshare we traded into from one we own in Orlando. So that's 2 big

expenses minimized right off the bat.

On Friday Ian and I travel by bus, $4 one way for each of us, to

Yanayacu and volunteer there for about a month. The charge for our

stay there is $15 a day for each of us and includes 3 meals a day. Not sure I can feed and shelter the 2 of us in MA for that little.

Here in Quito we've found the food to be extremely cheap and most of

it is grown locally. So far with one meal out and buying produce and fresh bread at the market we are getting by on less than $20/day. This is a no car rental trip, which has been great so far! I've enjoyed not having to navigate a unfamiliar city and I see so much more by walking and taking the bus. We're getting lots of exercise and saving money.

So you don't have to have gobs of money to travel in Ecuador!

Another side benefit, for me, is that I am a tall person here. Everyone my age or older is quite a bit shorter than I am and it's very refreshing.

Exploring the city of Quito, day 2.

2008-11-17T21:08:00.007-05:00

A father and daughter enjoying the day together.

We joined the infamous South American Explorers Club today, see Ian's blog for a more in depth explanation on today's outings. Let's just say tonight's blogging didn't go very smoothly for me...

Women are seen everywhere carrying heavy loads on their heads, then selling their goods.

So you know I really am here :-)

The gun toting police Ian referred to.

The wonderful Jugo bars.

Bull art installations all over the city!

A church and another art Bull.

Great vegetarian restaurant where we had so much good food for $6.55!

Ian's veggie burger.

School kids in uniform, all over the city at about 2pm.

The volcano, same one as yesterday from another location.

Our First Day in Quito, Ecuador

2008-11-16T20:17:00.023-05:00

We had a lovely day in Quito, warm, sunny and so many interesting things to see! I took photos of some of the more unusual, as well as what is ordinary to the people who live here, but not to us.

The bus stop was across the street from our hotel and took us the new town area of Quito, where we were hoping to join the South American Explorers Club, but they were closed. It turns out that most places are closed on Sunday, but the people were in the park with their families and attending sporting and musical events. A bus ride is 25 cents, a bargain even if there was standing room only.

Very modern bus stops with protection against the weather and it's own center traffic lane.

The bus stop from afar.

Waiting for the bus.

The park were we spent a good part of our day, Ian birding, me people watching and checking out the vendor's stalls.

The view of Pichincha Volcano, a landmark from most places in Quito.

Chess in the park.

Ian and his new camera.

Ecuadorians eat a lot of fruit and there are stalls selling fresh juice everywhere. 50 cents a glass.

Looking up a bird the Birds of Ecuador book.

Many families out and about.

Vendors, too. It didn't look like too many people were buying, but they come to the park every Saturday and Sunday.

This is the equivalent of our CVS, but open to the outdoors.

Lunch outside.

At first I thought this was a car dealership and wondered why there was a shotgun toting policeman in front of it. Turns out it was a casino, the only one we saw and in a retail area.

I watched this man walking along in front of us shaking his can of spray paint, and then suddenly he was defacing this clean white wall. No one stopped him, and I didn't think it was my place to say anything :-)

They are more up front about the dangers of smoking. Ian found this on the sidewalk.

A surprise to me to see a Friday's restaurant in this setting.

Two Days To Go...

2008-11-13T18:50:00.015-05:00

2 days to go before Ian and I leave out of Logan at 11am and end up in Quito, Ecuador at 10pm, stopping in Miami along the way. Ecuador is on the same time zone as we are and uses the same currency, American dollars, and the same electric current/plugs. The days are the same all year round as it's on the equator, sunrise at 6am and sunset at 6pm. But what really is driving this trip is the incredible diversity of plants and wildlife. Ian's been wanting to go explore Ecuador for it's birds for at least 3 years, and I'm happy to go explore with him.

There are approximatly 1600 different species of birds in Ecuador, we have around 800 on the North American continent. In the 2 months we're there we should be able to add many to Ian's life list.

I wanted to get some practice posting before we actually have photos of Ecuador, so here are some random images... some are Ecuador related...

This has been an excellent book, especially for those who are not going the luxury route, like us.

My handy dandy small Sony T-100 camera that I can put in my pocket, much easier to carry around than my other one.

Ian had his 17th Birthday on Saturday, and a haircut to get ready for Ecuador.

Things are very inexpensive in Ecuador, much is priced at a dollar and it's recommended to have single bills. Taxi rides are 2 dollars across town. Buses are $1 per hour, 4 hour ride is $4 and that will be our first venture out of the capital, Quito to Yanayacu. So Janet told me about going to the bank to get a stack of brand new dollar bills as they will take up less room and look how flat they are!

The flashlights are LED and last 160 hours with a small replaceable flat battery.

Some of the equipment Ian will be bringing with him. His brand new Canon, binoculars, but the scope is staying home. Before haircut that Joe gave him.

Another magnificent tree in Manomet.

Squirrel clutching his midsection, kinda how I'm feeling trying to get everything packed and organized...

The squirrel feeder Ian won from the Wilderness Society in a photography contest. Not sure why anyone needs a squirrel feeder ???

The end of summer at the cottage.

Predeparture

2008-11-10T17:47:00.009-05:00

The last week of the Fall banding season at Manomet, great crew this year!

Ian has worked every weekday from sunup to sunset as of August 15th, living in the dorms above the banding station with the other banders. His last day is November 14th and we leave for Quito, Ecuador on Saturday, November 15th.

Evan, Mark and Sasha banding birds.

Cardinal being banded.

Linnea banding.

Ian banding a Blue Jay.

Vinebrook Road, Manomet

Joe took 2 days off for Veterans Day and we're at the cottage getting ready to move things back to Medford so we can close the place down for the winter. Anything left behind must be OK being frozen until Spring.

I only have 4 more days before departure and things are coming together. General plans and destinations are in place including the first week in Quito followed by forays to the Eastern Andean slopes, the Western Andean slopes, and the Amazon basin. Ian and I have been shot with immunizations for Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A, and Typhoid because of our time in the Amazon basin near the border of Peru. Ian has arranged for us to volunteer at the

The Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS) adjacent to the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve in equatorial western Amazonia. Being there means direct contact with the greatest concentration of species diversity on Earth. This project has been developed by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in collaboration with Boston University principally for research, education and conservation.

The first month we will be volunteering at Yanayacu Biological Station & Center for Creative Studies Cosanga, Napo Province, North-eastern Ecuador, South America which can be found at

http://www.yanayacu.org/

Susan and Barbara's visit to the cottage

2008-09-30T19:16:00.014-04:00

Susan and I on a beautiful September day. Photograph by Barbara.

Barbara and Susan at low tide on White Horse Beach

Barbara still looking great.

White Horse Beach, Plymouth, MA

Such good friends!

A happy day for all of us.

Happy, happy :-)

Barbara working before relaxing on the deck.

Very yummy, thanks Susan!

Just saw this on a card today: party until he looks cute...

The view of Bartlett Pond