Fur and Feathers: Monkeys

Now comes everyone's favorite animal group at the center, monkeys. At Sacha Yacu we take care of 12 monkeys, all with their own unique look and personality. Monkeys are an interesting case... they're both amazing and awful for the same reason, their likeness to humans. It's a wonderful thing to go into a cage with the monkeys and have them climb your leg and curl up in your arms trying to get their smell on you. It's not so great when they throw mud at you, bite your fingers, or break your wristwatch (Ok, so it was a $5 watch I got on the street in Quito, but still annoying.)

These are actually just wild Squirrel Monkeys that hang around the center because we feed them.

11 of our monkeys are Capuchins, considered the most intelligent of the New World monkeys. It really is astounding just how smart these little furballs are; I have seen them using tools to try to escape from their cages, using tools to actually escape from their cages, washing fruit before eating it, displaying jealousy and a myriad of other emotions, and outsmarting us humans on a daily basis. Twice a week we feed our monkeys insects that we catch the day before (using our hands I might add), the insects are supposed to be fed to the monkeys one at a time, but on more than one occasion I have seen the monkeys distract the person feeding them insects and then reach through the cage and greedily grab a giant handful of insects from the open jar. They of course proceed to run away and hoard their new catch, lustily wolfing down their prize while insect guts drip down their chins.

Me with Ada, aka my baby.

This is Zongo Zongo, our Titi monkey. She's abundantly furry and fuzzy, easily the most beautiful monkey we have, and she always sits on my shoulder for feeding time, my second favorite animal at the center.

But while they monkeys can often be a handful, they are undeniably loveable. I have several monkeys at the center that love to see me every day, when I come in to feed them or clean their cage they will jump on my back and start delicing me (picking through my hair), or climb into my arms and start making little baby noises. They are some of our cutest animals, and on good days they really make it a joy to work at Sacha Yacu.

This would be Ninja, one of our Capuchins, with his tail wrapped around my neck.

Fur and Feathers: Peccaries

This week brings a bit of a boring topic if you ask me, but one that must be covered nonetheless. Peccaries are essentially pigs, although apparently they are not even related to pigs in any way. They look like a type of wild hog, with big sharp tusks and a good throaty snort. They are an animal indigenous to the Amazon in and around this region of South America. They are very populous in other parts of their habitat, but in Ecuador peccaries have become endangered in recent years, and it is for that reason that we keep them at the center.

Two of our peccaries, these are the guys that always show up on our doorstep looking for food.

This is one of our Huanganas, which is basically a giant peccary.

The best way to describe a peccary is a "jungle pig", they have hooves, a big snout, and look and act just like pigs in about every way. They smell, they snort, and they're always escaping. Our peccaries have a huge cage and it seems that about 4 out of the 6 days a week there is at least one peccary that escapes. This becomes a big problem as they usually wander up to the house looking for food, and can be very dangerous. Many of our peccaries have become very accustomed to humans, and some are now even aggressive towards people. They are fast, and have huge tusks that can do some serious damage. My first week here, one of the other volunteers was bitten by a peccary, leaving him with a big whole in his foot and putting him out of work for about a week. There are some people who find the peccaries quite cute... I am not one of them, to me they're really just a nuisance that serves little purpose at the center. But they're animals in danger, so I'll care for them all the same. Until next time!

Fur and Feathers: Birds

For the second in my series on our animals here at Sacha Yacu, I will describe my personal favorite class of animals we take care of, the birds. We have everything here from turkeys to scarlet macaws, however the large majority are various types of amazonian parrots. Amazonians are a type of parrot that comes in all sizes and color patterns, but they all have the same basic look. All have a small beak and many are mostly green with patches of color to distinguish subspecies. They are beautiful birds, but are alas, outclassed by some of the stunning beauties they stand beside. Our scarlet macaws are the big attention grabbers, and it's hard to deny that they are pretty amazing. They are very large, about the size of a house cat, and covered with brilliant feathers that span the rainbow from red to violet.

Red Macaws are really awesome.

They use their beaks like a third leg to climb stuff, since they can't fly.

Most of our birds are here because they have been injured in a way that prevents them from functioning in the wild. One is blind, some are quite sick, but about half of them have had their wings clipped so that they cannot fly. All of our macaws and many of the amazonians have clipped wings, this does not mean that their wings are gone or cannot be opened, merely that they no longer have the strength in their wings to support their own weight for sustained flight. Pictures don't do complete justice to the birds, but it's still the best way I have to give you an idea of just how cool they are. Oh and as a side note, many of our parrots can talk... they are often screaming things like "HOLA!" in screechy parrot voices, or whistling... it's very fun to have a whistling contest with parrots, they're pretty tough competitors though.

Corn is the all-time favorite food for our birds.

One of our yellow-cheeked amazonians.

I have no idea what kind of parrot this guy is, but he is probably the most beautiful in my opinion, under those midnight blue outer feathers he's hiding a brilliant aqua display that you can only see when he flies.

Houdini enjoying a banana in his tree.

Houdini, escaped once more, hanging out in the bathroom, his favorite place on earth.

This is Houdini, our blue and yellow macaw, he deserves a special explanation because he's my favorite of almost all our animals at the center. Unlike the other animals, Houdini does not live in a cage here, he has a little house in a tree just outside the house. His wings are clipped and he cannot fly, but he has become quite amazing in just how well he can walk and where he can manage to get. He is named Houdini because he always escapes from his tree and walks up to the house. About four times a day Houdini will be found in the shower (his favorite place to hang out) or in the bathrooms, not in his house where he belongs. Despite his propensity for escape, I can't help but have a soft spot for Houdini, as I am one of the only people that he likes, and he will let me pet him all day long if I like. Plus the macaws with clipped wings look really goofy when they walk around, since they use their beak like a third leg, to grab onto things, and they waddle along like penguins. Sometimes I'll be laying about in a hammock and see Houdini come waddling up to the shower and just burst out laughing from how absurd he looks. Oh also he talks, every day at about 2:30 he starts screeching “Hola!” in different voices for about an hour.

Fur and Feathers: Mammals

Well, as promised, I will finally begin to blog about the animals that we take care of at the Sacha Yacu animal rescue center where I am currently living and working. At Sacha Yacu we take care of tons of different animals, but they are grouped into four groups: mammals, birds and turtles, peccaries, and monkeys.

For the first installment of my series on our animals, I will highlight the two types of mammals that we so lovingly care for, tayras and coatis. Tayras are a member of the weasel family, they are energetic, great climbers, and can peel and eat a banana in about 5 seconds. I think that our tayras look like a lot of fun, and wish that I could go in and play with them, that however is not possible since in recent months the tayras have become increasingly aggressive, and would have no trouble taking some chunks of flesh out of me if given the chance. Despite the aggressive nature of our tayras, many indigenous households do keep tayras as pets, and they can be domesticated, although you would want to keep a closer eye on them than on the dogs.

This is our male tayra, I find him quite cute.

This is our female tayra, I can't help but call her "Tayra Banks", the resemblance is uncanny.

Next up are our coatis, which share a lot of traits with the tayras, but are decidedly cuter. Coatis are members of the raccoon family, and the resemblance is quite noticeable. They are characterized by a long snout that bends upwards, and a ringed non-prehensile tail. I personally love the coatis, I think they're very cute and fun, as do many other people in South and Central America, which has led them to become quite popular as pets. Coatis are easily domesticated, and are commonly kept as pets, although they are decidedly harder to train or control than a dog, and much more dangerous. A couple months ago, one of our coatis escaped from her cage and attacked a volunteer. She ended up leaving this girl with a bunch of lacerations on the leg/body, and a good chunk of hand missing. That being said, I still can't resist petting the coatis, they really can be very tame when they're not stressed, and I've made friends with one of the females, I like to call her Annie.

Come on, how adorable is this guy?

Sorry for the blurry picture, but coatis move really fast, especially when they're hungry.

This is Annie, aka my best friend.

I've got three more groups of animals to write about, plus some more random animals that we have just living around the center, so stay tuned!

How to Dress Like a Quiteño

This post is a bit belated given that I haven't lived in Quito for over a month now, but I've had this blog idea for a while and finally decided to stop being such a "vago" (you might want to wordreference.com that one), and put the pen to the paper... er I mean the fingers to the keyboard. In this post I will outline a few of the many looks that are common in Quito. Please keep in mind that these are of course generalizations, but I will say that from my perspective at least, they're quite accurate generalizations.

1.) "Hip Young Guy"-- I know the name of this look is a bit general, but that's because this is by far the most common and pervasive look you see in Quito. The demographic includes boys from 15-30 all trying to emulate a style that somehow represents both luxury and hipster-grunge at the same time. For the shoes you have two options, Chuck Tailors (usually a knock off) or some type of big colorful skate shoes. The pants are not so negotiable however, they are an exclusively Ecuatorian style. Skinny jeans that are made to resemble some kind of expensive designer brand are all the rage here. But in the process of making all these knock offs, something went terribly wrong... these jeans have patches of denim sewn all over them, in every direction random stitching criss-crosses over dark washed patches and panels of denim. These pants really look like they were made from a bunch of fabric scraps randomly amalgamated with overzealous stitching, and they probably were, leading me to name them "Frankenstein Jeans". The t-shirt is usually a knock off of with large letters announcing across the chest the name of some American brand: "Aeropostal" "Hollister" "American Eagle". But the look would not be complete without the big handful of gel that turns the hair into a jet black array of rock hard spikes so treacherous it would probably be confiscated by the TSA. Oh one more important thing to note about this look: for some reason, here in Ecuador the rat tail is still an extremely popular hairstyle, I would say about 60% of the guys here are sporting a long tangle of hair that snakes down the back of their neck.

My Chucks, best effort at looking Ecuadorian. And yes, I did Spider Lace them, because I'm just that cool.

2.) "Business Man"-- I suppose this title should be in double quotes, since the people dressing like this are not really business men, they are in fact people that are trying to put on the appearance of a business man in order to sell you something. Most of these people are very poor, and employed by some type of salesman job, whether it be selling CD's on the buses, or handing out flyers about Jesus. However, they all have one thing in common: the suit. Appearance is very important in Quito, in fact I would go so far as to say that the people here are generally pretty vain and superficial (note that this does not apply outside of Quito). That is why it is not uncommon to find people with hardly any money to buy basic supplies, choosing instead to splurge on a jacket and tie, or knock off Rolex. One of the American ex-pats I met here told me that, "on the coast, all the rich guys dress like bums; and in Quito, all the bums dress like rich guys." I can now say with confidence that at least the second part of that is true, I'll have to wait until March to confirm the first part.

3.) "Old Indigenous Woman"-- This look is not so much a fashion statement, as it is a cultural declaration. There are many forms of traditional dress in Ecuador, each region having it's own particular accessories and idiosyncrasies. In Quito, the look is unmistakable, and quite popular among older women. It begins with the traditional shoes, a piece of cloth over the toes with a strap across the back of the heel. They look surprisingly like Toms, but have been worn here for hundreds of years by both men and women, so that $50 pair of Toms you're wearing right now may have been inspired by a $5 traditional Ecuatorian shoe. The look continues with a modest skirt, followed by a decorative blouse embroidered with colors and ruffles. Finally a sweater and hat, the hat is the important part. In Ecuador, the indigenous women wear hats to signify from which tribe and region they're from. It's an extremely important part of their cultural identity, and the hats are strikingly different. Some are felt with peacock feathers from Germany, and can cost over $70 (that's like $300 for a U.S. person), some are made of hard packed corn and weigh several pounds, and others are a simple straw or panama hat, but all critical to an indigenous person's life and identity. Of course, the look I've described here wouldn't be complete without one critical accessory... age. It's important to have a deeply lined face, and long white braid coming out of your hat in order to pull this one off.

One last thing to mention about Quito fashion is how unusually warm they dress here. Shorts are never, and I literally mean NEVER seen. Same goes with sandals or flip flops. And I would say that about 90% of the people wear a heavy coat or sweater all day long. Even at noon, when temperatures go over 85 degrees, you see people walking around with sweatshirts, jeans, and scarves, as if it's the middle of a Minnesota winter.

Anyways, I know this post has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now, but I just though it might be interesting. I will try to post more, but I'm very busy with very limited internet access, so no promises!

Amazonian Nights

Although they may not be as famous as the Arabian Nights, I find Amazonian nights to be one of the most calming and alluring things about the landscape here. Being on the Equator takes most of the guesswork out of daily schedules. Each night sunset begins around 5:45 and it is dark by 6:15. The jungle is a wonderful place during the day, but it is at night that the environment really comes alive.

Being so far away from civilization you might think that the nights here would be very still and quiet... in reality it's quite the opposite. As soon as the sun goes down the concert begins. From every imaginable angle comes the buzzing, chirping, peeping, whistling, singing, and myriad other sounds. It seems as though the entire world is vibrating with a hundred different tones of beating wings. This is the type of thing that people pay good money for in the States... it really does sound like I have one of those expensive sound machines plugged in next to my bed.

The best part of nighttime however is the storms. It's called the rainforest for a reason, it rains every day, and most nights as well. It's a wonderful thing to go to sleep to the sounds of rain on a tin roof, but my favorite part is not the rain, but the lightning. Weather it's a far off storm, or one right above your head, the lightning from night storms in the Amazon is a must see. Flashes periodically light up not only the night sky, but also the surroundings, framing the whole forest so you see only the outlines of trees, plants, and vines.

Lightning from a far off nighttime storm.

Needless to say I sleep quite well here, safe and sound under my mosquito net of course. The bugs do get pretty big after all, and I wouldn't want one as a nighttime visitor, no matter how much I enjoy their music.

I'm Still Here

For anyone who saw the train wreck of a movie "I'm Still Here" by Joaquin Phoenix, I apologize for reminding you of that. For those of you who haven't seen it, I'm sure you remember when Joaquin Phoenix grew that big beard and started acting like a demented crazy person on all the talk shows; that was the period in which he made this movie. Anyways, at least it gave Ben Stiller a chance to make one of the funniest appearances ever at the Oscar's when he came out dressed as the disheveled Joaquin, chewing gum and acting apathetic.

But enough about pop culture history, I really just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive; I feel very bad that I have not posted any photos or blogs for about 2 weeks. The good news is I'm not dead. The bad news is that in my first two weeks at Sacha Yacu animal rescue center I have had no time to blog or upload photos. I'm living about an hour and a half outside of Puyo in a jungle lodge, so obviously there's not internet access. It really is very "Heart of Darkness" out here, I feel a bit like some 18th century explorer venturing into the uncharted Amazon. The only time I can blog, email, Facebook, or look anything up is on the weekends. The upside to not having internet is that I get plenty of time to relax and enjoy the paradise in which I'm living, however that also means I have about 20 blogs I would like to write and no time in which to do it. For now I'm going to try to get as much in as possible, but I think I'll just start by giving you the basic run down of my new daily routine. 

This is the view down into the jungle where I live, our center is plunked right down in there, about a 15 minute walk from where this picture was taken.

Sacha Yacu is a well established animal rescue center that works with the environmental police in Ecuador to help fight animal trafficking and illegal possession of animals by taking in these confiscated animals and rehabilitating them. The ultimate goal is to be able to one day release the animals back into the wild, however for many this is simply not possible.  The center is run by a family who built and coordinates the program. There are really only about 3 people who work there full time, the rest of the work is done by volunteers. So, the jobs of the volunteers include feeding the animal and cleaning their cages, and helping with construction and other various projects at the center. 

This is part of the center where I live, it really is a paradise, sometimes I just sit in a hammock for hours and stare.

My day begins at 7:00 with breakfast, at 8:00 we begin to prepare the animal's food and move out in groups of two or three to feed them and clean their cages. Between about 10:30 and 12:00 we usually work on some type of construction project like building a new quarantine or repairing cages. Around 12:00 we eat lunch, and then have free time to relax until 2:30, most of this time is spent sleeping in hammocks. Then from 2:30 until about 5:30 we continue with a construction project or do something else like collecting insects for the animals, or cutting down sugar cane to bring back for the animals. After dinner we just relax around the center reading or watching movies, there's only electricity when they turn on the generator between 6:30 and 8:00, so once the generator is off, it's pretty much bedtime. 

This is me at a waterfall near the center.

So far I'm absolutely loving my time at the center. For animals we have several types or birds, mammals, monkeys, turtles, and peccaries. I will do a whole other post about the animals, but suffice to say for now that I've become very accustomed to hand feeding red macaws, and getting de-liced by monkeys. It's really a lot of fun to have a monkey jump on your back and start pulling through your hair looking for lice. In addition to the animals, it's very nice to be living so rustically for a while. So far I've learned to build a door with nothing but a hammer, nails, and saw; I've vastly improved my masonry skills (previously nonexistent); and I've become a master of catching grasshoppers with bare hands. Some of the work we do is very stone age, literally. For example, we spent two days and about 6 hours throwing 60 pound boulders. The reason for this was to collect these large stones to build a new pool for the monkeys, but the stones were in a river that was a long ways away from the pool, so we set up an assembly line and just spent hours tossing boulders back and forth, usually uphill. After spending two weeks here the whole idea of "going to the gym" now seems very stupid to me. If you want to get in shape it's quite simple, just spend a couple of hours lifting and throwing rocks, or harvesting plantains, or cutting down bamboo and carrying it several kilometers, or building a house. Not only will you save money on a gym membership, but you'll actually accomplish something. 

This is our Blue Macaw, Houdini, enjoying a banana.

A blurry picture of me with Ada, one of our Capuchin monkeys.

On the weekends, all of the volunteers leave the center and go to one of the surrounding towns, so far I've gone to Banos both weekends. Banos is really really cool, I'm going to devote a separate post to Banos and some weekend adventures. But this is definitely a place where I could see myself getting a job in a hostal or restaurant and just settling down for a few months.

A picture of me doing canyoning last weekend in Banos, tons of fun!

Anyways, I have to get going back to the center now, I wish I could have posted more but time is limited... those animals aren't going to feed themselves! I updated the Flickr if you want more pictures, and I should be getting more pictures for this coming weekend, when I will hopefully have some more blogs prepared. Hasta luego; y te acuerda, ama la vida!

Hot Tips for Ecuador: Quito pt. 2

The day before I leave for the Amazon I thought I should follow through on my promise and post the second installment in my now world renowned series “Hot Tips for Ecuador”. So, without further ado, here goes Quito: part 2.

1.) Danger, Volcanoes! Ecuador and Quito lie in the Pacific Ring of Fire. The whole country therefore is spotted with active volcanoes, ready to blow at any moment. In fact, right next to the resort town of Banos, a volcano called Tungurahua is erupting as I write this. Quito is shouldered by an active volcano, Pichincha, just about a mile outside the city. And if one of the big ones like Cotopaxi were to erupt, it could completely devastate Quito with a lahar, pyroclastic flow, or in the worst case, a sideways eruption like Mount Saint Helens. At the very least Quito would be buried in ash; since the 1980s ash has fallen twice in Quito from volcanic eruptions in other parts of the country. So these volcano warning signs are no joke, although they are pretty funny.

Volcanoes are no laughing matter, but the drawing on this sign definitely is.

2.) I'm huge in Ecuador! I've never considered myself tall. I'm 6'1”, by my standards, this is slightly above average in the States. In Ecuador however, I'm a giant. Ecuadorians, as a people, are very very short, I would say the men average 5'7” to 5'8” and the women even shorter. And this isn't just a generalization; in my two months here I honestly have yet to see a single local who is taller than me. When I'm on a crowded metro bus, I can see over everyone by a good four inches. This also means, however, that Ecuador was not built for the tall. I'm constantly having to duck or bow my head and several times I have smacked my head on the bars you hold onto in the bus. Just a few days ago I climbed on to a bus as it lurched forward, causing me to slam my head against the bar and fall flat on the floor, that one left me with a nice bump and some bloody hair. So if you're tall and planning a trip to Ecuador, enjoy the view, but watch you head.

3.) All I want is a hot shower. The house we're living in now does not have a properly functioning shower. The water pressure is deplorable, and the water is luke warm at best... freezing cold at worst. So we've come up with the very third world solution of filling buckets with hot water from the tap and pouring it over ourselves to “wash up”. I have also had the extraordinarily bad luck of not getting a good hot shower at any of the six different hostals I have stayed at so far. I can only hope things improve. The lesson here of course is even in a decently developed country even the basics can be left behind. 

Me washing my hair in the sink.

 4.) Save the neck for me! This is a quote from the classic family movie “Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase. And I can now say that I've eaten a chicken neck... and much, much more. In Ecuador it is beyond rude not to clear your plate. You finish your food, only take what you are going to eat, and eat what is given to you. This is a part of the culture that looks very poorly upon waste. For fruits this means juicing whatever is rotting, it also means not keeping very many fresh vegetables in the house. For meats this means using the whole animal, the Whole animal. Here are a few of the choice animal parts that I've eaten so far:

Chicken Neck- actually very good, a surprising amount of meat.

Pork Skin- Kind of fatty and chewy at the same time, not bad

Chicken Kidney- Kind of like eating a sponge, not my favorite

Liver- It's liver, not too exciting, it's good if you prepare it right

Chicken Feet- Pretty much just skin and tendons

Cow Stomach- Really, really chewy, with no taste, I'm not a fan

Of course this just scratches the surface. I have yet to try such classics as tripe (intestines), or brains, not to mention the many things I can't even identify. But whatever it is, if you are served food, you had better eat it, all of it.

A yummy cow head soup from Otavalo, teeth included.

Chimborazo

The final day of our grand mountain bike tour began with a one and a half hour drive to the refuge atop Chimborazo mountain. Chimborazo is the highest peak in Ecuador, as well as the farthest point from the center of the earth, leading some people to call it the highest mountain in the world. Now we all know that when measured from sea level Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, however, due to the "Equatorial Bulge" or the fact that the earth is not a perfect sphere, if you measure from the center of the earth, Chimborazo is actually higher than Mt. Everest. And it certainly feels like it up there; the air is thin, cold, and dry. The wind whips around and repeatedly slaps you in the face, it's like being snapped with a towel or hammered by a bad hail storm. Unfortunately for us, all of that wind didn't blow away the clouds, and the peak of Chimborazo stayed hidden all day long, but the ride was still great.

Here's our group at the refuge, ready to go!

The bumpy road down.

We started downhill from the refuge for about 7km on a bumpy washboard type dirt road. From there you go another 10km on a paved road that flips up and down more than Romney's positions. But once that first part is over and done with the real fun starts. From this point you take the old road to Ambato, it's a 40km ride all downhill through one of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen. At times you will think you're riding through the English countryside, with picturesque farmlands spotted with grazing cows. Other times you're riding through the Amazon, with vines and plants bursting all around. And the whole time you're winding along next to the babbling Ambato river... it's really quite amazing, like something out of a movie. This was by far my favorite day of the trip, and I would recommend the whole trip to anyone just so you could experience this last 40km. So without further stalling, I'll get right to the pictures!

 This next picture is a game called "Equivolley" which is probably the 2nd most popular sport in Ecuador, only behind football (soccer). Equivolley is similar to volleyball, but it is played with three people on each side, and the net is much higher which does not allow for spiking, also they use a football (soccer ball) instead of a volleyball. This makes the game much more focused on long volleys and strategy/placement, rather than just who can hit the ball harder.

Equivolly looks fun, I want a net in our yard.

Quilotoa

Sometimes things are just so beautiful that you can't stop taking pictures, that was the case with Quilotoa. Quilotoa is a lake inside the crater of Volcano Quilotoa. Quilotoa erupted long ago leaving this giant crater, in which now resides a shimmering emerald green lake. Our hostal was about a 5 minute walk from the rim of the crater, so bright and early we set off for a little hike!

Quilotoa on the way down.

Quilotoa on the way up...wow.

From the rim we started to hike down to the shore... hike is a generous term, it was more like skiing. It was steep, sandy, and more of a slide than anything else. The water was stunning, not to mention the mountains surrounding us on all sides. Everything set aglow by the warm morning sun. On the hike back up to the rim (this really was a hike) that sun got a little too warm however. They offer mules that you can rent for the ride up... now I know why. It was not the hardest hike I've ever done, but certainly no walk in the park.

Marcy doing Triangle by the shore.

Marcy chose to ride a mule up, probably a good idea.

After our visit to the crater lake, we returned to our hostal and began on a nice long bike ride down along a canyon and through the high sierra farmlands. It was a really nice ride, not too hard, not too easy, and with amazing views everywhere you looked.

This is a canyon formed out of the sand and dust left after Quilotoa erupted.

Fried bread is a good idea after a long bike ride.

Cotopaxi

The first stop on our three day bike tour was the iconic Cotopaxi. Probably the best known volcano in Ecuador, Cotopaxi is the second highest peak in the country, but ubiquitous to Ecuadorian identity and history. We left early and arrived at the refuge swimming in clouds. The weather was a blessing and a curse; on the one hand you could not see any of the glacier, and the peak of Cotopaxi was completely covered by clouds. However that meant that there was very little wind, which is nice when you're freezing at 4600 meters (~15000 feet.)

The ride on this day began from the refuge, and went down the mountain into the national park. It was a very bumpy ride, lots of rocks and sand, but totally worth it. Cotopaxi National Park is beautiful, and going by bike is a great way to see it. Our guide took us away from all of the other tourists into a lesser visited area of the park. Here we peddled through 100 year old lahar's and got to experience the amazing landscape of the Andean Paramo. This was probably the toughest of all three days, just because of how technical the riding was. These bikes have shocks, but afterwards you will still have a soar butt and palms. Not to mention that riding a bike at such high altitude is no small feat. I imagine this is what it feels like for a smoker of 20 years to exercise.

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few of the highlights, of course you can see all of them on my Flickr.

Ready to go!

Paramo

This is a Lahar left from the last eruption of Cotopaxi.

Here's the hostal where we stayed the night.

Tour Guide Extraordinaire

This post is a bit dated, but I have been very busy playing tour guide. The day after we got back from Otavalo a new volunteer arrived to liven things up a little bit. Marcela is from the States but lives in Colombia and was here on vacation for only one week, so we had to make the most of it. This means that I got to use all of my knowledge of Quito and Ecuador to show her around the city and try to pack in as much as possible during her short vacation. It was actually very fun to pretend to be an expert (I'm not.) I think I may have a future career in the tourism business, of course I did get us lost almost every day, so maybe I should hire a map reader to be my business partner.

Here we are acting like touristy gringos in Mariscal.

Anyways, the week was a smashing success and I had a ton of fun hanging out with my new friend. It kicked off with what was advertised to me as "An Octoberfest Party." Toby's Spanish teacher invited him to this party thrown by one of her former students, a German woman now living in Quito. Toby brought Marcy and I along figuring everything would be fine at this huge Octoberfest bash. Turns out it was really just an intimate birthday party for this woman with her family and a couple of close friends. But they're Ecuadorians, so our imposition was excused and we were welcomed with open arms and full plates. This woman knew how to cook, it was probably the best food I have had so far in Ecuador. The party was great fun and turned out to be a great way to finish the weekend.

Our German birthday party group.

This was the buffet... amazing German food!

That same day we visited the "Capilla del Hombre" or Chapel of Man. It is a museum designed by and displaying the artwork of Guayasamin, probably the most famous Ecuadorian artist ever. It is a museum dedicated to the pain, suffering, and injustice endured by the indigenous and lower class in Ecuador. The museum was free on Sunday and offered a free guided tour. It was an extremely moving experience, not only is the art beautiful and emotional, but the entire museum and tour tells a story of injustices and suffering around the world, as well as the hope for a better tomorrow. Of course during our tour there had to be that one girl who is on her phone the whole time. How can you be focusing on a text message while the guide is talking about mutilated bodies and dictatorship in Spain? It's pretty much like talking on your cell phone at the Holocaust museum... pretty bad etiquette if you ask me.

Throughout the week Marcy and I traveled all over Quito. To the Old Town, Vista Hermosa, Mariscal, Artisan markets, Mitad del Mundo, and more. It was a really great time and I have so many memories from it to share, but this post is already starting to drag on, so I think I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The rooftop terrace of Vista Hermosa.

These next two photos need an explanation. Ecuadorian desserts are deceptive... they all look delicious, like something out of an expensive cookbook. However they taste horrible. So far almost every dessert that I have tried here has been disgusting, the cake tastes like aluminum, the chocolate stuff is tasteless, and the cheesecake is basically just whipped butter with no flavor. As Marcy described it "It's like they saw a picture of something in a book and then just threw together whatever ingredients made something that looked like the picture."

Bad Ecuadorian desserts.

We covered up those desserts and ran for it.

This is a piece of public art in Quito, the police officers standing 10 meters away apparently didn't care that we climbed it.

Mitad del Mundo.

Marcy doing headstand on the Equator.

We have way to many bracelets.

Me deciding what to write in the "Pictojournal"