Amazon/Oriente

         So I seem to be a bit behind….but a few weeks ago we traveled to the Ecuadorian Amazon/Oriente for a week…the Southern part.  The trip was incredible, there is no way I will be able to do it justice in words or pictures. (I did put an album up on facebook you should check out...it takes hours to load pics on this blog so no more pics here unfortunately)  Anyway, before I give a recap of the trip I am going to nerd out a bit about Ecuador and how awesome the biodiversity is in Ecuador…so feel free to skip to our adventures…but I know some of my bio and science friends will appreciate lol.

         Ecuador is a biodiversity hot spot, one of the most diverse places in the world, and the Andes are the main contributing factor.  Vicariancia is diversity by the development of mountains.  More than 70% of the species are endemic (meaning they are unique only to the Andes…having very specific conditions and a very small range of distribution).  The Andes have many very different and extreme climates and microclimates, with many natural barriers such as the Amazon River.  On our trip, we set out to explore the differences and extremes.  The Andes of Ecuador hosts five main, distinct ecosystems, each located at different altitude…and each with very unique climates, vegetation, species, etc.  Starting at the lowest altitude is the Tropical humid rainforest, then follows the dry forest, next the mountain forests, next the cloud forests, and finally at the highest altitudes the paramo.  In our week-long trip, we hiked around and learned about each ecosystem, feeling the climates and studying the various species of trees, plants, and animals...pretty awesome.  The different ecosystems occupy an altitude range of about 4,000 meters…and the changes in altitude cause massive changes in the ecosystems…traveling just an hour on the road can take you to a seemingly whole new world.  The more gradients of altitude you have, the more types of ecosystems.  An altitudinal change of 600 M is equivalent to a latitudinal change of 1000 KM wow! These patterns hold true because Ecuador is smack dab on the Equator. So this helps explain the biodiversity in Ecuador…and the lack of biodiversity in places like hmmm flatland, sea level Minnesota.  Another interesting thing about climbing altitude is…in the lower altitudes the Density of species is greatest…in the mid altitudes the Diversity/richness is the greatest, and in the higher altitudes the number of endemic species is the greatest.

         Anyway, the trip…

         The first day we went to Susudel, which is a small very small town in a mountain forest.  We went for an awesome hike with an extremely knowledgeable man Fernando.  During the hike, he told us all about the native plants, their awesome adaptations, and their medicinal uses.  We stayed overnight on his organic farm, full of cats, dogs, chickens, and 3-week old kittens.  We ate deliciously fresh farm food…including their famous duck and chicken egg and bacon scramble with choclo and other beans.  The farm also makes its own jerkeys, salsas, jams, dried fruits, pickles, relishes, and hot sauces.  The farm and the small town had me thinking a lot about both the simplicity and challenges of farm life.

         The second day we switched ecosystems to hike in the dry forest.  We hiked under circling condors, encountered one of the most venomous spiders in the world, and possibly discovered a new species of crab.  We then moved on to a hike in a conserved mountain forest…completely different! So fresh, green, wet, lush, and full of life.  It is preserved by a nearby indigenous community that we also visited, called Saraguro.  The people living there still speak Quitchua, but also learn Spanish.  They have strictly defined traditions…everyone attends school, and then university to specialize, and then works for the community in their specific pplacements.  The town was beautiful and clean, with little parks and markets.  That night we traveled to Loja city, which is another of the largest cities in Ecuador.  We wandered around, exploring a few of Loja’s parks, churches, and bars and what not, and then back to the hotel for another game night.

         Day three we hiked in another dry forest, and learned about a lot of the awesome adaptations plants and animals have developed in order to live in such a challenging environment.  Lots of species are venomous and/or nocturnal.  We then traveled to our next hostel, which happened to have a waterslide, pool, and bar…so needless to say pool party time!  That night we went for an awesome night hike.  Standing on a small mountain, on one side we could see the sun setting (Incas), and on the other side we could see the moon rising (Canaris).  Due to some dirt slides, a few of us almost fell off the mountain, but (luckily?) I caught myself in a cactus.

         Day four, I went for a run near the hostel, and happened upon a big fire in the field with 20 or so firefighters at work…We then ventured to Podocorpus National Park, which is a national protected biosphere park, and a mix of a cloud forest and tropical forest.  There is something so cool about hiking literally in the clouds.  The park was so fresh, mossy, and green, with so many cool, diverse plant and animal species, many of which are endemic.  I really enjoyed the “Pajaro reloj” (clock bird).  The park is also full of waterfalls…the most powerful waterfalls I have ever experienced in my life.  Standing twenty feet away from one waterfall, we were all soaked within minutes, our boots filled to the brim.  Of course, puddle jumping and a mud fight followed.  There is something so powerful about waterfalls…cleansing for your mind, body and soul, a fresh start wherever you need it.  That night we were another hostel with a pool and waterslide (the waterslide without water) and took pool party to a whole new level.  We played “cheesestick”, and the losers had to run down the waterslide into the pool.  It was a rather cold night by the way.  Henry and I lost, and proceeded to begin the pool party…we all ended up “sliding” down the waterslide, playing water polo etc. We also attempted to teach our Spanish biodiversity professor some English drinking games which was a riot.

         Day five, I woke up early for a peaceful beautiful run around the hostel…the bird calls are unbelievable in the tropical rainforests in the morning when everything is quiet…but my peace was disturbed a clan of very angry dogs, and I had to sprint down the mountain like there was no tomorrow.  This was the start to quite an adventure day…the plan was to drive a few hours to a river, and take a river boat down the Amazon to a Shuar village and to an area abundant in fossils.  However, there was a mudslide that got in the way bit…when we arrived, there were 20 or so busses and cars, and more and more joined the hold up.  Some had been waiting over night for upwards of 10 hours!  We stopped, watched, and played in the mud while tractor upon tractor arrived and attempted to take care of the mess.  Most failed, and simply pushed the mud up and down and back and forth, only for it to fall in to the street again.  After about three hours, we were on our way again.  Next, we tried to cross a river with our van, but our van got stuck and broke the crossing plank thing.  So we were stuck there for a while too…we proceeded to pile the 13 or so of us in the back of a random pickup truck and drive the rest of the way.  We finally made it to our boat, and it began to downpour, like really downpour.  This meant none of the river animals would be out unfortunately.  Also, at this point we were so behind, that we didn’t have time to make it to our original destinations. So, we road the river boat for a while, filling our boots and boat with rain, explored a Shuar community for a few minutes, and turned right around.  The river was awesome though, so full and rushing, with waterfalls and towering trees lining the walls.  We also acquired a locally made alcohol in the small river town, called canto claro, which is one of the worst alcohols on this planet probably, but proceeded to drink it the whole way back.  When we got back, completely soaked to the bone, we were locked out of our rooms because the hostel had decided to make copies of the keys.  Then, for dinner, Narcissa ordered us 5 courses of meat…chicken, pork, tongue, ribs, and liver.  What a funny day.

         Day six…we woke up at 5 for bird watching and listening, and a hike in the rainforest!  It was so peaceful in the morning and we heard the bird calls of 20+ species.  My favorite bird was the orpendula bird, which makes beautiful nests in which the entrance is from the bottom to prevent hungry predators from stealing their babies.  Stepping into the tropical rainforest is a whole new world….it is so dense and layered with plants.  Everything has adapted to climb up, into the canopy, which hosts 90% of rainforest life.  We swang on the vines, and ate live termites straight from a palm tree (they taste kind of like moving almonds…)  When we got back from the hostel, Amy and I stumbled upon a few cows, and fulfilled Amy’s dream of milking a cow before leaving.  I went for a run, and got myself into another pickle like always…I encountered the same angry dogs, but this time was surrounded by an angry cow on the other side…I ended up jumping into a muddy swamp/lake to escape…(I could probably write an entire blog about running and dog encounters at this point…)  That night we traveled to a town called Gualaquiza (spelling?), which has been probably one of my favorite towns in Ecuador.  It was simply full of life and good energy.  Everyone on the streets greeted us with smiles and welcomes, and everyone seemed to be enjoying life.  The town was also decorated with great murals painted by the town’s children.  It also had this magical somewhat hidden Narnia park that ran along the river, full of incredible trees and so peaceful.

         Day seven…we traveled to the Shuar community.  We drove along windy, dirt roads for a while, until the ended at a bridge.  Herman, his wife, his son, and his donkeys met us at the bridge, and we hiked with them through the Amazon to their community.  The Shuar, who used to be a semi-nomadic tribe, have now settled in communities around the Amazon.  The community had a number of houses, separate round style kitchens with center fireplaces, a few classrooms, and large farms.  We sat in the kitchen with them in the kitchen for a few snacks and meals of fresh pineapple, cooked bananas (pan de bosque/bread of the forest), plantain chips, yucca, and rice, all staples in the Shuar diet.  We also brought and cooked spagetti, which was a very peculiar concept for them, that they had never encountered.  The foods they eat come mostly straight from the land.  We learned about past traditions, and how things have changed, and what have been preserved.  They also had never seen a person from Asia (Amy), or a blonde person (me).  We next went for an incredible day and night hike lead by Herman.  We explored another part of the tropical Amazon rainforest, full of life and diversity, layered and packed with plants and trees..also bullet ants more poisenous than snakes and spiders.  We swam and cooled off in a small but powerful and refreshing waterfall.  In our night hike, we searched with our headlights, and found a number of awesome frogs, snakes, and a spider.  We heard the sounds of many more animals, that probably saw us, even if we didn’t find them.  The next day we made the long journey back to Cuenca.