Rain Brings a Sigh of Relief

The rain began in the afternoon and lasted through the night. The river trickled over rocks in the morning but by afternoon had overflowed its banks. Five times as much water flowed down from the mountains where it had rained much more. Humidity increased. You could almost feel or hear life cycles enter a growing phase. Insects, reptiles and mammals leave their burrows. Tree limbs, weakened by insects and disease, snap. New sounds emanate from the greenery. Frogs come to life. Time to build nests and webs. Within a few days everything will take on new colors as moss, lichens, mildew, leaves, and flowers grow. Even rocks have different hues and shades of color. I love change. The valley is green again.

 Every night just after dark, a spider starts building her circular web on my front porch.  The web is large and she sits patiently in the middle all night long. Then, at first light, around 4:30, she begins cutting the tie lines. Within a few minutes she and her web are gone. I greet her each morning and evening.

I took a trip to the Jocotoco Tapichalaca reserve. I caught the bus at 6 am and headed south. We picked up school kids along the way and dropped them off at Yangana. These are rural kids, mostly indigenous backgrounds, whose family subsists off the land. Most of them smiling and all of them with the clean, bright white clothes. Their uniforms perfectly clean, tee shirts bright and stainless. The bus driver insisted he knew where I wanted to get off. When we came to Valladolid I told him we passed the reserve and he assured me it was in front of us. I got off the bus and asked if there was a taxi service in the town. No. Then I spotted a taxi coming around the plaza. I called Jocotoco and she explained to him where I wanted to go- 4 miles back. He told me the taxi 
service is new in Valladolid. How lucky I am when I travel! I arrived at the lodge at 8 am and was given a forest-ranger guide. he knew his birds and their calls. After watching them feed the Jocotoco Antpitta, I saw 3 more species of Antpitta- a very reclusive, ground dwelling bird. My meals were excellent and I finally bought a shoulder harness for my binoculars. They no longer hang around my sore neck. The hummingbird feeders were a constant buzz of activity with 5 species coming regularly. At night bats came to feed on the nectar. Amazing. This lodge has camera traps set along the trails and pumas and bears have been photographed. The cloud forest jungles are so breathtaking. So much growth and life abound.  I still dipped on the gray-breasted mountain toucans. Shit, these birds avoid me every time I am in their habitat. I will return and get them. I did see 14 new species (1155). At 11 am the next day I heard the bus coming up the hill and it stopped to pick me up in front of the lodge. I was home in 1.5 hours. So simple. I have forgotten how easy it is to travel in Ecuador. Bus fare was $3. I will be going the to Jocotoco Buenaventura Umbrellabird lodge next week. They are running a special for the holiday- Cuenca's Independence Day. $100 off- sold!

As I get to know some of the locals, mostly U.S. expats but a lot of Canucks and Krauts as well, I am very much aware of how tolerant I have become. Yes, tolerant. Few of the nuts that live here bother me. Just yesterday I was told again about the UFO's that hang over Mandango at night. I hear how safe we are here, away from the Empire and the chemical trails from jets. Honestly, some of these people are certifiably crazy. They take pills to kill all their parasites, then drink booze for 3 hours. Of course everyone has a cure for cancer. Sometimes you have to ask yourself if maybe these are the most intelligent people in the world in my valley and I am the nut. The bird voyueur. They are good people, for the most part.

There is a Halloween party this weekend at Montesuenos. I feel like I should take the invitation and go. I will have to take some B-12 and stay up late. I really don't want to miss my favorite holiday party. The Wood-Logic parties in Atlanta were the best ever, but this could compare. I'll make up my mind Saturday. In the meantime, I am going to a bar to watch the World Series with some friends. He and his wife have a beach house in El Salvador they are trying to sell and it needs painting. I am invited to go with him for a few weeks. Tempting. So is the $350 roundtrip airfare to Sao Paulo, Brazil I saw yesterday. The birds I would tick-off there!Fuck.
Each day I discover something different. A new trail or a new stream or valley. I have squirrel cuckoo in my back yard and something always blooming. I like it here, with my spiders.

Another Modest Proposal

As an avid, well, hard-core, bird watcher, I have always slept better if I had gone birding that morning. Indeed, my mood and attitude were more conducive to sleep. Whatever the world's problems were, they weren't mine. I had thoughts of what I had seen that day. Rain or shine, it had been a better day because I had gone birding. As I thought of species that eluded me, I would plan another outing with the determination of finding a certain bird. Hopefully, I would dream of birds or other wildlife. I now live in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, in the midst of the greatest diversity of life on the planet. If you are searching for birds, plants or orchids, animals or reptiles, it just does not get any better than Ecuador. My walk this morning took me from dry scrub to wet cloud forest in just an hour. One couldn't help but smile at such surroundings. An article in The Atlantic for October, 2015, describes the benefits of such activity. Not birding, per se, but any activity which brings you into an environment conducive to tranquility and awe. They call it ecotherapy. It can be the best prescription for many ailments or conditions. It can alleviate stress (hormonal) and behavioral disorders. We are an animal ourselves and we must affiliate ourselves with other life forms. Nature-deficit disorder exists! Thoreau understood this, as did E. O. Wilson. Children are more at ease after time spent communing with nature. Patients heal faster if their hospital room has a view of nature. You have less anger, fatigue or sadness if your workout is in a park, or the woods, rather than in a gym. But you can't just touch a tree and incur the benefits, you also have to have a sense of caring or feel involved. You, as a life form, are a part of this environment. You don't have to wear tie-dye and live in a commune to appreciate the benefits of nature. I propose that this be incorporated in a childs' education at the appropriate age, which I would leave to educators to determine. I am not saying take kids out to a park and have them smell the flowers. They need to be taught how to appreciate their surroundings and have a sense of belonging. Ecuadorians have a propensity to litter which could be alleviated if they are taught at a young age that trash has its place, and this place is not along the side of the road. All the populace should have this appreciation instilled in them. As a tool, teaching bird watching skills is an ideal way to accomplish this goal. It can have a set curriculum. And if you like to learn names of the birds you see, it can teach you something about Latin! Every aspect of what a child might learn by birding has multiple benefits. A teacher could 'sneak' in the science of biology and chemistry with ease. Ask someone to donate 20 pairs of binoculars to a school. Surely a corporation in your area would like to sponsor this type of education. Nature-deficit disorder can sometimes lead to a teenager picking up a few cans of spray-paint!

John W. Erickson

Vilcabamba, Loja, Ecuador.

Vilcabamba Skies

I have settled into the house very comfortably and can begin establishing routines. As the employees arrive for work next door at Descanso Del Toro, the knock on the door sets off the roosters- at 4:30 am. I look out the window to ascertain if there are clouds or stars, then ponder where I will go for my morning walk. There are so many options and I am discovering more everyday as I talk to folks who have lived here a long time. Rumi Wilco Ecolodge is a short jaunt and the birds are very active. A whooping motmot (not my picture below) resides there as do one-colored becards and a pair of Peruvian pygmy owls. There are cabins along the river and the Inga trees attract swarms of amazilla hummingbirds. There are a few trails going up the mountain which vary in difficulty. I will be taking the easy incline soon to look for the Andean tinamou which calls from above.  As the sun rises and warms the air rapidly, the winds swirl between the mountains. Sometimes these gusts are very strong. In the evening the cool air comes down from the summits and the temperature will drop by 20 degrees. Usually the skies clear and I watch satellites zip by. I saw five two nights ago. The stars are so vivid on a clear night. I had another cookout to watch the super moon last night. Chicken wings on the grill and a fantastic view of the blood-moon. $25 worth of wings turned out to be a LOT of wings! Everything is so cheap here.
I am always looking up at the sky for soaring raptors or to watch the movement of the clouds. Some mornings provide spectacular formations to reflect the rising sun. At 5,000ft, near the equator and with low humidity, the skies are ever changing and vibrant. I don't think I have ever seen such colors as I do here. I am in constant awe of everything here. At night the blossoms of jasmines and brugmansia fill the air. There is always something new to behold. It is an Eden. I have noticed a change in the air as the seasons progress. In a few weeks the rains will come and this valley will turn green. Each day the heavy dark clouds of the Amazon move further over the mountains in our direction. I am looking forward to the rain. The rivers will swell and the birds will become more active as the flowers bloom. Then the rains slack off again until January.  My $11 Wellingtons have been a good investment. I walked up river a half mile and I wear them on all my hikes now. I had made a mistake in identifying one of the common flowering trees as Euphorbia. The Erythrina are used as fence posts and they soon grow when put in the ground. Beautiful flowering fences are everywhere.

Jungle Dave http://www.jungledavestours.com came to visit and we cooked a ton of meat on the grill and introduced him to the town. He will be delivering quality meats every few weeks. Ecuadorians don't know how to butcher cattle properly. I will be going to visit his farm soon and get him on the eBird map. I go back to Cuenca this week to get my cedula. Once that is done I am free to travel anywhere. Yankuam lodge is going to be my first stop along the Cordillera del Condor.
My back is feeling much better but I still have to be cautious. As much as I would like to ride a horse up into the mountains, I had better wait a while. Horses are popular here and for $30 they take you on a 6 hour tour. I would like to do one of the over-nights to the high paramo soon. I still need to find a gray-breasted mountain toucan. I have heard that riding at night is risky to the horses as Bothrops asper snakes bite them on occaision. They are the ultimate pit-viper known as Fer-de-lance.

I had to remove another person from my Facebook page. Luis was a great bird guide but he had some issues with arrogance. Hell, he is only 25. He was going to come here so we could go to Jocotoco reserves but the only way to contact him was through FB Messenger. At one point he said he was coming the next day but I told him we have to have reservations for the reserves. Then when I had to go to Cuenca I thought I had better call him to tell him. He seemed very put off by my call. I removed him from FB so he couldn't message me. Oh well. He also lied about his last name which I will never understand. I will use local guides for birding from now on.

There is a canal system in Vilcabamba where water is diverted from the river. Once a week it is diverted to a canal in my backyard and I clear the leaves so water can flood the fruit trees. I could hear water flowing a minute ago so I looked and someone diverted it into the street. I have to find where the diversions begin. It is all very interesting. (I just found out the neighbor is emptying his swimming pool into the street).
I have been buying cheese from the blessed cheese makers in Saraguro. I wish they would learn to make cheddar, the singularly most popular cheese in the world. The were fresh out of red leichester and Venezuelan beaver cheese is out because the van broke down. They get Tilset fresh on Monday, if the cat doesn't eat it. She cat.
Time for a siesta in the hammock....

My Vilcabamba Home

My friend Gary was very kind in allowing me to live in his townhouse for three weeks. Loja is a smaller city with less to keep the average 'Merican content and ocupado. I attended the fair and found the people to be very content. The city is very walkable and ,indeed, I must have walked four or five miles everyday. The most evident difference between the USA and Ecuador is that the indigenous people here are everywhere. Their culture is unique and their faces show an amazing history. In the US we swept our natives under a terrible rug and they can't resurface. There are different 'tribes' here and one of the most prevalent around me are the Saraguro. One of the few to never be conquered by the Incas.They are very commanding in appearance. You notice them quickly. I wish I could sit and talk with a few of them as I have so may questions. They are protesting a lack of governmental attention. They have a strong voice. I am never sure how mixed bloods truly view the native peoples of Ecuador, but I know there is a little contempt. I am in constant contact with the true Americans. They work hard. They aren't drunks like our natives ( sorry redskins). They produce an amazing variety of food and crafts. They have a pride which has never been stolen. They make Ecuador so much more interesting, as they have always been the salt of the earth. (As I write, two amazing insects are crawling on my screen. For the first time in many years I have something to talk to in bed!)

I have been very fortunate in meeting people. Darnell Dunn, an 31 year old dark skinned Bostonian has been a true blessing. He is in real estate http://www.abecuador.com and one of the most professional people I have ever met. The owner of Zarza Brewing ( thanks Greg) gave me his contact information and when I came to Vilcabamba he mentioned a house I might like to see. We walked from the plaza and into a walled garden. I never would have imagined that Vilcabamba could be a home for me, but here I are. I am surrounded by 24 citrus trees in a constant state of bloom. More oranges and tangerines than I could ever consume. And birds that love their sweet taste and the insects they attract. Yellow-tailed orioles sing every morning, right after the 100 or so roosters which begin at 4:30 am! Southern yellow grosbeaks and blue-grey tanagers feed off the fruits in the trees. Rumi Wilco is a 10 minute walk from home. My landlord, Pablo Jaramillo, has been very attentive to fixing things around the house, so far. Last night he brought an electrician and they installed very nice fixtures.When I have the front gate open people peer into the yard and smile. It is a beautiful house. Each evening I meet new locals, mostly gringos, and enjoy listening to their stories. Already people say hello to me on the street.

I slipped and fell in the shower and hurt my back rather severely. Luis is coming next week and we are off to the Jocotoco Reserves in southern Ecuador. I have been in pain but I think I can make it. I practiced by climbing one of the high trails here this morning. It takes a lot to bring me down and I am determined to go birding. Tapichalaca and Jorupe reserves are too good to miss, especially having Luis with me. The locals have some good medicine for me! I will be having a party soon and grilling meat of some sort. Monika from Switzerlandia is coming by soon to help me clean cob-webs from up high. A house cleaner here costs about $3-$4 dollars and hour. SOLD!

A flock of chestnut-collared swifts are flying overhead like fighter jets. I love watching them. Blue and white swallows are looking fro nesting sites and I hope a pair chooses my porch. Cotopaxi has been quiet lately. I guess I will miss the whales at the coast as they will be leaving in a few weeks. The Esmeraldas hummingbird will replace them. There is always a reason to go to the beach!

On th Move- Loja and Vilcabamba

After returning from the Amazonas, I secured an apartment near the airport in Cuenca. I moved in on Friday and moved out on Wednesday. There were parties until 5 am. Richard agreed to refund my money so I decided to head south. I packed 2 light backpacks and left the majority of my clothes with a friend, Mark Quinn. The van ride cost $12 to Loja and in 3.5 hours I arrived. I checked in to a hotel which was on the edge of town so the next day, after exploring the city, I moved downtown. I had a room facing the park in a newly renovated hotel for $25 a night. Very nice. I was told to go to Zarza Brewing to meet locals (Mericans). The owner and staff are very kind and gave me a lot of information. Loja is at 7,200 ft. and a bit warmer than Cuenca. And the sun shines more often. It is a small Andean city with a wonderful Ecuadorian vibe and culture. I met two expats named Scott and Gary and we exchanged information. I had made reservations for Izhcayluma in Vilcabamba a few days after arriving here. Loja is very enjoyable and sits at the base of Podocarpus National Park, which I had visited last year on my trip to Zamora, 1.5 hours east of Loja.  I strolled up the mountain side one morning to bird the area and came across strange castles built up high. Coming down I passed 4 teenagers, one girl in a wheelchair and her 3 boy friends. They were pulling and pushing her up the steep slope and she had a look of such marvel on her face. The boys were grunting and laughing. What a sweet memory.
I received an email from Gary the next day stating that I could stay in his townhouse while he is away in Cuenca for 3 weeks. We met up and he showed me the house and how everything works. I arrived in Vilcabamba on Monday and Gary came down to visit a few days and bring me the keys to his house. The drive to Vilcabamba is so beautiful, with high rain forests and low rivers. Rugged and stunning. It is only 40 minutes from Loja. Arriving at Izhcayluma early, I decided to bird the property for a few hours. I immediately found collared antshrikes and Ecuadorian piculets. An elegant crescentchest made its debut into my life. The dry Tumbesian forest and mountains lie on the west and the rain/cloud forest on the east side. Fantastic habitats just a few miles apart. Everything grows in Vilcabamba as it is at 5,100 ft. Perfect temperatures year-round. Fruits and veggies abound. Birds are abundant. I inquired about a bird guide but none were to be found so I was on my own. I can now identify nearly any bird I encounter. It doesn't take as long for me to look them up in the book and I always study the area before arriving. I met locals, some very strange ones too, and was told to go to Rumi Wilco nature reserve and speak with Alicia. We met and we chatted about birds for an hour. I helped her with the list she keeps of birds seen at her lodge. She and her husband are plant and animal specialists. She told me an Andean tinamou could be found a few meters up the slope. I will go look for it when I return. I had already walked a few miles to meet with her. There are several species of birds which can only be found in extreme southern Ecuador. I will find them!
I spent time at the local bars, of course, and made new friends. I overheard one conversation as a man told his friends that the FBI was behind the Barney Miller show as a method of brain washing Americans. Another conversation concerned the terrible energy that our galaxy is going to pass through in September. Remember to duck in September folks. Vilca is a hippie version of Apalachicola. Many Germans are expats there. Weird ones too.  I mean really fucking weird! But overall they don't matter much. They keep to their own and normal people keep to their own. Normal people, you know.
I asked a realtor to help me locate a place to live in Loja. He told me of a house in Vilca that I could look at as well. Vilca started to feel very comfortable. Very small but interesting. Birding is an easy walk or taxi ride. I very much liked the 3 bedroom house on and acre with dozens of fruit trees and furnished very nicely. Beautiful yard and gardens, as well. The ower wants $500, which is very high for Vilca. Most nice apartmets are 250-350 range. We are going to make an offer in a few days. I would like to live in Vilca for a few months and take some trips to Peru from there. Peru is only 40 miles away, as the crow flies. Well, black chested buzzard-eagle, there are no crows in Ecuador.
I need to settle soon, I suppose. Cuenca is off the list for now. Too cold and damp. I think spending a few months here and there is an exciting way to live. I find new birds and meet interesting people. For now I will stay in Loja until Gary gets back the first week in terrible September. I am going to a take a few overnight trips to the jungle and toward Peru in the next few weeks. Traveling is a little shaky right now as the indigenous folks are angry at Correa and there is a national strike which leads to road blockages. It will be interesting to see what happens. Most people are more concerned about the volcano up north. Cotapaxi is belching gas and if it melts the glaciers and snow pack a terrible catastrophe could occur. Lahars move at devastating speeds. Still waiting on my Visa and I can't go to Peru until I have it. It will come. I love Ecuador.

Coca and Sani Lodge

I flew to Quito and stayed at Zaysant Eco Lodge for two nights. The buildings and cabanas were all built by Gerardo from Argentina. He and his family have a bucolic farm and garden just outside Puembo, very near the airport. They all were so kind and generous. The zipper broke on my pants and they had a new zipper sewn in within 4 hours. I met a gentleman from Norway and a few folks from Poland and Vietnam. We had a lively discussion about human life on Earth and the aspects of everyday life under the watchful eye of governments. The Norwegian also new all the lines from Monty Python and Fawlty Towers. We laughed a lot. Nothing spectacular, bird-wise.
My flight to Coca ( Puerto Francicso de Orellana) took 25 minutes on an A-310. The view of the jungle stretching east was quite a sight. Coca is where Francisco De Orellana left on his discovery of the Amazon river in 1541. The Province is named after him, as well. Coca is an oil town which was built up by Texaco in the 70's, now owned by Chevron. There are discos and prostitutes. The people are a mix of  Amazonia tribes, black and Spanish. Very interesting features. It is hot and muggy. The Napo river joins the Coca river and Payamino river here. The current, when I arrived, was swift and at a flood stage. The waters a creamy brown. The altitude is about 730 feet, which means the water flows 2,800 miles but only drops by 730 feet. I saw the head of a man (alive) bobbing as he floated down river. The police woman said he was loco. Everyone gathered around a tree in which hid a common possum. The Hotel Auca had squirrel monkeys and agouti's foraging in the gardens. Ticked off a few new birds such as black breasted mango hummingbird. I will provide a link to a few photos of the birds I have seen at the end of this blog.
Luis was a little late on arriving in the afternoon and I was a little nervous. His plane ran late and he was a nervous wreck as he hates flying. I had told him to pretend he was a condor but that didn't work so well. We immediately went in search of beer and strolled down by the river. The fish they pull from the river are brightly colored, as is everything in the selva. Our motored canoe would leave from La Mision in the morning, though we were not sure of the exact time. I told Luis we would come early, at 7:30 am. We had a few beers along Rio Napo and talked about politics in Ecuador. Luis comes from a well-heeled family of educated people. He was concerned about the inheritance tax proposals.
In the morning I settled our bills and we went to the river docks to wait for our ship. We discovered that it would not leave until around 9am. There were just a few folks coming to Sani Lodge. We climbed in and took our seats and headed down river. The river is half a mile wide in some areas and is dotted with sand islands and islands with trees and vegetation. Most of the sand islands were inundated. The eddies in the current were fascinating. One could easily drown in this powerful river. The Napo joins the Amazon river just outside Iquitos, Peru. I would love to float down the length of this river. The weather cooperated and the rains held off. I could imagine what it might have been like to make this venture 475 years ago. There is a painting here of a Conquistador shaking hands with a native. I doubt that occurred. I doubt they smiled.
We arrived at Sani Lodge with the waters at flood level. Water at least 4 feet above normal. The boardwalk into the jungle was flooded so we climbed in paddle canoes for a half-hour cruise through the selva. This is all primary forest. Giant Kapok (Ceiba) trees. Orchids, palms, vines tying everything together. Birds calling, frogs chirping and insects making any noise they could. We paddle across an ox-bow lake to the lodge. In the large hut we were greeted with a Cuba Libre and told of what we might expect. At more than $330 a night there will only be electricity between 4 am and 11 pm.- maybe. There might be hot water. WiFi by the bar only until 10pm. Don't drink the tap  water. No air conditioning. Yes, there are spiders here, big ones. Meals are served at prompt times and there is no menu. Yes, it can rain for days. They provide rubber boots. Then you are given a local guide who will be with you at all times when you venture away from the lodge. Julio was our guide. A native young man with eyes that could spot one green insect in a sea of green, and ears that could here a bird fart a mile away. No English spoken. My Spanish improved quickly. I was so fortunate. I had two bird guides, Luis and Julio. Between them I had the best of enthusiasts. I was watching the birds when we were being told the rules. Scarlet-crowned barbet, black-fronted nunbird, white-eared jacamar, masked crimson tanager. I'm not looking at the lodge manager. I'm in bird land. I hear birds everywhere. Welcome, they tell me. They hand me a rum and coke. Cheers!
We go to our rooms, mine a stand-alone hut with two beds and screened windows. Oropendulas and caciques call out from the trees. White-winged swallows skim the water. Hoatzins are squabbling amongst themselves constantly. Lunch will be served at 1:30. After lunch we stroll to find manakins in the bosque. The path is flooded and we can't cross. Dinner at 6:30. After dinner we take our flashlights and look for anything that moves. Most things do not move but Julio finds them anyway. A giant red-velvet tarantula. A huge bright green chameleon-like lizard. Salamanders, katydids, scorpion spider. Frogs of every size from 1 pounders to 1 gram. And of every color. I go to bed listening to them all communicating.
Up at 4:30 am for a trip to the observation tower. They provide birders breakfast at 5 am. It is pouring down rain and we are given ponchos. There are floating islands of vegetation and we can't find the entrance to the path that takes us to the tower. Our ponchos don't keep out the wetness and I am soaked. Back to the lodge and wait for the rain to let up. It does and we head out again and hack with a machete to find the trail. The observation deck is in the top of a Ceiba tree, a huge kapok. A wooden platform holds us at canopy level. We see white-throated toucan, channel-billed toucan, golden-collared toucanet. A great potoo sits just above us. We stay for an hour and head down to find the black-tailed trogon which is calling. We find him. Back in the canoe and we search for a sun grebe, which I never see. Blue and gold macaws cross the sky. Black-capped donocobius sound like car alarms going off- beautiful birds. Back at the lodge other guides have found an anaconda in the jungle. A lady at dinner wants almond silk milk. We don't see her the next day. Back out with our flashlights and more jungle jewels. Luis takes great photos and is looking for frogs. His camera falls from the tripod twice and he puts it away and I take the photos. Not nearly as good as his photos.
Next morning the three of us are off to Yasuni national park on the other side of the Napo, up river. It is a beautiful sunrise on the river. Julio spots a ladder-tailed nightjar. We pull up the canoe on an island and search for birds there. Oriole blackbirds and Parker's spinetail. We get back in the canoe and head up to have a park ranger greet us on the river and sign in. We go the the parrot lick which is world famous. We wait and hour before the hoards of  cobalt-winged parakeets come by the hundreds. The noise is loud and Hitchcock-like. They get trace elements and nutrients which help them digest the fruits of the forest. Amazing! We treck up the path and find screaming pihas, the typical jungle call you hear in movies. Julio goes back to get our box lunches which are being brought to us. Luis and I continue on the path and watch golden-headed manakins do there dance to attract females. Julio does not come back so we return to the parrot lick and see Julio coming up the trail. We eat a meal watching the parakeets. On the way back to the canoe we see red brocket deer and peccary. Butterflies are everywhere, as well. True beauty on wings. We go down river to a observation tower. A very, very high observation tower. 131 feet of shear terror. I do it, I climb it. I am here. I told Luis I would find him a king vulture if he got me the sun grebe. I find a king vulture and Luis is happy. The view of the jungle is forever. The Earth curves away to the Amazon. I breath fresh oxygen. I do NOT want to leave. We go.
On the way back we stop and see tropical screech owls at Julio's home. I see small children in a dug-out canoe along the bank of the river. Very small children. Children who learn the many dangers of their environment quickly. Things you shouldn't touch, or taste. They learn where to look for this bird or that frog and those snakes. The jungle bites back if you are not very careful. I am surprised that mosquitoes are not thick and annoying. No chiggers. I love this place.
We decide to do the Sani observation tower the next morning if it is not raining. It is raining the next morning but I am up at 4:30am. We don't make it there but take a few canoe rides along the lagoon in search of that damned sun grebe. Nope. The staff collects our bags and we take the 3 hour trip up river to Coca. I say so-long to the Amazonas. I will be back. Large-billed tern along the way.
Back in Coca I change my flight back to Quito so I fly back to Cuenca on the same day and have just a 2.5 hour layover. I am still in Coca and went for a walk over the bridge this morning. They wanted almost $200 to take me to Limoncocha so I passed on that. I will wash my clothes when I get back to Cuenca. I have a new apartment to move into.
I have seen 9 species of monkeys. Almost 80 new species of birds. We might have done much better if the river had not been so high. I am so glad I took this trip. I am drawn to the Amazon. It is such a special place. I will do more trips here. My clothes are all dirty so I have bathed myself in cologne and will hit the streets of Coca tonight for local flavor. Yum!
Here are some bird photos for Mr. Meadows!

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/hoatzin-opisthocomus-hoazin/adults
http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=303096
http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=296376
http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/portal/species/overview?p_p_spp=597676
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/white-eared-jacamar-galbalcyrhynchus-leucotis/bird-feeding-bees
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/donacobius-donacobius-atricapilla/pair-singing
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/cream-colored-woodpecker-celeus-flavus/male-perched-branch-0
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/photo/many-banded-araçari-pteroglossus-pluricinctus/perched-top-tall-ceibo-tree

Listen to the call of the common potoo
http://www.xeno-canto.org/sounds/uploaded/OWZTPLFLJS/XC260437-47.003.02.Common_Potoo.mp3

Cold Hummingbirds

There are a few species of hummingbirds which live at 11,000 feet, plus a few. How they manage at those cold temperatures is amazing. They feed, go into torpor, shiver awake and do it all again. The blue-mantled thornbill and violet throated metaltail are very specific to El Cajas at that altitude.I saw them both. At times I wish I had my big camera and high-power lenses. The flowers are abundant, along with hundreds of species of moss and lichens. It is one of my favorite environments. If only the wind didn't bite so hard. There are over 250 lagunas in the park. The skies have been so blue the last few days and they reflect the vivid blue hues.

The Pope was a hit. Such a popular fellow among the Ecuadorian masses. And they massed! I was so glad I was not in Quito, or Guayaquil. I watched all of his movements on TV, even to Bolivia and Paraguay. Correa has been very quiet lately. He was quite chummy with El Papa. Some wish he had flown away with Papa. He looked so tired much of the time, but then he visited the two highest capitals in the world.

The landlady promised WiFi and I had it for a few days. Then it went down and when I told her she promised they would be over to fix it. She promised about 10 times, for 8 days, then I moved out. She fought to hold back deposit money and I got all but $50, which I gave to the agent, Andrea, for helping me. I told her I didn't need any stress and she prayed for me. For almost 5 minutes, in Spanish, and cried. I gave her the blender I had bought. Miss landlady was a real bitch. She hadn't paid the guy who installed the WiFi the first time so he refused to come back to fix it. I am better off out of that apartment anyway. Now I am in a hostel at $20 a night, on the Tomebamba river, which lulls me to sleep each night. I am going to look at another apartment today.

 But first, the Amazon! I fly back to Quito on the 21st and then fly to Coca on the 23rd. Luis Alcivar, my buddy from San Jorge Eco Lodges, has a group of wealthy birders from Taiwan who have hired him for a long birding trip around Ecuador. They want him as their guide at Sani Lodge http://www.sanilodge.com, in the Yasuni. Luis told me he wanted to go to Sani before they get here so he can brush-up on the birds of the Amazon. I get a discount through Luis and he and I are going for 4 days. This is the ultimate birding adventure in South America. It is the most remote Amazon lodge in Ecuador! I am so excited to go. I am going to spend two nights in Coca so I don't have to be rushed from, and to, Quito. I might see nearly 400 species of birds in just a few days. It took 45 years to see that many in the USA. Bug spray, lots of bug spray. And I bought some malaria pills as a precaution. I can't wait to see all the wildlife. Giant otters, pink river dolphin, and lots of minkies. I bought a good flashlight for frogging. Small and powerful.

I guess I will stay in Cuenca for a while. I will be getting my visa in a few weeks and I have to pick it up from immigration here in Cuenca. I might settle in Loja for a spell. I have to make a trip there to scope out the town. There are so many 'mericans here. I have met a lot of folks here and they have been very kind to me. Just not sure what my plans are yet. I have been invited to spend time on the coast and I will go sometime in August. Maybe for my birthday. The whales are waiting for me.
Ciao!