Blogs from Quilotoa, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 3

Quick monitoring blog for Site 9 where road from Malinguapamba to Latacunga crosses upper Yanarumi below Malingua Yaku. This is the site where EWB removed boulders from upstream end of culvert and Minga planted shrubs upstream along channel. Big boulder remains in place. Downstream is still VERY sketchy with steep cut below culvert putting road at risk; on the other hand the conservation work upstream probably limits the amount of material and peak flows expected from upstream. Lots of rock available below culvert to create some check dams, maybe better to import more rock (+ ogs?) to create drop structures between culvert and channel below? Hard to see in photo 6 but note light blue pipe is broken end of water collection pipe lost during channel downcutting and now perched above channel bed. Suggest bringing channel ... read more

Another Technical Monitoring Blog for water quality nerds + WashRag (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Rotary Action Group) friends. I traveled to Latacunga to shop for plumbing materials with various members of the Sacatoro clan, focusing on materials available on short notice + small pieces in addition to materials we were able to scavange in Malinguapamba. Materials list = * 1 ea 10-foot stick of 4-inch (sched 20?) PVC, drilled perforations 5-7 mm * 7 bags crushed rock gravel, used 2-10 cm crushed rock left over from road work * adapter 2-inch to 4-inch PVC * T 4-inch PVC * 50 cm 4-inch riser * 2 ea 4-inch caps * 4 meters of 1-meter wide filter fabric (looks like screen-door material only green plastic) Estimate cost of materials ... read more

Been a long time since my last blog, with lots of activities, too many photos (who me?), and spotty internet but now catching up on an amazing week in and around Malinguapamba (MP) which, for those just joining in is within the area well known as the Quilotoa Loop. Left Tuesday 19Feb13 from Latacunga by bus to MP, hair-raising at times but safe and sound. Met two people on the bus from the area including Augustine who is on the Guantugloma project comittee (more later). MP quiet (market day, adults out of town) but local kids great hosts made me welcome until parents + Matriarch Dona Josephine arrived late. Spent next few days working with teachers and hanging with kids + hiking LOTS and monitoring projects. Include 2 mingas (big collaborative work sessions = "barn raising"). ... read more

I gasp involuntarily, both from the shock of the bone-snappingly cold wind of these high Andean plains and the sight of the volcanic crater that drops dramatically away beneath my feet. The walls, serrated from violent eruptions and the incessant whippings of the winds, plummet downwards until they meet the blue-green water of the mystical crater lake, known in these parts as Laguna Quilotoa. The indigenous natives of this region of Ecuador believe that the lake is bottomless, which it may as well be, for it is thought to be roughly 800m in depth. That’s one hell of a deep lake! Having been in Ecuador twice before, yet only seeing Quito and the stupendously amazing Galápagos Islands, it was high time that I explored some more of the mainland. Through conversing with fellow travellers ... read more

Leaving Mindo and its gorgeous array of ornithological, lepidopteran and batrachian wonders behind, it's time to head south, and deep into Ecuador's highland heart. Crossing Quito - again - for what must surely be the last time, we head down along the Panamericana highway to the small city of Latacunga. Latacunga is slap bang in the middle of what Ecuadorians call La Avenida de los Volcanes, the "Avenue of the Volcanos" stretching all the way from the Colombian border to Riobamba in the centre of the country. Indeed, the bus ride between Quito and Latacunga takes you right under the noses - or should that be cones? - of some of Ecuador's loftiest peaks, nearly all of which are volcanos (for the most part extinct, thankfully). On our way to Latacunga we pass Cotopaxi (5,897m) to ... read more