Isla de la Plata

Thursday was the highlight of our trip to the coast. We visited Isla de la Plata aka the Poor Man’s Galapagos. It shares a number of species with the Galapagos, though it is much closer to the mainland. In fact, the island’s history is much different. It broke off from the mainland tens of thousands of years ago, while the Galapagos are volcanic in origin. This creates much different evolutionary history of plants and animals on each.

On our hike across the island (we took the escalera path), we first came across blue-footed boobies! It was so cool to see them in the wild again. We learned that the blueness of their feet corresponds to their age. The older ones have bluer feet because they’ve eaten more sardines.

Next, we saw Nazga (or masked) boobies. It was interesting to see them so close to blue-footed boobies. Also, while we were watching them, a tropic bird flew overhead. The tropic bird has a long distinctive tail and is so beautiful.

Frigatebirds were next. Sadly, only a couple of males had their guller sacks inflated. Nevertheless, it was amazing to have hundreds of frigates flying over my head.

Then, we saw red-footed boobies. Yes, three species of boobies in one day on one island! It was incredible. There even were some babies which looked like giant white puff balls in the nest.

We thought we were done and had seen a lot, but then on the way back to the shore, we saw three quite small hummingbirds, the smallest hummingbirds on earth! That was a great way to end our hike.

When we returned to the boat, we traveled a bit down the coast of the island and then got to snorkel. We saw a number of beautiful colorful fish, including a parrot fish. Also, there was some alive puff coral and a starfish. However, the water was decently chilly, so we didn’t stay in for too long.

Agua Blanca

And so we return to stories from the coast...

On our Wednesday at the coast, we visited Agua Blanca, a small community within the National Park. Its name comes from the fact that the river dried up during an El Nino one year, so there is now just sand in the riverbed. Our guide, Eddie, lived there and took us on a hike through the dry forest into lower elevation cloud forest.

The hike started at 6:45am in Agua Blanca, which is completely surrounded by dry forest. It was odd to see such a different ecosystem, since where we spend our time receives so much rain. Also, it was now the dry season, so all of the leaves had fallen from the trees, though I had trouble picturing them with leaves, since the ground was like the desert. One species of tree, the ceiba has evolved to have chlorophyll in its trunk, so that it can still photosynthesize during the dry season. It was rather awesome to see these giant green tree trunks.

There were also tons of birds. Every time we saw one, we’d stop and look through our binoculars and then identify it with Eddie’s book. It was great!

The transition from dry to cloud forest was incredible. One minute, everything is brown and dry, and then, the ground is muddy and the plants are green. We saw a number of tagua trees. Tagua, also known as vegetable ivory, is used for all sorts of crafts in Ecuador, so we were already familiar with it from artesian markets.

The most exciting part was at the top of the mountain, we heard howler monkeys! We hiked down in a new direction for a bit, but sadly didn’t see them, though we did hear them once more. After hiking for a bit, Eddie suddenly stopped me and pointed straight up. There was a howler on the branch directly above me! Actually, there were a total of three howlers: a male and two females. We watched them for half an hour before deciding that we really need to continue on with our hike.

When we returned, we got to swim in a sulfur pool. It was fun and relaxing to be in the water. We were told that the water had healing properties and would be great for our hair. (Actually, all of our hair was awful and didn’t get better until we returned to Cuenca and could shampoo it. It felt like it was turning into dreadlocks. We could pull it straight out and it would stay!) Also, we were instructed to take mud from the bottom of the pool, rub it all over our skin and sit out. It was rather hilarious being covered in mud. Such a spa day!

Trick or Treat

Halloween coincides with Viva Cuenca here. Like Guayaquil and Quito, Cuenca’s independence day (November 3) is a national holiday. Of course, since we are in Cuenca, the celebrations start early, and this weekend, they’re in full swing.

In the afternoon, Jesse, Elizabeth, and I explored some of the craft markets. Artisans come from all over, not just Ecuador, but also Colombia, Argentina and even Spain. So far, I haven’t had to go to the bank to get more money, but after these expansive, I think I may have to visit the bank soon. My most exciting purchase: forks! I’ve had my eye out for an interesting fork since arriving, of course, but had yet to find any worth even inquiring about price. However, at one of the more expensive markets, a glass worker had some beautiful beaded pickle forks. There was no way that I could turn them down.

That evening, Jesse, Elizabeth, Alex and I joined our neighbor Ana Luisa in going to a performance at Cuenca’s cemetery. The performance used monologues, dance and music at various stops throughout the cemetery to tell the story of a poet who committed suicide in Cuenca. Each of us carried a lit candle, and the moon was nearly full, so it was rather perfect for Halloween.

When we returned home, we had originally planned to dressing up, but then decided that it was too late. Plus, most of the fun was in planning the costumes, rather than wearing them. (I was going to be a Shining Sunbeam. One of my favorite hummingbirds in Ecuador, where there are more than 150 species of hummers.) We still had our trick-or-treating fest with each person given out some sort of sweet. I made truffles as my gift. Then, Elizabeth gave out granadillas (a type of passionfruit) with jack-o-lantern faces drawn on them. Coral had bought popcorn balls, and Jesse got wawa-pan, a type of bread specific to this time of year and decorated by children. It was a lot of sugar! We also carved a pineapple, and drew a face on a melon, which looked like a pumpkin. When we bought the melon, we thought it was a pumpkin. It looked just like one! Funnily enough, the first time we tried to by squash, it ended up being a 6-inch wide cucumber! Who knew that squash or cucumber (sort of like cheese or font) would end up being a game for us?

La Costa

This week, we took a vacation for our midterm break (as of today, we’re halfway through) and headed for the coast. We spent the time in Puerto Lopez, a fishing village directly next to Machalilla National Park.

We spent Tuesday relaxing on the beach and exploring the town. It was interesting to watch the fishermen bring in their catch, and all of the frigatebirds and pelicans swooping down on them.

I also found two live sanddollars! I’ve always loved sanddollars, partially because I remember my dad telling me stories of going to the beach with his family, and his father would find sanddollars with his feet and then have them swim down to get them. There were also some pufferfish washed up on the shore. The town also had a number of stray dogs which would follow you along the beach. That was a bit odd.

On Wednesday, we visited Agua Blanca, and on Thursday, we went to Isla de la Plata. Both deserve full descriptions, so I’ll try to get a post about each one up soon.

Yesterday, we hiked out to Los Frailes, a secluded beach in the national park. The hike provided some excellent views (including one of the continental plate), and it was nice to swim for a bit. Also, one of the beaches along the way had black sand. (It sort of reminded me of the bottles of blue sand you get on Neopets…)

Although the water was nice, the waves weren’t very good, so there was no way I could catch one, and I didn’t have anyone to play The President with. At least, I built a drip castle.

After Los Frailes, we caught a bus back to Guayaquil and then Cuenca, getting back home about 12:30am, so we all slept in. Now, we’re celebrating Halloween and Cuenca days.

Frogs, Frogs, Frogs

What a weekend! It started on Thursday afternoon, when Alejandro, a student in Quito and an amphibian expert, arrived in Cuenca. He might be only 18, but in the last year, he found a frog that had last been seen in 1995, and thus, believed to be extinct. He is highly knowledgeable about the frogs around Rumi Loma and La Libertad. So on Thursday afternoon we went to his talk on amphibians and reptiles at la Universidad del Azuay. The lecture was in Spanish, so I followed some but not all of it.

On Friday, we (our group and Alejandro) left for La Libertad. We had no troubles with Big Blue! Of course, he had just gotten out of the shop Thursday afternoon, so we should be able to assume that he’s fine…

After getting to La Libertad and unpacking, Alejandro told us some about the frogs that we could expect in the area, and we headed out around 4:00. The first frogs we found were large tadpoles in a few pools in the middle of the cow pasture. Alejandro identified them as Gastrotheca pseustes, or San Lucas marsupial frogs. Not all frogs in Ecuador produce tadpoles; some give birth to miniature adult frogs, so that limited the possibilities a bit. After a bit more searching, Coral found the mother! Alejandro said that it was quite possibly the only female Gastrotheca within a kilometer.

After dark, we hiked along and through the stream looking for more frogs. We found a fair number of Pristimantis orestes and Pristimantis pycnodermis. One interesting thing about the Pristimantis genus is that its common name in Spanish translates as rubber frog, but due to a misspelling some time ago, it is called a robber frog in English. Rubber makes a lot more sense.

We also found seven red-eyes! Red eyes were only recently discovered and have yet to described by science, so they are simply Pristimantis sp. 2. Their eyes are metallic red. So cool!

We also found a frog that Alejandro had never seen before. He knows that it is a Pristimantis and has a guess on the species, but if he is correct, it has never been found in our area before.

On the way back, we spotted an Andean Potoo. Potoos are rare birds, so it was cool to see him, even if we couldn’t see all that well.

We didn’t get back until 11:45, which is rather late when you consider that most of us had consistently been going to bed at 10:00. However, the time flew.

The next morning, we measured (mass and length) and described the coloration of each of the frogs that we had captured the night before. It was interesting to see the female and male pynodermis next to each other because the female is literally 20 times larger. The following picture really does show two adults frogs of the same species. They're just different genders.

We weren’t leaving until 4:00 again, so we had a bit of free time in the afternoon, during which Elizabeth started teaching us some basic standing on each other tricks. We started with airplane, like when you’re a little kid and balance on your stomach on someone else’s feet. The difference was I remember using hands then, and we didn’t now. Then, we did airplane with the balancing person upside down. Next, we moved onto something called cathedral. It is basically a two person handstand, but a picture describes it best:

That night we went out and found more frogs, including a Pristimantis riveti, which was hard to capture because we was on nachran over the river, about 2 meters up, which is really high for a frog. However, Coral and Alejandro amazingly were able to get it. We also found a nest of baby Pristimantis orestes.

Basically, this weekend revolved around frogs and was a ton of fun. I can actually identify some of them now!

"The Pristine Myth"

When we think of the Americas before European exploration and colonization, we picture vast forests, wide winding rivers, and animals roaming. When we think of preserving the remnants of these ecosystems, we feel that the best thing to do is to remove human presence and allow it to return to a natural state..

In learning about paramo this term, we have talked a lot about how they may have formed. Paramo is found above the tree line in Ecuador, from 2,800 m to more than 4,000 m. However, a number of scientists believe that trees in Ecuador could survive up to 4,100 m. If this is true, forest should be the dominant vegetation up until that point.

This leaves an interesting question as to why paramos even exist. One of the main theories corresponds to paramo plants’ unique adaptation to fire. Bunch grass is usually 60-70% dead material, so it easily catches and spreads fire. However, it grows back after fire because it keeps shoots underground. Some, including Stu, propose that hunter gathers burned these areas regularly over time to keep the forest at bay, and

Humans do shape environments. Even the Amazon rainforest has corn dated to 6,000 years ago. Maize is indigenous to Mexico! In the article “The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492,” William M. Denevan argues that North America was more “pristine” in 1750 than 1492. There were huge numbers of Native Americans, and some had started agriculture. They did have a significant impact on our environment. The wilderness view perpetuated through the Hudson River School is not an accurate image, and conservation of ecosystems must consider how human impact shaped that area originally.

A First Glance at La Libertad

La Libertad is the lower of the two field camps, though 2917m is still quite high. (Rumi Loma is about 3450m above sea level.) It has a number of differences from Rumi Loma. First, you can drive much closer to it, so there is not nearly as far to carry supplies. Yay! Second is the lack of building. Our kitchen was actually a sturdy tent with foot high grass as the floor. However, there were actually a number of choices for sleeping, which did include a couple indoors. Choice number one, which Alex choose, was to sleep in bunk beds in a room that shared a wall with Ramiero’s family. Ramiero works for Stu and has 5 kids, so they’re capable of making quite a bit of noise. Choice number two, chosen by Jesse and Coral, was to set up tents by the kitchen. The one problem with this is that there have been problems with ants eating the tents in the past. Choice number three, chosen by Elizabeth, Tim, and me, was to set up tents inside a shed/museum nearby. This way we didn’t have to worry about ants, but could still sleep in our tents. Tim and I used our own tents (well, actually mine belongs to my sister. Thanks, Sarah!), and Elizabeth used one that belongs to Round River. The third difference was that we had electricity. And fourth, the only rain was misting and it was rare!

One common experience between the two camps was Big Blue breaking down. Again, we weren’t too far away when the accelerator stopped working, but unfortunately, Stu wasn’t with us this time. So Coral asked a lady in a house nearby if there was cell phone reception anywhere, while the rest of us prepared to hike the essentials in. Coral and I ended up walking 20 minutes back down the road in order to call Stu and Catherine. Thankfully, we were able to make a connection and found out that Patricio, the guy who had fixed Big Blue before, was at La Libertad that day. Thus, he’d have to pass us on his way out and could at very least drive some of our stuff in. Coral and I went back and told the others. We decided to start hiking, just because we had no idea how long Patricio would be. Plus, Patricio didn’t even know we were there. So we finished repacking, locked up Big Blue, and started hiking. We hadn’t even gone 100 m when Patricio came along! Then, he looked at Big Blue and fixed the problem within 10 minutes!

Of course a whole week would be a lot to describe in such detail, so here are my highlights:

Orchids: We had seen some wild orchids in bloom at Rumi Loma, but there were tons in the cloud forest surrounding La Libertad. Most of them were smaller than the showy ones sold in the US, but they were absolutely amazing, and we became skilled at picking them out.

Parakeets: Pretty much every day, we saw at least 12 golden-plumed parakeets fly overhead. Usually, they weren’t close enough to see their colors, but they are the only parrots in the area with long tails, so we could always tell them apart. Plus, by the end of the week, all of us could recognize their call. My other favorite bird that we saw was the Turquoise Jay.

Hike with Stu: On Thursday, Stu drove up from Cuenca and took us on a hike from his house (which is amazing!) back to our camp. We walked through cloud forest with orchids, some bear sign, and came up above in paramo. From there, we hiked some along the ridge, and then headed back down. By this time, clouds were settling down on top of us. It was so mystical. I wish that my photography skills could capture it, but there is no way. Along the way back, we set out our first two camera traps.

Camera Trapping: Each of us is in charge of a research project this semester, but all of us help with each project. My primary project is camera trapping in order to see large mammals, including spectacled bears and puma. The cameras are attached to motion sensors and set out in locations with previous bear sign. I’m excited about the prospects, but also a bit wary about how many photos I’ll actually get. We tested all of the cameras, and most of them require quite a bit of motion before they take the picture.

Playing Archeologist: I mentioned before, that Tim, Elizabeth and I set up our tents in a sort of museum. Basically, there are about four wall plates talking about pottery during different Cañari time periods with examples that were found in the surrounding fields. Stu told us that if we paid attention, we would find pottery shards ourselves. On Saturday, Elizabeth noticed one, and then Coral saw one directly next to it. So we paused our hike and started digging. We ended up finding five pot shards which fit together to make up almost a quarter of a pot.

Tree Climbing: On Saturday, we hiked into the cloud forest to a large Podocarpus tree, which had a ladder on the side of it. However, we couldn’t use the ladder because a) it was slippery, b) a rung was broken, and c) the ladder came up beneath the platform so that you couldn’t move from one to the other. Instead, we threaded a rope over a branch, tied it down and harnessed ourselves in. Then, we used this in conjunction with the ladder to climb up. (Alex doesn’t like heights so he stayed on the ground.) The view was beautiful, and it was nice to get a closer look at the canopy. We then figure-8ed down.

Alpacas: Stu uses his land to raise alpacas, and their fields were all around us. Stu breeds his for the best characteristics, and on Sunday, he and Ramiero picked out the best ones for competition. I ended up helping most of the morning. Mainly, I opened and closed the gate when told to, but I also caught an alpaca and held it by the ears, and put a muzzle on another alpaca. Mainly, I learned a lot about what makes a good alpaca. In competition, about 70% of the score is based on fiber. The fineness is most important, which varies by only a few microns but makes a huge difference. You also want to the fiber to have crimp with a high frequency, to be dense, to have shine, and to have indistinguishable base hairs. The rest of the judging is based on composition, so the alpacas need good teeth and eyes.

Night Sky: The first night was super clear, which made me incredibly excited. Unfortunately, we were not able to pick out the Southern Cross. Thankfully, we have some star maps at the house, so I´m going to check them out, so that I´m prepared next time we go out to the field. We did see Orion, though. I found it a bit comforting to see such a familar constellation.

Sunrise: Yesterday, all but Alex woke up at 5 am in order to watch the sunrise. At this time, the sky was completely clear and we could see a ton of stars again. We then hiked up the mountain to get a better view. As we hiked, we watched the stars begin to disappear and clouds roll in. We got to our spot by 5:30 and watched the sun come up. Since we’re near the equator, the sun rises surprisingly quickly. It was beautiful. We hiked back down around 6:15 and then made a delicious breakfast of omelets and hash browns.