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.
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...
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