Mis amores! I have a little free time and it’s a beautiful day so I figured I would grab a cup of coffee and let you all know what it is I’ve been up to! But before I get going, a couple more pics from Pahuma…

Our humble abode

Breakfast

The grandson of the landowner, the world's next great entomologist, and basically the cutest kid ever

Lecture

Listening to Jake play his air conditioner song :)

After our trip to the cloud forest, a week in Quito was an absolute drag. But, I really didn’t have much time to complain because that weekend we were off again – this time to explore the páramo ecosystems of Cayambe-Coca National Park and Antisana National Park. Cayambe-Coca was up first. Friday morning we loaded up the bus and headed about an hour and a half, this time, to the east. The páramos are located above the upper montane forests (like Pahuma) and above the treeline between 3000-4000m of elevation. The climate of the páramos is more or less summer by day and winter by night. The intense sun and 70 degree temps are replaced by the harsh cold night, resulting in a daily freeze-thaw cycle that poses a unique challenge for vegetation and wildlife. So, the weekend was all about adaptations – adaptations to freezing temperatures, drought, high winds, and intense UV radiation. What can survive this madness, and how do they do it?

We stopped on our way up the mountain to explore the Polylepis habitat and do a little bird watching. The Polylepis is the only species of trees well enough adapted to the crazy climate to survive the páramos and are an important buffer zone for other plants and animals. So, if you ever find yourself lost in the páramos and you’re feeling a little chilly, go hang out in the Polylepis. They have layers and layers of tissue paper like bark to protect against the cold, and their thick gnarled branches were practically begging me to climb them – so I did J. For those of you aware of my weird love of trees, this one is right up there.

Polylepis!

Just climbing some trees...

When we reached the top, I was seriously unimpressed. It was sleeting, I forgot my gloves, and there was literally nothing to look at. It was like the Iowa of Ecuador. Or that’s what my grumpy ass thought anyways. After getting off the bus and taking one look at the ground, I almost didn’t want to move for fear of crushing the sweetest vegetation we’ve seen so far. Everything was micro style and close to the ground as a way of retaining heat. Everything was – for lack of a better word – cute! And when you think about how something so small is making a purposeful contribution to the greater ecosystem… I don’t know, I think it’s pretty cool. Or, as the Ecuadorians would say, “¡Qué Chévre!” After exploring for a little while and catching a glimpse of some rare, half naked primates, I decided that the páramos may be even sweeter than the cloud forest. My awe was soon broken up by a shriek from our Ecuadorian TA Amilia. Apparently my friend Teresa had confused her blue pants for my blue pants and thus her butt for my butt. Needless to say Amilia was on the receiving end of a full on ass grab from her student. She actually used the would ‘traumatizing’ to describe Teresa’s feelski J

Paramo vegetation - Cayambe Coca N.P.

To give you a little perspective - one of those rosettes is about the size of a penny

Paramo love

Crazy shirtless primates

After lunch we split into groups and surveyed the number and distribution of vegetative morphospecies in a total of 40 50 square cm plots around Cayambe-Coca. The project took the remainder of the afternoon, by which point we were all more or less frozen. What is the best remedy for the effects of a long cold day in the field? A couple hours spent chillin in the natural hot springs of Papallacta, of course. Not sure if I have ever been so relaxed…

Field research study

Hot Springs - Papallacta, Ecuador

Saturday was day 2 of our páramo exploration – Antisana National Park. It was sunny and glorious and we passed the morning doing some serious bird watching. In an effort to conserve energy while scavenging for food, many birds of the páramos run around on the ground instead of flying which is actually pretty comical. We were also fortunate enough to see the endangered Andean Condor – a powerful, large-bodied, aggressive vulture.

Check out those good lookin field biologists :)

Antisana National Park

After having lunch by the lake, we spent the afternoon conducting the second half of our study. We again surveyed the morphospecies of 40 plots to be compared with our data from the previous day. The object was to observe the effects of human impact on the composition of páramo vegetation. Cayambe-Coca is a completely protected National Park while the land in Antisana is inhabited and used as grazing land for hoofed animals (as opposed to the soft-footed camelid natives). Conservation of páramo ecosystems is vital because not only is it home to fantastic biodiversity and high levels of endemism, and the soil is means for carbon storage, the páramos are important for hydrological control as they are a major fresh water supply. In fact, 85% of Quito’s water comes from the Cayambe-Coca and Antisana reserves!

Field Study - Part 2

How many morphospecies?

Lecture

We did a little more birding and then headed back to Quito, anticipating the night’s season opener soccer game between Liga and Nacional (2 Ecuadorian teams). On our way out, I spotted a white-tail out the window. Everyone hopped off the bus and got a good look – I’ve seen a few deer in my life, but it was still pretty cool.

What do ya say, pops? Shooter? :)

Whitetail deer - Antisana N.P.

We quickly learned that these people LOVE soccer with intense loyalty to their team. After the bus dropped us off, we walked about a half block and found ourselves in the middle of an actual riot. To paint you a picture, the road went something like…crazed Liga fans armed with rocks in hand (one guy was swinging a bloody chain around – not kidding), a shit ton of cops, a group of stupid gringos, more cops, and then the even crazier Nacional fans. Not only did we stand out because we’re white, but we were all in our muddy field clothes, rubber boots, and carrying giant hiking backpacks. I was sure at least a couple of us were goners, but thankfully a group of police officers took pity on us and ushered us into a fenced off area. So what did we do? Went and bought tickets to the game – duh. We weren’t entirely reckless though. Assuming that the $4 section was where all the crazies were going to sit, we opted for the $10 seats. We all went home and dropped our stuff off and then met up at Shwarma for a couple beers before the game. On my way, I was almost trampled by a herd of men running, waving big wooden sticks and the sound of sirens was near constant. I was excited. I pretty much had no idea what was going on on the field (without Joey Gangler to explain what the heck was happening) but it was a good time none the less. At Ecuadorian soccer games, beers cost $2 and apparently it’s normal for fans to shoot fireworks at other fans and a bloody face is no reason to be alarmed. Absolute insanity would be the most accurate way to describe my first fútbol experience and I fully intend to repeat it before I leave. On a roll, we headed to Bungalow 6 after the game to drink tequila and dance the rest of the night away.

We have fun

Danae, Caitlin, & I at the game (note the actual fire in the middle of the Nacional  fan section - apparently no big deal)

Bungalow love

The week again passed pretty uneventfully, but Friday brought our last day of Spanish and our first free weekend in awhile. After knocking off a final and a semester of Spanish in a month, we were ready for some fun (because clearly we don’t have enough already). I was bumming a little about missing Ski Weekend back home (for the first time ever), but our plans to spend the weekend in Baños white water rafting seemed like a pretty solid alternative. And what better way to get to Baños than a private party bus? The best description I can give would be: our annual summer yellow school bus trip to Miller Park Waunakee tornado style – on steroids – plus Spanish techno music and neon lights. 3 hours later, we arrived in Baños all feeling “happy” (an Ecuadorian phrase for ‘a little tipsy’). We ditched our stuff at the hostel and headed to the clubs. We settled on a couple favorites and danced until bar time. ‘We Found Love’ came on and I thought of you Nick Gilles, and that stupid shit grin Sean Statz would have had on his face…

I might miss my Spanish class juuuust a little bit...

The next morning, a crazy, multi-colored bus with no sides picked us up from the hostel and took us to the river, the whole way blasting the Spanish techno they love here. Lookin good in our wetsuits, we split up amongst 4 rafts. The guide in my boat was like 60 and for sure the man in charge, meaning we led the way. After we were underway for 15 minutes or so, he goes, “get in the water”. We thought he was kidding. But he wasn’t. 15 minutes after that, he goes, “who wants to play flip the raft?” Again, we thought he was kidding. Again, he wasn’t. After we were all safe in the raft again we noticed we were missing one. Poor Aviv (Kim Kraabel size)was floating a quarter mile behind us. Eventually we rescued her and when we thought all was good, our guide just swan-dived off the back of the raft, leaving us without directions. I’m not sure what type of regulations they have here in Ecuador, but it was definitely an experience J.

Bus ride to the river

Banos sugar cane stands!

We spent the afternoon bumming around Baños and doing a little napping. Later, 7 of us girls got showered up and went out to dinner at this really cool place called Casa Hood. It had a sweet feminist vibe, great food, and delicious canelazo. Our solid evening of good conversation ended with us momentarily trapped in the restaurant. After 5 minutes of failed attempts to open the door, Laura and I discovered an attached plastic banana. Apparently, ‘pull the banana and push’ was the key to leaving. I don’t think there was a single person there not staring at us…

Back at the hostel, we pre-gamed a bit and then headed to the Leprechaun – our prime spot from the night before. Somehow, we managed to get free flaming shots. They were free because they were gross. But they were on fire so I still felt like a badass. The bar opened up to a big area outside with lots of tables, cool plants, and a fire in the middle, which was where we spent most of our time. Before long, I struck up a conversation with a guy who ended up being from Portugal. He introduced me to his friends, a pretty random collection of people from England, Germany, and Wales (I told him all about you Ellen – and HillDuff!). Anyways, I pretty much parked it at a table and hung out with these 6 guys for the rest of the night. I’m not sure if it was in an effort to fit in or what, but for some reason I decided to speak in a British accent for the larger part of the evening. Seemed like a good idea at the time… On the whole it was a solid evening and the end to a stellar weekend. So, shout out to Matthew Colton of Dubai, my miraculous ability to recall your name, and our new facebook friendship.

Sunday, we bussed back to Quito without the luxury of our private party bus. They played a movie on the bus, in English, without Spanish subtitles. It was awful too. The Mechanic? Look it up if you’re curious, but the whole thing was just bizarre.

We were only in Quito for the night though, because in the morning we began our week long trip to the coast. But, you’ll have to wait until next time to read about the bamboo cabin, monkeys, hammocks, beach rager, and my 21^st birthday because as I’m sure you’re sick of reading, I’m over writing.  Tomorrow morning I leave for the Tiputini Biodiverisity Station in the Yasuní, in the heart of the Amazon to spend two weeks in the most biodiverse place in the world! Here’s hoping I don’t get Malaria, a bot fly, or swallowed by an Anaconda! No internet while I’m there, so until next time folks…

H

Three weeks later...

Esteban & I at Bungalow 6

Chicos y Chicas! It’s your favorite gringa checking in J It’s been a solid three weeks since you’ve all heard from me (to be fair, I did tell you not to expect punctuality), but because my weeks have paled in comparison to my weekends, allow me to fast forward in the hope that those of you with short attention spans might actual make it through one of my posts.

The only thing really worth noting from the week of the 16^th was that Thursday brought the last day of class and naturally, salsa lessons. Our Spanish teacher was easily convinced that spending the last hour of class learning to “dance” would enrich our cultural experience – the six of us are collectively incredibly charming and persuasive. As I’m sure those of you acquainted with my grace and coordination can easily imagine, Steve and I were naturals. Sorry Sean, but you and your old lady friend at the terrace have nothing on us.

Friday morning we boarded the bus at 8am and headed to El Pahuma, located on the western Andean slope about 42 kilometers outside of the city. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into, but I knew I was ready for a break from Quito. I don’t think I’m ever going to be a city girl…

A little background: El Pahuma is a family owned Orchid Reserve that opened in 2000 and was Ceiba’s first project in Ecuador. El Pahuma is unique in that it was founded on only the second easement in South American and the first of its kind – between landowner and conservation organization. The 25 year agreement between the Lima family and Ceiba outlined that Ceiba would conduct a biological inventory, educate the family about the plants and animals that inhabit the 600 hectare reserve, aid in the construction of a nature center and botanical garden, and provide the family with a salary for the first five years of the agreement. In return, the Lima family will not permit the cutting of timber, extraction of species, or hunting of animals for the duration of the agreement.  12 years later, the Lima family is self-sustaining, generating funds from tourists – foreign and local – and serving as an example that conservation is a legitimate alternative to the deforestation pressures felt by many private land owners. Why is this so fucking brilliant? Buying out a bunch of families, roping off a plot of land, calling it a reserve, and slapping a price tag on it that makes it inaccessible to locals only generates bitterness and resentment towards the gringo with the fat wallet – no matter how good his/her intentions. The easement keeps the family in control and sets them up in a position to truly profit as guides, accountants, and educators while simultaneously promoting awareness and conservation. Although the outcome has been extremely positive, when the Lima family signed the easement in 2000, their future was uncertain at best. The early vision was not to conserve, but rather to subsist by way of logging, hunting, and creating pastures and entering into an agreement that prohibited all those potential sources of revenue truly put their livelihood at stake. The success of El Pahuma can be attributed without a doubt to the family’s commitment to conservation. They always understood the importance of preserving the absolute goldmine that they’re sitting on, but they didn’t know how to make a living off of it. My professors Joe and Catherine, backed by the Ceiba Foundation, have worked alongside the Lima family to make El Pahuma what it is today, in a partnership that has evolved into a genuine friendship based on mutual respect and a common goal.

Alright, back to my weekend... We arrived at El Pahuma, elevation 1900m, around 9am and spent a couple hours exploring the visitor center, botanical garden, and surrounding trails. After we ate lunch at the Lima family’s restaurant, we split up into two separate groups for the rest of the weekend and my group of 11 was led by our professor Catherine and our field TA Diana. Our lecture that afternoon was focused on cloud forest ecosystems and because there is no more fitting place to have that lecture than in the cloud forest, my group packed up our stuff and set out. Destination: Guarida del Osos (The Bear’s Den), a primitive cabin, elevation 2250m. Carrying all our gear, we hiked literally straight up, naturally, in the rain. And the decreased oxygen concentration wasn’t doing me any favors. Herman – remember that hike we did in Vail? Times that by about a million and you would be getting close to my Friday afternoon. Eventually we made it and our inevitable exhaustion was accompanied by an unparalleled sense of accomplishment. Our home for the night was perfect – a single worn cabin without running water or electricity and next to it, a wicked fire pit. After an hour or so of exploring, we settled in for a lecture on the birds of the Pahuma cloud forest. About half way through Cath’s lecture, as if on cue, a mixed flock of Tanagers landed just down the trail from the cabin. We all grabbed our bins and went to check it out. Now, I’ve never been a birdy or really understood all the hoopla and I definitely didn’t expect to get so excited, but there is something pretty intense about having a gorgeous Plate-Billed Mountain Toucan, endangered and endemic to the Pahuma cloud forest region, in your field of vision. Out of the mixed flock, I was able to identify a Grass Green Tanager and a Blue-Winged Mountain Tanager, both of which are incredibly beautiful – google it. After lecture we had some more free time to explore and then dinner. One of the Lima sisters hiked up to the cabin and prepared us an absolute feast only to be followed by hot chocolate and s’mores. Then, around 9:30pm we went for a night walk and stumbled upon a few tree frogs and a couple badass walking sticks. We eventually made it back to the fire and welcomed the warmth of delicious canelazo (a hot beverage consumed in the highlands of Ecuador, Peru and Columbia that consists of brandy, sugar, naranjilla juice, and cinnamon) as we relaxed and swapped stories (If you can imagine, I was able to contribute a few goodies). 

Will, Aviv, and I on the way up, doing some serious bonding

In the morning we got up at 6 to do some bird watching. In addition to another mixed flock of Tanagers, I saw a male and female Masked Trogan and a family of Powerful Woodpeckers. Fun Fact: Woodpeckers’ tongues actually wrap around their brains so they don’t rattle themselves stupid. After breakfast, we continued our upward hike along the Sandero Oso de Anteojos to the Yumbo Trail. It was longer and steeper than our hike from the day before, but at least we didn’t have to carry all of our shit. Mom – Pahuma was definitely my cure for overpacking. We stopped every now and then for Cath to point something out or explain a concept, and the amount that I retained is unreal. Everything is in front of you. It’s real. It’s relevant. It’s applicable. This is how learning is supposed to be.

The Powerfuls

Learning

The start of the Yumbo Trail - an old trade route that cut through the Andes hundreds of years ago

Hiking through the cloud forest is nuts. Very Jurassic Park. Oh, I guess this is a good time to mention that any picture I take with my camera that looks like a toy captures little to nothing so from here on out any picture is jacked from some else in my program with actual photography skills and a grown up camera. And pops – we saw some good bear sign, but no Andean bear… Oh, and shout out to Mark See for the bomb binocular straps! Best thing ever.

What goes up, must come down, and hiking down a mountain in a downpour isn’t exactly an easy task. The rain coupled with my natural grace led to a few solid wipeouts and my being completely covered in mud. Once we were back at the visitor center and all cleaned up (clean, mind you, not dry. Damp is pretty much a state of constant being when you literally live in the clouds.), we had a chance to sit and have a conversation with Renee, a son of the landowner and his son Geovani. They are both extremely passionate about conservation and what Pahuma stands for. They are incredibly down to earth and well intentioned people and I believe Pahuma has a very successful future.

After dinner, and spending the past 36 hours together, the 4 different bedrooms in the visitor center was giving my group separation anxiety. Our solution? Throw all our mattresses on the floor in the common room and have a slumber party. Duh.

Sunday morning we did some more bird watching before breakfast and spent the rest of the morning listening to Cath’s lecture on cloud forest vegetation and learning to make voucher specimens. The afternoon was set aside for a hike to the waterfall (and of course, then swimming in said waterfall). It was incredible.

My trip to El Pahuma made me realize just how over Quito I actually was and I couldn’t wait until our next trip. My host family on the other hand has a hard time understanding my excitement. They were less than thrilled with my muddy field clothes and were repulsed when I explained where we stayed and that nature was the baño. They aren’t exactly outdoorsy J.

Anyways, that’s all I have time for right now, as I’m sure you’re sick of reading my ramblings. I’m heading to the north coast until Sunday and won’t have internet so don’t expect to hear anything until then. My next post will include my weekend in the páramos, my first soccer game, my white water rafting trip, and my new British accent! Stay tuned and remember to think of me on the Thursday and take a shot because I’ll FINALLY be 21! That means you roomies!

And I miss you Steve!

And a special shout out to my mom – it’s her birthday today so give her a call or stop by the house and have a beer with her. Brandon talked to her last night Riley so you better get on it or he’s going to be the favorite…