Tying up loose ends

Written Wednesday Nov 24

Happy Thanksgiving! We have spent the last few days preparing for our trip home. Last weekend we made a trip to Patul, this week we visited some of our favorite restaurants, we set up a tadpole project, made one last trip on the trail at Mazan, and just had a really nice dinner with our friends here so that we could say goodbye. We’ve been packing, preparing samples to be delivered for processing next week, preparing equipment and protocols for the student who is assisting me while I am away, doing last minute shopping for souvenirs, oh, and I got a pedicure  Tomorrow morning we will make the 8 hour drive through the Andes to a little town called Toachi, then Friday we will make our way to Quito.

Last Thursday, we celebrated Ernesto’s 29th birthday. His birthday really wasn’t until Friday, but we were planning on leaving Friday morning for a 4-day trip to Patul. So we celebrated at Mazan. We had chocolate cake (a shared love among us and our friends here) and Andean beer. One of Ernesto’s greatest quirks is the way he insists on pronouncing words in English. Our personal favorite is when he says “beer” instead of “bear.” At the zoo, he has an Andean spectacled bear and she is one of his favorite animals. So for his birthday, we got a 6-pack of Andean “bear.” I drew a nice picture of the bear and we labeled it “Andean bear.” He took one of the bottles, passed it around for everyone to sign, and took it home from the party as a keepsake. He may have enjoyed it even more than the chocolate cake.

Over the past week and a half I have been training a student to assist in my work while I am away. Her name is Jenniffer, and she is from Guyaquil—which means she has a different accent from our Cuencano friends and she talks really really fast. When we first met last March, I couldn’t understand a word she said. Now, we’re both much more patient with one another and we’re getting by alright. She doesn’t speak English. I didn’t think I spoke Spanish. However, little by little I have been showing her my field methods and doing my best to explain how and why I collect data in the field. She’s doing an awesome job (and also helping me with my spanish!, and I’m feeling pretty confident about leaving the project in her hands while I am away.

One of my field sites, Patul (remember, the place we went where we had to hike for miles and up to 4,200 meters?), is one of the places Jenniffer is going to visit each month while I am gone. Before leaving, I had to make a November trip and show her the sites. We thought we had everything planned perfectly. We had been in touch with a local guide from the community, and had arranged for him to meet us Friday morning with 2 horses. We were a little bit concerned, because Jenniffer is from the coast and not acclimated to 4,200m, but she did an excellent job. To us, the hike was a breeze since we didn’t have to carry our big backpacks like last time. We stopped several times along the way, once to collect data on another species of frog and another time for lunch. However, when our guide showed us to the house, all 4 of us were surprised to find it locked. This was the same house where we had stayed last time, and our guide is the son-in-law of the family. We thought they had made the arrangements for our visit, but something else must have come up. Daniel, our guide, took a machete to the wire holding the lock onto the door, and broke us in to the kitchen and the bedroom. He helped us prepare dinner, then headed to his own house for the night.

The plan for Day 2 was to look for the critically endangered and incredibly striking Atelopus nanay (or sapo negro, locally). Daniel was our hired guide for the weekend, but when he showed up to help us prepare breakfast, he informed us that he had a bad cold and wouldn’t be able to work. No problem. We had 2 full days of work at 3 different sites, and one of those days was planned to be spent near the house. We agreed to work on our own, and that we would see him the following day. So we worked. We spent the entire day searching under rocks and plants along the Baute River, and were very happy to find 2 Atelopus nanay. I worked with Jenniffer to show her how to find the frogs, measure and weigh them, take pictures, and collect skin swabs. At the end of the day, we came back to the house to warm up and have a good dinner. However, we couldn’t get the fire going again. An Andean fire is a tough thing to learn, and among the three of us (and with the help of a bottle of ethanol) we got barely enough of a fire going to re-heat left over rice and beans. We couldn’t get the water boiling for tea, and we were too tired, cold and frustrated to do anything other than go to bed.

The next morning, I woke up early and waited for the music to know that Daniel had arrived. I waited, and waited, and no music. Finally, we decided we had waited long enough and it was time to get out of our warm covers and see what the day would bring. No Daniel. No fire. No hot breakfast. We had PB&J sandwiches, and discussed our dilemma. I didn’t know the field sites well enough (not to mention the trouble we could have created if anyone local wondered what we were doing) to work alone, and Brad was afraid that we wouldn’t have anything warm to eat for dinner. We decided to pack up our things and start for Cuenca. We walked about a mile before coming to another house, and we asked the man outside if he could help us with a horse to carry our things back to the road. He readily agreed, stopped what he was doing, got a horse, and in 15 minutes we were on our way again. The walk back was wet and cold, but a lot less miserable since we had the help of the horse. We went directly, without stopping for food or frogs, and when we got to the road we were tired and hungry—it was 4:15 pm. We drove down the road, stopped for lunch, then came to the city to warm up in a hot shower.

Since then, we have been running around the city to take care of all the last minute necessary details before we leave. I admit, the pedicure may not have been necessary but it sure was nice. We had to get paperwork for our visas. I FINALLY got official permission from the government agency who runs the national park to do my work here. I had meetings to attend so that work will (hopefully) continue effectively while I am gone. We had to withdraw money from my grant to make sure there would be enough money to cover operating costs while I am away. As a list-maker, this week has been full of writing things down and crossing them off, and moving the things that didn’t get crossed off to a new to-do list for when we return.

Tonight, we invited our friends to join us for dinner at our favorite restaurant—Moliendo Café. We made a reservation with Dona Magnolia, the adorable woman who runs the restaurant. While we waited for our friends to arrive, her husband Don Miguel, sat down and chatted with us about our work in Ecuador and our trip back to the US. They are absolutely adorable, and maybe 2 of my favorite people in the whole city. When we want a delicious hot meal in the city, we always go to visit them (even if the food is Colombian and we are in Ecuador). So tonight, we were excited to be sharing a meal with our friends in Cuenca and bringing business to our favorite restaurant. We all had arepas (savory cornmeal pancakes, served with a long list of possible savory toppings) and either batidos or beers. The conversation flowed back and forth in Spanish and English, and continued over freshly brewed Colombian coffee. Our friends wished us happy travels, were bummed that we will miss the upcoming festivities here, but said that they will look forward to our return.

Tomorrow, while you are all eating turkey and being thankful, we will be having another adventure. We will be making a 400+ km drive (8 hrs) across the country and through the spine of the Andes. If we’re lucky, we may find a place with chicken and rice for lunch. If the weather is clear, we will be able to see some of the highest peaks in the country—which means we will see snow BEFORE we get to Ohio!

Miss you all, and can't wait to see you soon!