The Amazon.

Just got back from the Amazon a few hours ago. Most interesting and crazy weekend ever I'm almost positron. My photos (all 563 of them) are currently being transferred to my computer, I'm caught up on Facebook/e-mails, and I'm procrastinating on the whole unpacking thing. Thus, a perfect time for a blog post. :D

Friday morning we left for Tiputini Biodiversity Station, which is a combination education/research collaboration between Boston University and USFQ. To get to Tiputini, which is in an especially diverse and remote part of the Amazon Rainforest we took a plane [Quito to Coca, 30 minutes], a boat [Rio Napo, 2 hours], a chiva...aka an open-air bus thing...[through petroleum-land, 2 hours], and then another boat [Rio Tiputini, 2 hours]. Craziness. Our plane was delayed for a bit because of weather in Coca, but we didn't hit many other bumps in the road on our journey there. Being on the first boat was like being in a combination Jurassic Park/Florida kind of place. The river was ride, the tarp on the top of the boat kept us from getting all sweltering, and there were beautiful rain-foresty trees every which way. Everyone who had been to Florida said that it smelled like Florida, but I couldn't tell you. When we got off this boat we had to go through a little security station before getting on the chiva. This is because the petroleum company lets Tiputini chivas drive on their road, but it's still like petroleum-land so they don't want you to bring bombs and armas [guns] and things of that nature through there. Also, you're not allowed to take pictures during this section of the journey because one time there was a terrorist attack against the petroleum company and the people who attacked them had tons o' plans with tons o' pictures of the place making it easier for them to attack. So while this place is crystal clear in my head and I can describe it as best as possible, there is no way you'll be able to grasp what it was really like. Unfortunately. Anyways, we took the chiva on a pebbled road through the jungle, passing what appeared to be a school with half-naked children playing [I forgot to mention that the heat met us as soon as we hopped off the plane], ramshackle houses, and the occassional "peligro" ["danger"] sign. Some of us slept, some of us listened to music, but mostly we just embraced the fact that we were on our way to have some sort of crazy adventure in the Amazon rainforest and we really had no idea what it was going to be like.

Got off the Chiva and scampered down the side of the road to encounter our second boat! The boat was filled with food that was being brought to Tiputini [including a branch of plantains that literally looked like it had been plucked off the tree moments before], but there was enough room for us too. Off we went! After some used the baño natural [aka squatting outside] of course. This river was a little bit smaller than the other one, as in less wide, but it was still a grand river. After quite some time we arrived at Tiputini. Hauled our stuff up the wet, wooden steps, and were welcomed into the comedor [place where we would be eating...comedor=dining room]. We followed Eduardo, the director of Tiputini, to our cabins and were given some chill time before dinner, after which we played cards and took pictures of a taranchala before heading off to bed early.

Tiputini functions quite like a summer camp and quite unlike a resort. There is no hot water, however, all of the water that runs through the station is potable/drinkable, which is quite the treat after living in Quito for 3 months where you have to boil your water before you can safely drink it. Electricity runs off a generator and runs to the cabins only between the hours of 11am-1pm and 6pm-9:30pm. Breakfast is served promptly at 6:30, Lunch at noon, and Dinner at 7:00. And you best be on time because that food is delicious and it won't be piping hot if you're not there on time.

In the morning we divided up into 3 groups for the 3 different activities we would be doing. One Saturday morning, one Saturday afternoon, and one Sunday afternoon. My group [Vicki, Beth, Emory, Rebecca, Sharon (the amazing woman from USFQ who traveled with us all the way from Quito), and I] would be doing the puentes first. Puentes=Bridges. So we wandered through the rainforest for awhile with our super-chev [super-cool] guide Santiago, with him pointing out interesting plants and animals and insects along the way and then we got to a tower. Attached to the tower, high above our heads, we could see some bridges. Which we were to walk over. Ummmmmmm....so high. So not okay. But I did it! No harnesses on the way up or down the tower, but there was a steel cable above the bridges that we were attached to. One of the bridges went to a platform which had a jank-town ladder attached to a tree to an even higher platform. No thank you. It was hard enough just crossing that first bridge. So I sat on the strangely-located lawn chair on the platform while others went up and down the ladder to get an even better view. I walked back across the bridge, took a look at the next bridge, decided I'd had enough, and then climbed back down the tower. Soon after the rest came down and we made our way back through the jungle for lunch and naptime. At times it seemed like we were not on any sort of kind of path at all, and then all of a sudden, BAM, Santiago had us back on the trail. Crazzzzzzy.

The food at Tiputini is AMAZING.

Amazonian naps are the best I decided. Especially when it is raining.

For our afternoon activity we were going on the Lago path. Which would, of course, lead to a lago/laguna. We saw tons o' monos [monkeys] on the way and it was spectacular. [List of interesting flora/fauna we saw/ate/heard will be at the end] We got to the lago, hopped in a dinky boat which seemed as though it would tip into the anaconda/manta ray/electric eel/piranha/cayman--laden water at every move. This laguna was so incredibly peaceful, yet so active at the same time. The sounds of the rainforest were incredible. The birds, the monkeys, the frogs. Everything. And there was no possible way that any of the sounds we heard could be from civilization. There were all just nature. Pure, unadulterated nature. Incredible. It's like you could see God everywhere. All of the pine trees in/around the laguna had spines on their trunks and leaves. It seemed almost pre-historic. Like a dinosaur was about to poke its head out of the trees at any moment.

After we paddled around the laguna for awhile we docked the boat and walked to the river where a boat came and picked us up to bring us back to the Station in time for dinner. Dinner was delish, and then we saw this AMAZING powerpoint presentation. Tiputini, in conjunction with National Geographic, has these motion and heat-sensor cameras set up all over this section of the rainforest that capture pictures of the animals and birds that you don't get to see usually because humans make a lot of noise and animals are scared of them. Pictures of jaguars, a rabbit (which is actually more rare to see in the jungle than jaguars), pumas, deer, tapirs, etc. all captured off-guard and in their natural habitat. Incredible. They can even identify the individual jaguars based on their spots. Then we went off to our cabins. Of course as soon as 9:30 rolled around the lights went out automatically and we were all so tired anyways that we went right to sleep. Although the candle-lit cabins were pretty much incredible.

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More new stuff about the Amazon!

Alright, so the next day (Sunday) in the morning we woke up and were told that plans had changed. We would be doing our third activity in the afternoon and go swimming in the river in the morning. So we headed back to our cabins, put on our swimsuits, put on our clothes and rubber boots over our swimsuits, and headed out to the dock with all of us and our 3 guides. As we cruised down the river some people fell asleep (I mean it was like 8:00 in the morning), some people searched for animals and birds along the riverbank, and some just soaked up the feeling of having the breeze in your hair as we boated down a river in the Amazon. We saw lots of birds, monkeys, and vegetation. After about an hour or two we reached a spot in the river where we were to jump out and float down in our life-jackets. Now this may not seem hard to you. I mean seriously, how hard is it to just float down a river. However, we had been told that there were pirahnas AND 20-foot anacondas in this river. If those were in the river, what other crazy things could be in there too? Like seriously. But we jumped in anyways! The water was the perfect temperature and as we floated down we laughed and joked and spotted monkeys and other wildlife along the shore. The guides, still on the boat, also found some crazy fruit for us to eat, so as we were floating alongside the boat they handed us pieces for us to try. I don't remember what kind of fruit it was, but it had a seed in the middle surrounded by this cotton-y yet delicious white stuff. Crazy. Ultimately we ended up getting back in the boat and returning to the station for lunch. Not of course, before it started downpouring (making us all quite a bit chilly), and getting out of the boat at some random spot along the river where the guides knew there was this one tree that housed a couple of pygmy monkies. In our swimsuits, rubber boots, and ponchos/raincoats, we slid up the muddy embankment to stand for a while around this tree trying to see the monkies. It was wet, cold, and crazy. Matt and I joyfully sang river/jungle songs all the way back to the station, much to the "delight" of our shivering and crabby peers.

In the afternoon my group was supposed to go to "The Tower." This tower, I had been told, was twice as tall as the last one we climbed so I knew there was no way that was going to happen. Thus, I tagged along with the group who was going to the lagoon so that I didn't have to sit at the bottom of the tower for a couple hours by myself. This proved to be a very good choice seeing as we saw a CAYMAN in the laguna! Crazy. And I feel like it was a completely different experience, even though it was the same path. The rainforest is an ever-evolving kind of place and it never looks the same.

That evening, after dinner, we were supposed to go drifting in the boat to look for caymans, but it had rained too much that day and the water was too high, so instead we went on night hikes with our guide. This was cool and scary all at the same time. We were armed with 3 flashlights so as we went down the path, everything was pitch black except for the small areas of the forest that we were lighting up. So many scary wanting-to-kill-you things were in that forest. I honestly thought we were all going to be killed by a jaguar or a puma or a spider or something like that. But don't worry, we survived! Although we did see one of the most dangerous spiders in the world. Yikes!

The next day we returned home taking the same modes of transportation as before but in reverse and we were also in coca a lot earlier than our flight was so there was a lot of waiting around. Luckily, the strange hotel place where we docked and waited had tons of monkeys for us to watch and play with so it really wasn't too bad. Also, an interesting thing was that in the airport as we were waiting for our flight, our leader (Sharon) pointed out that most of the people in the tiny airport (except for us) were male. This is because most of them work for the petroleum companies in the area and that is mainly who the coca airport services. Super Interesting.

Absolutely incredible weekend, probably one of my favorites ever.

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Interesting things we saw/learned about:

Hongo de Tasa: Mushroom that the indigenous people use to measure medicine for babies.

Monkey Ladder: This kind of branch monkeys use as ladders and to make hammocks.

Jardín de Diablo with Lemon Ants: A special kind of tree that gives off acid, thus no vegetation grows beneath it. It also has ants that taste like lemon in its branches. The indigenous people call it "Jardín de Diablo" because they didn't use to know why no vegetation grew beneath it.

Wooly Monkeys

Cute little frog

Giant scary hormiga that if it stings you can make you have to be in bed for half the day because it is so painful.

There were most likely monkeys sleeping above the paths we were walking on.

There are red roots that lead to this specific tree that has posionous sap that you can also use if a mosquito lays its eggs in you to kill the eggs.

We saw the world's smallest monkeys and the world's largest monkeys in the world in the same day.

You can use the soldier ants as sutures.

Giant millipeed.

There are leaves that taste and smell like garlic that the Quechua people use to cure fevers. Drink 3 cups of garlic leaf tea a day and your fever goes down.

The gigantic trees in the rainforest can be over 500 years old.

Palmera que camina: Palm tree that "walks" with its roots to find sunlight and nutrients.

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Hope you enjoyed this post, because I truly enjoyed writing it!

-EM

Carnaval

This past week/weekend we had Monday and Tuesday off for the Ecuadorian holiday Carnaval. Nobody has really been able to explain to me the real exact point of Carnaval, but what it ends up being is 2 days with no school and lots of foam and water and eggs and stuff being thrown around. Aka, a great excuse to go to the beach. Thursday night we headed out. Our bus left Quito at 10:30 pm. We didn't really know how long of a trip it was going to be but we had chosen Same (pronounced Sah-May) because it was one of the closer beaches. Aka, the trip would probably take 4 hours by car and probably 6 hours by bus. Nope. We arrived in Same at approximately 7:00 in the morning. The crabbiness we felt from being on a crowded and uncomfortable bus the whole night was somewhat stifled by the fact that we were on the beach and on vacation and didn't have to worry about school or homework or anything except enjoying ourselves. We had two apartments for what ended up always being the 11 of us even though some people left early and came late. One had the jankiest kitchen I've ever seen and the other one was completely and totally bedazzled. It was pretty much an awesome combination. And we had balconies that overlooked the "Iguana Club" which was basically just a bunch of iguanas who hung out in the trees across the street from us. That was pretty sweet too. So our days basically consisted of going to the tienda to get breakfast food whenever we woke up, putting on our suits and going to the pool, eating lunch, chilling, going to the beach, showering and/or napping, back to the beach for dinner, back to the apartments for hanging out times, then back to the beach for swinging in hammocks and walking down the beach and going to bars and such. The openness of the coast is amazing. You never feel like you're inside which I love. All the bars and restaurants don't really have walls at all. It's just such a unique place. Oh and it didn't hurt that it was like 20-30 degrees warmer than in Quito. We were just living the idealistic perfect life. How amazing our 5-day vacation was made coming back to rainy work-filled Quito that much harder. Especially after another much more miserable bus ride back home. We left Same at 10:30 and hopped on the bus which would prove to always be the wrong temperature. First of all when I got on the bus I already felt a teensy bit sick to my stomach and was trying to keep the mental images of me huddled over a plastic bag in a moving bus for 10 hours out of my head. Second of all within the first hour I had to pee and was sweating. But about an hour and a half in we were stopped. At a complete standstill. In a line of probably 50 other buses. We had no idea why we were stopped, just that we were stopped and that the driver had turned the air vents off and it smelled a bit like urine. This was disheartening. And made it all the more difficult to sleep. About an hour later we realized we were in a line waiting to be searched by the police. About an hour later we actually made it to this police check point. We all had to get off the bus, present identification, and be patted down by the police, the guys with their hands against the side of the bus and the girls just in a line. Then we had to walk back on showing our faces to the video camera that one policeguy was holding. Now this wasn't entirely unexpected since on the way to the coast we were stopped and a policeman came on and took video of all of our faces, but still it was weird and uncomfortable. We finally got moving but were stopped another few times by the police just so they could talk to the bus driver and take video of everyone one more time. Ridiculous. Now I was smart in my planning and knew that it would be colder on the way to Quito so although I was wearing a skirt, I had sweatpants in my bag. As soon as it started to get chilly, I went to get them out, but alas, my water bottle had spilled all over them. So for the rest of the ride I shivered. Due to all this nonsense and the utter uncomfort the bus seats are, I did not sleep. For 10 hours. I was pretty darn crabby the next morning when we got into Quito and we arrived too late for me to actually go to my first or second classes so I took a two hour nap, then got up and went to school. I've been recovering ever since and I think I've come to terms with the fact that I no longer just get to chill on the beach every day and just have fun, but still. If my whole life could just be a huge long vacation, I would be so incredibly happy.

-EM