Whales and Birds

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The past week was one of the better Peace Corps weeks that I have had. I spoke with my counterpart, Bolívar, about the amount of work that I have been doing and that I am not really performing the role of PC volunteer. My experience the last few months has been more like an employee of CODEAMA. I also told him that Sue and I have worked very hard during our first year of service and that we have not had many opportunities to see Ecuador. He agreed with me and said we could work on the work thing.

During the week I went out to the FRATES communities again to give a presentation to the kids in Vencedores. I had planned it with the teacher out there, however, the teacher failed to show up for classes. I decided I would do my presentation, which included my ¨magic¨ show of science and just see who showed up. A couple of kids saw me and asked why I was there. I explained what I was going to do and they said that they didn´t have classes. I then asked if there were kids in the community, they laughed and said yes, then I told them that we didn´t need a teacher for me to do my presentation. They agreed and sprinted off to get their friends. All told, I think I had 14 of the 20 kids show up. The magic show was a big hit, as it usually is and I was done by 8:45am.

Karina and Mary Fausnaught (PCV from Tena working on a project with CODEAMA), were at FRATES to do training and have a meeting. I walked there to meet up with them. The meeting was supposed to start at 9:00. By 9:45 only two people were there. We decided to cancel it and were getting ready to leave when a group of about 10 people came. So, we had the meeting and the training and during the course of all that another 10 people showed up at 10:30.

Can you imagine how bonkers you would be if every meeting you planned or attended started an hour or an hour and a half late? Or what would you do when half the attendees show up halfway through your meeting? How would you handle the situation when those late attendees interrupt you in mid-speech to go around the room to shake everyone´s hand and say good morning? This, my friends, is standard operating procedure in Ecuador. Now of course logic says if a meeting is planned for 9:00am and people show up an hour late as the norm, then don´t plan on being there and starting until 10:00am. There are two faults with this line of logic: 1) The first time you do this, people will somehow show up on time and then be pissed that they had to wait for you. 2) There is some mystic power, a sixth sense perhaps that allows attendees to know that you really meant 10:00am when you planned the meeting for 9:00am so they know not to show up until 11:00am.

Anyhow, the meeting went very well even though it started late. Afterwards, Karina, Mary and I decided to walk back to the highway; a walk I have mentioned before. About 20 minutes into the walk we came across my dogs. I finally figured out where they live. They barked until they saw me and then they were happy and more than willing to join us on our walk. It was just like the first time, they would walk ahead and then wait for us to catch up. Mary is a dog person and she kept remarking how awesome these dogs were. I felt bad that I didn´t have any food for them this time, I plan to take some dog treats with me the next time I am out there.

About an hour later, we caught a taxi that had dropped someone off and was returning to Puyo. When we got in the dogs ran along side the taxi until they were too tired to keep up. It made me really sad to see them chasing after us as though we were abandoning them, which in retrospect, we were.
The next evening, July 3rd, Sue and I got on a bus at 11:00pm headed for Guayaquil, on the coast. We were headed to the coast to meet up with some friends to celebrate Becca´s (PCV from Ambato) birthday and as a farewell since she will be finishing her service at the end of the month. The bus ride to Guayquil took 9 hours and involves going up one side of the Andes and down the other. We did it at night so I really didn´t see much scenery. We started at 950 meters above sea level, climbed to about 3800 meters and then ended at sea level.

Sue and I are becoming old hats at doing this night bus thing so it really wasn´t that bad. As we were rolling into Guayaquil I noticed how completely different this part of Ecuador is. It was as flat as flat can be and had an array of new plants. The Guayaquil bus station is completely unreal and unlike anything else in Ecuador. It is exactly like a new airport terminal in the States complete with fast food restaurants, upscale travel stores, etc. etc. I was dumbfounded.

Sue and I got a really crappy instant coffee (the one major thing lacking in the terminal was good coffee) and then hopped on a bus headed to the town of Jipihapa. I was in good spirits, how can you not be when you are in the sun headed to a town with a name like Jipihapa. It took another 2.5 hours to get there - the town wasn´t as cool as the name suggested, but it was just fine for Ecuador standards. We then hopped a bus to Puerto Lopez for the final leg of our trip. This bus took about an hour.

We arrived in Puerto Lopez around 12:30 and met up with Becca, Susan BC, and Becca´s PC boyfriend, Paul. We checked into the hotel and then headed to the beach to catch some fun in the sun.
After an hour of intense sun we returned to the hostal to have lunch. Paul and Becca cooked up some fresh albacore tuna for us. It was delicious. We also discovered a new brand of beer called Zenda. It was not as good as Pilsener, but it wasn´t bad and at 70 cents/big bottle it does just fine. A fish and a beer later, Sue and I were wiped out so we took a long 2 hour nap.

That evening, it was relatively low key. We all just walked along the beachfront and checked out some souvenir shops. We returned to the hostal and went to be early.

The next morning, Sarah, another PCV from Cuenca showed up. She, Susan, Becca and I were headed on a whale-watching tour and trip to Isla de la Plata, the poor man´s Galapagos as it is referred to in these parts. Anyhow, we got on the boat at 10:00am and had a 2 hour trip to the island. On the way out we spotted about 30 some humpback whales. It was utterly amazing, they were everywhere. Even Susan who never manages to see squat on these types of trips, saw her fill of whales.
We got to the island and took a long hike with our group and guide. It is the dry season so everything was brown, however, that didn´t keep away the wildlife. We saw blue-footed boobies and frigate birds, as well as, a number of lizards and other small birds. The animals are quite accustomed to humans so you literally can walk right next to them.

We returned to our boat, had some lunch and then fed some sea turtles that were hanging out by the boat. Immediately after lunch we motored along the island until we reached a good spot for snorkeling. We all got in and swam around looking at the underwater life. Personally, I was stunned that they told us to snorkel right after eating lunch - whatever happened to the no swimming after eating rule? I was only in the water for 5 minutes. My mask had a leak and it really wasn´t enjoyable dealing with that, however, the others had fun.

After that, we headed back towards the mainland. We encountered another 10 or so whales. It literally got to the point that we were bored with seeing them. The driver sensed this and would just point them out as we sped past.

While we did our whale adventure, Susan BC and Paul (who both had been to the island before) explored another beach and had a relaxing afternoon. When we returned, they had already made dinner for us, fresh fish, squid, and shrimp. The dinner was great and cost us about $1.00 a person. UNREAL I tell you - I don´t even like seafood that much, but the fresh stuff is outta this world. After dinner we had an amazing birthday cake that Susan and Paul made earlier in the day.
That night we took another walk then sat around talking until midnight. It was another relaxing evening and a great end to a great day.

The next morning, I went for a run on the beach with Susan BC and Becca. It was nice to get a little exercise before getting on a bus to head back to Puyo. After the run we had breakfast and got on a bus to Jipihapa. Paul left earlier in the morning to try and make it back to his site near Cuenca before the last bus. In Jipihapa, Susan split ways with us - she was headed to Quito to head to her GAD meeting. Becca, Susan BC, Sarah and I caught a bus to Guayaquil. In Guayaquil we met up with Paul who had decided not to try to make it back to his site in one day. He and Sarah then got on a bus to Cuenca, Susan BC got on a bus to Guaranda (her site), while Becca and I caught a bus to Ambato.
I had a great time chatting with Becca on the way to Ambato. It made the 6 hour trip fly by and it was the most I had ever talked with her. I was slightly worried about getting back to Puyo though. The last bus leaving the Ambato terminal is a 7:00pm bus and we were getting in at 10:30pm. There are buses that bypass Ambato from Quito and my hope was to try and catch one. The timing is the key. There is a bus that leaves Quito at 8:40pm and gets to the bypass anytime between 10:30 and 11:20. After that bus, the next one passes by around 1:00am. I didn´t want to wait outside along the road until 1:00am so the plan would be that if I couldn´t catch that first bus, that I would just go back and stay at Becca´s.

Lady Luck was on my side. I got off our bus at the bypass, walked to where the buses pass, waited 2 minutes and the bus from Quito came by. Even more lucky is that this bus is the sleeper bus with half as many seats (usually it is full - Sue and I have taken this bus numerous times from Quito). The bus had two other people on it. I got on, stretched out and enjoyed the rest of my 2 hour trip to Puyo. I got home at 12:45am, read a little and went to bed. It was a quick and short trip to the coast, but one that will rank high on my list of experiences while in Ecuador.

It appears as though some text is missing from my last blog entry, I am not sure what happened and I think I deleted that particular entry on my flash drive. I will check my laptop and if I have the text, I will update that blog - at least the photos are still there.

And now I´d like to remind you all again to contribute to my Peace Corps project of making an environmental education guide and doing trainings for 150 local teachers. You view the description of the project and contribute on-line at:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=518-319

Or just go to www.peacecorps.gov and hit the links for donate now and search for my project that way. Come on, I provide you a blog - free entertainment every 10 days or so - that has to be worth something to you. I have already raised over $1000 and need about $1800 to meet my funding goal. Thanks ahead of time for any support you can throw my way, even if it is $5 it can still help.

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Photos

Blue-Footed Boobies
Exactly the kind of boobies I was expecting on my trip to Isla de la Plata.

Whales
These were about 20 meters from the boat.

Sue and I
Hanging out on the top of a hill on Isla de la Plata.

Frigate Bird
These birds are truly amazing - I don´t know how they keep from popping themselves.

Sea Turtle
This guy or gal was right by the boat.

Another Boobie
He looks a little confused to see me.

Whales
Another couple of whales that we saw.

The Island
A view from the top of Isla de la Plata.