Monday 23 Jan 2012

Got up at 6 am to do last of packing up for 7:30 departure to La Hesperia - decided to wear wellies (or just for you, Mike T - willies) rather than lightweight hiking boots as too bulky to pack. We picked up Anya and then Monika dropped us off at a bus terminal to buy us our tickets and to let them know to let us off at 58 km for La Hesperia.

We loaded our backpacks and took our hand luggage into two front (allocated) seats and then hoped we would either be let off at the right place or see the sign for 58 km at the right time! Best-laid plans: 15 minutes into the journey, the conductor then asked us for our ticket (Monika had told us we'd be handed them on the coach) - so, in a panic, pathetically (!) we rang Monika so we could figure out what to do next (there had been such a quick departure, and we didn't know if there was supposed to be a next bus or anything, or what terminal and where it was that we boarded), and tried to get her to explain that we had already paid but didn't have a ticket! That worked, the second time we rang Monika and was able to get the two talking together!

We did wonder, when the coach stopped at a large bus terminal, whether we were supposed to get out or not, but it didn't make sense that we'd be put onto a bus that then stopped at another terminal for us to change onto another bus so we decided to stick with it. We descended (another ear-popping journey), around massive hair-pin bends - the swaying of the bus as it took them was something to experience! It's a good thing I'm not prone to motion-sickness! Some of the hairpin bends were a complete 180 degrees too and they were so long you could anticipate (i.e., see) them well in advance before the bus got to it.

The seats were comfortable and larger than for the bus to Otavalo and reclined (not sure how far, but they had large folding footstools in front (except for the very front seats). The luggage went under, which was a relief as I had wondered how the buses worked after using them in Quito and to Otavalo. After about a couple of hours, or so, on the bus, Anya managed to spot the 50km sign but wasn't sure if it meant distance or maximum speed. Anyway, luckily, the driver came out a few minutes later to let us know our stop was coming up soon, so we staggered our way to the front and was let off with all our luggage (the conductor had to jump back into the coach pretty sharpish as the coach was starting to pick up speed).

I left Anya guarding our stuff whilst I investigated a promising stone building - we had been told that we were to cross the (busy!) road and go through an arch where we were to leave our backpacks and walk up a path takes 10 minutes by jeep but 30 minutes on foot. There wasn't anyone in the building through the arch but just as we wondering what to do, a guy came and basically said we could leave our backpacks and it would be brought up and we were to walk up.

We slogged our way up a very steep, rocky single track road, with the roar of the nearby river and the trickle of a small waterfall. The path was pretty steep especially when you're carrying a heavy daypack, shoes strapped to the outside, and a large shoulder bag. It was hot, especially when you´re wearing two layers of jumpers (Quito, not surprisingly, had had a very light rain in the morning. It's a bit like being at home - always discussing the weather!). Further up the path, we could hear tweeting and chirping of birds (but they weren't visible).

We gradually made our way up and was encouraged by a guy running down who asked us if we were new, and that we were almost there. We got ourselves to a house and was assigned our beds and chatted Deanna, another volunteer with whom we´d be sharing the room and who gave us some general information, although our official orientation would take place the following day. We were fed lunch and watched the afternoon tasks being assigned. and a vote taken on what lectures would be given tomorrow afternoon (food and ecodiversity), which happens every Tuesday. Then we helped out in the vegetable garden - weeding, hoeing and planting seeds (beetroot and something else, we didn't really know what! Spinach?).

Then dinner and a cold shower! I had known about the cold showers, but it´s a different thing knowing it and experiencing it! It´s not particularly tropical, either, so although it can be refreshing - that comes later! From conversation with Anya, I realised that I'd been spoiled at Monika's, having had a hot shower pretty much all my time at hers. One good thing about the cold shower, though, is that I felt warm after, when I put on my clothes back on! Must be the reason people go swimming in Hyde Park in all weathers - the relief and the warmth afterwards almost makes it worthwhile, but I don't think I'm going to convert to cold showers when I get home…

The reserve at night is full of sounds of different insects and lots of butterflies and moths (not to mention, beetles, mosquitos and other insects) fluttering around your mosquito net. I´m glad I brought one - had to hang it up myself (don´t know if they had any spares or not) and the tip about bring duct tape, was very useful!

Tuesday 24 Jan 2012

This morning we macheted around the yuca (a tuber very like potato and yam) plants - something that sounds more impressive than it was. Macheting was inefficient for the weeds - the blade gets blunt very quickly (I have previous experience with cutting things down with a machete - don't ask!) and this wasn't any different - it was actually easier pulling them out at least half of the time!

Then we planted some tangarea seeds (which looked like large smooth pebbles) into plastic bags to be planted in the tree nursery - it's the tree that they primarily use for reforestation in the reserve.

In our lecture about food and ecodiversity in Ecuador, we learnt about the different foods important to Ecuador's different regions/common foods. It was here that I learnt that in the Amazon/Oriente region, the delicacy is humming bird on a stick, like having a kebab! Having a liking for hummingbirds, I feel a bit horrified about this, but as I don't understand what food choices there are, I can't really judge but it does seem a bit of a pity…

It pretty much rained all afternoon and into the early evening, including dinnertime, after which I decided I would shower before it got too late - it gets dark about 6:30/7:00 and I also didn't want to leave it too late, in case I got very cold. Having a cold shower when you're already cold doesn't hold much appeal, somehow! However, in the middle of my shower, the light went off - it was a power cut - and I had to finish my (cold!) shower in the dark, groping for my toiletries and flip flops. Because I'd had to hang everything carefully up before showering, I was able to remember where my different articles of clothing were so I was able to dress in the dark without dropping everything onto the wet floor. I did feel, at one stage, though, that I was doing a very good impression of the Karate Kid when he had one leg bent and both arms high in some sort of karate style (though mine were grasping my trousers, trying to keep the bottoms off the ground!)

Went to sleep a bit early since we had no power and I didn't want to overuse either of my LED torches (headtorch and a hanging one) to the sound of pounding rain and the fluttering of some trapped moth in the room.

Wednesday 25 Jan 2012

We woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine, which I gathered was a trifle unusual and so was doubly appreciated. This morning my assigned task was to clear the raised beds in the vegetable garden (there were 4 of us) and I felt I needed to put on sunfactor (it was that hot though I kept my thin jumper on for fear of getting more bites - so far, I am averaging at least 3 to 4 new ones a day). It was the first time that I've put on my sunhat from home. We were expecting a group of schoolkids from Quito to turn up but they were delayed due to the heavy rain having caused some landslide not far from us. They wanted a volunteer to help shepherd them up a hike and since no one wanted to, I decided to and it was decided that I would get called I was needed, but otherwise to carry out my assigned task of weeding the vegetable garden. However, I was required at all to help out with them.

The afternoon task was to plant more seeds, a not too strenuous task. Being a Wednesday, we apparently finish at 4:00 pm to play football. This has been between the volunteers or staff vs volunteers, although the volunteers outnumber the staff willing to play. Despite an unwillingness on my part, I did participate and it was more enjoyable than I would have thought, even in the light rain, and in wellies! I even tackled people a few times and tried to head the ball twice! Me, who hates watching football, listening to endless discussions about football, and who couldn't care twice about the off-side rule!

As we've been told that alternate Fridays are hike or travel days, and this coming Friday is a travel day, Anya and I decided we need to go back to Quito. We plan to see the Old Town and to get further supplies including doing some laundry at a friendly lavenderia. At a lavenderia, your washing is paid for by the kilogram, and as we have to do laundry by hand in cold water (not necessarily a problem), However, being in the rainforest, things don't necessarily dry thoroughly unless you get a sunny day like the Wednesday just gone (that is a problem!). However, I'm not looking forward to the steep walk back up to the reserve, with clean laundry and more supplies (snacks, possibly more toiletries, paper to organise Spanish lessons, soap for laundry, etc)…

Thursday 26 Jan 2012

We spent the morning planting young trees in the cloudforest, after hiking up for about an hour. We worked in pairs and my other partner in crime was Jonas (an intern - German, who´s doing a Uni project), who valiantly macheted his way up and down the cloudforest, clearing the way and marking where the 14 trees (we were supposed to plant 15 per pair, but one "plug bag" didn't have a young tree growing) were to go. My job was to plant the trees, slipping and sliding my way up and down (downslope from the path was particularly steep, especially as Jonas has bigger steps than me, being about six foot tall!) using one of those hole digger tools that are also used for putting in fence posts. Although I planted them in good time, Jonas being a champion machete wielder (not necessarily the same for the other pairs), I wouldn't say that I can now put in fence posts!

We also came across two puppies, which initially caused some consternation as the guide wasn't sure if they belonged to hunters, so we had to keep quiet every now and then to see if we could hear anyone else around. However, the consensus was that the dogs must either have been abandoned or got lost from their mother. The cuter blond puppy has ended up being adopted.

The afternoon was much easier and it seems I wasn't needed to help with shepherding the schoolkids but instead helped out in the tree nursery , sorting them out and "transplanting" from one bed to another and preventing them from taking root through the plastic growbags, weeding them out as well as picking out the dud ones which hadn't germinated.

Friday 27 January 2012 - Free day/travel day!

Free day! Anya, Chris and I got up early to leave before breakfast, planning to walk down the steep path for 6:30 to try and catch a 7:00 bus back to Quito, for laundry (to get stuff washed and dried) and supplies, but mostly laundry!Hand washing with cold water and soap in a humid climate has its limitations, especially when you're travelling light! As it had taken us nearly three hours to get to La Hesperia, we decided we needed an early start to get to Quito in good time for all the things we needed to do before meeting up with Marcus and Axel, who were still at the Spanish school.

We set off on time and just missed a bus and had to wait for 20 minutes for the next one (not the 10 minutes we'd been told in Quito), although a local man and woman seemed to be trying to tell us that we couldn't catch a bus from what looked like a bus stop shelter. As we couldn't see another bus stop in sight, however, we hung on tight, especially as Chris was insistent that we could get a bus there (and Alexandra of La Hesperia had indicated that we could).

The guy who had been trying to tell us something about the buses, hailed down the next bus, which was headed to Quito, and we got on and managed to squeeze ourselves into some seats. However, about an hour or so into the journey, overtaking two to three lanes of trucks and heavy goods vehicles (I'm sure it's only a single or dual carriageway!), we came to a standstill, for no discernible reason. We could see the whole road was choc-a-bloc with trucks and coaches up the hairpin bends and nothing was moving or coming back the other way. We eventually made slow progress up the road and were able to see what the delay had been - my fellow passenger pointed out a digger to me through the window: they had had to clear another landslide off the road. I asked if this was normal and he said no, but thankfully, that was the limit of the conversation. As we were a bit hungry, we also bought breakfast from one of the people that come aboard, selling stuff: we could just smell that it was hot and fried and bought a bit blind - a bag of white cooked white corn (very common in Ecuador), with banana chips, fried plantain and fried meat for $1.50, of which I liked the meat (there was a great deal of it) and the banana chips, but not the corn and plantain, but Anya took the plantain. It can be quite interesting watching the hawkers - you get some that give you a 5 minute speech, handing stuff round and getting them back or payment, and some of them then proceed to give another 5 minute (thanks?) speech after!

We arrived at a big terminal and I made the mistake (?) of asking whether there was another bus terminal that the bus went to, which was more central into Quito and nearer La Mariscal, and was gestured back onto the bus. We uncertainly got back on (and were charged an extra $1). I was on tenterhooks all through the journey, especially as the others had been hoping to get a bus from the terminal, and I wondered if we´d got us into trouble! But I thought how hard can it be understand centro de Quito and cercaI (near) La Mariscal? It didn´t look good, though, as the bus seemed to totally bypass Quito, not made better by being asked by Chris a few times, whether I knew where we were and where we were going! I was slightly reassured when I asked the girl next to me whether the bus was going to central Quito, which we finally reached at 12:45!

We booked into a hostel recommended by Deanna, and which was opposite the one used by Fiona, only about a block or two away from Plaza Foch, in a 6 bed dorm, which had large lockable lockers and WiFi (but which my netbook stubbornly refused to connect to - the troubles I've had with WiFi, it's not funny). As the hostel also did laundry (standard and express), we handed in our clothes and asked for express (2 hours) and then went off to do our various chores and supplies, managing on the way, to find where we wanted to go for dinner with Marcus and Axel: a Thai restaurant not too far from the Internet café we usually frequent. Today, however, they unceremoniously (nd uncharacteristically expelled us from, it) five minutes before they shut, at 5 pm, due to lack of cover.

The Thai restaurant was fine but my green curry was more like a Chinese than a Thai, there wasn´t a great deal of coconut milk, as you would have got at home - I'm finding that's not uncommon, that the Indian curry dish tastes different from home, etc.

Fridays for Ecuadorians seems to be their fiesta time: you can see them all out on the streets from about 3 pm and Plaza Foch can get really busy-looking; this particular Friday, all the girls seemed to be very dressed up, ready to party.

After the restaurant, we went to the salsa bar (got asked to dance by two guys and managed to avoid understanding being asked to dance by a third guy who was trying to catch anyone's attention and refused a fourth...) However, when the two main guys I'd danced with wanted to start to get to know me (in a loud club!), I decided it was time to get back to the hostel - I just want to dance! Anya elected to stay later, and returned back to the club after walking me home, though she says she wandered around for 20 minutes trying to find it again!

Saturday 29 Jan 2012

Went to Old Town by bus as Anya hadn't been before and got off at Simon Bolivar, which stopped at Parque Almeda. There was a parade of some sort, which we later found out was commemorating a President who was assassinated 100 years ago, and who was dragged and burned in the park. There seemed to be a huge turnout and a lot of the streets were closed, including one of the three main bus city routes. We wandered around a bit and had a massive set lunch or almuerzo for $2: rice, a big bit of fried chicken, salad, chips (with a side of mayonnaise) and a weird-composite juice, but got a bit diverted by all the goings-on and didn't get to do much sightseeing. From a guide at La Mitat del Mundo, we found out that some ministers from other Latin American countries as well as the current president were due to attend, although we didn't stay for that even though we followed the procession/was in it, a ways.

Sunday 30 Jan 2012

Had a leisurely morning as things are pretty much closed on a Sunday, so we had did a bit of people watching before getting the bus back, especially as we worried about it taking too long to get back in the dark, up the steep 30-minute incline, with all our additional supplies, and possibly in the rain (it always seems to rain in the afternoon, if there's a preference). Only the bars/restaurants, coffee bars and lavenderias seemed to be open, bar one camping shop.

We made it back in good time by bus. We had a very light rain up the hill - it really does take 30 minutes slogging non-stop up the hill - but it then rained really hard later and I was glad that we'd beat en it (we got to La Hesperia in about 2 hours by bus, from the Quitumbe terminal).

Monday 30 January 2012

This morning we were all helping to clear the paths of new-ish planted tangarea trees, clearing either side of them with machetes, being careful of not macheting the previously plantedtangarea trees!

It was hard, slippery work but quite satisfying! I had to use both hands to machete the thicker stems and very occasionally used my left hand, especially as I could feel the hands right palm rubbing (in fact, a blister started to develop but didn't quite inflate up into a blister). I slipped a number of times on the steep slope after swinging with force and losing my balance, and once I hit my knee with the machete near the handle. Luckily, it's not sharp there but I will probably get a bruise! Also, stupidly cut myself on the left hand when I clumsily slid it across the top of my hand but it was a clean cut with no sign of infection.

The afternoon was really boring: three hours filling plastic bottles with sand (actually a mixture of soil and sand) for a building project, where an extension/addition to the schoolhouse is going to be built with the bottles being used as building blocks (bricks) and glass bottles as windows.

Tuesday 31 Jan 2012 - Cleaning the volunteer house

We were told that we were cleaning and painting the volunteer house this morning but confusion reigned supreme, as we moved our beds and things away from the wall. The bunk bed (mine) was supposed to be taken away and I had no idea where I'd be sleeping. There's an upper level but I wasn't keen to be put there - the light switch is on the ground floor and I tend to fall asleep later than the other the two, I also wondered where I'd end up hanging my mosquito net, especially with nothing from which to hang it. With the bottom bunk bed (under which I just fitted under!), the mosquito net was hung from strings tied to the slats of the upper, unoccupied bunk bed.

After we'd cleared the room of all our stuff, we then cleaned the rest of the volunteer house: sweeping, dusting, etc. In the midst of all that, came across a frog that had made its home in one of the toilets (jumped up the wall so I couldn't sweep it away), a large spider in the window frame of one of the showers, and a small black scorpion near the laundry area, but curiously with no visible sting (broken off?). There was also a decomposing bat in the bottom of the bookshelf in the (outside, bug-infested) common area. Whilst brushing down the walls (in what I thought was preparation for painting), we came across a stick insect but as we all hesitated on how to deal with it without killing it, I decided to bite the bullet and just pick it up, calmly, and put into the plants outside. That was fine until I couldn't get it off my finger and then I ended up squealing and trying to shake it off, only to find five minutes later that it was on my top - I definitely hollered out then!

My afternoon job was to make the bread - two loaves of white bread - for our breakfast tomorrow and later that week. It felt really good mixing the dough by hand, but it was also quite hard work on the shoulders (high-ish worktop counter) to knead it to an elastic consistency. I was quite pleased with one of them, but not with the other as, following the recipe, it had said cut into 4 equal loaves and I did it for one dough mixture (wrong instructions!) and couldn't recombine it back into a smooth mixture, so the surface was a bit bumpy with that one.

We then had our weekly lecture, which today, had been chosen as politics, and taxes. Alexandra gave us a talk on the different presidents and the political situation since the 1970s, where it seems only the current president seems to have lasted a full term, and finished off on taxes.

Saw a hummingbird feeding in the garden this morning and a yellow-breasted bird at lunchtime. But it's impossible to get any photographs or put any binoculars onto them - the birds flit around so much and move so quickly, you just get a glimpse. Need a lot more time to get settled and see if it's possible to see more birds and more detail, and a photograph! My ambition is to get a hummingbird hovering, if possible.

In the afternoon, I came back to our room smelling of gasoline from some gasoline mixture being painted onto the wooden beams to prevent insects boring into it, as I understand it (originally thought it was to do with damp-proofing it). We'll have to sleep with the windows open, although to be honest, the front windows don't have glass, just a sack mesh across them…

I think I've finally become used to having cold showers because I managed not to squeal and gasp whilst showering today!

Wednesday 1 Feb 2012

For breakfast, we had the better loaf that I made yesterday, and even if I do say so myself, it was pretty good (not only my own opinion, either!). The bottom crust was particularly nice (it was baked on a tray, not a tin) as it was sweetish and vaguely cake-like.

Took some young tangarea plants up with the donkey, ready for planning Thursday, with Anya, the two newbies who had no idea where to go and whether we'd understood where to leave them! We had to chivvy the poor beast up the slopes, by slapping its rump as well as having to chase after him when he decided to go his own way (like back to the stables: home!) and forcibly turn him around by steering his head. Funnily enough, though, the donkey was fairly racing to return home after we'd unloaded him…

It was a lovely hot morning hike and I took my camera but as luck would have it, didn't find anything noteworthy to photograph along the hike (the view is much the same as from the volunteer house, for instance), only a couple of photos of the mule (mula) and donkey. I just missed getting a photo of the mula rolling onto its back, legs waving in the air.

The afternoon was spent painting the outside of the volunteer house (doors, doorposts, window frames) with the gasoline mixture used inside our room. I felt like I was a pyrotechnic, without the firelighter…

Decided to give football a miss, as it had rained just after Anya and I had put the donkey away and it seemed a fair chance that it would rain during football too. I was still bloated from lunch and didn't fancy running around with it, plus I didn't fancy getting wet and not drying too well - getting into cold, damp clothes for tomorrow didn't appeal. I also felt that I needed to get a proper yoga practice and got out my travel yoga mat, which was only partially successful - it kept shifting on the concrete floor and I was occasionally distracted by the mosquitoes that seemed to gather about me too, but I perservered for about a half-hour or so.

Thursday 2 Feb 2012

Was supposed to clear out the weeds under the tunnel for the biodigester (methane producer and compost maker - I won't go into too much crude detail!) and get it mulched with wood chips, but was just told to just finish the weeding, so after chatting to Ian and Deanna, who got the nice job of clearing the channel (of cow poo) for the biodigester, I left and did some hand laundry in preparation for the next working week…

Saw and heard the thrum of a hummingbird as we waited to go to lunch - it's the longest stretch of time I've seen one for (on the move, that is), which isn't saying much: maybe two or three seconds! It had a green head and a touch of colour on the breast, I think, but it was moving too fast to say for sure.

The afternoon was spent weeding the vegetable garden, earthing up and hoeing/aerating (by hand!) and planting some seeds (spinach, I think), in the rain - got very wet in two hours: wet soggy leggings that had to be peeled off and which were wet through to the ankles (in wellies, too)! I'm virtually living in my lightweight rain jacket and wellies…

Friday 3 Feb 2012 - Hike day

We gathered after breakfast for a long hike, past what is known as the 2nd campsite, to the top; however, we were also told that we were also looking for tangarea plants and seeds as the previous expedition had only managed to find about 16, and a previous, more successful, one had managed to recover 250…

It ended up being about a 5 hour hike uphill, into some pretty dense forest, walking in wellies, up energy-sapping mud trails, tripping over roots and vines, ducking vines/branches and stepping over fallen trees. Along the way we came across the den of a marmot (though we didn't see it - not sure if it's nocturnal), a (baby) tarantula, a "dragon's blood" tree, whose sap is very similar to blood and which can be used as an antiseptic onto cuts. You rub in the red liquid (really very like blood!) until it turns white on the skin - it's really interesting to see the change! We also saw another plant which is good for stomach ache taken as a tea, wild mint, a pretty orchid, a couple of other pretty flowers, bromeliads galore, a large bird apparently related to the turkey (with a longish tail), a pretty orange and blue bird, as well as the paw print of a puma! Of course, with the very light rain and mist, and the fact that birds don't stay still, I didn't end up taking many photos on the 5 hour hike…