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Cotopaxi Glow
My last morning in Quito I awakened to this sight! The early morning light on Cotopaxi Volcano as seen from Leonore's kitchen window was truly breathtaking! My last morning in Quito I awakened to the rosy glow of Cotopaxo Volcano, breathtaking as seen from Leonore's home in Bellavista neighborhood. I was able to store my truck in Maggie's garage, so we got Morci tucked away before I headed for the airport. In the boarding lounge, I had noticed two very refined, well-dressed Ecuadorian women (Quitenas) and they ended up being my seatmates. In the moments prior to take-off they donned face masks, rubbed sanitizing gel on their hands and then put on rubber gloves. I overheard them ask the flight attendant why no one else was wearing germ masks and I responded (only mentally), "Because most of us choose not to buy into extreme fear or feed on panic."
As we took off over the Quito valley, the plane dipped to reveal a spectacular rainbow that we seemed to fly right over. I was mesmerized by the brillant hues, shimmering and dancing in the rays of the morning light. I thought to myself, "Ah - this bodes well for my upcoming travels!" COPA airlines offered us a nice lunch, and I stifled a snicker as my seatmates struggled to eat their meal
Somewhere Over the Rainbow...
Flying out of Quito, I caught glimpses of this rainbow. It was a joyful sign as I set off on my journey. and finally stripped off their protective gear (not bothering to put it back on again!)
Arriving in Panama City, Joe was there to meet me at the airport. His truck was in the shop, so he had arrived by bus (a 5 hour ride!). Leaving the airport, I was struck at once by the hot, humid, tropical air. Thank heavens our hotel that first evening had air conditioning! In the morning we caught the bus back to the Azuero Peninsula, where Joe is living. Riding out of the capitol, we skirted the canal zone, evidenced by numerous huge cranes and a multitude of stacked metal containers from shipping companies all over the world. The first half of the ride went quickly, chatting & catching up, observing the scenery. Since Panama is such a narrow strip of a country, there's really just one main highway that runs its entire length. The roads are in good condition, but we did see several crashes and since there are no alternative routes, they completely blocked the passage of traffic. By the last few hours of the bus ride my behind became painfully aware of the lack of padding in my
the guys pose by the riverside
Here's Grady, a 9 yr old German short-haired pointer and his human buddy, Joe. bus seat!
Arriving at Joe's place, I met his neighbors. The long, covered front porch is sort of a common area for the row of four small houses of which Joe rents one. Living in such proximity to friendly (sometimes overly so!) neighbors, Joe's had lots of opportunities to improve his spoken Spanish. The first few days it rained a lot -- heavy downpours that clattered deafeningly on the tin roof of his house. I spent a lot of time reading, napping and catching up from a hectic period of months.
We got a lift into the nearest big town (45 minutes away) and Joe picked up his (supposedly) repaired truck. After a visit to the grocery store we discovered that the battery was dead. After a push-start we went to pick up some hardware for his gate, and the truck died again. Another push into a fast-moving traffic-filled road! We made it back and swapped out the battery for one that worked more dependably.
I enjoyed cooking in Joe's small, basic kitchen. I hadn't had many opportunities to cook in the previous months and realized how much I'd
Under the Mango Tree
Villeya's garden has these awesome mango trees -- such beautiful colors! Nothing like eating a sweet, juicy mango right off the tree! missed food preparation. We did some informal Spanish lessons, and I listened to Joe play guitar, singing along when I knew the lyrics. The concrete construction and metal roofing made the house feel like an oven at times, and I hung close to the moving air of an oscillating fan. One morning we went over to the lot where Joe has been building a fence, planting trees and is planning to build a house. It's up on a rise so has a nice view of the ocean and Isla Iguana off the coast. We continued on down to the beach (just a few miles beyond the lot) and walked the length of his peaceful, almost private beach.
The following morning we drove to another beach, further away. We had been invited to a friend's house for lunch, and just as Joe turned into Villeya's drive, the truck's steering went out. Someone ran to get the town mechanic while we toured and admired Villeya's garden, pulling mangoes from the trees and eating them in the garden with juice dripping down from our chins. Nothing more delicious! The truck's diagnosis was serious - a broken steering axle which
Fixing the truck...again!
Fortunately, the steering went out just as we pulled into Villeya's driveway. they struggled to remove and have welded until a replacement could be found. While the guys were getting greasy under the truck, I worked in the kitchen with the gals to make a huge bowl of fresh fish ceviche. It ended up serving about 15 people, and there were leftovers! It took a lot of cutting and chopping and squeezing and dicing but it was fun to chat with my new friends and learn a bit about Panama from them.
It ended up that Joe needed to spend another day on truck repairs, so I took the bus back into Chitre (over an hour away) to visit a museum I saw mentioned in a brochure. It looked like it would be interesting. Well - the brochure lied - it was one small room with dusty, decaying stuffed small mammals and not much more. Very disappointing. The day was blazingly hot with and intense sun so I ducked into the dollar store to find a visor and bought Joe a few things for his kitchen as well. For those of you who read this far and are asking the inevitable question, Yes - I had a romantic
New Panama Friends
Villeya, Joe & Cata pose with the fresh fish which is soon to become ceviche! interest in Joe but went to visit him knowing that he already had a girlfriend. Nonetheless, it was hard to squelch my wishful thinking.
Before leaving Ecuador I had put my cellphone on roaming so I could continue to get email messages. One afternoon as Joe & I were listening to music my Blackberry pinged and as I exclaimed Oh no! Joe said I went totally pale as I told him that Chaco was dying. My friends who were taking care of him in Puerto Lopez had taken him to the vet 2 hrs north in Manta twice that week, and in the end all that could be done was to put him to sleep. He contracted a disease called Schiff-Sherrington. The resulting swelling of the cervical medulla rapidly paralyzed him. On a Thursday he was running on the beach with his pal Yoyo - by Tuesday he could barely walk and in just a few days the paralysis had extended to the point he could no longer even swallow.
I was on a beautiful beach in Panama with Joe and Grady when I made that final phone call about Chaco. It was decided
that Aurelio would help Gladys administer the injection and she would bury him in her garden. I wandered off down the beach, losing my thoughts as I dove into the beauty of nature -- I entered into a sort of mental merge with the patterns on the beach and processed this new devastating reality. I was grateful to be with Joe through this all and his sweet doggie seemed to sense that I was feeling low. Grady cuddled with me in bed and offered canine comfort. I know I will go thru a fresh wave of mourning once I'm back in Ecuador and my baby is no longer there, when I visit his grave and have a good cry with Mama Gladys. My eyes are tearing up right now and my throat is getting tight so I’d better let Chaco take over here.
Hola friends! Let me tell you about my short but exuberant life with Jill (and the many other mommies who loved me!) I was born at Playa Escondida - my dog mom, Magic, was sick with tick fever when she was pregnant with me and when the doctor gave her medicine to get better,
he thought she wouldn’t have any puppies because of her treatment. Well, with the loving care of our first human mom, Judith, three of us pups survived and my brother Lucky is still running on the beach at Playa Escondida! One of my brothers, Enano Lerdo, was a bit deformed and originally Jill was going to adopt him, but he didn’t live too long which is probably a blessing since he never really learned to walk or run like a dog should. Judith named me Chocolate and after I’d spent my first 5 months, running and playing with my dog family, she asked if Jill wanted to adopt me. After a brief consultation with her co-madre Tamara, they decided they would both be my mommies and Jill took me down the coast to meet my Mama T.
Jill & Tamara decided to change my name from Choco to Chaco because Tamara’s neighbors had a dog named Chocolate. I lived for the next 6 months with my Mama T in Agua Blanca, an indigenous community, where I had freedom to run and play with the local dogs, goats and even an anteater who came to visit our little
house. Tamara was working a lot, doing anthropological research, but she always took me with her up the valley to the local school and the community garden.
On the weekends, Mama T usually took me on the bus a half hour down the road to Mama J’s cabana (or mama J came to pick us up in her truck….I loved riding in the truck…even when the roads were bumpy!) It was always special to spend time with my two mamas together at Alandaluz. My favorite part was sunset runs on the beach, but I also liked to visit the organic farm and get special treats as Jill and Tamara cooked up gourmet meals.
I had a few bad experiences too -- like the time I ate some rice that was left on the steps near Jill's house -- and it ends up it had rat poison in it. That was a very scary day but they rushed me to Jipijapa (an hour's ride) and gave me several injections and I recovered. Then, when Jill & Tamara decided to give me an operation (so I wouldn't bother female dogs in heat) my wound
got infected and it was pretty messy getting me well again...they had to put this purple spray on my wound and when I tried to lick it off I loudly proclaimed, "My butt don't taste right!!!" Once, when Jill & I were visiting Shana and Uncle Maxi in Banos, I got really sick and the vet in Ambato said it was tick fever. Maybe I got sick easier because my mom had the disease while I was in her belly.
When Mama T returned to the USA for grad school, Jill became my primary Mom - although lots of times I stayed for a day or a week with my Mama Gladys, my Uncle Galo & my buddy Yoyo at Hostal Villa Colombia. Even though I’m a coastal pup, I got to travel a lot with Jill in the mountains. They even let me stay in hotel rooms sometimes, like at Auntie Ceci's Tambo Koya Inn just north of Otavalo. When Eva arrived from Austria we had lots of fun, travelling to Mindo and back to Playa Escondida. Whenever she could, Jill took me with her and I was able to experience lots of adventures. While
Jill was managing a hotel, they let me be part of the Mandala Big Dog Pack! Unfortunately, there were zillions of ticks near there, and I got sick with tick fever again (two times!) My mama J always got me to the vet in time and shoved pills and syringes of vitamins down my throat to help me get better. Why can't they make those medicines bacon flavored??
I’ve tried to reassure Jill that she’s not a bad mommy, that it’s not her fault that her furry friends have left her so quickly. She told me about her wacky Atlanta dog, Bruster, who was less than 2 yrs old when he went to doggie heaven, and her first Ecuador pup, Navi who died before she was even out of puppyhood. Through the outpouring of love and support from her friends, I’ve explained to Jill about the Cosmic Canine Wheel of Destiny - that we dogs know, even before we’re born that we’ll only have a brief time and we chose HER, knowing that we would have maximum love, joy & fun in our short lives. I hope she understands that I’m here in doggie heaven with
Grady & Joe on a favorite beach
Magical unspoiled beauty...for now! Bruster (and Abbey & Bobdog & Mojo & Shaza & Miles and all the other beloved four-footed friends she’s loved). We’re running and playing and chasing birds & squirrels & crabs & sticks and having a grand time…and thinking of her each time she remembers us.
PS - if you want to see more cute photos of me and some other pictures from Panama, keep scrolling down to the bottom and then hit the NEXT button for even more!
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Betz
non-member comment
re: crying with you
yes, I'm hugging Ellie the Lab right now - love you, thinking of you - Love, Betz, Pat, Katie and Ellie