El Conejo en Ecuador (Jim in Ecuador)

August 29, 2009
Saturday
8:34am
Sayausi
Cloudy, 60

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Jim in Ecuador
My brother came to visit last week, during which time he was awarded the nickname “Conejo” or “Rabbit” (explanation to follow). Of course we did many things, met many people, and had an absolutely fantastic time. Below is a day-by-day account of the Conejo’s visit in Ecuador!

The Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Guayaquil and bus to Sayausi
Day 2: Cuenca
Day 3: Cajas
Day 4: Cuenca again
Day 5: The art of paseando and futbol
Day 6: Cuy lunch and more futbol
Day 7: Ingapirca and Cuenca
Day 8: To the coast!
Day 9: Isla de la Plata and bus to Guayaquil
Day 10: Depart Guayaquil and back to Michigan


Arrival: 18-August 2009
Jim’s plane was scheduled to arrive at 8:30pm on Tuesday night. Mike and I left Sayausi around two o’clock in the afternoon on a bus that for trip entertainment featured several Jackie Chan movies. Many flying kicks and poorly translated one-liners later we arrived in the Guayaquil bus terminal where we took a taxi to the Guayaquil airport (in the daytime it is safe to walk the one block from the bus terminal to the airport but once the sunsets all moving about is done in taxi).

The airport was packed! Granted this isn’t anything unusual as entire families go to the airport to meet arriving family members or see off departing family. No joke, for every arriving passenger in Ecuador there are at least five to twenty people waiting for them in the airport, which makes for a very festive atmosphere. Even though we were only two strong we did our best to make a contribution…and we had a lot of time to do so as Jim’s flight was delayed two hours.

At 10:00pm we, at least a hundred other people, and a surprising number of live chickens tucked away in what appeared to be luggage gathered around the arrival area for the Miami-Guayaquil flight. Necks craned and everyone on tip-toes trying to peer through the sliding glass doors to see who the next passenger out would be we waited for the Conejo to make his appearance.

Of course, the rest of the story is pretty much how you would imagine it. Jim arrived, I jumped up and down, Mike waved, and then was that, literally as we had to run and catch the last bus for Cuenca that was leaving twenty or so minutes later.

So we climbed into another taxi and headed back to the terminal to catch a bus back up to Cuenca with the Conejo in tow.

In the terminal we bought our bus tickets, waited for about ten minutes and then got on the bus where the entertainment for the evening was The Mechanik II starring the Russian superstar Dolf, most famous for his role as The Russian in Rocky vs The Russian. After four hours on a winding road, which included several hours of masterful cinematography we got off the bus in Sayausi at 3:30am.

Upon arrival in our humble abode Jim met the acquaintance of Chuspi who took an immediate liking to the Conejo (whether that was because of the many cat toys he had brought with him or his rabbit-like aura we will never know). Needless to say, we went to bed en seguido.


Cuenca-19 August 2009
I would like to say we all slept in but let’s be honest we are not good at sleeping in. At seven o’clock we were all up. We spent a good part of the morning chatting (my brother was here!!) before heading into Cuenca for the day.

We walked around Cuenca for the better part of the morning, visiting artisan shops, the market, and eventually buying Jim an Ecuadorian hat (wide brimmed, probably something that will never be worn outside of Ecuador). We ate lunch at El Paraiso in Parque San Blas. San Blas is one of the 52 churches in Cuenca, Parque San Blas is one of the hundreds of little parks in Cuenca, and El Paraiso is one of at least twenty vegatarian restaurants in Cuenca.

After lunch we continued the walking tour of Cuenca, heading down to the Banco Central to see if there were any concerts or theatre performances going on but as it is August and everyone in all of Latin America is on vacation for some part, if not all, of August there were no scheduled events in the near future. So we continued our walk past some Incan Ruins that run along the river, continued on the river path that led back into the Centro Historico of Cuenca, and then checked out some DVD/CD/MP3 stores.

By mid-afternoon we were all beat and decided to buy some food then head back to Sayausi to make dinner and generally relax after about 3 hours of sleep from the night before.

Back at home in Sayausi we made a quick stop at my garden to pick some fresh salad greens for dinner that night then home to make some pizza and watch a movie. As I write this I am certainly aware of how wonderful it was to have Jim here with us, just being able to spend time with him and hang out together was fantastic, especially with pizza and candy!

Pics of Cuenca I



Cajas: 20-August 2009
Early Thursday morning we hitchhiked up to Cajas for what would turn out to be a really great hike. We crammed into the bed of a small pickup truck and started the hour drive up to and through Cajas.

At Cucheros we got dropped off and started the hike: a steep, prolonged uphill. This hike always leaves me gasping for air and with a heart rate that exceeds normal ranges of comfort, and I live at altitude. As such we were a little concerned about how Jim would do. Turns out there was no cause for concern as Jim did great even though he had come up from sea level only the day before. With the hardest part of the hike behind us we continued on…for another seven hours!!

During the hike we saw a pair of foxes (rare to see, I have been hiking pretty regularly in Cajas for over a year and had only seen glimpse of one fox once), a pair of endangered Andean condors (super, super rare), and of course traipsed through super muddy trails leaving us with what is known as “Cajas Foot” i.e. a foot, ankle, and lower calf that is covered in wet, cold, sloppy mud. Fortunately, it is the dry season here so as muddy as the trails were it could’ve been much, much muddier. We passed lakes, quinoa forest, made our way through paramo, passed waterfalls, crossed log bridges, saw more Incan ruins, and chased alpacas. Yes, you read correctly, we chased some alpacas (though if you watch the video you won’t feel bad for the alpacas…our threat to them was minimal to non-existent).

A daring display

Not-so-daring Return

The Amazing Alpaca Chase

By the end of the hike, the Conejo was beat (eight hours of heavy hiking at altitude will tucker anyone) and the better part of my energy reserves were also spent. Fortunately, we were able to catch a ride with some fishermen at the guard station in Llaviuco which saved us another two miles of walking before we would have gotten to the highway where we would have had to hitchhike on a downhill curve (not an ideal set up for getting cars to stop for you).

All in all a pretty great day that left us all tired and ready for some good food and some great sleep!

Hiking in Cajas



Cuenca: 21-August 2009
Friday morning we walked in to Cuenca from Sayausi along the Rio Tomebamba, arriving in Cuenca just before lunchtime. Still quite tired from the hike the day before, we stopped in at Café Lojana to get some freshly roasted and brewed coffee along with a few humitas (corn tamales). Sufficiently caffeinated we spent some time planning our coastal trip i.e. finding hotels, tour agencies, bus schedules, and loads of incorrect phone numbers. Before hitting the artesania markets we grabbed a light lunch at Govindas, another vegatarian restaurante.

After lunch we scouted the stalls in the Mercado San Francisco and then the indoor market located on the San Francisco Plaza. About an hour or two into the shopping Mike had to go to a meeting at the Cajas office so Jim and I were left to finish souvenir shopping on our own. We also managed to squeeze in an ice cream cone and do some people watching in Parque Calderon (the central park where the giant cathedrals are) and do some t-shirt surveillance before Mike caught up with us again (don’t worry Mike gets plenty of ice cream). From there we walked down through Parque de la Madre to check out the infamous statue of speedwalking superstar Jefferson Perez. We also walked over to the soccer stadium and then back along the river before going to Moliendo Café (the best food in Cuenca is Colombian) where we were planning on having dinner with Chris and Kelly (two other volunteers).

We had gotten to the restaurant a little early and so ordered a few drinks and some delicious empandas to enjoy as we waited. Several minutes later Bridget walked in (another volunteer) who we did not know was coming who was shortly followed by Kelly and Sarah, who were followed shortly by Katie and her sister Megan (who was visiting from the States) who were followed by an unknown male wearing a PeaceCorps Peru shirt who upon questioning turned out to be a PCV from Paraguay and was meeting Gloria (another Ecuador volunteer) for dinner. Shortly thereafter Gloria arrived who was followed several minutes later by Andy and Jason (two more volunteers). Chris, ironically, was last person to show up that evening as his bus had to take an eight hour detour due to a landslide. So, the dinner expanded substantially from four to many within an hour, a very PeaceCorps-Ecua-experience and a great time all in all.

Pics of Cuenca II



Sayausi: 22-August 2009
Saturday morning we planned to do the grand walking tour of Sayausi heading up through Bellavista, down through Buenos Aires, and then eventually ending up back in Sayausi-Centro. We had warned Jim that this loop could take anywhere from one hour, if we did the walk straight through, or four hours depending on how many people we ran into. Any guesses on how long the proposed loop took??

Trick question! We didn’t get past Bellavista. At Dona Rita’s house we stopped to talk to Sandra, Melida, Elvis, Juan Diego, and Tatiana. They were trying to plan a cuy dinner for Jim but upon hearing that he was a vegetarian and after some explanation as to what that meant they decided they would have to do something else for him…today. So, we talked about making pizza among many other things before deciding to make him banana empanadas. It was during this time that Jim got his apodo, or nickname, “Conejo”. Part of the explanation of Jim being a vegetarian involved a lot of comparisons to rabbits. Subsequently Jim was named “Conejo”.

After naming the Conejo, Sandra left to go get the ingredients and we stayed at the house with Melida to make the dough. Four hours later we were eating banana empanadas with café con leche that one hour earlier was still in the cow.

Upon downing at least four banana empanadas each and planning to come back the next day to go see the cows with Maribel, we made our farewells and headed back to Sayausi…to go see Dona Melchora (our host mom for our first few months in Sayausi).

At Dona Melchora’s house the Conejo met Dona Melchora, Norma, Norma’s daughters Jenny and Diana, and Don Nestor. We were invited upstairs for tea and pineapple while Norma’s daughters gave us a detailed account of their recent trip to the beach and gave each of us a seashell. Before leaving we stopped at my garden again and gathered some nabo (turnip greens) for dinner.

Then we were off to my soccer game in San Miguel (another barrio of Sayausi). We arrived at the field a little early and watched the game before us. Then Jim and Mike hacer-ed the barra (made the fan section) for my team as we played and won our game! We won 5-0. I scored one goal and had one assist while the other superstar made a whopping three goals, did I mention she’s awesome?

The three of us then got a ride back from the game with Maira (the captain), her husband (Darwin), and their three children (Jessica, Churros, and Daku) in a two door, very small Suzuki.

Paseando in Sayausi



Sayausi: 23-August 2009
Early Sunday morning we walked up to Dona Rita’s house to “go see the cows” (ver las vacas) with Maribel. We were told they were really close so not to worry about the Conejo (Jim) and altitude problems. However, when we got there at 7:00am Maribel was concerned to find out we had to be back by 11:00am to go to a lunch at our land lady’s house.

“Bueno. Vamos rapido pues.”

The three of us went tearing up the road for about ten minutes before making a sharp uphill turn. We proceeded to walk uphill (45 degree upward slant) for no less then forty five minutes (with very occasional breaks to catch what little breath we had) before arriving at the cow pasture. Once at the pasture we took a short snack and rest break before Maribel started digging a hole for the cows to drink from (we continued resting while she dug). Then it was time to sacar leche i.e. milk the cows.

Maribel started, and of course made it look easy. Jim after a minute of carefully studying Maribel’s masterful milking hand took a go at it. As it turns out milking cows is not quite as easy as it looks. Somehow moving your hand in what looks like the exact same way as Maribel is somehow not exactly how she does it. I, having tried once in the past to milk cows with Maribel’s sister Norma, passed on a second opportunity to try milking cows. Instead we laughed as Jim tried and watched admirably as Maribel milked several cows within twenty minutes.

Milkin´

Still Milkin´

La Maestra

After the cows were milked, each one had to be walked over to the little hole that Maribel had dug while we were still resting from the climb up and listening to the parrots flying around just above us on the hillside. This took a little under an hour and then we started the walk down. Maribel asked me to “cargar” the milk bucket so she could run ahead and give water to the two remaining cows that were further downhill. The twenty pound bucket tied to my back with a blanket definitely made the slick, steep downhill path a little more exhilarating than it should have been. Fortunately, no milk was spilled and Maribel took the bucket from me after she had seen to the other cows.

The downhill certainly went much quicker than the uphill climb but also required much more mental exertion as very quick small, but still carefully planned, steps were needed to prevent slipping and sliding down the trail. We were back at Maribel’s house by 10:30am where we were served morocho (a milk and corn flour drink that is normally served hot but as we were in a rush it was served cold – not as tasty) and a cheese sandwich. We then bid our farewells and headed back to Sayausi to shower before going to the cuy roast at our land lady’s house.

Unfortunately, weekends in Sayausi generally come with a 2-12 hour stretch of no water. When we got back to our apartment we were without water and so had to set off for lunch without showering and probably smelling faintly of cow and grass.

Our land lady, Dona Carmen, lives in Gulag, another barrio of Sayausi. Usually there are busses that go the one and half mile stretch of road but as there is major construction on said road, we had to walk.

We arrived at Dona Carmen’s house a half hour after we said we would be there but in Ecuador a half hour late is at least a half hour early, so we hadn’t missed much. Dona Carmen was still roasting the cuyes in the living room fireplace (yes, in the living room) when we got there.

About an hour later we were eating a lunch for which all of the ingredients had been harvested that same morning from the garden behind the house.

Lunch Menu for Non-Vegetarians: Half a cuy, five potatoes, rice, lettuce, a boiled broccoli-carrot-pea-cilantro salad with coke.

Lunch Menu for Vegetarians: Lettuce and a boiled broccoli-carrot-pea-cilantro salad with coke.

Dinner Later that Night for Chuspi: Cuy

Cuy Dinner

Cuy Dinner Take II

I’m not sure why rice and potatoes weren’t included on the vegetarian plate (further evidence of the utter confusion the term vegetarian caused in Sayausi) but Jim a.k.a El Conejo was served a gigantic plate of lettuce leaves and boiled vegetables. As for the non-vegetartian plate the cuy was delicious, definitely the best cuy in Sayausi, and the rice and potatoes were exactly how you would imagine them.

After eating, a tour of the cuy hut (not sure Jim liked that), and some chatting we headed back to Sayausi for Mike’s basketball game.

Turns out the game was cancelled because the opposing team withdrew from the league so we stopped by Carmita’s (she owns a tienda next to the soccer field). She served us berry ice cream and candy as we watched one of the vacation league games and introduced Jim to all the regular soccer fans that frequent Carmita’s i.e. sit on the benches she has outside of her house.

When the game ended it was pretty late in the afternoon so we stopped by the Sunday market to get some fresh veggies and fruit and headed back home for some much needed rest and some serious hangout time.

Paseando in Sayausi Continued



Ingapirca: 24-August 2009
Monday morning we got an early start to catch a bus to Ingapirca. Ingapirca is a site two hours north of Cuenca with the largest Incan ruins in all of Ecuador. The two hours turned into two and half hours on the way there due to more serious road construction but the drive is beautiful and the weather was lovely so it passed quickly.

The ruins are in the province of Canar (we live in the province of Azuay) which has a large indigenous population. Ingapirca, the ruins, are most known for the mortar-less stone work and the fact that the majority of what remain is not only from the Incas but from the Canari who were there before the Incans arrived.

The site is gorgeous and located in a beautiful valley with views of the nearby towns and, on the day we were there, views of many mountain ranges off in the distance. We spent the better part of two hours walking around the ruins and generally enjoying the pleasant weather, lovely surroundings, and of course the impressive mortar-less stone work.

After touring the ruins we had lunch (the quinoa-cheese soup was particularly delicious) at a nearby restaurant that overlooked the ruins of Ingapirca, browsed for souvenirs, and then got back on the bus for the ride back to Cuenca.

Back in Cuenca we did some last minute errands for our trip the next day and had dinner at El Paraiso to watch the sunset over the San Blas church.

The rest of the night was spent packing and getting ready for the coastal leg of the trip that would start at 5:30am the next morning.

The Ruins



To Puerto Lopez: 25-August 2009
This day passed in a blur as we were on a bus for most of the day. We left Sayausi at 6:30am and arrived in Guayaquil at just before 11:00am. Incredibly lucky with the timing, we then got on an 11:15am bus for Puerto Lopez. We were on this bus for three hours before it stopped in the wonderful, truck/bus stop town of Jipijapa where we waited for an hour before continuing on to Puerto Lopez. Fortunately, aside from the coastal landscape and agriculture out he window, throughout the ride there were high quality movies to entertain us: Chuck Norris and Mark Walhberg at their best. We arrived in Puerto Lopez just before five o’clock ready to put our bags down, walk around, and eat some fresh seafood (expect for Conejo, of course).

We stayed a really cute hostel called Itapoa. It’s run by a Brazilian women whose Spanish can, without warning, turn to Portuguese and then just as quickly back to Spanish. Our room was actually a two story cabin with a small balcony overlooking the courtyard gardens, and each bed was outfitted with its own mosquito net (I wonder why?).

After dropping our bags at the hostel we walked around town stretching out our mildly cramped legs (even my legs were sore as the bus seats were kind of small). We walked up and down the malecon (beachfront walkway) and along the beach checking out the local fishing boats and other beach activity i.e. ecuaboley.

We hung out on the malecon for the rest of the evening, had a great dinner, then retired to our humble abode after finalizing the details for our whale watching and island tour the next day.

To the Coast!



Whales and Isla de la Plata: 26- August 2009
To say this day was totally and completely awesome would be an understatement! After a complimentary breakfast overlooking the beach we boarded a small motorboat with our guide Cherry and a group of about ten other random tourists. We then headed out into the ocean in search of humpback whales, which come here every year to mate and give birth during the months of July, August, and September.

It takes about an hour and half to cover the 25 miles of Pacific Ocean and get out to where the whales are but the ride is great. The wind whips at your hair and the sea spray at your face, not to mention the many sea birds flying along side the boat making occasional dives into the ocean below. And then, as if all that weren’t enough, the captain cuts the motor and suddenly you are in the center of a group of nine humpback whales!

Whales

The whales are indescribable, larger than our boat, and they are everywhere. I don’t know how much time we spent following them around as everyone is sort of in a trance like state watching them swim, dive, spin, and listening to them making their whale noises. Eventually however we had to continue on to the island.

On the island we went on a 6km hike through colonies of blue footed boobies, masked boobies, frigates, and red footed boobies. The sheer quantities of birds is astounding, and then add the baby birds, the nests in the middle of footpaths, and the birds’ general apathy toward the group of humans walking through their nesting grounds and you’ve got yourself one incredible experience.

Take his phone!

Boobie Talk

After the hike we got back on the boat and headed to a cove for some snorkeling!! You could see the fish just by looking over the side of the boat but that was nothing compared to what you saw once in the water. There were lots of fish in all different colors and tons of coral as well. The water was also really nice which made it hard to get out. But all good things must come to an end so eventually we got back on the boat and started the return trip back to land.

Once back in Puerto Lopez (around 5:30pm) we changed into dry clothes and then with some great timing, immediately got on a bus for that wonderful truck/ bus stop town of Jipijapa. In Jipijapa, again with perfect timing, we switched busses to get a bus for Guayaquil at which point I fell asleep and didn’t wake up again until we were in Guayaquil. I’ve been told I missed some killer Jean Claude van Dam movies, and delicious fish stuffed bread.

By the time we were in Guayaquil it was almost midnight so we just caught a cab to our hostel and passed the night hanging out with the caged jungle animals by the small pool in the courtyard of the hostel. A perfect ending to an absolutely wonderful, wonderful day.

Watching Whales and Isla de la Plata



Homeward Bound: 27-August 2009
So here we are at the last day of Jim’s trip. His flight left at 10:00am so we loitered at the airport as long as possible before an American Airlines employee told Jim, and at least fifty other travelers, that they had to start the boarding process as there were more lines ahead for immigration and customs.

Then Jim walked through a different set of sliding glass doors and started his 14 hour trip home and Mike and I headed back to the bus terminal for the bus to Sayausi.

I guess that brings us to the end of the Conejo’s trip to Ecuador. Simply put, it was awesome!! We miss you Jim and hope we haven’t left anything out!

In Guayaquil