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Published: January 19th 2006
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Hey everybody, I made it to Yanayacu Biological Station about a week ago. It’s great , but I’left catch you up on what has happened since then.
So I did go to the Old Town of Quito two weeks ago Sunday, but I didn’t take my camera. It was just easier not to have to worry about it. Once I was there, I wish that I had had it because there was a parade! It was for Dia de los Innocentes, which I think has something to do with the three kings, but I’m really not sure. The parade was pretty short, but it included a couple bands, a drumming corp, a dancing group, and a few groups of clowns and people on stilts in crazy costumes. I didn’t find anyone at the hostel who wanted to leave that early on a Sunday morning so I went by myself and I was standing as the lone gringa watching the parade - an obviously easy target. A clown dressed as a whimsical devil came out of the parade and kissed me on the cheek! The crowd thought it was hilarious, I thought it was strange, but I have to admit it
was pretty funny. The churches and architecture in Old Town were beautiful, but the parade was definitely the highlight.
*Travel advice for those who are coming to Ecuador: : I stayed at Centro del Mundo in Quito. It is super friendly and there are always people hanging out. If you like your own space, definitely get a private room, it’s not that much more expensive. Transportation to Banos is very straight-forward, there are a some direct buses from Quito, I know there is one at noon.
The next day I met Harold Greeney, the owner of Yanayacu. He’s a very nice guy, and the day after that we drove to Yanayacu. It is so beautiful here. We’re in the cloud forest, so it has been rainy a lot, but occasionally it clears and the light is just great. There are tons of great birds around (if you ever want to see a picture of any of the birds I mention, just do a Google image search. I don’t have the camera equipment to take good pictures of most birds). There are always flocks of noisy squawking birds flying through the air, but instead of ducks and geese like
Yanayacu
The dining "room." at home, they are parrots! If you’re interested some other flashy highlights have been: Inca Jay, Flame-faced Tanager, Beryl-spangled Tanager, Black and Chesnut Eagle (from really far away), Collared Inca, and Pearled Treerunner. There are tons of great people around, too. People come and go quite often, so there’s always new people around. There are a few more permanent people as well, about half of which are Ecuadorean. So I’m using more Spanish here than I did while I was travelling by myself. Hopefully my skills will have improved by the end of March!
The first day I was here Harold found a Golden-Headed Quetzal’s nest, and I have been monitoring it since the day after that. My typical day consists of getting up before dawn around 5:20, going to set up a camera in the forest aimed at the nest by 6:00 (we have to use infrared until it gets light enough to use the regular setting), then I go back to the station to watch video of the nest from previous days. I have to keep returning to the nest every four hours until 6:00 PM to change the tape. I also go on walks a lot
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The relaxation area. to look for birds. I haven’t found any nests of my own yet, but I hope to soon. It would be nice to have the experience of finding nests in the cloud forest, even if we don’t monitor them. Unfortunately, Harold has been really busy, so I haven’t received many tips from him.
In other news we just got a micro-hydroelectric power plant (“plant” is maybe too strong a word, it’s the size of a big dog house.) So we now have 24-hour power! Before they would have to run a gasoline-powered generator for part of the evening to charge batteries and use the internet. Now we can do it all the time! It’s really convenient, and micro-hydropower is a great earth-friendly way to generate electricity.
I think the most surprising thing about this place so far is the temperature. It is so cold! I am almost always wearing a tee-shirt, a thermal underwear top, and a fleece pullover! We’re up pretty high (a little over 7,000 feet, I think), and it is super humid, so that just equals cold and wet. Almost unimaginably, we have hot showers so that makes it all better every couple days.
Yanayacu
The library with Inka, a volunteer from Germany. That’s about it for now. Internet costs a lot here ($5/hour!), so I’m not going to be able to update my blog super-frequently. I’m going to try to at least write something and post some pictures twice every three weeks or more often if something particularly exciting happens. Hope you all enjoy the photos! And thanks for all your comments, I really enjoy getting them.
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Aunt Karla
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Greetings
Becca - I just re-read your journals. I love seeing all the pictures and hearing of your adventures! Take care! I look forward to seeing you when you get back home! Love, Karla