Macará and Jocotoco Jorupe

Every few days I get itchy to go somewhere. So, on Tuesday I decided to get on a bus to Macará. There are two routes that the buses take and I chose, of course, the wrong one. It was 6 hours on a mostly unpaved road which was still being constructed. The buses are comfortable, the ride was beautiful, but it was tedious travel. This route took me through Cariamanga and Sozoranga. The birding website Birds in Ecuador informed me to look for chestnut collared swallows in Sozoranga. I did not see them. I use that website and its maps for all my birding trips. It is very helpful. Finally, I arrived in Macará. There were few choices for a hotel on Tripadvisor. It is a very small border town. I did, however, choose the best hotel. Hotel Arrozales, named after the mainstay of the town- the rice fields- is a new, modern and clean hotel. I asked the attendant if I could see the room first. Queen size bed, a balcony, large shower with hot water and very clean. For $20. Sold. I changed my shirt and went for a walk. There is an airport which had a closed control tower. It wasn't needed as the people on the runway were not in planes. I suppose it was a remnant from the border wars of 1940 to 1995. It is also very convenient for drug trade. It is in the middle of town and folks sure aren't going to walk around it! I ate a shrimp and rice lunch at a Peruvian restaurant and drank a pitcher of a local drink with a lot of sediment. Delectable for $4.50. One of the first things I noticed about the town was that they like to fly their flags. On the Peruvian side the cows were white and the farmers dressed in red and white. Interesting. There was a futbol game on- Ecuador vs Venezuela- but no one in public places watching it. The girl told me people watch it from home. I could hear the game from every house. I found a new bar called Vino y Tapa and watched the game with a few locals. Ecuador kicked ass. Back at the hotel I asked for a taxi at 6am. They looked stunned. How much. $30. No way. I realised that they had no idea where the Jocotoco reserve was located. " I will call in the morning" she said. In the morning the kid at the desk could not get a taxi. I don't think he knew how to call one. A kid comes walking down the stairs with an expensive  camera on his shoulder and binoculars around his neck. Bingo! "Are you going to Jorupe?" Yes, I said, do you want to share a taxi? "No, I have a car" Bingo again! So off we went at 6:15 am to Jorupe which was only a 10 minute drive. The gate was locked so we walked up to the lodge. It took an hour and we saw lots of great birds. A bat falcon was the most impressive. Thibaud Aronson is from France, about 25, speaks English, Spanish and French,( not a dumb US college kid) and was traveling from Peru with his father. He had to go back to the hotel at 8 to pick up his dad. I stayed and walked the trails. They feed pale-browed tinamou's at the lodge. Nice bird to see. When I got back to the lodge Thibaud was there with his father, Allen, I think, a notable botanist. Again, I meet such interesting people. They dropped me back at the hotel and headed back to Peru. I rested and went for a long walk down to the river at 4pm. Along the way were hundreds of chestnut-collared swallows along the electric lines. They were everywhere. Field workers stared at the gringo with binoculars. Got the birds I was looking for and back to the bar!
Christmas trees are up. They seem to love xmas trees in Macara. They also love manger sets. Very elaborate manger sets. I saw many little baby Jesus's. No xmas music though. Again I asked the hotel to get me a taxi for 6 am. I got one at 6:30 and it was $5 to Jorupe. I walked up to the lodge and birded the trails. Red-billed sythebill. Long-billed starthroat. 13 new species! And the trails are beautiful through the Tumbesian dry forest. The ceiba trees are glorious. Fantastic place. I got back to the lodge and asked the girls to call a taxi and have him pick me up at the front entrance in 1 hour, as that would be how long it would take for me to walk down. At the road I waited almost an hour. No taxi. My blood began to boil. It's hot, I'm tired and I have to walk back up. I gave the girls a piece of my mind I probably should not have shared. I had also learned that I never had to pay $160 a night for a room at Jocotoco lodges. I am a resident and the price should be $60. Now I'm really pissed. I got an email from Paola, who runs the lodges in Quito, saying that those poor girls never had to call a taxi before. Bullshit. When I did have a taxi come- and I made him drive up to the lodge- it wasn't a taxi but some kid with a beat-up car. Paola was upset because she said I called her a liar. She has never given me a straight answer, which is typically Ecuadorian. She offered me a refund which I refused but I told her I would have to reconsider doing business with her. $160 is very expensive as lodges go in Ecuador. And their food is just simple fare. She emphasized that the lower fares are to teach ECUADORIANS. I emphasized that the money for Jocotoco comes from GRINGOS. Which is true. Anyway, I didn't let this spoil my day and got back to the hotel in time to go have a beer. Or 4. And a vino verano. Or 2.
Next morning I caught a taxi at 6:30 and went to the border crossing. This is the only place where you can access the river. The comb ducks are found here. I found 4 of them! Back to the hotel and breakfast- included with the room. I was told that trucks go to Loja and I could catch one in front of the church. I found one and it costs $10 to go to Loja in a brand new 4-door Chevy truck. We would take a different route to Loja. All paved roads. A young couple with a baby also were going and they were in the back seat. The driver was the fastest driver I have had yet. The tires squealed on every curve. The baby was laying on the seat and if he had slammed on the brakes she would probably have needed a new baby. At the police check point they wanted  to see my passport. We were in Loja in less than 3 hours. Speedy Gonzalez gave me his number. It is so easy and cheap to travel here.
A friend of mine here passed away after what should have been an less complicated operation. I'll stay with my Harvard surgeons. Very sorry to see him go.
Now I am waiting on my landlord, who never tells the truth, to come and fix screens. I may move again soon. This house is a little expensive for what it provides. I should stay here and wait out the El Niño event for which the U.S. Embassy sent a warning. It is supposed to be one of the worst ever, especially along the coastal provinces. We shall see. I'm ready to go somewhere again!

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