Cuenca High Life

I have been in my apartment a few weeks now and really do not have too much to write about. I have settled into a routine that takes me back and forth to the Supermaxi grocery store. It has been very cool and cloudy for almost a week and the weather report says this will last a few more days. It is gloomy. I went with Carlos Lara twice on trips for birding. One to the east slope and some warmer temperatures and once to El Cajas and 13,000 ft. Either direction you travel you must got up and cross the Andes before you start down and into the tropics. We came across a very large landslide blocking the road on the eastern trip. People were not going to wait on the government for help so they made a road over the landslide. It worked and after 2 hours we were on our way.The birds we were looking for were easily found, with the exceptions of Black-billed and Gray-breasted mountain toucans. It is a quick drive to these areas so I will find them eventually. Carlos has a habit of calling every bird with an annoying playback. It brings in birds but it intrudes upon the experience. We will talk. He is also too expensive at $80 a pop but we use his nice car and we do get the birds. He wants to take me west to Manglares Churute for sea-level birding. It is a 2.5 hours drive to the coastal mangroves but there are birds I need there. I could take a bus for $5 and stay at a hostel for $30 and tip a guide for another $35 and spend more time in the area. I may do this next week. I need a trip to Salinas and the beach. A very beautiful beach. I have been in touch with a guy I met there last year. He drove me to Ayampe last time and could come in  useful again. And he is a very nice, balanced person.

My friend Michael Jackson in Pa.,who I haven't seen in almost 18 years, I think, informed me he had two friends traveling South America and they would be in Cuenca. We met. Nice guys, one a politician, the other a government worker. They were a little naive about traveling in foreign countries, even though they have traveled frequently. They were robbed in La Paz and lost their cell phones here, both of them, in one night. I didn't ask questions but the bar owner told me they were looking for a little escapade with some locals. There seems to be a lot of retired gentleman who come to Latin America to have encounters with the young. I meet some everyday. Costa Rica is another favorite hot spot for these activities. They end up robbed, or worse. Oh well. They will stop when their pingas turn black. Birdwatching is what they should be doing!

I spent the better part of Friday at the immigration office with my attorney's assistant. All my paper work for residency has been filed and now I wait for about 30 days. Maya is very nice and speaks english well enough but Ill be damned if she didn't want to know why I have never been married. She was late to the meeting so I had already been annoyed with her. I wanted to ask her if she was married at 18. I finally told her that she has in her hands enough of my personal business, she doesn't need to know more than that. She smiled, I think.

Big news from the USA all week long. I give a shit. Every time I read about Obamer he is giving a eulogy, it seems. What a screwed up country. I'll bring some Latins back with me and we will show y'all how to have a proper revolution! It is certainly a landmark event when SCOTUS acts like a legislature. And the bitchy justices! Scalia put Kennedy in his place. I am not religious but If I were and was against gay marriage I should have every right to do so and not bake a cake for them. Gay folks should have civil unions with all the same rights afforded heterosexuals unions. Don't mix religion and politics. I believe in FULL separation of church and state. Americans finally got pissed at the confederate flag? Gimme a break. The damn thing has been there for years.You aren't moving forward, USA. The government is the most fucked-up it has ever been.

On tomorrow's weather map- more gloom. The Pope is coming! I wonder if they wear Depends under those gowns.....I'm getting waxy-yellow build-up on my floors.
Hasta Luego!

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Cuenca is my Home

I bought a plane ticket on Tame for $72 to fly to Cuenca. The taxi to the airport cost $25 plus tip. I decided to leave early as there was a changing of the guard at the Palace and the streets would be blocked. Good thing I did because we had a flat tire on the way. The driver changed it very fast on a very narrow street with heavy traffic. I thought he would get run over and I would have to hail another taxi! Then I put my bags back in the trunk and closed it not knowing his keys were in the trunk. SHIT! The trunk release was broken but he used a screw-driver and got it open. I arrived at the airport with more than an hour to spare. I checked the tires on the plane and made sure the pilot had his keys.
Arrived at 1:20 pm and a $3 taxi to my hotel above Inca Lounge. I was going to stay at a more expensive hotel by the Pumapungo ruins but I had an email saying they did not have a room with a view. Screw that!  Cuenca is 1,000 ft lower than Quito- 8,300ft. Checked in and stopped by a bar next door and met a few new friends. Americans. $2 Cuba Libres. I contacted the lady about an apartment and told her I would view it the next day. Very nice folks and a great apartment, but too far from the center of Cuenca. After reviewing websites and sending emails I had a response from a realtor and made an appointment for that day to view a few. The first one for $500 did not have a window to the outside. Fuck that. "Well there is another one across the street" she said. Vamos. Top floor and windows all around, same price. Sold! The landlady, Fanny, has been very sweet and welcoming. I like Cuenca very much.

I still monitor the news on volcanos even though Sangay is more than 100 miles away. But there is more trouble brewing in Ecuador. Revolution! Imagine that! Reminds me of a song "He was the best President we ever had" by Pancho Maximillian Hernandez. 'Until he made the citizens mad', 'Now we're sorry we shot him'. It seems that Correa has pissed off the campesinos. He proposed an inheritance tax on the rich. If you screw the rich who will pay the poor? They have other reasons to be mad, as well. While Correa was in Brussels ( I didn't get a postcard) there were protests everywhere. Even in Cuenca. I have been told to stay away from protests. Correa tweeted that a coup was fomenting. He gets back home today, Sunday. I still like him an admire him more than Obama. I won't explain. Maduro is calling for a summit of support for Correa. Fuck Maduro. He is reaching out for friends.
I read news from home on occasion. I avoid most of it. Most of it is really shameful when you view it from down here. The racial shit the US will never resolve. China slapping our face. I watch Aljazeera. I was deeply moved by Obama at the funeral for Beau Biden.

My papers have arrived in Guayaquil and I will meet with my atorney again next weeek. I met with her Friday but we decided to wait until the papers were delivered (FedX still has them). I think I will get my residency rather than a 9 month visa. As a resident I get Ecuadorian prices. Half off most things such as airfare.
I used Skype for the first time with Sally and Jan. So easy! I gave them a tour of my apartment. I use FB messenger to phone chat.
The Inti Raymi festival is next week during the solstice. I may go up to Cañar and stay the night. I am trying to meet people with cars. I need to go birding!  Cajas national park is a 30 minute ride. Red-masked parakeets are screaming outside my window right now. Birds are calling me...I'm ready for a trip somewhere.

Off to the Cloud Forest

Time flies. I have to leave my apartment on Monday and I have no idea where I am going next. My papers are slowly coming in from USA and my attorney is anxious to see them before she advises me on my visa. I would like to stay in the Quito area although I do not want to be in the city center. Traffic is horrendous. Everyday starting at 7 am. I am in bed by 9 so I don't know what nights are like. I might get a room around Plaza Foch for a few nights.
I just saw an alert issued by the US Embassy concerning Cotapaxi. There has been heightened activity with the magma below since April. This combines with Pichincha and Tungurahua, as well. The whole chain of volcanos seem to be belching steam as the magma rises. God I love this. Thank you Pachamama. I know it could be a very tragic event, but such is life and I would love to witness it. This, plus El Niño! What a year it could be.
I am just back from San Jorge Tandayapa and Milpe with Luis. He has been such a good friend to have. So has Lorraine, my neighbor. It is nice to have such people when you travel alone. I met a family from Saskatoon at thier hotel near the Plaza Grande and we were picked up by Vicente, the driver for San Jorge. Within 2 hours we were in the clean, fresh air of the cloud forest at Tandayapa. The staff remembered me from last year. The hummingbirds swarmed the feeders. The birds were spectacular, once again. Our guide the first day was Miguel. The Canucks didn't speak Spanish. They barely spoke any English. Such quiet people. And vegetarians. Miguel helped me to add a few new species such as Barred hawk and Scaled fruit-eater. It was nice to exchange the sound of taxis and buses for frogs and crickets. The olinguito came with a baby. That is the species of kinkajou discovered a few years ago by Smithsonian folks. Much more interesting than the Saskatoons.
The next day we took the back roads to Milpe via Tadeo road, I think. I was after two birds in particular and the Canucks were not going to stand in my way. We reached a good birding area and stopped the van. Within 20 minutes I got both the plate-billed toucan and toucan barbet! I spotted the barbet immediately. Luis chipped his front tooth on a lens cap. He never complained.
The area of southwest Colombia and northwest Ecuador is called the Choco region and there are endemic birds found no where else. Choco toucan, Choco trogon, Choco poorwill. I got them all.
The Milpe lodge is so beautiful. I had a top floor room,windows surrounding the room. A bat flew in one night when I opened the door and windows. The sound from some of the frog species was unbelievable. Very vocal and loud. I slept very well. The Canucks left and were replaced by a retired couple from Seattle. They were very nice folks and Richard gave me a book dealing with the travel adventures of a Brit in southern Venezuela. Mary was from the Chicago area. We had a lot to chat about. Not birders, but they enjoyed our hike down to the river and falls. They saw a Harpy eagle in the Amazon at La Selva Lodge. I am so jealous. We told them how lucky they are.
We found poison dart frogs, the worlds second smallest frog, and a army ant swarm with antbirds following. I got a few stings and bites. The climb back up the trail was strenuous. I made it. There are giant snails the size of softballs. The Tayra, weasel-related animals the size of dogs came to eat the bananas. Rufous-fronted wood-quail, rose-faced parrots, purple crowned fairy. Heaven.
In all, I recorded 50 new species of birds and I am well beyond 1,000. I could never have done it without my guides. I ran out of cash at the end of the trip and I owe Luis a nice tip. He may try to fit me in on another trip to the east slope and upper Amazon next week. He told me I should visit Playa de Oro, near Esmeraldas, and Limoncocha, near Coca. In these areas I would rack up a ton of new species. I am thinking about it. I got an email from a lady about an apartment I like in Cuenca and I should get down there. Birds come first. As they should. In the meantime, a nice virgin should be chosen.