Max’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. night hike with lots of insects
2. zoo playing with rescued Amazon animals (leopard, wild peccary)
3. rafting down river on a handmade balsa raft
4. Dodo the pet female parrot
5. Monkeys stealing my popcorn in Misahaulli (a sleeping jungle town; our jumping off point for the Amazon)
6. seeing lizards
only dislike was giant cockroach sighting in sleeping quarters
Jamie’s (Bruce´s neice)top 5 jungle favorites
1. visiting a Quechua shaman
2. night hike
3. day version of the night hike
4. holding the leopard at the zoo
5. Hernan our guide and all his wisdom
Dislike: primitive sewage system and all the accompanying odors in sleeping quarters
Bruce’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. night hike
2. visiting the shaman who was sweet on my wife
3. riding in the motorized canoe 1 hour and a half down the Napo River (a river highway of the Amazon) and shorter rides to hikes and activities.
4. zoo
5. Our staff: Hernan, guide, Yahira, cook, David, boat navigator, and Miguel general care taker
6. Dingle the pet male parrot falling off the roof of the dining hut (apparently he can’t fly)
Dislike: trying to eat when Dingle was lurking.
Beth’s top 5 jungle favorites
1. cacophony of the night jungle and the absence of any human sounds
2. Visiting the shaman’s family and eating platino and palm hearts they prepared for us; hospitality of humble
3. the excellent meals that I did not have to prepare
4. Learning about the amazing amounts of plants and insects that have medicinal and everyday uses that the Amazon peoples have been using for centuries.
5. Hiking with our awesome guide Hernan
6. Going to the local market at the nearby town of 50 people and seeing a Huarani man and part of the daily life of the Amazon people
7. Yahira our beautiful, shy cook
Dislike: being repeatedly attacked by Dingle and pecked at on my foot.
Jane’s top 5 jungle favorites
Jane did not wish to enumerate her favorites. She said she liked everything about the jungle except hiking.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Max and Jane with the wonderful apartment dog Lyka
Verano
Summer
It’s summer and we have been thinking about the change of seasons back home. In Ecuador you can change seasons by driving a couple of hours. We just left the town of Baños which is in winter and so it rains a good part of every day and is surprisingly chilly. It takes 2-3 days for clothes to air dry. (there are very few washing machines in Baños and even fewer dryers). Back in the Sierra (mountains) of Quito it is summer and there is very little rain, but cloudy days with intense spurts of high altitude sun. In a country the size of the state of Colorado the changes from the coast to the sierra to the jungle with the cloud forest in between are many with different temperatures and weather in each location.
In Spanish class our teacher asked what we do at home in the summer which got me to thinking the days are longer, the weather warmer and SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT. The students in Quito go until the beginning of July. I just want to congratulate all the teachers and students for completing another school year. Especially Jamie who finished her first year of teaching and Athena and Jude who finished their first years of school. Thomas graduated from high school and is going to college at University of Dubuque.
Happy birthday to: Paul, Bridget, Ellie and John.
Happy summer camps and camping and going to cabins and summer homes. Happy vacationing.
Happy Summer Solstice (Larry and Linnea we missed having a cartwheel contest with you on the beach.
Happy Father’s day to all the papas
Happy baseball viewing outside (especially to the Minnesotans)
Congratulations to Sarah K for getting her reading license and a new job at Central H.S.
I know I forgot other important events please feel free to add any other congratulations/celebrations.
Viva el mundial (world cup soccer). We have a couple of brackets going with our new favorite teams including our favorite equipo del corazon (team of the heart) U.S.
We look forward to reuniting with the country of our heart in 3 short weeks!
chao
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Trekking around Chimborazo
My friend, Jeff Capella, and I decided to go for a little walk around Chimborazo, Ecuador’s highest peak at nearly 21,000 feet. Chimborazo is an extinct volcano with beautiful glacier at the top. Our goal was not to summit it, but rather, walk around it for four days taking in the beautiful vistas and viewing the different flora and fauna that live there. Our destination on day four would take us to nearly 18,000 feet.
Day 1 – I got on a bus in Banos at 8:45 in the morning in order to meet my companions at 10:00 in Ambato, a city about 1 hour from Banos. Our meeting point was simply “the entrance to Ambato.” I was told that it was by the “Mercado Mayorista.” I was a little anxious about the vagueness of the meeting point. But, like clockwork, I arrived at about 10:00 precisely as my friends arrived. I heard a car honking, and there they were. We drove about 45 minutes to an old train station, now a hostel, in the pueblo of Urbina. We were met by the owner and two young men named Julio and Luis. Also present was a friendly dog named Max. Diego, our guide, Jeff, and I left with our day packs while Julio and Luis loaded our gear onto horses in order to meet us at a refugio later in the day. We departed at about 11,000 feet and walked about 5 hours to the refugio at about 14,000 feet. The day was truly beautiful and I was not very tired when we reached our destination. Max had accompanied us all day. He was in heaven chasing, but never catching, rabbits. The refugio was rustic with a thatched roof, a fireplace, and a compost toilet. It was in a location where we had stunning views of volcanoes in all directions. Tungurahua was very active, and we could see fire shooting from its cone and hear tremendous eruptions. Luis and Julio cooked us one of the best meals I have had during our entire time in Ecuador. We played a card game called quarenta and then retired for the night.
Day 2 – After a restless night and an early breakfast of granola, yogurt, bread, fruit, and coffee, Diego, Jeff, and I departed at about 8:30 for a 6 hour trek that would take us to about 15,000 feet to the north side of Chimborazo. Max came with us again. Luis and Julio prepared the horses with our gear to meet us at the next refugio. Luis made this journey alone, and his brother returned home. The morning was perfect. Chimborazo loomed powerfully above us in all its glory. The temperature was cool and the sky was clear. We hiked for about an hour and we all got hot. We removed our jackets and continued on in only t-shirts. All the while we listened to Tungurahua belching and erupting in the background. Soon, our beautiful day disappeared. Hail began to fall from the sky while thunder and lightning replaced quiet sunshine. We put on our rain gear and continued on. The storm passed, but we trudged on in wet conditions for the remainder of the day. We descended into a lush green valley, and the refugio was within sight. We also encountered herds of vicunas, a wild relative of the llama. The dominant male would send out a bird like call to his group to alert them of our presence. The lush green valley was called “little pillow.” It was soft, but had little puddles of water everywhere. Diego made sure to tell us to follow in his footsteps as the little puddles were up to 8 feet deep. They would be hard to get out of, as well as cold, if we were to fall in. Max spent the day chasing rabbits, ducks, and vicunas. Alas, he never caught a thing. When we reached the refugio, Luis was already there and had hot coffee waiting for us. I was wet and a little tired, but ready for day three. We were visited by an indigenous woman and two of her children. She had walked from her home a good distance away to collect the fees for our stay. Luis left our gear with us and departed with the two horses and Max. Max somehow knew that he would not accompany us the next day. We ate a delicious dinner, played some quarenta, and retired for the evening at about 7:30. This refugio had no heat, so it was a chilly/cold night.
Day 3 – Another restless night was followed by another early breakfast. When we awoke, it was raining lightly. Diego pointed to where we were to trek for the day and told us it was snowing there. We discussed changing our plan, but decided that snow would be better than rain. Diego said we would ascend to about 16,000 feet and spend the rest of the day hiking at that altitude. Our maximum altitude would about 16,500 feet. I thought we would get to 16,000 feet and walk on a fairly flat trail around the volcano. I was so wrong! It took us about 1 hour to get to our trekking altitude, and indeed it was snowing. Instead of a fairly flat hiking trail, we spent the next 6 hours ascending and descending numerous ridges and valleys. The snow had accumulated to about 5 inches. The views, well, there were none. Visibility was very limited. We stopped for a snack and I was already pretty tired. I felt like we had been on the mountain for at least 4 hours, over half way to the next refugio. The actual time was only 11:00. We had 4 and one half hours left! As the snow accumulated, good footing became difficult. Descending was almost as hard as ascending. My heart and lungs were working hard. My legs began to feel tired and rubbery. Another rest for lunch, only 3 hours left. Another snack rest, only 2 hours left. I was trudging slowly, but still progressing. At times, Jeff and Diego were well ahead of me and out of sight. My heart and lungs settled down and I got into a slow walking rhythm, one foot in front of the other, following Jeff and Diego’s tracks. I stopped once and looked around. It was very beautiful, 16,000 feet high in snowy conditions on a mountain, but I asked myself what a farm boy from Iowa was doing on this volcano in South America. All I could do was slosh on. I caught up with Jeff and Diego, actually, they stopped and waited for me, and we only had 1 hour left. I told Jeff I certainly had an hour left in me and he responded, “Good, because I’m not carrying you.” At this point, my heart and lungs felt good, but my legs were very tired. Despite the altitude and snow, I was working so hard that I was sweating like a pig. Finally, the refugio was within sight. The last 20 minutes were across a plateau, and it was the only time I felt cold. The wind and snow were blowing hard across the open land. I reached the refugio and entered a warm abode with hot coffee waiting for me. I took my jacket off and steam came off my back. I put on dry clothes and drank my coffee. I felt tired, but proud of what I had just done. After some discussion, we decided to cancel day four. The weather didn’t look like it was changing, and we thought another day with no views in snow and wet would be brutal and little fun. I surprised my family by returning to Banos a day early. As I told them about my experience, I realized how fantastic it was. My friend, Paul Pena, put it this way, “Wow, sounds cool and awful at the same time.” The trek was unbelievable, with parts of day 3 being awful indeed.
Day 1 – I got on a bus in Banos at 8:45 in the morning in order to meet my companions at 10:00 in Ambato, a city about 1 hour from Banos. Our meeting point was simply “the entrance to Ambato.” I was told that it was by the “Mercado Mayorista.” I was a little anxious about the vagueness of the meeting point. But, like clockwork, I arrived at about 10:00 precisely as my friends arrived. I heard a car honking, and there they were. We drove about 45 minutes to an old train station, now a hostel, in the pueblo of Urbina. We were met by the owner and two young men named Julio and Luis. Also present was a friendly dog named Max. Diego, our guide, Jeff, and I left with our day packs while Julio and Luis loaded our gear onto horses in order to meet us at a refugio later in the day. We departed at about 11,000 feet and walked about 5 hours to the refugio at about 14,000 feet. The day was truly beautiful and I was not very tired when we reached our destination. Max had accompanied us all day. He was in heaven chasing, but never catching, rabbits. The refugio was rustic with a thatched roof, a fireplace, and a compost toilet. It was in a location where we had stunning views of volcanoes in all directions. Tungurahua was very active, and we could see fire shooting from its cone and hear tremendous eruptions. Luis and Julio cooked us one of the best meals I have had during our entire time in Ecuador. We played a card game called quarenta and then retired for the night.
Day 2 – After a restless night and an early breakfast of granola, yogurt, bread, fruit, and coffee, Diego, Jeff, and I departed at about 8:30 for a 6 hour trek that would take us to about 15,000 feet to the north side of Chimborazo. Max came with us again. Luis and Julio prepared the horses with our gear to meet us at the next refugio. Luis made this journey alone, and his brother returned home. The morning was perfect. Chimborazo loomed powerfully above us in all its glory. The temperature was cool and the sky was clear. We hiked for about an hour and we all got hot. We removed our jackets and continued on in only t-shirts. All the while we listened to Tungurahua belching and erupting in the background. Soon, our beautiful day disappeared. Hail began to fall from the sky while thunder and lightning replaced quiet sunshine. We put on our rain gear and continued on. The storm passed, but we trudged on in wet conditions for the remainder of the day. We descended into a lush green valley, and the refugio was within sight. We also encountered herds of vicunas, a wild relative of the llama. The dominant male would send out a bird like call to his group to alert them of our presence. The lush green valley was called “little pillow.” It was soft, but had little puddles of water everywhere. Diego made sure to tell us to follow in his footsteps as the little puddles were up to 8 feet deep. They would be hard to get out of, as well as cold, if we were to fall in. Max spent the day chasing rabbits, ducks, and vicunas. Alas, he never caught a thing. When we reached the refugio, Luis was already there and had hot coffee waiting for us. I was wet and a little tired, but ready for day three. We were visited by an indigenous woman and two of her children. She had walked from her home a good distance away to collect the fees for our stay. Luis left our gear with us and departed with the two horses and Max. Max somehow knew that he would not accompany us the next day. We ate a delicious dinner, played some quarenta, and retired for the evening at about 7:30. This refugio had no heat, so it was a chilly/cold night.
Day 3 – Another restless night was followed by another early breakfast. When we awoke, it was raining lightly. Diego pointed to where we were to trek for the day and told us it was snowing there. We discussed changing our plan, but decided that snow would be better than rain. Diego said we would ascend to about 16,000 feet and spend the rest of the day hiking at that altitude. Our maximum altitude would about 16,500 feet. I thought we would get to 16,000 feet and walk on a fairly flat trail around the volcano. I was so wrong! It took us about 1 hour to get to our trekking altitude, and indeed it was snowing. Instead of a fairly flat hiking trail, we spent the next 6 hours ascending and descending numerous ridges and valleys. The snow had accumulated to about 5 inches. The views, well, there were none. Visibility was very limited. We stopped for a snack and I was already pretty tired. I felt like we had been on the mountain for at least 4 hours, over half way to the next refugio. The actual time was only 11:00. We had 4 and one half hours left! As the snow accumulated, good footing became difficult. Descending was almost as hard as ascending. My heart and lungs were working hard. My legs began to feel tired and rubbery. Another rest for lunch, only 3 hours left. Another snack rest, only 2 hours left. I was trudging slowly, but still progressing. At times, Jeff and Diego were well ahead of me and out of sight. My heart and lungs settled down and I got into a slow walking rhythm, one foot in front of the other, following Jeff and Diego’s tracks. I stopped once and looked around. It was very beautiful, 16,000 feet high in snowy conditions on a mountain, but I asked myself what a farm boy from Iowa was doing on this volcano in South America. All I could do was slosh on. I caught up with Jeff and Diego, actually, they stopped and waited for me, and we only had 1 hour left. I told Jeff I certainly had an hour left in me and he responded, “Good, because I’m not carrying you.” At this point, my heart and lungs felt good, but my legs were very tired. Despite the altitude and snow, I was working so hard that I was sweating like a pig. Finally, the refugio was within sight. The last 20 minutes were across a plateau, and it was the only time I felt cold. The wind and snow were blowing hard across the open land. I reached the refugio and entered a warm abode with hot coffee waiting for me. I took my jacket off and steam came off my back. I put on dry clothes and drank my coffee. I felt tired, but proud of what I had just done. After some discussion, we decided to cancel day four. The weather didn’t look like it was changing, and we thought another day with no views in snow and wet would be brutal and little fun. I surprised my family by returning to Banos a day early. As I told them about my experience, I realized how fantastic it was. My friend, Paul Pena, put it this way, “Wow, sounds cool and awful at the same time.” The trek was unbelievable, with parts of day 3 being awful indeed.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tungurahua is Quechua for " Throwing up Fire"
So our family is in one of those down moments when everyone is homesick and tired and missing hot showers and friends and loved ones and recognizable food. Everyone is tired of each other and the very way they breath seems to grate on nerves. . . when nature jolts you out of your self pity and into noticing its tremendous beauty and power.
Tungurahua is Quechua for “throwing up fire”, and that is exactly what Volcan Tungurahua (pronounced toongurwawa) is doing, throwing up fire, rock, smoke and ash. The town in which we are currently living, Banos is located directly below the volcano. We are not in any danger and have listo mochilas (ready bags) packed in case we have to evacuate. The people of Banos are very efficient and practiced at what to do if the volcano actually erupts and throws lava/magma (as it did in 2006) destroying people and property in its path. Our neighbors, teachers, and FUVIRESE (foundation for disabled people we have been volunteering with) people have all been taking care of us and making sure we know what to do if the evacuation alarm goes off. We are right next to the police station and our neighbors have a family compound they will take us to in a safe zone if the volcano erupts. They have also given us goggles and masks if an eruption emits a dangerous amount of ash into the air.
Right now the volcano is just grumbling. The noise is really loud though, like a gigantic thunder clap. Sometimes there is a big boom and then the volcano kind of chugs like it’s working up an explosive detonation. It reminds me of when a kid has a meltdown and they are crying so hard no sound comes out except a couple of inhalations of breathe and then a huge wail comes out. We have classified the thunderous reverberations into two groups. A boom can be a dog alarm which is loud enough to upset dogs and make them all bark simultaneously as well as a mild window shaking. The second group is a car alarm which is louder and stronger and vibrates enough to set off car alarms and shake the heavy wrought iron and plate glass windows of our apartment.
On Friday (5/28/10) we watched at night from the roof of the apartment and saw a fireworks show close to the photo I tried to upload here (if you google tungurahua mayo 28 2010 there are some great pics). The “Big T” as Max and Jane have named it, put on an amazing nocturnal performance. We could see red lines shooting from the cone into the night sky and then what looked like red rocks hurtling down the cone of the volcano in a blazing path. About 30 seconds later we could hear the booming sound. I think because of the distance there is a delay between what you see and hear similar to watching a storm and seeing the lightning then later hearing the thunder.
During the day you only get the booming sounds and vibrations and on the rare occasion it is clear (we’re in the rainy season here) you can see the smoke pluming up. Without the visuals during the day, the sound is a huge whooshhhhh, something like a giant blowtorch or the sound of shooting off fireworks before you see them. We have gotten some ash here in Banos. It was all over the cars after the first day, but apparently because of wind direction the smoke and ash is all blowing west toward the coast. The city of Guyaquil has literally had black clouds of ash hanging over it for days.
Sleep has been sporadic during the last couple of days. Every time I fall asleep, the volcano lets off a sonic boom and I am jolted awake. This goes on most of the night. Max, however, would like me to inform you his sleep is as sound as ever. Our Spanish teacher says the whole city of Banos and the surrounding area is tired because of Tungurahua. It is also bad for business because the tourists are staying away and tourism is the main industry in Banos.
Paying close attention to nature, Beth signing off Jane, Max, Bruce .
To see some amazing pics and video go to this website:
www.elcomercio.com/2010-05-29/Noticias/Pais/Noticia-Principal/actividad-del-Tungurahua-baja.aspx
Tungurahua is Quechua for “throwing up fire”, and that is exactly what Volcan Tungurahua (pronounced toongurwawa) is doing, throwing up fire, rock, smoke and ash. The town in which we are currently living, Banos is located directly below the volcano. We are not in any danger and have listo mochilas (ready bags) packed in case we have to evacuate. The people of Banos are very efficient and practiced at what to do if the volcano actually erupts and throws lava/magma (as it did in 2006) destroying people and property in its path. Our neighbors, teachers, and FUVIRESE (foundation for disabled people we have been volunteering with) people have all been taking care of us and making sure we know what to do if the evacuation alarm goes off. We are right next to the police station and our neighbors have a family compound they will take us to in a safe zone if the volcano erupts. They have also given us goggles and masks if an eruption emits a dangerous amount of ash into the air.
Right now the volcano is just grumbling. The noise is really loud though, like a gigantic thunder clap. Sometimes there is a big boom and then the volcano kind of chugs like it’s working up an explosive detonation. It reminds me of when a kid has a meltdown and they are crying so hard no sound comes out except a couple of inhalations of breathe and then a huge wail comes out. We have classified the thunderous reverberations into two groups. A boom can be a dog alarm which is loud enough to upset dogs and make them all bark simultaneously as well as a mild window shaking. The second group is a car alarm which is louder and stronger and vibrates enough to set off car alarms and shake the heavy wrought iron and plate glass windows of our apartment.
On Friday (5/28/10) we watched at night from the roof of the apartment and saw a fireworks show close to the photo I tried to upload here (if you google tungurahua mayo 28 2010 there are some great pics). The “Big T” as Max and Jane have named it, put on an amazing nocturnal performance. We could see red lines shooting from the cone into the night sky and then what looked like red rocks hurtling down the cone of the volcano in a blazing path. About 30 seconds later we could hear the booming sound. I think because of the distance there is a delay between what you see and hear similar to watching a storm and seeing the lightning then later hearing the thunder.
During the day you only get the booming sounds and vibrations and on the rare occasion it is clear (we’re in the rainy season here) you can see the smoke pluming up. Without the visuals during the day, the sound is a huge whooshhhhh, something like a giant blowtorch or the sound of shooting off fireworks before you see them. We have gotten some ash here in Banos. It was all over the cars after the first day, but apparently because of wind direction the smoke and ash is all blowing west toward the coast. The city of Guyaquil has literally had black clouds of ash hanging over it for days.
Sleep has been sporadic during the last couple of days. Every time I fall asleep, the volcano lets off a sonic boom and I am jolted awake. This goes on most of the night. Max, however, would like me to inform you his sleep is as sound as ever. Our Spanish teacher says the whole city of Banos and the surrounding area is tired because of Tungurahua. It is also bad for business because the tourists are staying away and tourism is the main industry in Banos.
Paying close attention to nature, Beth signing off Jane, Max, Bruce .
To see some amazing pics and video go to this website:
www.elcomercio.com/2010-05-29/Noticias/Pais/Noticia-Principal/actividad-del-Tungurahua-baja.aspx
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