This week was a little difficult.  I didn’t see a single monkey.

Nevertheless, I still went on beautiful hikes on three different trails in the cloud forest and still managed to see some cool things. For example, on the first steep hike we saw a trogan, a beautiful bird with a bright red chest, guarding her eggs in a tree hollow.

I also saw a cock-of-the-rock, which had a beautiful, bright-orange coloration. It was mesmerizing to watch the bird with its absurd, jerky movements as it looked around the forest perched on a branch, straining its neck every-which-way. Unfortunately, my camera battery also died the first day this week, so I couldn’t capture any photos. I will be sure to try and take some next week! UPDATE: Here’s a cock-of-the-rock!

Despite all of the rain this week, which made for muddy trails that I slipped on pretty constantly, there were moments of sunshine that highlighted pretty breathtaking views of the cloud forest and highlands. In these times of sunshine, beautiful butterflies fluttered all over the place, settling on leaflets and occasionally on me!

Also the last day, we were hiking when all of a sudden Fausto, our field guide, stopped to take a picture of an orchid. I asked him later about it and he said he thinks it might be a new species, since it looks quite different than another similar orchid. Just another day in the cloud forests of Ecuador! UPDATE: It turns out it’s not a new species

Though I didn’t get to see any monkeys in the wild this week, I spent Sunday in Puyo visiting a monkey rescue center. I was very impressed with how knowledgeable the volunteers were about wooly monkeys, and I spoke with them for quite a while. I wasn’t too impressed by the city though; it was very hot and the downtown area didn’t have much to offer.

The last week had the same result-no monkeys! It also rained everyday. But I saw the juvenile male cock-of-the-rock that I saw in the nest in the wild, and he was with two other females. Could it have possibly been a little family reunion?

I also saw the most beautiful butterfly on the hike out. If anyone can identify what this is I’ll be forever grateful. Update: It’s a metalmark butterfly, Rhetus Periander.

And that’s the end of my time in the cloud forest! Now I’m just hanging back in Banos, working on my paper at a hostel. I can’t believe my time in Ecuador is almost over! I’m just trying to make the most of my last weeks while I can.

Back from my first week in the cloud forest! What an adventure it has been thusfar. Trekking four hours past the small community of El Topo, up and over steep muddy hills, creeks, waterfalls, passing alongside the ever-flowing Rio Zuniag, we finally reached our research cabin. Humble and simple, without electricity, it has all the comforts and a screened in bedroom to keep out the mosquitos and the resident colony of invasive African honeybees. Meals are provided by our wonderful park guard Fausto, who also guides us through the rough terrain.

Scrambling up the steep muddy hills, followed by our entourage of mosquitoes, we walk an hour up into the cloud forest to find the troop of wooly monkeys. With some luck, within an hour we encounter the howling group, vocalizing as they forage for fruit and insects in the trees. After watching them for several hours, documenting their behavior and diet by carefully observing through the branches, we go back to have our packed lunch with Jaelyn, my constant companion, who is looking at the magnolia trees in the reserve for her independent study project. This was an average day in the field this week.

Of course, everything isn’t so seamless. I became pretty sick the very first day of the trip, it’s usually raining, and the monkeys aren’t always so easy to find. But my cold is clearing up, we are adapting to the conditions and our projects are slowly coming together.

Just living in the cloud forest is a dream come true. In addition to the misty forested-hills marking the landscape, there is a bounty of remarkable wildlife. Traces of pumas, tapirs, and spectacled bears dot the trails; hopefully one of these days we’ll bump into one! I briefly saw an agouti, a large rodent, run quickly away from me off the trail. Beautiful birds fly through the branches in the mornings. Hermit hummingbirds with curved beaks pollinate the bright flowers. Colorful tanagers and woodcreepers fill the forest with their songs. I even saw a stunning trogan, with its bright red chest and emerald back perching in a tree the other day. Another exciting bird, the cock-of-the-rock, has a nest right by the research station that is currently occupied by two juveniles living in the rock face above the river.

I can’t wait for another two weeks of monkey observations and cool critter encounters in the cloud forest. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting findings for my project, but if not at least I’m spending it in a cool place enjoying myself.

Classes are over, final exams are finished, and now I’m heading out to the cloud forest for a month to study wooly monkeys! However, before I leave on Saturday for Baños, I’d like to reflect a little about my time here around Quito.

First of all, I cannot wait to get out of the city simply because that means no more crowded buses! Fortunately, I’ve never gotten lost; actually, people tend to ask me for directions for some reason. I guess I blend in well enough! However, though the bus is easy to navigate, the system is still pretty bad. For anyone who has ever complained about Houston public transport, you can’t even compare to the bus system in Quito. Sure, you can get pretty much wherever you need to go in the city, but it will take a while. It takes an hour and a half to get from where I live (in the North) to the South end of the city. It was hard enough for me as a tourist; I can’t imagine those poor commuters who have to take the trolley bus with a briefcase and suit every day. The metro buses are so crowded, they might not even be able to hold on to their handbag! I’ve been elbowed, shoved, stepped on, and fallen onto more times I can count commuting to class in the morning. One time I was on the bus, leaning against the middle set of doors, and it opened up in the midst of rush hour traffic, leaving me dangling over oncoming cars. Fortunately, I grabbed onto a railing just in time, but it could have ended a lot worse. Just last week, I was pushed up front near the doors (because that was the only space I could fit into), and the doors crushed me into the front railing for the painfully long 12 second stop. So as you can see, I am not a fan of the public buses.

The private buses, however, are fantastic. I’ve splurged $3 and taken cushy charter buses with comfortable seats and movie screens to all of the popular destinations around Quito. Last weekend, I took myself to see Quilotoa, a beautiful lake in the crater of a volcano. The scenery was spectacular, with beautiful mountains and volcanoes surrounding the crater, and a deep emerald pool at the base. I hiked down to the water’s edge and had a little picnic before making my way back up the steep slopes. It was a rough daytrip, with a 5-hour commute each way, but definitely worth it for this view!

I also went on a weekend trip this past weekend to Baños to check out the home base of my ISP. Though I’m doing my project in a reserve 45 minutes away from the town, I wanted to take the chance to do all the touristy stuff with my friends. We took a guided tour up to the Casa Del Arbol, past green volcanic cliffs and streams of waterfalls, up to where there is a supposedly beautiful outlook where you can swing. When we got to the Treehouse and swing, it was really cloudy, but it was still awesome swinging into nothingness! We then biked over to the waterfalls, where we saw a beautiful cascade down into a collecting pool, called the Devil’s Cauldron. The scenery of this area of the cloud forest truly is beautiful, and I cannot wait to spend my last month here!

 

 

We ended the day going to a hot spring in the pouring rain, but I didn’t mind because the bath-like pool felt so good! It was also sitting at the base of a waterfall, illuminated by kitschy green lights. There was also a steaming hot pool and a freezing cold pool if I wanted to shock my senses, but I didn’t leave the comfortable hot spring for very long. We also had to wear shower caps, which I thought made everyone look ridiculous.

 

Another weekend I went on a trip to Otavalo, a cute market town which had lots of beautiful crafts. It was also nearby a beautiful waterfall (though at this point I’ve seen so many waterfalls here it’s getting harder to judge). I also took a trip to Mindo, where I went to “Ecuador’s largest” Mariposario, where hundreds of beautiful butterflies surrounded me; it was magical. I also spent a fair amount of time at a hummingbird garden as well, where there were dozens of different birds, including brilliants, Aracari, and light blue tanagers. Mindo is a beautiful town, and I really enjoyed walking along the touristy shops and along the fast river.

That next day, I went to La Mitad del Mundo, or the equator, where Ecuador’s namesake comes from. There was a museum in the monument with lots of information on the different regions of Ecuador and their indigenous communities, but also information on the Coriolis effect and the “science” of the equator. I really enjoyed all of the activities there, exploring sample houses of each of the regions and witnessing various dancing performances from communities such as Riobamba and Calacali. I also brought an egg to balance at the equator, which is supposedly easier to do because of gravity. I don’t know if this is true or not, but I did it!

Back in Quito, we celebrated La Semana Santa and Good Friday by going to the Procession, where hundreds of people paraded around the historic district near the Basilica. I got myself an ice cream and perched on the gates of a cathedral to get a better vantage point. Honestly, it was pretty painful to watch at times, as people would be whipping themselves as they walked in chains out of penance. Many participants wore the purple cloaks of Cucuruchos, whose purple cones symbolize humility. They carried giant crosses and logs out of devotion to Christ. For the women, they wore purple veils, calling themselves “Las Veronicas” after the women who supposedly offered her veil to wipe Jesus’ tears. It was a strong display of faith, and it made my easter weekend a lot more meaningful than it ordinarily would have been.

As you can probably tell, Quito is a pretty conservative town. Today was a really beautiful day in Quito, but you honestly couldn’t really tell because everyone still is wearing pants. It used to be colder in the region, but because of climate change it’s heating up; however, the custom of wearing pants still persists, so people swelter in the heat despite the obvious advantages of wearing shorts. I still walked home today in pants after my exam, sweltering in the heat just to blend in, and I noticed that there is a very high concentration of convenience stores and tiny cafes along the main streets, which I think is kind of unique. It reminded me of the bodegas lining the streets of New York City.

Also, it’s clear enough that I can see the top of Pichincha, the volcano to the West of town. When I was walking to school the other morning, the clouds held off long enough so that I could see the beautiful volcano Cotapaxi to the South of the city. I could see glaciers and all, and I even noticed some smoke coming out! Yes, I am living in a city surrounded by active volcanoes.

 

And just as I was writing this blog, I look out my window to see the sun setting over Cayambe. I am really going to miss the beautiful scenery surrounding this city.

The Galapagos Islands were first called Las Islas Encantadas, “The Enchanted Islands”, by Spanish colonists in the 16th century-and it’s easy to see why. Desert landscapes, creeping mangrove forests, and strange creatures give the islands an “enchanted” feel. The beautiful landscapes pale in comparison to the real stars of this island: the unique flora and fauna of the Galapagos that attract over 200,000 tourists every year.

There is incredibly high endemicity on the islands, meaning that much of the wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. Additionally, many of the wildlife are hyper-endemic to each island, adapting solely to the conditions on an individual island.

This is what makes the islands so important evolutionarily speaking, as the path of evolution is quite clear on these islands. This is definitely the case with the Galapagos tortoises, which have one or more different species represented on most of the islands. For example, Santa Cruz has 2 different species of tortoise, while Pinta island has lost its tortoises to extinction. I had the chance to see these peaceful land giants walking the trails of the parks on Santa Cruz and also in a breeding center, where we got to see baby tortoises and giant tortoises making babies.

 

I was incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to see much of this wildlife up close. Many of the large animals have few natural predators, and hunting activity has been abolished when the islands became part of the national park, so many of the animals are unafraid of humans and will get quite close.

The marine wildlife is incredible as well, due to the intersection of many currents around the islands. The upwellings of nutrients attract many groups of fish and other marine wildlife. As a part of the trip, we went snorkeling almost every day, and each snorkeling site offered something unique. We saw groups of spotted eagle rays and white-tipped sharks, as well as a baby hammerhead swimming near the surface the first day snorkeling on North Seymour island .

The next day around Santa Fe, we swam with a green sea turtle and almost swam into a shark. Around Floreana, we snorkeled at a sunken volcano at Devil’s Crown, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world. We saw so many schools of fish and a large group of large marbled rays. These first few days were some of the best, since they were spent cruising around different islands in a luxury yacht because our other boat sunk 2 weeks before the trip. I definitely did not mind the upgrade, since we were served 5-star meals, drinks and snacks upon returning from snorkeling and hiking on the islands, and dove off of the top deck for swimming breaks. It was probably the most posh thing I’ve ever experienced.

The adventures continued on land as well. After the yacht cruise, I stayed for four days on the island of Isabella with an incredibly welcoming homestay family. Jenny, my homestay mom, owned one of the best restaurants on the island and cooked wonderful meals for us. The town was small, but Isabella island is one of the largest on the archipelago. Here, we got to hike up an active volcano and learn a bit about the islands’ geology as we scrambled across a lava field. We also hiked around the park a bit and snorkeled through mangroves, seeing plenty of fish, green sea turtles, and sharks up close. As I was snorkeling in the shallow waters, marine iguanas and sea lions would swim right by me.

The last day was one of the most incredible; I got to snorkel with huge manta rays, with wingspans up to 15ft long! The water was kind of murky, so at first I just saw huge shadows swimming eerily beneath me. But, as I turned around, a huge manta ray swam right past my face, and I got to see its huge fins flapping up and down, like it was flying underwater.

We went to Los Tuneles, remains of lava flow that left cool tunnel-like formations in the water, creating a unique and sheltered ecosystem for all sorts of wildlife. Here, we had the rare chance to see seahorses up close in the wild. As I surfaced, I came face-to-face with a group of Galapagos penguins, the northernmost penguins in the world! We got to enjoy their presence even more as we had our fish ceviche while watching them catch their own fish for lunch.

The most remarkable part of swimming through the tunnels was getting to swim with the endemic Galapagos sub-species of Green Sea turtle. These majestic creatures were scraping at the algae on rocks right beneath our feet, and they did not mind our presence at all. On multiple occasions, one would swim right beneath me, brushing against my flippers as it floated by. This was probably one of the most inspiring experiences of my life, and it happened on my last day in the Galapagos.

This is the highlight reel of one of the best weeks of my life. Every day, I had close encounters with so many keystone species. The Galapagos is truly one of the world’s most wonderful places, and I am so lucky that I got to spend time here as a part of my study abroad program.

One of my favorite activities of the Amazon excursion was “the dropoff”, which consisted of being left alone in the forest for several hours to do whatever is desired. Of course, I immediately took advantage of this time alone and stripped down, trying (and failing) to make myself clothes out of leaves. After spending an hour or two alone in the Amazon rainforest, given a hectare of land to myself for the afternoon, I began exploring the area. I decided to do the “natural” thing and mark my territory. Right as I was finishing, I noticed a large bullet ant scrambling by the branch next to me. Then I saw another, and another, until I finally realized that several were entering and exiting a small hole at the base of the tree next to me. To my dismay, I had discovered the nest of one of the insects with the most painful sting in the world, with the pain equated to being “shot by a bullet.” Of course, reactions vary, and my professor is still alive despite being bitten several times. But, it was something I did not want to mess with so I quickly took a few pictures and calmly left the vicinity. Biting mosquitoes and sandflies were already attacking me, so I was not about to add “bullet ant” to the list of bites.

 

The Amazon is full of many things that can potentially harm you, but I managed to escape relatively unscathed besides the dozens of mosquito bites and a couple scratches from several razor-edged plants. The large, 4-5m long black Caimans we saw the first day left us alone during our boat ride around Limoncocha lagoon. These giant reptiles have been known to attack unsuspecting tourists swimming in the lagoon at night, so whenever we went for a swim in the river it had to be in a low occupancy area during the day. Luckily, we were with our wonderful guides, Mauro & Hector, who were usually helping to keep us safe when they weren’t busy pointing out various birds.

When you’re not busy being bitten by mosquitoes or stung by other things, it is very easy to appreciate the beauty of this part of the Amazon. Since the Ecuadorian Amazon is the most biodiverse region in the world, there are amazing animals around every corner. A simple canoe ride through the river offers fantastic views of rare and beautiful birds. Walking back to the lodge to relax on a hammock, a troop of squirrel monkeys passes by to forage for food. We had many opportunities to examine this high biodiversity through field exercises. Most mornings, we would search for birds at various sites around Limoncocha or in canoes around the Napo River at Pañacocha. The best place for birding was at a salt lick along the Napo River, where we stopped in the early morning to see huge flocks of parrots acquiring salt from the cliff rocks. It was amazing seeing so many parrots, toucans, and other birds along the river.

We took an excursion to Monkey Island, a rehabilitation center for wooly monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and many others. It was great seeing these monkeys up close, but we also saw groups of Dusky Titi Monkeys and a pygmy marmoset close to our lodges.

The diversity of the amazon is best represented by the insects, which we analyzed in a short activity capturing bugs near the lagoon. It is amazing how many cool insects there are! We also took hikes around the forest, identifying important plant families and learning about forestry. One of my favorite hikes was at night, when we saw a number of nocturnal insects, frogs, and owl monkeys, which are the only nocturnal monkeys. Also at night, we set up mist-nets like we did in the cloud forest, but this time we captured and measured leaf-nosed bats! I did not realize how complicated bats were, and they were actually kinda cute up close (in an ugly sort of way).

 

But it’s not just biodiversity; on the way to the amazon, we stopped by a sedimentary cave to explore the fascinating geology of the area. Lots of shells were fossilized in the walls of the cave on shelves, which I grabbed onto a lot of the time to keep myself from falling. Though the water was cold and at some points waist-high, exploring the cave was a great start to the amazon excursion.

We also stopped by several petroleum fields, learning about how the oil industry is destroying the Amazon by deforesting areas for roads and equipment. When the excess gas is burned, thousands of insects are killed as they are attracted to the light of the flame at night. The toxins from the crude oil also leak into the surrounding area, contaminating the land and water supply and endangering the health of all the native communities of the amazon.

The biodiversity of the Amazon is breathtaking, but it is unfortunately threatened by deforestation and the petroleum industry. It is important to conserve this remarkable area of the world that I have been so lucky to experience, and learning about the issues faced by the Amazon is only the beginning.

A beautiful view of the hills and forests beckons every morning from the porch of Santa Lucia research station, where I have the fortune of staying this week. Around midday, the clouds roll in, creating a mystical atmosphere. It is paradise, with candlelit dinners, hot drinks in the afternoons, and outdoor showers with the most incredible views. The research station is also sustainable, with minimal electricity usage and compost toilets, minimizing environmental impacts and creating a sustainable living situation in the midst of the forest. This is essential, since the station is a 2-hour hike and half-hour truck ride from the main road; it is completely isolated in the jungle.

 

The cloud forest is incredibly beautiful. Thick, epiphytic mosses and bromeliads cover the trees, blanketing the forest in green. Because it’s so humid all of the time, since the forest is literally in a cloud, all of this greenery is well-supported. A plethora of bird species call the cloud forest their home, and I had the fortune of watching them everyday at hummingbird feeders, in mist-nets set up in the forest, and on bird surveys for an independent project (where I got to hike to a huge waterfall!).

There are also some crazy insects as well. We set up light traps at night, where dozens of unique and beautiful moths would swarm the screen. I was shocked at the diversity of critters out there, and I have a newfound appreciation for the nocturnal insects that call the cloud forest home.

During the day we had a whole variety of field activities, including setting up forestry plots on steep 45-degree slopes, dissecting the inner-workings of a moss-covered branch, and capturing birds in seemingly translucent nets for measurements and identification. It was a fantastic trip, and I learned a lot of field skills at the same time.

My favorite part of the trip, however, was at the end, where I had the opportunity to partake in a homestay with a rural campesino family in Yunguilla. This scenic village amongst the mountains and clouds is a community of 230 people, composed of 70 families. It is self-sustaining and benefits greatly from ecotourism to the cloud forests. Many families generously opened up their homes and their lives to us for a couple of days. I was paired with another guy on the program, and together we worked a farm for a couple of hours, tilling the soil with our homestay mother. Though it was hard to communicate with her, as she was hard-of-hearing, she was an excellent cook and made some of the best dishes I’ve had in Ecuador. She also had a cat and a beautiful view from her house, shared with her husband Diogenes. I wish we could have done more to help out, as there is a lot of work to be done on the farms, and everyone is busy working their own land.

This community is an excellent example of how important it is for people to work together. People give each other lifts by piling in the back of a truck to get to their worksites; everyone helps to contribute towards the communal projects, such as the organic farm and reforestation projects. However, it is not all work. At the end of most days, even the rainy ones, people gather around the town center, which consists of the general store, church, and school, and play a game of pick-up soccer. It was incredibly fun playing a round of soccer with some of the people in the community, and I felt incredibly welcomed. Adding to the welcoming gesture, they threw us a small party at the end of our first full day, with dancing and donuts and gifts of small bracelets with the town name sewn into the band.

The highlight of the trip came on the last day, where I was lucky enough to help out at the community cheese factory. Diana, one of the town’s cheesemakers and ecotourism workers, showed me and a couple other SIT students how to make the delicious fresh cheese sold in the general store and exported to some parts of north Quito. I was involved in all parts of the process. The cheese-making begins with fresh milk from Jersey cows, which are a lot harder to milk than I thought. I tried my hand at squeezing milk from the udder, which involved squeezing pretty hard only for a small stream of milk to come out. The cows also didn’t care much for a bunch of new hands, and Diana ended up milking most of the time.

However, the milk for that day’s batch of cheese was delivered by the milkman, who stopped by the cheese factory on a horse with several containers of fresh milk. The first step to make the cheese is to pour the milk into a huge vat, which is then heated for several hours. The curds are then collected and forced into a bunch of circular metal molds by hand, which is actually quite fun to do. The cheese is pressed to squeeze out the excess milk and is left to become firm in the air. The cheese is then put under pressure and then placed in a tub of salt water to make the particular mozzarella-esque cheese that Yunguilla is so famous for. We then helped package the finished products and placed them in the fridge for later shipment. It was wonderful being involved in all of the steps of the cheese-making process (though not necessarily in the right order), and I now have a huge appreciation for all of the work that goes into making house cheese. I was sure to stock up on some cheese and a bunch of other local products including marmalades and organic dark chocolate to help support this wonderful community.

The views from Chimborazo, a snow-capped volcano just south of Quito, are breath-taking. Literally. I don’t know what it is about me and high altitudes but we just don’t get along. While I was huffing and puffing up the mountain, I learned all about the crazy plants that manage to live at such high altitudes. This requires adaptations that increase the capacity to conserve water despite high winds and dry volcanic soils.

All sorts of wonderful animals live high up in the Paramo as well. We saw many wild vicuñas, mammals similar to alpacas, that were vigilantly feeding on the vegetation. They would gallop across the mountainside like it was no big deal while we humans were struggling to hike without falling. An Andean Fox also made an appearance, and beautiful Ecuadorian Hillstars, a hummingbird that I gave a presentation on, flew around pollinating the orange flowers of shrubs. We also saw a baby hillstar in a cave/temple we sought shelter in 15,000 ft up on the mountainside.

 

 

 

 

We also did a little bit of “community-work”. After class one day, we helped herd a bunch of alpacas on a farm and chased them back to the ranch. This included getting to see the 2-week old alpacas, which were still pretty big. Running after alpacas was super fun, and it was also great learning about the local community that depends on ranching and agriculture to get by. The locals who ran our hostel, Casa Condor, were incredibly hospitable and grateful for our stay. It was interesting to get a glimpse into the life of people who live so high up in the mountains.

One of the most memorable parts of the trip took place unexpectedly. On the way to Chimborazo, the bus got stuck waiting for a carnival parade to pass. Instead of just waiting it out on the bus, we got out and joined in on the fun! At first we just watched all of the colorful costumes, floats, and dancing from the sidelines of the parade. Then people started spraying us with water, colored powder, and silly string, so instead of standing as targets we fought back and found ourselves in an even bigger mess. It was too fun bonding with the group and making such a huge mess. Apparently the tradition of spraying water during carnival season traces back to the belief that humans come from corn grain, which also has legs (roots), a head, and hair! And just like corn, we ought to be watered by showering pedestrians with buckets of water. Though I didn’t have dry clothes to change into, and my warmest clothes remained soaked for the entirety of the weekend, the fun was definitely worth the mess.

On the way back from Chimborazo, we practiced birding with waterfowl at a lake in Riobamba, the original settlement of the Spanish before they conquered Quito. It was great to whip out the binoculars and use different techniques of surveying birds. After the long bus ride back, I got to relax in Quito for a few more days. We had many school assignments due, but I also managed to find time for some fun as well. On Friday night, my host mom invited 14 of her cousins over for dinner and dancing. It was surprisingly fun learning Cumbre and Merengue and dancing with several shockingly mobile middle-aged women. It turned out that I was the entertainment for the evening, since the only thing this family likes more than dancing is laughing at me dancing.

The next day I explored the historic district of Quito with my home-stay family,  visiting a modern art museum and touring beautiful historic cathedrals to appreciate the baroque architectural style. I find the conversion of the old historic buildings no longer in use into functioning stores and museums fascinating. Utilizing the space while still preserving the architectural framework is an excellent way to bring Quito into the 21st century while treasuring its historic value.