Thursday, August 18th
Arrived at the airport and greeted by my host family.
Friday 19th
I went to the University for the International Student Orientation. The campus of USFQ is incredibly nice. We learned that San Francisco was the first liberal arts university in Ecuador and one of the first in South America. The current president of Ecuador was a professor at USFQ until he was fired/quit. It is a very fancy university, and it seems like most of the students who attend are very well to do. This has made it more of a class shock than a culture shock coming here after Guatemala.
Saturday 20th
We toured the Historic District of Quito on Saturday. The district reminded me of Antigua, Guatemala with cobblestone streets and colonial architecture. It was a nice downtown and had lots of churches. All we have gotten to see is the nice rich suburb, Cumbaya, where USFQ is and the nice downtown. The south side of the city is a lot poorer and is about 2/3rds of the city, but we probably won’t get to see it at all.
Sunday 21st
On Sunday we connected with a friend of Travis, the guy from my program who is living my homestay. He had a friend who studied abroad at his school, Juniata, last year from here. Me, Travis, and another guy from the program David went with Travis’s friend Matias and some others rock climbing at a place called Sigsipamba. I’ve never really gone rock climbing before but I tried it out and it was a lot of fun. It was a really beautiful place, a huge cliff in the hills over Quito.
Monday 22nd
We had GAIAS orientation, specifically for the Galapagos program. It got me excited for all the trips and the Galapagos. It looks like Travis, David, and I will be hanging out a lot.
Tuesday 23rd
We had a free day so we went into downtown Quito. We had to handle a little visa problem with Travis that turned out to be a lot of waiting in line for nothing. We stopped a small restaurant for an amazing lunch for $2.50.
Wednesday 24th
Classes started today. My first class is Wildlife Management and Conservation and is taught by 2 professors, Esteban and Galo who seem to be really cool. It seems like it will be an interesting class.
Thursday 25th
Regular schedule of class from 9-12. Then in the evening we went to a despidida (going away party) for one of our Ecuadorian friends who was going back to the States to study at University. We had a fun night going out in Quito.
Friday 26th
We went on our first field trip today. We went to the Paramo, or the highlands. The day started early and we bussed out to the start of the hike at 4300 meters altitude. We were in the clouds and it was cold and rainy. It was a fun hike being able to clearly see the ecosystems changing as we went down. There were lots of little lakes in the Paramo, and the Paramo is actually where the majority of the water for Quito comes from. At the end of the hike we got to go to hot springs and bathe in hot pools. It was a great way to relax after a long hike.
Saturday 27th
We took a trip to Otavalo today. Otavalo is a small town about 2 hours outside of Quito that is famous for its huge market. We went walked around the market for most of the day, I bought some small things as souvenirs. The coolest part was just the atmosphere of the market which reminded me a lot of the markets in Guatemala. Then we returned to Quito in the evening just in time to run home and go back into downtown Quito to participate in La Ruta de Las Iglesias, a annual 10k run through downtown Quito. Reports said that there were at least 6000 people signed up and more than 4000 people running for fun like we were. It was a beautiful route around a bunch of the churches in downtown and it was cool experience to participate in a run with so many people. I ended up finishing in around 55 minutes, which for the altitude I think is a pretty good time.
Sunday 28th
Travis, David, and Me went to Teleferrico today. Teleferrico is a cable car that goes up a mountain called Pichincha overlooking Quito. The cable car took us up about a kilometer to over 4300 meters, we had a nice hike with some beautiful views.
Monday 29th
Back to regular the regular schedule of class today. It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon after having a long weekend.
Tuesday 30th
Regular class today, then in the afternoon we went and played with the university’s basketball team in the afternoon.
Wednesday 31st
Today we left for our 2nd field trip to the cloud forest called Maquipucuna. We left early in the morning and got there around mid day. Then we split up in groups and my group hiked for a couple hours to a beautiful waterfall. We were with a local guide who was able to point out and name all the different plants and insects we saw. When we got to the waterfall the water was freezing cold but it was a lot of fun swimming around under the waterfall. In the evening we had a lecture about the local rivers and ecosystems in the area. The food at Maquipucuna was amazing as well and there was locally grown coffee that was great.
Thursday, September 1st
We woke up early today to go bird watching at Maquipucuna. We saw some Tucan’s and other birds. One group saw a Quetzal but we weren’t lucky enough to see one. Then we went on a hike through the forest before lunch. We headed back to Quito after lunch and went out in downtown Quito in the evening.
Friday 2nd
Had regular class today, and its crazy to think that there are only 5 more days of class in the classroom after today. We went into downtown Quito again in the evening which was a lot of fun.
Saturday 3rd
Slept in today and then hung out with Travis, David, and our Ecuadorian friends. Then in the evenings we went to The Wailers concert. It was amazing! I had seen the Wailers in Chapel Hill, but it didn’t compare at all to seeing the Wailers in Quito. The opening band was a really cool ska, reggae band with a bunch of horns that came out with tons of energy. The energy didn’t stop until the end of the show, which ended on a 10 minute long jam on Exodus.
Sunday 4th
Slept in after the concert and then hung out with my host family who had a family barbeque in the backyard. It was fun to hang out with the family which I haven’t done much because I’ve been so busy. Then I packed for our trip to Tiputini from the 5th to the 9th.
Monday 5th
We left for Tiputini at 6:30 in the morning. We took a bus to the airport, took a 25 minute flight over the mountains to a small Oil town Coca. Then we got on a boat from there for 2 hours to the edge of the large Oil concession. We then took a 2 hour bus ride through the oil concession on the oil road. We had to go through a checkpoint for the oil company to be allowed to use the road. After that we took another 2 hour boat down the Tiputini River to get to the Tiputini Biodiversity Site in the Amazon Forest. It was a long trip out there but it was amazing to get out into the middle of the jungle. The Biodiversity Site is a research center started by the University, and Tiputini is one of the most, if not the most biodiverse areas in the entire world. Just walking around camp we were able to see Spider Monkeys, Wooly Monkeys, and Howler Monkeys. There were so many different species of plants, insects, spiders, and everything you can imagine.
Tuesday 6th
We went on a hike with one of the local guides in the morning. He was able to show us all of the plants and insects. He showed us a tree that had a symbiotic relationship with Lemon Ants that would protect it in exchange for a home. We also tasted the ants and the tasted exactly like Lemon. There were many other interesting things like that that the guide was able to show us. Then in the afternoon we went to the Puentes and Torre (the bridges and the tower).
The bridges were over 30 meters high in the canopy of the forest. We had to climb up a somewhat shaky metal structure to get up the bridges and then harness in for safety. It was scary but an amazing experience. On one of the platforms in between the bridges we were able to climb up a rickety metal ladder another 10 meters to a platform at the top of a tree and see out over the whole forest. There were trees for as far as the eye can see in every direction. It was amazing. The only drawback was that there were a lot of bugs and bees that up on the bridge that would find any uncovered skin on you. Then we went to the Tower which was 40 meters high and we were able to relax at the top and see out over the Amazon. There were amazing views and the local guide was able to point out birds and different plants. It was an amazing experience.
Wednesday 7th
In the morning we went on a hike to a lake nearby the Biodiversity station. Our group of 6 got in a small Canoe with the professor and paddled around the lake. It looked like a scene from the age of the dinosaurs. The plants all looked prehistoric and there were ‘Watson Birds’ which looked like prehistoric turkeys. There were also tons of bats hanging off of the trees. It was a really cool place.
Then we did some class work in the afternoon, working in groups on brainstorming conservation ideas and thinking critically about how to address some of the problems that are pressing in Tiputini. These are problems involving the Oil Companies, the local Woarani people, and the conservation of the Environment. It was an interesting activity and it was interesting to hear all the different solutions that people came up with.
Thursday 8th
In the morning we did some field work which consisted of looking at poop for 2 hours. This was actually more interesting than you would think. We were testing the species richness of disturbed areas of the forest versus undisturbed areas. Tons of ants and flies would come to the poop and then there were dung beetles that would come and carry little pieces of way. We even had spiders come and start to catch the flies that had been attracted to the poop. It was cool to see how just in an hour or two so much could happen in such a small area.
In the afternoon we did a flotada, and floated down the river. We floated down for around 2 hours and had a good time. We stopped in the middle and had a huge mud fight which was fun. It was nice and relaxing to be on the river after hiking the previous couple of days.
Friday 9th
We headed back on Friday. We took the boat back in the morning, took the bus down the oil road, and then took the 2nd boat to Coca. Then when we arrived in Coca we were informed that because of the weather our flight back to Quito had been canceled. We ended up being put up in a nice hotel in Coca and having to spend the night there and caught of flight the next morning. It was a really nice hotel and it was nice to hang out with the group because we had become close during the trip.
Saturday 10th
We flew back this morning and got in around midday. So I finally got back and I have finally found some time to write a blog post. So as you can see I’ve been very busy and have been trying to do as much as I can while I’m here. Only one week more until the Galapagos, which is very exciting! Quito has been great and the field trips have been wonderful but I can’t wait to get out to the islands. Next time I post will probably be from the Islands. I don’t think we will have very good internet access there but I’ll keep you all posted with how everything is going!
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