Estacion Biodiversidad: Tiputini!

So this past weekend was my real trip to the rainforest. As you may recall I went rafting two weeks ago, this was in a town just barely what is considered the Oriente (Ecuadorian jungle). The trip went a little something like this. Feel free to read in installments as this is a long one.

Friday

4:40 AM: Wake up. Exhausted. Have already packed. Shower.
5:15: Call Ali to assure I haven't (and she hasn't overslept).
5:30: Call Ali to find out where cab is (she said she would call at 5:20 as we had to be at the airport at 6 EN PUNTO). She is "about to call."
5:40: Call Ali to find out where cab is. She is "on the phone with them right now." I am exasperated and mad I woke up early.
5:53: Cab rolls up outside my house (we live on the same street but she is about a 90 second walk and I HATE doing that walk in the dark... especially armed with a camera, iPod and American passport).
5:54: We ask how much taxi will cost as cab drivers love to rip you off, especially gringos. $5. BULLSHIT. It under ten minutes and no traffic at that time. I start arguing and he says something about how this is the normal cost and impuestos. There are no fucking impuestos. I was so mad, I told him to let us off, but realizing that we had to be at the airport in 4 minutes (and that there were no cabs going by and sketchy people on corners), I pleaded him down to $3.

We got there at 6:03 and it was fine and we still had to wait for awhile. I'd like to say not once during the entry to the airport, going through security, or boarding of the plane was my passport or Ecuadorian ID checked (or asked for). Not once.

The flight was fine. It was 30 minutes to Coca, a city in the jungle which is the base for a lot of these visits (the bus ride would have been 10 hours and very bumpy). From there we hung out at a hotel for an hour, where there were all these monkeys and birds. Everyone was playing with them and letting them climb all over them. Seeing as I am still trying to leave Ecuador free of rabies, I watched cautiously from a distance.

After that we got on a boat which was 2 hours down a wide river which was really pretty. Then we had to go to a security checkpoint and show our passports. Yep, that's Ecuador, you show your passport in the middle of nowhere but not... in the airport? Whatever. This area is inhabited by the oil company REPSOL, and for that reason we were forbidden to take pictures during the 2 hour bus ride we had following the checkpoint. I wanted to sneak a picture, because there was no one really making sure we were following the law, but there was honestly nothing really that picture-worthy. In some places areas looked destroyed, and I don't know if that was the work of the oil companies or a storm (there are constantly heavy rains).

After that ride, we had one final 2-hour boat ride which dropped us off at the base of steps which led to the Biodiversity Station, which runs off of funding from the university I attend, USFQ; and Boston University. We were talked to about the rules and living conditions (electricity from 10-1 and 6-9:30, leave shoes outside, don't pick things up, be on time for meals, etc). Then we went to our cabins. I shared one with Ali, Kalysta, and Susie, and had a top bunk (I love the top bunk). We hung out for awhile before dinner, which we were excited for because we'd heard the food was amazing. However it was a bit of a disappointment: sweet lasagna. Sweet! Dulce! It was very weird. I added a lot of aji, the traditional sauce, to try to drown out the flavor. We went to bed pretty early as breakfast is at 6:30.

That night I was woken up by heavy rains and was dreaming that the cabin was crashing through waves in an ocean... and that FARC was coming to get us. Very sensical.

Saturday

We woke up, had a breakfast of cereal, fruit and hot chocolate (I made the instant hot chocolate at almost every meal) and headed out for the morning. We took a (motor-powered) boat a bit upriver and got out to go to an outlook tower, which we climbed up but didn't see anything in the way of wildlife, although it was a gorgeous view. Then three of us went on a small canoe with our guide into a lagoon where there were all these birds that resembled turkeys flying around. It was very peaceful. After that, we hiked back to camp, and our guide pointed out lots of bug and different kinds of trees and plants along the way.

We had a great lunch of beets, beef, lettuce, potato and a sunny side-up egg! It was the first time I'd tried that because it made me nervous, but it was good and not at all runny. Then I went SWIMMING in the river with Max and Stacy! Okay, swimming is a bit of a stretch, because the current was so strong we didn't really leave the immediate area of the dock, but it was very refreshing. I skipped the afternoon walk because I was exhausted and he said it was going to be short, so I slept in the cabin with Susie, who was sick. Dinner was amazing, just rice with beef and vegetables but a delicious sauce, so good!

Then everyone went in one of the motorized boats to look for caimen, which are relatives of alligators and live in the rainforest. We found a lot! The way you spot them is by looking for red dots near shore... their eyes! It was kind of creepy. We saw really small ones and adults.

So now, after a day of hiking and sweating in the hot hot rainforest, all we wanted to do was come back and take a shower.

Too bad there was no water!!!

No water. At all. The water is river water which goes through a long filtration process, but it just wasn't on, so we didn't shower... yuck. I'm not a have-to-shower-every-day person, but when you've been walking for 4 hours and sweating virtually ALL DAY, it is just gross not to shower.

Sunday

In the morning we inquired and they said it would come back on with the electricity, which didn't make sense as we only had 6 hours of electricity a day and the water was usually always on, but whatever. Sunday we got up at 4:40 to hike to a tower to see more wildlife, as they are more active before/right before the sun comes up.

That night it poured- somehow I had slept through it, but Susie woke up and said she was afraid lightening was going to hit the house, it was so close and so bright. Good night to decide to be a heavy sleeper! We headed out and it was a hard walk because I didn't have a flashlight and there was no daylight and very little light from the flashlights around me. Thankfully Ali gave me hers and shared with Kalysta, who she was walking with. It was hard because it was so wet (still raining? I can't remember) and muddy. We got to the metal tower and climbed up. Yes, we climbed up a metal tower. In the rain.

Did I mention we could hear thunder? Not my favorite moment.

We got to the top and sadly, it was lame. Birds don't really come out when it is raining or wet, they hide under the leaves, so all we saw were 2 toucans far off in the distance with binoculars. Sorry if that sounds spoiled, but it sucks to get up at 4:30 AM, hike, be out in the rain, be hungry and exhausted and see nothing. We went back and went straight to breakfast, and the morning was redeemed by

FRUIT AND PANCAKES!!! Oh my god!! I was SO HUNGRY! I scarfed down 2 pancakes and then felt gross (I'd also had three glasses of the watery juice/kool aid/whatever they gave us in my attempt to stay hydrated). They were DELICIOUS. Then we got to take a quick nap because we couldn't go back out in the rain.

Then we hiked to the canopy bridges, which were cool! These were very different from the ones I walked on in Costa Rica... aka, not regulated and definitely scary. A board was missing from one bridge. There were 2 ladders going up a tree in one place to an outlook spot (really a couple of boards) and I chickened out 3/4 of the way up because the ladders were wobbling and I was terrified. Dad, you would have been a mess! After I spent a little time on the bridges I was able to enjoy the view without feeling like I was facing imminent death.

Another delicious meal awaited us back at the station: patacones (fried? baked? pieces of platanos), red beans, rice and meat. Yes, I've turned into quite the carnivore here... at first I "didn't eat beef." Um... beef is delicious. I have no idea what I'll do back in the States.

An hour after lunch everyone loaded into the boat to go swimming for real! But sadly we floated for a long time looking for wildlife. All I wanted to do was get in the water! There were about 30 of us in all, and we took turns jumping off the boat into the water and the current curried us downstream. It was so fun. There are anacondas, electric eels, the caimen (alligator-like) and piranhas in this water, but the directors assured us it was fine, and it was.

Then we went back and rested. Sadly I cannot remember what 'the last supper' was, but I'm sure it was delicious. Later that night we saw a slideshow of really cool pictures of insects the director has taken- these are crazy insects! I'd never seen anything like them. We also saw pictures from the hidden cameras they have in the forest with heat and motion sensors, everything from deer to rabbits to taiper, JAGUARS (one black jaguar seen in 20,000 pictures over 4 years... where is (s)he?!?!), everything, it was really cool. Then we read and talked before falling asleep in the cabin.

Monday & Thoughts

Monday was miserable as we left at 7:30 AM and our flight out of Coca wasn't until 5:15... we had about 3 hours to kill after arrival in the city, which was super lame. I'm really glad I got to go (and that Beloit funded it), but it was honestly way too much traveling for only 2 full days- the first day was at least 9 hours, and the last 11. I also, and I'm sad to say this, was disappointed by the guide. We had to walk single file because of the trails and when he saw something he would turn and explain to the person behind him... and no one else had any idea what was going on. It wasn't like he had to be quiet as to not scare off other animals... I'm talking about bugs and plants. And while the other group saw 5 species of monkey, we saw none. None. I know some of it must be luck, and maybe we talked too much, but if that was the case I wish he'd just told us to shut up. He was a nice old man, but not a good guide.

I am also incredibly bitter that in the spring Beloit gives students a trip to the Galapagos (to which the ticket and taxes alone cost almost twice as much as this weekend) and not us... I can't say it is better as I haven't gone, but I'm sure it is, and it is a week, not 2 days! It is ridiculous, and I will be writing a VERY strong op-ed about study abroad at Beloit when I get back, as there is a disgusting amount of bullshit and hypocrisy involved.

That said, I love Ecuador, and I miss Beloit. However, I do not like the university, as I have had negative experiences (not entirely, but somewhat) in all of my classes: from the professor who left for a month to do research and the class was entirely productive, to the one whom I used to admire and now consider an egotistical ass who made me cry in his office, the prof I consider to be condescending and inappropriate, and the disgusting incidence of cheating on our second literature test. Students here blatantly talk during presentations or even when the professor is talking, they leave class early because they want to, it is a joke. I miss the honesty and sincerity of Beloit, the passion people have for learning, wanting to go to the classes you are in instead of dreading them.

I have 19 more days here, only now I am counting down subconsciously out of dread, not excitement. I know December will be amazing, as will next semester, but I am just getting comfortable here and it is being pulled away from me. Ali and I have started walking at a beautiful park near our house where we can escape the city. I feel (a bit) closer with my host parents. There is still so much I haven't done, through no fault but my own.

This weekend is Fiestas de Quito, although I am on a very strict budget so I am not sure what I will be doing. Then I have to take care of all my finals next week, and the following weekend I am going south to go to a small spa town and national park, and then the larger historical city of Cuenca. I am so excited, and I really consider it necessary to travel that last week, because otherwise I will be bored and sad about leaving if I just sit in Quito.