Island Getaway

After the somewhat hectic and stressful experience of having all of my important things stolen, I decided to amend the itinerary for my vacation with my parents just slightly. We unfortunately had to cut out Cuenca, as we had lost a few days recouperating from the theft. But that did give us a couple more days to spend chilling out in Baños. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable stay, filled with massages, hot springs, steam baths, good food, and waterfalls. But on the whole, it was not terribly eventful, basically just a spa week to recover from all the adventure we had been through.

Giant Tortoises living in the wild, they really are huge, over 600 pounds!

Sea Lions are just everywhere around the Galápagos, and they are really friendly.

After our detox in Baños, it was time to once again hit the road, and make our way to Guayaquil where we would catch our flight to the Galápagos Islands. This was to be our last hurrah together as a family, and I wanted to make it a memorable one. So after spending a couple nights in a very nice hotel, enjoying the beach and town of Puerto Ayora, we hopped on a six day cruise that we snagged as a last minute deal.

It's the nesting season for most birds and Sea Lions now, this pup is probably a week old.

Me with a coconut, the beaches here are just beautiful!

These past six days have been some of the most amazing of my entire trip. We began in Puerto Ayora, sailed to Puerto Villamil, then all around the western edge of Isabella, then up to Santiago Island, North Seymour, and finished back at Santa Cruz. Along the way we saw some of most incredible wildlife and scenery in the world. There are so many species and landscapes that are entirely unique to these isolated little islands. But the truly wonderful thing about the Galápagos is just how surrounded and immersed you become with nature. The animals living here have almost no natural predators, so they have no fear of humans. For this reason, the Galápagos is probably the only place in the world that you can take a hike and have to look at the ground to keep form stepping on marine iguanas. Every animal, from Blue Footed Boobies to Sea Lions will allow you to practically walk up and pet them without showing the least sign of distress or fear.

The ubiquitous Blue Footed Boobie.

This is the Sally Lightfoot Crab, the colors are just amazing, and this picture doesn't capture them that well.

It was a fantastic trip, with only one downside... we had to live on a boat. One of the things I learned about myself during this trip is that sea life does not agree with me. From the moment I stepped on the boat, I felt dizzy and slightly nausiated. I did eventually adjust, but I never really adapted to constantly rocking back and forth. And throughout our trip I had sever bouts of headache and nausia. But it was still a fantastic way to end our trip, and I an experience I will never forget.

These lava flows cover much of the islands, it really looks like an apocalypse.

The Galápagos is the only place in the world where Marine Iguana's are found, they enter the water to feed and cool off.

Back in Business

I'm back, and better than ever. Once again I apologize for the long sabbatical, but I ran into some unexpected trouble on the road and had to put blog posting on hold for a while. Although it seemed pretty devastating at the time, in hindsight it's actually a rather interesting story, so here goes nothing.

We were biking across the Andes Mountains, pedaling through one of the most beautiful areas in all of Ecuador. Our day started at Quilotoa, the emerald green lake cradled in the crater of an active volcano. We began from there on our ride down through the valleys and over the mountains, passing through what could have easily passed as the set for The Hobbit. It was a very surreal experience, like being picked up and set down in the middle of a movie, the scenery was really that beautiful. Around midday we stopped by a river winding it's way between two mountains, huge sheer cliffs looming up on one side of us, and endless rolling green hills on the other.

Later that day we arrived at our hotel, hopped out of the Jeep, and stretched our stiff legs. Pulling our bags out of the car, I quickly realize that my backpack was not there. Not the giant backpack with all of my cloths, the small day pack that has everything important in it, the one I never let out of my sight. I quickly started digging through the bags, rooting around like a pig going through the compost... it wasn't there. Without that backpack, I was done for. It contained my passport, visa, ATM card, laptop, camera, cellphone, ipod, kindle, books, notebooks, and countless other essentials. I retraced every step I had traveled that day, the only time I took my eyes off the backpack was during our lunch stop, I would later get confirmation that that was where it was stolen. While we were having lunch, quite literally in the middle of nowhere (we were probably in one of the most remote places in Ecuador, there were maybe 5 houses that we saw along this entire road), someone drove up, opened the door to our car, grabbed my backpack, and drove off.

Later that night, our tour guide had the bright idea of calling my cellphone, which was at that time, with the thief. To everyones surprise, I got an answer. To be honest, I was so stunned that I had no idea what to say, I managed to choke out an 'hola', and got a reply, but they quickly hung up. We tried a few more times, and always got an answer, quickly followed by a hang-up. I sent text messages offering money for my things back, but to no avail. I went to bed with a pit in my stomach and thoughts of simply getting on the next plane to the U.S.

"Will, Will, get up! There's someone on the phone!" my Mom shrieked, stumbling into my room, blind without her glasses. I jumped out of bed, half dressed, and dashed over to the adjoining room. My Dad handed me the phone with little warning, and there I was, all of a sudden having a conversation with the thief of every important belonging I had. I was still in mild shock, and not in any condition to be negotiating. Went around in circles for about five minutes, before we basically agreed that he would return my passport, visa, and debit card (which we had already cancelled), for some amount of money. I offered $200, the reply I got was not encouraging.

"Listen, I'm Ecuadorian, if I lost my ID, drivers licence, credit card... I know how important those things are." he boasted.
"Well that may be true, but I've already called my embassy (a lie), and I can get a new passport in only a couple of days (a lie), for less than $100 dollars (a lie)." I shot back.

I essentially told him that because I could just get a new passport, it wasn't worth more than about $200... he wanted $1000. I told him there was no way in hell he was getting $1000 out of me, after having already stolen everything else of mine, and that $200 was a lot better than his alternative, nothing. That pretty much ended my contact with the thief, he realize I wasn't going to give, and just gave up. I sent another text, offering him one last chance to get some money, $200 is a lot better than nothing I pointed out.

The next day started out on a low note, pretty somber, but I decided to put all that had happened behind me, and enjoy the last day of our tour. It turned out to be a picture perfect day, it was clear, sunny, and we got a postcard view of Chimborazo. Sometime that morning, while we were on our bikes, I heard the phone ring; I could not pick it up. We waited until we had stopped, called back, and got an answer.

"Hello, who am I speaking with?" I asked.
"Uh..w-with the, uh, owner of your passport," came the reply. It was a woman's voice, not the man I talked to last night. This girl was unsure and stuttering.

We worked out that she had found my passport somewhere and was in Latacunga... we would be passing through Latacunga in about an hour on our way home I told her; she got scared and said she would call back later. When we got closer to Latacunga I called back, and told her I would give her money, a meeting point was set. We pulled up to the crowded bus station (our decided meeting point) and waited anxiously.

She was scared. The more I talked to this girl, the more I realized that she may really be innocent. She clearly knew nothing; I told her to wear the backpack so I could recognize her, and she replied that she didn't know about any backpack, she just found my passport and phone when she was going through the garbage (she claimed to be a garbage collector.) She was afraid of getting mixed up in a bad situation, and didn't want to cause any problems, she wanted me to come alone (that part felt very secret agent.) The whole time her voice was shaky and her breathing heavy, you could almost hear her heart beating over the phone. My own heart felt like it was about to crack a rib.

In my head this all went down very slick, like something from a James Bond film, or an exchange you would see on TV, with the briefcase casually set down and picked up by the recipient. In reality, it was much messier. We kept calling each other back and forth, trying to arrange a proper meeting place, trying to find each other.

"Wait, now you're at the bus station? You said you were at the traffic light." "Ok, now I'm at the bus station... oh you mean on the other side of the station." "Which mango tree are you under? There's like 10 mango trees out here."

After about 10 minutes of walking in circles, probably passing each other several times, I finally spotted her. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, put my head down, and slowly approached, trying to look as least threatening as possible. She was a young woman, probably in her late twenties or early thirties, wearing very plain cloths, all covered in dirt and stains. She was obviously very poor, and so far he story of being a garbage collector was holding true. As I walked up to her, she looked terrified, she stuck out her hand and thrust the passport and phone in my face. It would have been so easy to just grab them and walk away, without giving her any money, she never would have followed me, or said a word for anyone. But seeing this woman in her ripped sweater and worn out sneakers, with dirt smeared across her face and clothing, I felt sorry for her. I ended up giving her $100, making an about turn on my heals, and speed walking back to our car.

And that's how it ended, I got my passport, visa, credit card (now cancelled, and worthless), and cellphone back. We ended up staying in Quito for a few unplanned days, to purchase some replacements for essentials I had lost (computer, camera, headlamp, etc.) And I now write from a brand new laptop, sitting in the beautiful Galapagos Islands, enjoying life more than I ever have. I owe the woman who found my passport a lot, I will be forever thankful to her, and I hope she uses the money I gave her to feed her family, or something important... unfortunately it's likely more than she makes in a month.

There are some things I cannot get back, certain photos, and videos, some contact information, notes, and books. But I am just feeling lucky to have recovered from what could have really ruined this trip. I have a ton of blogs to post, on what I've done, both before and since this incident. I doubt anyone will read this whole post since it's basically a short novel. But thanks for waiting, and I hope to have more up soon!

Out of Order

I apologize to anyone who has been checking my blog recently only to find old posts. I recently had my laptop, among many other things, stolen. So I will not be able to post, email, facebook, and many other things as easily. As soon as I am able to get all of my stuff figured out, and get plugged back in I have a lot of blogs to post. Sorry, but thanks for the understanding!

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!