Bugs ´n Beer

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Now.

I don´t know what was written last time. or i forget.

The soccer game was a blast. It was raining, and there were plenty of people for a good pick up game. the soccer feild is pretty incredible, a grassy clearing amidst the cloud forest with rectangluar goals made from little trees stuck in the ground. one ¨sideline´ is jungle, the other is barbed wire between trees. The backdrop tö the setting is shear mountains rising into the clouds. the game is fast paced and aggressive with alot of shouting in spanish. Most people playing in big rubber boots (gummi stieffel!). the whole affair ended after someone kicked the ball into a giant hornet nest... inch long, flourescent blue, very angry hornets stung two people. one in the neck, one on top of the head. they say it was horrible. we decided to call the game and have a rematch with different teams the next day. we lost.

we also went for a long day hike with walter, the friendly ecuadorian volunteer coordinator. we climbed to the highest point on the reserve and came down a different way. he would stop and show us interesting plants or animals, such as trees that bleed (red sap), vines you can climb, a cool bird that looks dead and a slew of trees that you shouldn´t eat, touch, offend or even look at funny. most of the trail down was a super steep slippery slidy sloppy slide of mudd with excellent things to trip over hidden amongst the underbrush. we aren´t realy even sure if there was a trail, or if walter was making it as he went. he is highly skilled with a machete. but it was a fun hike, totaly immersed in the forest.

for the rest of the week we planted tangare seeds in the nursery, cleared around existing planted trees, i took the mule down with the milk, and other assorted machete based projects.

we had a relaxing weekend on the reserve with three other volunteers who also decided to stick around for the weekend. we got our hands on some fine ecuadorian Pilsner, the local (and only) favorite. read alot. we also hiked/climbed/fell down to a cool water fall and climbed around. Emily sat in a hammock and did some bird watching with her sweet new binoculars (and a guide book). she wishes she had the assistance of a experienced ornothologist, such as caitlin, big binoculars, margolin. we also encountered a very poisonous snake loitering around the volunteer house. he was wearing a hoody and painting graffiti on the walls. we both yearned for the steady hand of sarah the brave. the snake left politely, after we poked it with long sticks.

emily and i are now beginning a small research project, inventorying and comparing macroinvertabrates in local streams, rivers and ponds. the project should actualy be very interesting and coincide nicely with school credit and previous classes. (although i mainly agreed to the whole wahoo as an excuse to hike down to town for more pilsner.)

that is all for now.

nick, if you read this and find a little red case with little rubber rings and tools and things, keep it.

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Comments

[Fran]

lots of plants and animals
All this talk about plants and animals! I wish I was there...well, except for the part about seeing a poisonous snake. I hope your friends who got stung by the hornets are okay. Em...are you speaking a lot of Spanish? I'm happy to hear you are going to be doing some research, it sounds interesting. Keep us posted on how it goes. Adios!

[Joe Clark]

Is it the altitude?
What's a macroinvertebrate? The hiking and exploring must be a blast in that region of the Andes. Have you discovered any remains of ancient civilizations? Are you taking pictures? can you post some on your blog? We had a beautiful October day here today, bright sun, low humidity, cool breeze and the leaves are just starting to turn here. Can you describe cloud forest with more detail? is there a canapy? How tall are the trees? Have you seen any other interesting animals besides hornets, and snakes. What else is being maintained in that nursery? Keep blogging .

[wendy]

smiling inspite of snakes
It's been a long, fairly stressful day. Hearing from you was a treat. Of course your descriptions (most) made me smile. I had been wondering about the socer game... glad the setting and scenery wre so awesome, the game exciting enough for you and that you didn't get stung. Walter sounds like the perfect guide for you. I still have to look up those tangare trees... glad you're contributing to saving them. The relaxing weekend sounds.. relaxing except, of course, for the snake.. That's the part that didn't elicit smiles. Our weekend - We went sailing Sunday. The bay looked like the ocean, big waves, some crashing all the way back to the cockpit and LOTS of wind. Gilly and Gurgi were very happy to sit right with me. Maybe you can tell us about the macroinvertebrates and we'll try a Northern/Southern hemisphere comparison. I guess you'll keep in shape hiking to town for "fine equadorian Pilsners". Keep in touch.

[nate]

three things i learned about ecuador
I just read through the updates, sounds like you guys are having a great time. It sounds like an incredible adventure. I think i've learned a lot about ecuador through your updates: Always be polite to snakes, it never hurts to practice your machete skills, be wary of anyone offering ecuadorian pilsner - they may be trying to sign you up for invertabrate research, if you've got a spare mop- sell it on the street. I sent Emily a picture of a ridiculous electric hummer golf cart I saw in California - All I could think of was the Bronco's 4x6 wooden bumper going right through it. Anyway, keep going with the updates for us hosers stuck in the office all day! -nate