Old Friends and New

I left Sacha Yacu about three months ago, since that time a lot has changed. New animals have arrived or been born, while others have escaped, died, or been set free, but it's not all different. I still had a welcome homecoming from several of my favorite animals in the center, and the new ones are really a joy to have around.

Me with my old friends Grumpy and Naughty.

It took about 15 minutes to get Grumpy to let go of me on this day.

Since my time away one of our tyras died, one monkey escaped and another died, one parrot escaped, one coati escaped, and one peccary escaped. Heaping all those things into one sentence really does not give a great impression of how things have been going at Sacha Yacu in my absence. But when you consider that... two boa constrictors were liberated, a coati was saved from near death, an alligator was liberated, a tortoise was cured of a nasty shell disease, a baby parrot was born, a baby peccary was born, two peccaries are currently pregnant, and that we were entrusted with the rehabilitation of a tigarillo ("tiger cat", a very close relative to the ocelot)... it really puts things in perspective.

This was the first thing I saw when I arrived for the second time at Sacha Yacu... pretty cool caterpillar.

This is our Tigarillo, what should I name him?

I feel so at home here that it makes me sad to think I only have two weeks left. But after that I have an exciting adventure in Mindo to look forward to, before my return home, which I have been anxiously awaiting for several weeks. I had a nice little chat with Marie Gingher and Andy Madore last night that made me feel very nostalgic about the good old days back in Happy Valley. See you soon SC!

Fun in the pool with my old friends, and plenty of new ones.

Highlands High

There's something in the air in the highlands of San Cristobal island that just makes you feel right. Or perhaps it's not in the air, but in the daily cup of joe we all have that gives you the energy to go cut Guava trees with machetes for four hours. I've now left the Galápagos, but I feel there is one thing I failed to mention; where I was living is one of the worlds best producers of gourmet coffee.

In fact, about 95% of the coffee grown on San Cristobal is bought by none other than the ubiquitous Starbucks corporation; one of their blends is almost entirely dependent on the coffee that we grow at the Hacienda I stayed at.

The peeled and dried coffee beans, before being roasted.

During my time at the Hacienda we picked coffee beans off the bushes, peeled them, dried them, roasted them, and finally ground the beans into what makes for a very strong, rich cup of coffee. Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the peeling or roasting process, as I was quite busy during that time. But I have to say that it is very surprising how good the coffee we made really was, given that it was roasted in a big iron pan over a campfire.

Our roasted coffee beans, being ground into a fine espresso grind.

Better than a $100 burr grinder!

I hope to post soon on my new adventures in an old place, Sacha Yacu Animal Rescue Center. But being at such an amazing place has it's downfalls, namely that I only get access to internet during weekends. But I will try my best to get those posts up!

Change of Plans

As some of you may know, I had originally planned to do one month of volunteering on the coast after my time in the Galápagos. Well, that plan has changed. I had heard some poor reviews of the project I was supposed to do in the coast, and I knew that part of my work--taking stock of dead sharks at the fishing docks each morning--would not be pleasant, so I had to make a change. I had my flight back to the mainland of Ecuador on the 24th of February, that same morning I made the spontaneous decision that I wanted to spend my last month in Ecuador in a place I knew, with people I love.

So after landing in Guayaquil, I caught a taxi to the bus terminal, and managed to make a giant scene out in front of the terminal when I had a shouting match with the taxi driver because he tried to rip me off. So after thoroughly embarrassing myself in front of a crowd of stunned onlookers, I heaved my backpack over my shoulder and trudged into the monumental Terminal Terrestre. This is by far the biggest bus station in Ecuador, and perhaps one of the largest in the world. It not only runs buses to every destination in Ecuador and South America, but it doubles as a shopping mall. There are about 300 different bus companies to choose from when buying your ticket, so I bumbled around looking very confused for a while, before a nice ticket hawker with a gold tooth ushered me up to a booth and essentially bought my ticket for me.

I ended up getting on the bus with no issues, when about halfway through my journey I started wondering if the bus was actually going to Baños. It turns out my spider sense was right, and the last stop was in fact Ambato. Luckily for me, Ecuadorians assume tourists with blond hair are all idiots. So while the bus was parked at a gas station in Ambato the conductor asked me if I was going to Baños, then quickly rushed me off the bus, handed me my backpack, pointed to another bus parked a block away, and told me to run. Everything worked out fine in the end, and after another shouting match with the fee collector on the new bus, trying to explain to him that I already paid for passage to Baños in Guayaquil (he told me "not my problem" and I ended up having to pay the 80 cents), I arrived safe and sound in Baños.

Tony Bennet may have left his heart in San Francisco, but I left mine in the Amazon. So later today, that is where I will be headed, and for the next month I will simply try to relax and let myself go where the wind takes me.

Hot Tips for Ecuador: The Galápagos

My time in the Galápagos islands is coming to a close, so I figured it was about time to post the next installment of my now world famous series, Hot Tips for Ecuador.

1.) Set your watch to "island time"
Things here in Galápagos move at a much slower pace. Ecuadorians in general are not well known for their punctuality, and that is only intensified by the island lifestyle. It really is a frustrating place to live, everyone is perpetually late by about 45 minutes, and you just have to get used to the fact that it can sometimes take a whole day just to accomplish a simple task like getting money out of the bank. The same goes for work ethic, that is to say, it doesn't exist here. Shops and businesses open and close on their own schedule. I have walked into a store here prepared to buy something, only to have the owner say to me "sorry, we're closing" and then seen him cross the street to sit and have drinks with a buddy. People often open up their stores in the morning, walk inside, and put up their "closed" sign. Weekends are a whole other story; you might think that in a touristy place, things like restaurants and tourist shops would be open, but sadly that is not the case. All day long Saturday and Sunday the entire town here shuts down, and there are probably no more than 10 places open, making it very difficult for those of us who work during the week. If you want to survive here, some good tips would be to simply plan about double the time you think you would need into your schedule, and always try to do things ahead of time, because it will probably take longer than you expect.

2.) Get up close and personal with the animals
I have a secret to tell... Galápagos does not have the "best" wildlife in Ecuador. In fact there are places that have much more diversity in fauna and flora, but there is one thing about Galápagos that makes the best place to view wildlife in Ecuador. That is the unique situation the animals here are in, in that they have no natural predators. This has led to an evolutionary pattern in which the animals here never developed a fear for large mammals. It is for this reason alone being in Galápagos is like no other place on earth. You can walk down the street here and trip over sea lions and marine iguanas if you're not careful, the finches will come land on your head, and you can approach within one meter of any of the animals here without having them flinch. It's really something else to be able to be surrounded by such amazing animals in a very intimate sense, so take advantage of it!

3.) Take the plunge
Galápagos has been rated by several scuba organizations as the best place the world to dive, and based on my experience, it doesn't disappoint. Whether you are a scuba diver, or you just choose to snorkel, exploring the underwater life in Galápagos is an absolute must. The islands are famous not for their amazing variety of tropical fish (of which there are plenty), but for their abundance of large marine animals. The waters here are full of sharks, rays, sea lions, and turtles. Just in my two scuba dives I managed to see hammerhead sharks, reef sharks, manta rays, sting rays, eagle rays, pacific green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and sea lions. The waters here are cold, but it's well worth the chill.

Fun in the... rain

For the past two weeks, we have been stalked by the rain. It is really just teasing us at this point, only stopping on the days we have to work, and coming right back out as soon as we have a day off. Now every day is a battle with the rain, to see who can get to the beach first. You can see the dark clouds brewing, following  you, and so far we have not had a rain free day for two straight weeks. 

El Junco, a crater lake, and the highest point on San Cristobal.

The storms are brewing

Of course, with such limited time here, we don’t let that get in our way of having fun. So far we’ve simply been testing our luck, dodging the rainstorms when possible, outrunning them in speeding taxis. And we’ve managed a bit of success. So far I’ve gotten to see several of the beautiful beaches on San Cristobal, some transport you to the Caribbean with turquoise waters and sand like powdered sugar. While others bring me back to my childhood with seaweed, dunes, and course sand, placing me back home at Cape Cod. 

Puerto Chino, a beautiful beach that could fool anyone into thinking they were in the Caribbean.

Nom nom nom.

Last weekend we even got to take advantage of a few hours of sun to visit a Giant Tortoise breeding center. And I’m trying to plan a dive to the famous Kicker Rock for next weekend, rain or shine. So if you’re sitting back in cold, rainy PA, no need to be jealous, and don’t forget to ¡aprovechar de su tiempo!

Life on the Hacienda

My day starts like any other in Ecuador, with the ubiquitous crow of a rooster. Of course, that's also how my day ends, since--as I've learned on the Hacienda--roosters do not only crow in the morning, but all day long.

Life here is fairly vanilla, in fact, if I were surrounded by Maple or Walnut trees instead of Guava, I may forget that I was even in the Galápagos. In many ways, living here is like living on any other farm you would find in the States or Europe. We rise early, milk the cows, saddle up the horses, and get to work.

Our work here is mostly clearing of invasive species and farming. Our ultimate goal is to restore the land to it's native state, hence creating a natural habitat for Giant Tortoises. This means that most of our work is trudging through Elephant Grass to fell Guava trees, hacking away at endless patches of Black Raspberry (the same one that rings our yard back home in PA), or digging holes and planting various endemic and native plants. We also run many gardens that supply food to the surrounding communities, educate the locals about conservation, and help local children with disabilities.

My days are long, filled with hard work, and close with an early bedtime. We cook our own food, and I spend my free time lounging in a hammock with my nose in a book, listening to the mooing cows or screaming donkeys. Before coming here I had no idea what a donkey actually sounds like... now I can say that it is not the old childhood "eeh, aww" we all learned, but more of a murderous, blood curdling scream. It really sounds like someone is torturing these poor animals 24/7. 

The next two days here are Carnaval, which includes a big parade in the street where people will run around throwing flour, water balloons, and rotten eggs at you. Unfortunately I will not be partaking in the festivities due to the nonstop rain. We are now in the 83rd hour of massive rainstorm here, where we have been in a complete deluge without more than 30 minutes of respite for the past few days.

Hopefully now that there are fewer people at the Hacienda I can get some pictures of our work and accomodations soon. Until that point, I bid you all farewell, and will be heading back to take care of the cows and chickens!

An Unexpected Arrival

My journey from laid back Santa Cruz to my next volunteer project in San Cristobal started off like any other day in Ecuador, standing on a crowded dock with hundreds of other people trying to catch boats and everyone screaming incoherent interjections at the controllers. When I eventually shoved my way through the mob of other travelers that resembled a barking sea lion colony, I hopped on the first boat I saw, and made my way to the next obstacle, my ferry to San Cristobal.

The boat I took had a capacity of 26 people... there were at least 30 adults, and about 10 children. This made for a less than comfortable two hour ride, squished in between a sweaty Dutch guy and an Ecuadorian woman with two kids piled on her lap. But I hunkered down and put my mind on my destination as we bounced along, baking in the high noon sun the whole time. When I hopped onto the dock at San Cristobal I was slathered with a nice mix of sweat, sunscreen, and salt. The coordinator of my program met me with a taxi to go food shopping and get back to the volunteer house so I could finally relax. Unfortunately it was Sunday, meaning that every food shop was closed. We ended up finding one where I managed to buy a couple of potatoes, some dry pasta, and two cans of tuna. With my pantry stocked, we headed back to the "Hacienda Tranquila" which I would soon learn was anything but "tranquil".

When I arrived I was greeted by more than twenty teenagers all chattering in thick British accents. I had unwittingly stepped into a group of "Organized Gap Year" people, which from the description, sounds just like a big group of people who travel for 10 weeks together doing some volunteer work along the way... not what I would call a Gap Year, but oh well, to each their own. I slouched down in a plastic chair out of the patio and stuffed my nose in a book. But with twenty 18-20 year olds (17 of which are girls) all flapping their lips, I managed to get through about two pages before I just gave up and retreated to the sanctuary of my bedroom, which I share with three other boys.

After a week of being here, I've gotten to know most of the group, and they're actually very nice people, the Hacienda is just not set up to accommodate such a large group. There are a few other solo travelers that, like me, are a little bewildered by living like bees in a hive, so we manage to find solidarity in each other.

I really am enjoying the work here, and I plan to write about our activities ASAP. Hasta Luego!