more Puerto Lopez

and more Puerto Lopez!

A vacation to Puerto Lopez

We wanted to go to the Galapagos, but didn’t have the money. We wanted to visit Peru, but didn’t have the time. We settled on 5 days in Puerto Lopez, and couldn’t have made a better decision. We enjoyed the beach, the wildlife (not the wild LIFE), some delicious coastal food, and a general feeling of relaxation. We had originally planned to do another week of work before taking our vacation, but decided that we may as well get away while we anticipated that everything would be closed Easter weekend. We left Friday morning, and had a rather uneventful drive (although navigating our way through Guayaquil presented some difficulties) and arrived on the coast mid-afternoon. We were anxious to get to the beach, so we didn’t stop for lunch; however, we did make a quick stop at a roadside stand marked “coco helado.” We thought we were stopping for coconut ice cream, and Brad waited in the car while I made the purchase. Wasn’t I surprised when they pulled out two entire coconuts from the fridge, chopped off the tops, and stuck a straw into it. I carefully balanced the two coconuts, and passed one to Brad through the window before getting in the car to continue our trip! We sipped our coconut water and continued on to Puerto Lopez.
We arrived, checked into the hostel (it wasn’t where we wanted to stay, and it wasn’t much to look at), parked the car, then headed over for lunch. I think half of Ecuador had the same idea we did, and came to the coast. Although it was 3:30, we waited almost an hour to be served lunch. Then we went for a stroll down the beach, enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and sipped freshly made juices on the beach. Puerto Lopez has the right set up. There are plenty of hostels just across the street from the beach, plenty of restaurants and tour companies along the street, and juice bars with hammocks and beach chairs and music right on the beach. We turned in early that night with anticipation of our scheduled tour for the next day.
We woke up early on Saturday, found a nice little restaurant to have breakfast, and packed up our things for our tour. We were scheduled to go to Isla de la Plata that day, and the tour company had come at 8:00 to confirm our reservation and collect our money. We waited, and waited and waited. By 9:45 we were fairly certain we had been scammed. However, the guy who ran our hostel was amazingly friendly and helpful, and went to scout out the situation. He found the lady who ran the tour company with which we had made a reservation, and although her boat had already left, she walked us down the beach and made arrangements with a different company. Seems in typical coastal style, they had simply forgot to collect us from the hotel. Well, it turned out for the better because in about 10 minutes we had passed the boat we were supposed to be on. We had a beautiful day for the tour, and when we arrived at the island they gave us a snack and explained the island to us. Isla de la Plata is named for two reasons, two large ships filled with stolen gold are sunk off the coast and it is famous for the spondylus shells which were formerly used for trading. We hiked around the island for a couple of hours, during which we got to see blue footed boobies and magnificent red frigate birds. Our guide told us about some of the nuisance introduced species, such as cats and rats, that have been really detrimental to the native island fauna.
After our land tour, we went back to the boat for lunch and some snorkeling. Unfortunately, the day of our tour was one of the 3-4 days/ month when the snorkeling wasn’t good. The water had been stirred up by the wind. However, our guide threw some pieces of watermelon over the side and we were still able to observe some of the fish. Brad and I braved the conditions and snorkeled for a bit, but soon decided it was more fun to enjoy the swimming then to be frustrated by the snorkeling conditions. Our boat then took us back to the mainland, we found a nice spot on the beach, and drank passion fruit juice while we watched the sun set.
We had printed out the Easter Sunday readings before leaving for vacation, and decided to visit what is known as one of Ecuador’s most beautiful continental beaches for the holiday. The beach, Playa de los Frailes, is a part of Machalilla National Park. The park service charges $2 entry fee, but also keeps the beach clean and protected. We found a nice and comfortable spot, generously applied our sunscreen, and laid down on the warm beach to relax. We did the readings, then headed into the water for a swim. The bay which isolates the beach is absolutely gorgeous, the sand is soft, and the water was the perfect temperature. After our swim, Brad reminded us that it was time to reapply the sunscreen, and we also decided to rent a beach umbrella. Well, something went horribly wrong. Despite our precautions with sunscreen and the umbrella, our skin just kept getting redder and redder. We had planned to do a short hike to a viewpoint and to a black sand beach, but instead we needed to get out of the sun. As soon as we got back to town we started applying lotions, but the damage was done and we were miserable.
The next day, we moved from our standard not-so-nice hostel to another place down the beach, Hosteria Mandala. The address says “extreme north” but it is about a 10-15 minute walk from the hubbub of downtown Puerto Lopez. No loud music or beachside juice bars, but the hotel has set up covered cabanas on the beach complete with hammocks. It was the perfect way to spend a day out of the sun (since even my eyes seemed to be sunburned!). We read our books on the beach. We lounged in the hosteria’s nice dining area. I took a nap in our private cabin in the cool and leafy garden.
However, by Tuesday we were getting restless but knew we needed to avoid the sun. We visited another place run by Machalilla National Park, a community called Agua Blanca. Here, we learned about some of the ancient cultures that lived here and the evolution of pottery found at the archeological site. We walked through the coastal dry forest, and our guide pointed out useful plants such as a cactus with edible fruits called “tuna,” a tree with a sap that can be applied topically called “sangre de drago,” another tree that produces an oil that is a topical remedy and essential oil called “palo santo,” and another tree that only has leaves for 3-4 months each year and whose flowers are used to stuff mattresses and pillows called “ceibo.” He told us that it hadn’t rained for about 5 years, and that the plants were really resilient to the conditions but that the people had a pump system to get the water.
After walking the trails, we stopped at a natural hot spring. The pools smelled slightly of sulfur, and our guide invited us to go for a swim and be healed by the water. He also gave us each a cup of mud which he said two families in the community are responsible for getting each day as a part of the cultural tourism and community work. We didn’t know the pool was a part of the tour so we missed out on the swim, but we did coat ourselves with the mud and when we rinsed it off our skin felt nice. Who knows, maybe it was good for the sunburn! We spent the afternoon swaying in the ocean breeze in the hammocks in our beachside cabana, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Wednesday was the last day of our vacation, although we weren’t ready to leave. We spent one last morning on the beach, then began making our way back to Cuenca. We stopped in another beach town called Montanita, which is known as a “hippie” place, and we were glad we had decided on Puerto Lopez instead for our vacation. We continued our drive, made it through Guayaquil without too much difficulty, and found our way back to Cuenca in time to pick up some empanadas for dinner. Although I’d rather be at the beach, our little apartment in Cuenca feels like our home in Ecuador.

Tiink kids in Cuenca!

Lawson vacation part 2

Lawson vacation

Wampukrum at El Tiink

A visit with the Shuar

After waiting for quite a long while, we finally got word from German that we could go to El Tiink, the little Shuar village in the rainforest. Chelsea had hoped to get down there within a few weeks of our arrival in Ecuador, but the illness that swept through the whole community made that impossible. I had also been hoping to continue the public health and primary care work that we started back in November. Oh well, better late than never of course.

Tiink is no more than 150 miles from Cuenca, but the state of the road makes the trip into a 6 hour endeavor. After the initial hour and 20 minutes, the road changes from a nice, smooth highway to rocks and dirt carved out of the side of the mountain. Even with our SUV and all terrain tires, it’s a really bumpy ride. The scenery, however, is pretty incredible. The road climbs high up into the cold paramo just before reaching the eastern slopes of the Andes. The view is usually obscured by thick fog, but we have gotten a bit of a glimpse down the road as it drops about 7,000 feet in elevation. Continuing down the road as it enters the cloud forest, the mountainsides are dotted with waterfalls (some of which are probably 2,000 feet high). Chelsea also noticed orchids in bloom along the road, so we stopped to take a few pictures.

We met German, our local field technician and host, in the town of Gualaquiza. We hadn’t stopped for lunch in order to be somewhat punctual, so he recommended that we try the restaurant inside the bus station. The soup was way too salty and my beef was sketchy, but Chelsea’s chicken was quite tasty. We also thought it would be prudent not to drink the Kool-Aid-like juice due to concerns over the cleanliness of the water. German then helped us buy some chicken for meals in El Tiink. We had a fun time getting change when we used a $5 bill for $1.50 worth of chicken, walking around the corner to a few different places until we found a store that was stocked with a bit of cash. Then we hopped in the car for the 45 minute drive to the bridge that leads to the village. Surprisingly, this road is about 50 times better than the supposed highway connecting Gualaquiza to the biggest city in the southern half of the country. We left our car with a family that knows German, and then we prepared to carry our two large backpacks, two small backpacks, and three shopping bags of health care supplies and food up to Tiink. It’s about a 30 minute uphill walk, so we were planning for a slightly uncomfortable experience. German told us not to worry, though, because his kids would come down from the village to help us. We weren’t really sure how they would know when to show up, but, sure enough, they came walking across the bridge within five minutes.

As usual, the family was very hospitable and accommodating to our needs. One thing that always makes me laugh is that after we eat a meal, they thank us for eating. Shouldn’t we be thanking them for preparing the meal, doing the dishes, and giving us a place to sleep? We do thank them, of course, but we can’t help but laugh that they are also thanking us.

German arranged for Brad to visit the schools and give the toothpaste/ toothbrushes and vitamins that your donations helped us bring to the community. With the young children we did a little demonstration, and had the entire class around the sink next to the school with mouthfuls of toothpaste! The teacher was really helpful in directing the kids where to spit and in making sure that all of them cleaned their teeth appropriately. Then she helped give a quick lesson on taking the vitamins. We gave each kid a supply for 2 months, and she instructed them to take one each day. The children took the baggies of vitamins home to their parents and as far as we know the parents, by word of mouth, got the message about one-a-day. One little girl was quite upset when she woke up the next morning to find her vitamins gone. Apparently the bugs liked the sweet taste. We replaced her vitamins, and it seems that the entire community learned to safeguard them!

Brad also ran a clinic in the evening during which the community health director offered his office. They made an announcement, and a number of people showed up to get advice on their health problems. Brad saw a tiny baby, several children, men, women, and the elderly. It was a successful clinic, and Brad was able to provide advice and/or medicine to help the people. When the health director asked about vitamins specific for pregnant women, Brad was able to provide them with a multi-vitamin but unfortunately we did not have specific vitamins to help them. This is definitely something to consider for next time.

We spent a day and a half in the field doing frog research. One of my goals was to see that German was collecting all of the data properly, the other was to take photos. We visited two different locations and found a total of 7 frogs! The wampukrum are doing quite well, and German is doing an excellent job with the data collection. He is incredibly meticulous, and I’m very glad to have his help with the project. Brad and I took turns with the camera, and are pleased with the images that we got of this beautiful frog! It is so nice to have our nice camera again!

Brad was stung by a fuzzy-looking caterpillar. It was actually quite painful, and German recognized the species and knew what to do. He sliced it open with his machete, spread the green-colored goo on Brad’s knee where it was inflamed, and asked Brad if it hurt in his groin or armpits. Brad didn’t have too much trouble, but German told us at times it hurts so bad that men can’t even walk!

While in the field, we found two males not too far from one another. These are territorial animals, and I was curious about what would happen if we put them together, so we did. We put them about 12 inches apart, and watched. One moved away immediately, and the other followed. We tried it again. This time one male fought the other. In the end, we returned them each to their respective location. How interesting!

While we stay with German and Targelia, we are also able to learn about Shuar culture. Targelia prepared a dinner for us called “allanpako” which is chopped leaves (like spinach), heart of palm, and chicken all wrapped in a big leaf a steamed over the fire. Delicious! Then German told us about his blow gun. It is made from chonta (the same plant that heart of palm is from) and is very valuable. His son is learning how to use it. They make the darts then use a poison from a combination of plants to coat the tip and a piece of “cotton” to weight the end. Now he also has a gun for hunting, which is easier to carry because the blow gun is over 2 meters long!