Jane and John at the hummingbird feeders.
Edgar, Maestro with Paula and Jose Maria.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
