Ecuador

There is a lot to say about this country.  It is poised on the edge of a lot of things, poverty, riches, emergence from the 3rd world, economic ruin and ecological disaster.

Very much a study in edges.  Texaco made a lot of the Amazon Basin in this country into a toxic waste dump.  Then walked away thumbing their nose at those left behind to live in poison.  Chevron bought Texaco and the lawsuit that went with the toxic mess.  Last I heard Chevron is being forced to face the problem, and hopefully in the case before the Canadian Supreme Court, Canada will do it's part to make them face the consequences.

The oil revenue generated does help to lift the country, and it is spending a lot on infrastructure and it's own people to lift them up.  I take this as a great sign and will stand by and applaud as they come to take their place among the good nations of the world.

Oil is not the answer to economic freedom, and I think Ecuador has grasped this concept.  They have seen their economy swing through ups and downs along with the world price of oil, and are choosing to invest in that which will make the most difference in the long run, the education of all.

With all of that though, there are still problems, and poverty and some things of concern to me.  I see the great slopes of the volcanoes and how much is being farmed and I wonder at the sustainability of the agriculture.  Like in Guatemala there are a lot of fields on very steep slopes, and I cannot help but think that a lot of the topsoil washes away with every rain.

Here in Baños, I see a weird mix of ruin and re-build.  It appears that many of the tourist spots have been abandoned, but at the same time others are being re-built.  It is obviously slow a season now, and the hostel I am in is less than 1/4 full.  The number of places actually in ruins is very few, and the over all shape of the town is good, to me it is several large steps above both Nicaragua and Guatemala, and even edging out Costa Rica, mostly because it is striving to find wealth from within and not looking to the 1st world to raise it up.

The youth and energy I saw out for a good time in Quito means to me that this country does not need to be on the world stage to know it is doing fine.  The people here know where they are and where they are going.  That is more than most of us can say.

As the old tree falls, it takes some others with it, but it also creates opportunity for some to reach for the sky.

Cuyabeno part 3.

The trip was as much and more than what I was expecting.  It was a time full of green fecund joy.  The diversity and depth of life in the Amazon needs to be experienced at least once.

At the lodge, the generator shut off between 9 and 10pm, and man made noise disappeared.  In it's place, the sounds from the surrounding jungle edged in louder.  The insects and animals that make their living in the night gave a background drone quite different from during the day.  Far more insect noise and far less from birds.  I drifted off to sleep, not bothered by the sounds, but lulled by them.

The weather during my stay was close to ideal, as I arrived at the entrance to the park, it was raining lightly, but by the time lunch was eaten and the boat was loaded the rain had stopped.  Several times during my stay it rained, but never during the excursions, and most heavily at night.  The temperature was not as warm as I had feared, and the light blankets in the lodge were needed at night.  During the day, sitting in the boat and looking for wildlife was a truly pleasant way to spend time.  The tromp through the jungle was very tiring though, the humidity real made itself known and I went back to the lodge tired and with a sweat soaked shirt.

Here are a few more pictures, A few from the Laguna Grande, which to my Canadian eyes, was a not particularly large lake, and one which was very shallow.  The place was well worth the visit however.

Toucans.  Easy to hear, hard to get a decent picture of.

 

Anaconda, about 20 feet long

The guide slowly teased this feller out of his tunnel and into his hand.

There are a few thousand frenetic ants in the pic.......

Poison Arrow Frog, the colours did not come out decent, he is a much more vibrant orange.

Cuyabeno part 2

The blog would not let me add more text after the pictures, so thus, part 2.

Squirrel Monkeys, birds and a glorious tropical sunset.

More pictures later, as the slow up load while hungry for supper makes for a grouchy Ken.

Cuyabeno National Park, Ecuador part 1.

When I found out that the bus ride from Quito to Lago Agrio was only $8.20, I had to make the trip.  The city is not that great a place, but it is the kick off point for adventure into Cuyabeno Park, and I booked a 4 day 3 night stay at Caiman Lodge.  The lodge itself was nice, rustic but clean and well maintained.  Very limited luxuries, no cell phone reception and the electricity was only on for about 3 hours a day.  The food was nice with a heavy local influence and like most Ecuadorian food, virtually no spices or herbs were used.

But on to the pictures of the river on the way to the lodge, the birds monkeys etc seen during the trip.

The first photo shows the river, and the second a few toucans perched on branches.  It was the only time I saw toucans not flying.  All the other times we could hear them but not see them as they hid behind foliage.

 

 

Two toed Sloth

Quito Ecuador, no photos

I finally got south of the equator.  Quito, the capital of Ecuador is about 16km south of the equator and at an elevation of over 9,000 feet, a temperate to cool place, rather than hot.

I thought I was mostly over a minor head cold when I flew out of Panama, but the elevation change sapped my energy and I am sure delayed my recovery.  I spent most of 5 days not doing much, walking a couple blocks, watching movies and reading.

Finally I felt like I was up to doing a little and went into the central bar and restaurant area, a very short walk from my hostel.

Man did I feel old.

Although the general population of Quito is a mix of old and young much like most other places, what I was wandering through was very much party central, and there were more bars than I have ever seen in that small an area ever before.  The vast majority of people there were under thirty.  Maybe even under twenty-five.  Mixed in with the bars were hostels, averaging over two per block, along with cafes and the odd high end restaurant.  During the day there were not that many people about, but when the sun went down, the locals came out to play, and they came out in large numbers.

The main district is about six blocks by four, but slowly blends into a commercial area to the south, full of shops hotels and professional services.

The evenings tended to be cool, and needed either a light jacket or sweater to be comfortable, but ti was well worth it to wander around and see everyone having a great time.

Quito itself is a modern city, stretched out roughly north - south in a valley.  At night the lights of the city are all but impossible to see from one spot, the valley rolls far too much and there are short ridges hiding some of the suburbs as well.  this means though that from the higher places, you can see a lot of the lights laid out below you, and if you go to a place in the lower levels where there are not many high buildings, you can see the lights spreading up the sides of the valley.

The number of truly tall buildings are few, most seem to top out in the fifteen floor range, but in a place prone to earthquakes, that makes total sense to me.

All in all it is a very nice place to visit, although I have heard it is not the safest place to walk around in after the bars close, the same can be said of a great many cities.

If the clouds clear off a bit tomorrow, I will take a tram ride to the top of a volcano that over looks the city and grab a few photos, but from what the weather forecast says, that is unlikely.

I am drawn to travel over the spine of the Andes next and into the Amazon Rainforest, a small town called Lago Agrio near a large national park.  I plan to spend a few days there, and then back to Quito to fly out for Peru.

Distances and Borders

When traveling between countries it begins to take on a sameness.  Fill out the declaration form, pay a fee, answer a few questions, stand in line and wait.  When going by bus, the waiting is the longest, watching as all the passports and documents are processed wondering if you managed to correctly fill out the form in its miniscule printing, and occasional vague wording.

These steps could be made easier I assume, but it is now a familiar thing to do, and if they made the whole process easier those who came beore would complain about how the new travelers have it so much easier. ;)

But it is that last line that really resonates with me.  How much easier.

In the late 1800's an early 1900's travel had a definite glamour.  There was no real fast way, the easy way was by ship and if your destination was not near an ocean,   the infrastructure was not in place for easy transit.

People who did ravel did so for very strong reasons.  Immigrating to a new country, exploring to find wealth, escape from oppression or prosecution.  All very valid reasons to travel, but those who traveled for the sake of new horizons were few and far between.  The sheer relative cost, the length of time away, plus the void you were stepping off into.  We truly are in the information age.  I can find out what the local language is, currency and exchange, political stability, disease, good maps,  and the list goes on and on at the click of a mouse button.

I have had a few people say that they could not leap into a different culture and travel at whim like I am, but that is nothing to me when stacked up with how other, earlier travelers went about their trips.  Travelogues, diaries and such give us a picture of the places but also the perspectives of the person writing.  Your own cultural background, what you take for granted so colours how you write about the similarities and differences of those around you.  And all of those early writings are awash in the prejudices and bias of the writer.  I am blind to my own, for the most part, but at least I know that people from other places and times will have different views.  I think I need to read a few of the travel tales to really be able to put things into place.  I have not read any fully, just a few excerpts here and there, so I think that is going to be added to my reading list very soon.

Here in Central America I look at the steep jungle covered hills, and even in the dry season the frequent streams and rivers and think about how much different and slower the travel would be.  And even that only scratches the surface of the problems.  Money and the exchange of currencies are so much easier as well as access to international transfer of funds.  Whip out your bank card and get local cash, verses travelng with either a very large amount of valuables and cash or letters of credit which would take months if not years to set up.

Taking companions along with, strong of will to help you out of any difficulties, and a few sober ones to keep all from starting trouble.  The people you meet along the way real are the meat and bones of your experience and I always imagine that in the times when getting from place to place was so much harder that the 'local flavour' was very much more felt and experience than now.
Things we take for granted as travelers like inns, hotels and hostels etc. are not easy to find and pulling over to the side if you got tired was not an option.  Chances were if you liked your creature comforts they would be few and far between in most of Central America and packing a tent etc would be de riguer.  After a few weeks of backpacking with tent etc as a youth I can well remember the welcome hot shower found in civilization after the trek was over.  How then for the traveler, struggling through jungle and making their way on rough road for weeks on end to come upon a place to rest and relax, put up your weary bones, wash the clothes have a bath and not have to deal with taking down the camp yet again.

By putting myself in that place, stretching my mind to fill in the weariness and draining effort, but also seeing new vistas and animals and plants I begin to know the travelers whose footsteps I walk in and who give me pause at their determination to stretch their own horizons and all of those that they came in contact with, both on the road and when finally back at home.


In terms of how we humans get along, from country to country I think that the travel experience and how much easier it is, is a good thing.  The world as a whole is becoming more blended, with most borders being easier to cross, shrinking not the miles but the antagonistic differences between countries.  The next major step needs to be taken by the so called first world, and ending the economic exploitation of the third.  We in the first have a hunger for cheaper and cheaper goods, which is natural, but we need to force the corporations supplying those cheap goods into ensuring a decent living wage for the employees.

The above ramble brought to you by limited sleep and a long bus ride.

Religon and Fireworks

The great use of firecrackers and fireworks in conjunction with Christian religious services is so different from what I grew up with. 

It is hard to step back and accept what these people obviously see as a significant part of their worship.  The amount of firecrackers drowned out the sound of the church bells, and the fireworks were well done, seeming to draw attention to the celebration rather than detract from it.

But as I said, it was jarringly different from what I am used to.  The number of christmas lights and small electronic devices playing christmas carols made for an annoying background noise.  The use of icons and statuary has always been something that jars against the Anglican themes I was raised in.  Once the procession started, taking a statue of Mary for a slow journey round the centre of town, there was a constant barrage of noise from both fireworks and firecrackers.  The casual use of fireworks was also something quite different, with random people setting off fireworks in spaces barely large enough for safety.  Most times there were people within five meters of the steel tubes used for launching the larger ones.  The immediacy of this meant it added to the whole scene, tying the whole crowd into the experience of the visual display.  My western eyes found the whole thing to be gaudy and over done on the one hand, but on the other hand I could see both the sincerity of the participants and going by the size of the crowd it meant that a large slice of the town joined in.

I did not stay for the whole procession, choosing to slink away when it was less than half over, and I could hear the noise echoing off the walls behind me as I went down to the lake.  I have avoided religion for the most part on this trip of mine.  I long ago accepted that different people worship god in different ways and it is not something that I choose to do.

It is too easy to mock or look down on what others do as part of their belief, and disregard the emotions and sincerity of the worshipers, forgetting that their upbringing was so different from mine and their expressions and outward display of ceremony are thus far removed from what I experienced as part of my cultural norm.  It does enhance my travel and bring me farther along the road to understanding these people and how they contrast as well as mirror those who I grew up with.

Because it was night, and personally I find flashes to be intrusive, I dd not take any photos.  I may wander up to the church in the next day or two and take a few, just to round out this article.