Vilcabamba: more photos

Vilcabamba, valley of the strange fruits

Late in the day last Thursday, after our weekend plans changed from fieldwork to free, we decided it was time to take our wheels for a spin out of town. We made reservations at the Cabanas del Rio Yambala in Vilcabamba and decided that however things worked out we would be happy to be in a place much warmer than where we live.

Friday afternoon it was raining, Brad’s surgery ran late, and our friend Jose locked himself out of his house and needed us to come with our copies of the keys. We were not to be discouraged. We FINALLY got out of town and after driving awhile witnessed the most beautiful sunset either one of us had ever enjoyed. The sky was filled with layers of clouds, each reflecting the sun in different shades of pink and orange. The mountains were glowing. And traffic wasn’t too awful.

When we arrived in Loja, we were ready for a meal. Jose had given us directions as far as Loja, then he suggested that we ask someone there how to get to the road to Vilcabamba. So we stopped at an upscale restaurant that specializes in serving large quantities of meat and ordered the junior portion and a pitcher of lemonade—we figured we could ask the waiter for directions. After about 30 minutes, our meat arrived and was accompanied by a salad, fried yucca, choclo (large kernels of bland tasting corn) and two different sauces (one red and one green). The meat itself included beef, pork, and chicken served on a special platter with hot coals underneath the food. Yeah, I know, we don’t usually eat meat and have been known to go weeks without it. However, when in Rome… so we ate the meat, and we enjoyed it! Then we got directions from the cashier, the parking attendant, a police officer, and a young teenage couple. One step at a time, we made it out of town and on our way.

We got into Vilcabamba later than planned, and repeated the same course of asking for directions until a very gringo-looking teenage boy who was checking facebook on his cellphone greeted us at the entrance of our hostel. He spoke to us without an accent, then informed us that his mom is from England and his dad is from the US. He showed us the way to our own private cabana, then pointed out their house in case we needed anything. We settled in, and slept well until morning. Later we met his father, Charlie, who is a really nice guy who was particularly interested in talking to us about our Vitara—apparently he’s considering upgrading his truck to a small SUV. They own a large bioreserve, “Las Palmas,” which is adjacent to Podacarpus National park and where Charlie makes a little extra cash by harvesting and selling honey.

Sometimes these small towns shut down for the weekend at 1:00 on Saturdays, so I was anxious to have a look around while the shops were still open. We drove ourselves the 5km from our cabana into town and found that at 10:00 it was just starting to wake up. We walked into some artisan shops, one of which closely resembled a craft show in the Midwest, and quickly discovered that many of the shops and cafes are run by ex-pats. No need to speak Spanish here. We inquired at a few different places about horseback riding, and Brad chose the most expensive one. Gavin, the guy from New Zealand (although he’s been in south America for 30+ years), convinced us that although he charges more, the money goes into taking care of the horses. His horses looked great compared to some of the others we had seen, so we scheduled a 4 hour ride for Sunday morning.

After a delicious but over-priced meal of Mexican food at “El Jardin Escondido” (the hidden garden), and stopping to purchase chocolate covered guava nibs, we headed back to our hostel. We tried to hike to the waterfall, but never made it because the directions (provided by the hostel) were a bit confusing. We tried to hike to the swimming hole, but it was much farther away than we anticipated and we had to make it back for 6:00 dinner (the hostel is obviously run by foreigners. People here don’t even begin to think about dinner until 7:00, and they really call it a “snack” and the portions are about snack size). We settled on great views of the valley and we dipped our toes in the lesser of the two swimming holes (which was okay by me because the water was COLD!) We hiked back and sat down to a delicious, uncharacteristically large dinner of mashed potatoes, salad, chicken in peanut sauce, and a piece of cake. Another young couple from England joined us and told us a bit about their 9 mo. Holiday through North and South America.

So our horseback ride. Gavin had told us that he wasn’t available to do the tour, but that his partner would take us on a great ride. We arrived at 9:10, and Gavin himself was standing there waiting for us. He apologized, and said, “My partner who was supposed to take you is still drinking, the other partner got p***** and said ‘you do it,’ and so I said ‘alright, I’ll do it,” all in a fading but still present kiwi accent. Apparently a local family had moved to Spain for 15 years and had just returned this weekend, spurring a large-scale celebration.

We decided to do a circuit in the mountains around the city hat would offer a nice view into the valley. I was not thrilled when the ride started off on paved roads, but eventually we made it to some pretty awesome trails that provided the horses with a bit of a challenge. I’ve been on horseback in the US, and typically they make you wear a helmet and the horses themselves are trained to walk as if they are half-dead. Not these horses. We walked, we trotted, and we galloped through beautiful, mountainous terrain. Along the way, Gavin pointed out gated communities and mansions owned by foreigners. He told stories about the man who had an elevator installed in his mansion after having a heart attack, the man who bought the land and put in a road but ran out of money before he started building a house, the man who heard $125,000 for a piece of land when the seller had only asked for $25,000. Apparently Gavin has published a book of stories called “Vilcabamba, valley of strange fruits” specifically about the eccentric and crazy foreigners who have changed the culture of the small town.

When we arrived back in town, Gavin showed us to a small shop where we could get a juice and the best chocolate chip cookies in town. They actually weren’t too far off from the oatmeal cookies I make at home, and after eating 5 we bought 5 more for the trip home. Then Gavin recommended a pizza shop called “Charlitos” where Brad and I shared a cheese pizza for $4.50, and it really was pretty good (or at least our idea of what is good has changed). At 3:00 we headed out of town.

I wanted to stop at a little town called Saraguro on the way back. It is known for the traditional style of dress, culture, and handicrafts. It was after 6:00 by the time we arrived, but the church was lit up and the center of town was in the process of being renovated. Mass was just starting as we walked up to the church, so we stayed awhile then got some drinks in a little café called “mama cuchara” where we were served by two girls in the traditional dark colored dress with beautiful and brightly colored beaded collars. For a natural juice of the fruit babaco and a sprite, it cost $1.05. Amazing. Unfortunately the market was closed so we’ll have to go back.

So we continued along the Panamericana, until the road won in the contest: tire vs road. It was dark, we were on a large highway at least 10 miles from the next town, and we had a choice: call the insurance company and wait for them to make the drive from Cuenca or change the tire ourselves. Brad elected to change the tire, and I was his look-out. Luckily, the government here requires you to have certain things in your car: a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, and reflective triangles. We set up the triangles, put our headlamps on (seriously, you should ALWAYS have a headlamp with you) and got to work. The road really wasn’t too busy, and Brad had several minutes in between traffic to get the tire off, lift the car with the jack, and tighten the new tire into place. Success, after about 30 minutes we were on our way again—with plans to take the car in for the much needed, new tires on Monday morning.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We got to warm up and have some fun, and we succeeded in another adventure. This week, Brad’s back to work in the hospital and I’m back to work in the field. Yesterday (Tuesday) I began constructing a 3x3x2m house for my tadpole development project, then in the afternoon I found an Atelopus exiguus (the critically endangered, really awesome species that is the reason I’m here). Good news for the project, and a big relief for me!

Animals

This is just one of the many llamas that roams Cajas. The deer is called a pudu, and we saw it close to our house at Mazan. The frog is a juvenile Pristimantis.

Our View and Our Water Source

This is our view looking down the Mazan valley toward Cuenca. The roof is our house. The waterfall provides water that is piped into the house and also powers the turbine which charges the batteries that provide us with electricity. However, the intake pipe is the source of much of our frustration because it regularly gets clogged with leaves and requires cleaning.

(Learning to) Expect the Unexpected

When you live in Ecuador, sometimes you just have to expect the unexpected. Going with the flow, rolling with the punches . . . these are important skills here. One day you may end up feeding lions and an Andean bear, another day you might find yourself at an Ecuadorian rock concert. Then one day your friend might tell you something like, “There’s a problem with the police. Watch your step, my friend.” Then you might check the news and find out that the National Police decided to go on strike and fire tear gas at the President because he supported a new austerity law that limits some of the benefits that they enjoy. Then the government might declare a State of Emergency, and the day might end with a televised military assault on the police hospital in order to get the President out of his hospital room. This is all true. I did not make one bit of it up. I promise. Really.

Sometimes good things also happen unexpectedly. Sometime just before the police began lobbing tear gas at El Presidente, I received an email saying that one of my grant proposals (submitted in December) was accepted! Whoever Mohamed Bin Zayed is, he is our new favorite person in Dubai, and probably in the whole United Arab Emirates for that matter. Thanks to his generous donation of oil money to species conservation, we FINALLY have funding for my project, and I am excited that I will be able to pay for the equipment, lab fees, and a small stipend for our living expenses. It’s such a relief to know that we won’t be going into more debt while we are here doing my research. However, it also adds more pressure to find the frogs! We spent all day Saturday looking at the known sites and at some new sites for Atelopus at Mazan, and still did not have success.

Okay, get this. On Sunday, Brad and I started the day by attending church. We hadn’t decided which church to go to (Cuenca is famous for how many churches there are in the city) so we drove to the central historical district, parked the car, and went to Santo Domingo because it was the closest. We walked into the church and found a seat near the middle. We were soon joined by a few more people, then a few more, and then a few more until there were more people in the pew than could possibly sit, or kneel, or worship in comfort. So we got a program and waited patiently for mass to start.

We were unaware, but this particular Sunday happened to be the fiesta for “La Morenica del Rosario.” Mary was regaled in through the middle aisle with a mariachi band and fireworks. They passed out posters of Mary, and the songs and readings were related to the festival. We were unable to follow along in the program outlined by the archdiocese because the readings were completely different. The priest walked up and down the aisle as he gave the homily, making eye contact with all of his parishioners. He again walked down the center aisle to give communion to everyone. We felt very welcome at the church, held hands with our neighbors to pray, offered the sign of peace to those around us, and the lady next to me tried to explain the celebration. Then everyone held up their posters of Mary and the priest blessed them with Holy water. The experience was so different from anything that we had experienced at home, but also really beautiful.

Afterwards, we went to Cajas to do some more field work. I’d been feeling pretty down about my work because I hadn’t been able to find the species that I’m looking for. Many of the wetlands are dry, and without wetlands I cannot find the tadpoles that I am looking for. To get to the site, we had to convince several rangers that we had official permission (the permit is still sitting at the park office, waiting for the signature of the director). After some hours of hiking and searching, we caught 15 tadpoles at 4000m! We gave thanks to Jesus on the spot.

If you can possibly believe it, we still have two more things to tell you about. So . . . Brad went to the public hospital on Monday, and he was asked by one of the doctors if he was available for a surgery at a private hospital the following day. You see, it seems that the doctor’s surgical assistant injured her shoulder and will be out of operative action for some time. Brad was asked to be the assistant for the surgery, and it was hard to say no in front of the five other people listening to the conversation. After he spent the morning being a surgical assistant in Spanish, we had some lunch and drove over to the site where our friend, Ernesto, is building his zoo. He knows several pools that are good spots for tadpoles in and around his land, so we went in hope of keeping Sunday’s momentum going. We were not disappointed, and we collected 30 more tadpoles at about 2600 meters.

The real fun for the day came as we were attempting to leave the zoo. The property is situated on a hill that overlooks the city, and the dirt road up to it is quite steep. We forgot to mention that it had been thunderstorming off and on all afternoon, making the dirt road a muddy mess. After our car fishtailed sideways on a bad turn, we called Ernesto for help. The photo clearly demonstrates the difficulty of the driving conditions, but we were able to get our car safely down the hill. Ernesto’s truck went sideways on the same turn, so then we helped him navigate his way down. Chelsea is reminded daily of the Jurassic Park ride that used to be at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. What people go to an amusement park for in America is just the daily commute for us here in Ecuador.

Finally, yesterday (Wednesday) Jose and I did some field work while Brad worked in the hospital. This was the first time I've ever done field work by motorcycle. Just imagine me hanging on for dear life on the back of a motorcycle, tadpole nets flapping in the wind, as we rode through the Andes. The view was spectacular, we managed to catch 15 more tadpoles, and Jose gave me a short lesson on using our new camera. I'm making progress, and you can expect to see better photos!

A weekend of culture

(written Tuesday)

After our exquisite dinner, we continued to experience the fine culture of Ecuador. Saturday we bought laminated particle board to build shelves, had lunch with Jose’s extended family at his Grandparents’ country home in Paute, visited the small town Gualaceo (known for its production of leather shoes and a drink called “rosero”), and returned to Cuenca in the evening to go to the theater. Sunday we built a bookshelf for our desk, watched Deportivo Cuenca beat Barcelona 1-0 in a packed stadium of soccer fans, exited the stadium mosh-pit style, and finished off the day with some 5 on 5 soccer (boys only). Early Monday morning I was roused from my sleep by nausea. Yes, we are sick AGAIN.

I slept all day Monday, and by evening Brad was also feeling ill. I thought we had been careful about what we were eating, but somehow we both managed to get sick. Jose told us that many other people are also sick, and that maybe it is a virus going around Cuenca. He’s sick, too. I don’t know how people here get their work done, or how I’m going to get my field work done, if we are sick so often.

Anyways, back to the weekend. We bought two pieces of particle board, which they cut to the correct dimensions for us to make our shelves. It has a white laminate finish, and they even taped the sides with the same material so that it looks nice. Our first shelf, the one for our books, turned out quite nice. It is 1m x 1m, and sits nicely on top of our desk. Dad, I think you’d be proud. We managed to measure and get the shelves fairly straight, and Brad did a great job with the “power hole maker.” The only problem was that it ran out of juice before we finished the job. We gave it a rest, and returned to finish it later in the day. Our next job will be to assemble the bigger shelf for our clothing. I can’t wait to get our clothes out of our suitcases!

We didn’t realize that we were attending an extended family lunch (apparently they happen most weekends), until we arrived at Jose’s grandparents. The yard was beautiful, and so was the inside of the house. We were given a quick tour, and then shown to sit at the table where there seemed to be some confusion (I think they weren’t expecting two extras). We had a salad of lettuce, onion, and avocado with a citric dressing, a bowl of soup, a scoop of rice, some beef cooked with green peppers, tree-tomato juice, and a scoop of ice cream with blackberries and another kind of fruit. We tried to follow the conversation, but there were so many people talking at the same time that it was near impossible! Jose’s aunt had spent time living in the US (Cleveland, then Lexington, then Houston) and she spoke to us in English. After we ate, we walked outside in the garden where Jose’s younger cousins played in the fountain, then we returned to the table for coffee. Jose is getting married soon (January 8) to his girlfriend Toja, and we found ourselves amidst a wedding- planning conversation. Wow, it’s so much less stressful to talk about someone else’s wedding! The wedding and reception will be help at his grandparent’s home, so they are doing some renovations in the house and the garden to prepare for the celebration. The colors will be red and white. That’s about all I got out of the conversation.

On Saturday afternoons, Jose teaches a class on biogeography at a university in Gualaceo. We thanked his grandparents, and then went with Jose to explore the town while he held class. It is the prefect size town to tour by foot, so we left the car parked at the university. We visited the church, the garden in the center of town, the market where we enjoyed a delicious drink made of coconut, a german bread shop, and many shoe stores. We were low on cash so it was just a day for window shopping, but there were so many shoes for sale! I found a pair of boots that I liked, and some heels, and some flats. Brad didn’t really find anything he liked, and if he had there would have been the problem that his feet are bigger than average here. I thought if Gualaceo is famous for their leather shoes, maybe they would also have nice purses, but the ones I saw had “made in China” tags. We met up with Jose after his class, and tried some of the cuisine specific to Gualaceo: roseros and quesadillas. The rosero is a drink made with fruit pulp and flour. It tasted sweet, but not pasty as I would have expected with the flour. Instead it was smooth except for the chunks of fruit. The quesadilla is not the same as the Mexican- style tortilla filled with cheese and other savories. This kind is small, filled with a different kind of cheese, served cold, and tastes both sweet and dry. I didn’t really like it, but Brad thought it was okay.

So we returned to Cuenca for the theater. Jose’s uncle from Quito put together several weeks’ worth of small theatrical performances of groups from all over Latin America, and Saturday night’s show was a double header. We missed the beginning of the first show, but it was easy to catch up. It was a one-man clown performance, complete with juggling, balloons, a unicycle, and audience participation. The second show was much more serious, and difficult to understand. It was about sexual abuse, a topic on which the government here is really working to educate people, but it was pretty difficult to understand the words. I also thought it was a strange follow-up to the clown show.

We had to arrive at the soccer match early on Saturday, so that we could get a seat—or actually so that we could get in the door before the match started. We met our friend Diego who had picked up the tickets for us, stopped by a small shop to grab some snacks for the game (you can take your own food and drinks into the stadiums here, it seems to be encouraged), then got in line. We waited in line for nearly an hour just to get through the door, then we had to find a place to sit. We ended up on the front edge of the concrete bleachers, snuggly nestled in. However, there must have been room for half a butt-cheek next to Brad because two guys managed to squeeze their way in. Right in front of us there were two large umbrellas (somewhat obstructing our view) and a young girl watching over a snack stand. Two older women kept returning to restock the bottled water, colas, beers, and other snacks that they were peddling in the stands. The game itself was alright, although Brad was disappointed that the players looked so tired early in the second half. We participated in the cheers, although the fans remained seated throughout the entire game. We were all happy that D. Cuenca won the match.

In the afternoon, Brad got the opportunity to find out why all the players looked so tired early in the game. He was invited to play a 5 on 5 match with some of Jose’s friends. It was a range of talent, and Brad seemed to fit right in. I took my place behind the chain –link fence because it seemed to be a boys-only game (later I was told that I could play if I wanted). Brad was on the field for about 5 minutes before he started looking bad, but he endured. He asked to play goalkeeper, but still couldn’t catch his breath. He came out of the game, and said that his lungs were burning. We’ve been here nearly 6 weeks, but still are not acclimated. There’s a 10K coming up in about a month. Maybe if we start training for that Brad’s soccer endurance will improve.

And now we are sick again. Brad missed a day of work yesterday, I missed a day of field work today. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be feeling better.

Addendum: We have fallen victims to the rotavirus epidemic that’s working its way through Cuenca right now. Symptoms include aches and pains, vomiting and diarrhea, tiredness, loss of appetite. Prescribed treatment (as directed by Jose’s homeopathic doctor) is pedialyte and 48 hours of rest.

Dining in Style

(written Saturday)

We visited our computer friend, Manuel, this week for some help with the trouble I’ve been having with Skype (turns out it’s a hardware problem, and more complicated to fix than I want to deal with). However, he hooked us up with lots of other good things. He loaded a bunch of old movies onto my computer, and Brad is thrilled to be able to watch a movie in the evenings. He set up an appointment with a car insurance agent and offered to translate if we had any trouble communicating. Pending the paperwork and payment, our new ride is now insured against just about anything that we or anyone else could possibly do to it (including, as we asked, getting stuck in a ditch or sliding down the side of a very large hill). And he gave us the phone number to the best restaurant in town, so we made reservations for Friday night to enjoy their “Cuencana fusion” fare.

Brad called to make the reservation early Friday afternoon, and all they had left was 6:30. I was wearing jeans with a cotton shirt and Brad had khakis and a polo on, so maybe I was a bit under dressed. We were running a bit late due to the ridiculous amount of traffic (or maybe just the horrible flow of traffic) in the city, so Brad dropped me off at the door while he went to park the car. I walked in, and I believe I was their first customer. They seated me at a table labeled “18:30 Brad,” and then they turned on the music (side note, Brad had to say “like Brad Pitt” for the lady on the phone to understand his name). To communicate my name, you have to say “like the English futbol team” (which I am not a fan of). We were seated right in front of the kitchen, so I enjoyed watching the chef prepare everything. He seemed to enjoy that I was watching, and would hold up food to show me what it was as he was preparing it. The menu is arranged so that you are supposed to order one dish (family style) for four people, or you can order half the dish. We ordered half a dish of fish prepared with a seafood sauce, and while we waited they brought out eight different bowls of sauces to be eaten with bread. Among them were the traditional aji or chili sauce, a marinated chili pepper, a marinated onion, one made with pineapple and another with apples, one made from eggplant (our favorite!) and another from herbs. Our dinner was off to a great start!

Then our food came. The chef brought it out himself on the large ceramic plate that he cooked it on and under a ceramic dome. He set it down, and then lifted the lid to unveil the bubbling goodness within. There was SO MUCH FOOD! There were two big portions of fish amongst a garlic cream sauce with calamari, shrimp, and oysters. It was such a rich dish to the eyes and tasting it was even more incredible. The waiter portioned out a small bit on each of our plates, then returned to the kitchen to get the rest of our meal. He brought out a fresh salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers all diced up and dressed with a citrus marinade, a plate of potato wedges topped in cheese, a cold salad of something in between orzo and couscous with herbs and cheese and tomatoes, the traditional corn that looks like un-popped popcorn, and a bowl of rice. We tried each of these, but concentrated mainly on the fish. Honestly, I think there was enough food for 4 people in front of us. However, we put forth a good effort toward the fish and managed to nearly clean the plate. The chef checked on us a few times throughout the course of the meal, and when he noticed that we had stopped eating, he came to offer us dessert.

Neither one of us really had room for any more food, but who can refuse dessert in a place that produced such an amazing dinner? We ordered the “chocolate temptation” and hoped that we would find a place to put it! While we waited, the live music began. When the plate came out, I was in awe. They had actually painted a picture of flowers on the plate with fruit preserves and chocolate sauce-- It was beautiful! In the middle of the plate, there was a chocolate brownie topped with 3 inches of mocha mousse topped with fresh passion fruit, and served next to a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I don’t think Brad and I said a word to each other, and before we knew it the whole dessert was gone!

And, by the way, you can use your $10 (and even a couple of $20s) at this place.