Whirlwind

I don´t even know where to start, so much has happened in the last two weeks (has it only been two weeks?!)...lets see how this goes

So day one of work work meant meeting up with two new volunteers from Spain in Quito, hauling all our bags and loads of groceries/household goods from Quito out to the project. We try and bring more when we have volunteers to help, cause it´s a lot of stuff! A two hour bus ride brought us to Otavalo, a very cute town with lots of traditional goods (so hard not to buy it all!). Here we grab a quick lunch of the very traditional variety: potato soup with a chunk of some sort of meat, then a plate with rice, a small salad, and another chunk of meat, and fruit juice. It´s easy to get lunch here cause they serve the same thing to everyone, so no making choices :p Then we head to the grocery store for more food, then to the fruit market across town for fruits and veggies, then back to the grocery store for meat and cheese...once we have sufficiently loaded down with tons of food, we meet the volunteers back at the bus station and get on the second bus of the day out to Pucara (2.5 hours). We literally take up ALL the storage space on the bus, its fabulous. That´s basically the routine every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month when we get new volunteers. If the food doesn´t last two weeks, I make another ´run´into Otavalo (minimum 5 hours bus being a quick run).

Once the shopping in done, we get to the Bear House and do an introduction for them about the project and start teaching radio telemetry to get them ready for the field. Then the work starts the next day...we have about 7 plus trails with designated Listening Stations where you try and listen to the collars of the bears. For example, you tune 951 and if it beeps, then Frida is close, 947 is Enrique, ect. It´s fun when you hear them cause you know they´re somewhat close, so cool! It is a LOT of hiking though, especially when there is a mud slide and the buses don´t run. On Friday one of the volunteers and I hiked about 11 miles....just an average day. And it´s something like that 5 days a week. Talk about getting in shape!

So that´s the normal sequence of events that should be more or less what I´ll be up to for the next 5.5 months. These past two weeks though have not been normal and I´ve been busing all over the place learning tons about the project...

After a week at the volunteer house getting to know the trails, I headed off with the Film Volunteer we had for January to San Gabriel where a grad student of Armando (my boss) is working on the bear-cattle conflict. It´s a really interesting conflict and if anyone can dig up the old BBC show Natural World on it, it would be worthwhile to see. Anyways, some bears attack cows in some parts of the country and not in others. Scientists don´t all agree that it´s bears, so we are trying to prove that it is. To do that, we listen to accounts of local people who say they´ve had their cows killed by bears, then they lead us to where it happened and we try and track the marks left. Last week we followed a bear ´drag trail´down a mountain about 1 km through massive amounts of mud and vines. We finally did find the cow carcass though and it was pretty obviously a bear killing and not a puma, so it was worth while. We did a lot of interviews of locals, got to see some bear skins and bear paws of an older man in the town. They believe that if you brush your horse with a bear paw when it´s little, that the horse will grow up extra big and strong. Not good for the bears...but not widely believed either which is good.

After that adventure, I headed back to the Bear House for a few more days to keep learning the Listening Stations so I´ll be able to hopefully lead some hikes next month. It´s been fun to get to know the town and the people. It´s so small that everyone says hello, where are you going? and have a good trip every time you see them. We also have a house dog named Bobby who often accompanies us on hikes which is really nice. It´s incredibly remote, even by Ecuadorian standards. There is no cell phone reception unless you walk about 15 min down the road and stand on the Phone Rock. But you have to be in the right spot for it to work, and even then it´s questionable. We can use the phone at the local shop, but it´s rather moody and prefers to call conventional phones more often than cell phones. I don´t really know how this works as the phone seems fine, it just can´t call mobiles. All part of the experience. We can get to internet in the neighboring down of Apuela, about a 1 hour walk down hill from our place (luckily I haven´t had to walk back up yet cause there´s usually a pickup truck headed up who gives us a ride).

There are two bus routes into Pucara from Otavalo, the short is 2.5 hours and the long is 3.5 hours. Unfortunately the short is prone to weekly landslides when it´s raining and the bus drivers are very cautious and close down the route if there even a chance of too much rain. Then we have to walk the hour to Apuela and take the 3.5 hour bus from there. This is along a really nice road and doesn´t really get shut down. So although it´s a lot longer (and a pain if you have a ton of bags), we always have some method of getting to the city of Otavalo.

Right now I´m in Quito, we have a week before the next batch of volunteers (four from New Zealand) shows up. I´m spending the week getting to know the country a bit better. I saw my first Spectacled Bear at the zoo today. Pretty nice zoo actually, it´s all rescued animals. Tuesday I head up to meet Bubu in Yanahurco. This is the bear that´s been under rehabilitation to be re-released into the wild. He is in a very remote part of the Paramo of Ecuador (the highlands) and so the fact that I get to go up and meet him is a really lucky opportunity for me. I´m really really excited and so happy to be able to get up there.

Thats about as much update as I can handle for now, but more soon hopefully...with pics!!!

Getting my feet wet

Well, it has been four days in Ecuador so far and already it feels like I've been here a month. The days have been packed to say the least but the experience has been wonderful. After finally getting into Quito 2 days after planned, I woke up and left the first morning, heading out to Atahualpa for Spanish school. If anyone wants to learn Spanish, this is the way to do it!

I was lucky enough to be the only student and I stayed with the family that runs the school: two sisters, both their daughters, their mom, and their brother. The whole family lives in a three story house and don't speak any English at all. Talk about immersion right away! Spanish classes started upon arrival as I had a lot to catch up on and we zoomed through the material. I think I had about three years of classes in three days...

Atahualpa is a very cute town, up at about 2,000m in the Andes and the view from their kitchen window was stunning. A lot of people still ride horses around and the clapping of their hoofs on the street durning class made me so happy! The third day there I got to go with them to help milk the cows at 6:30am. Whoa, so cool! Definitely the best milk I've ever had...still warm :D Then that afternoon I helped them catch a chicken so we could have chicken soup for dinner. Talk about fresh food. It's about as organic as you can get up there.

I'm back in Quito now for a day and head out to Pucara to start tracking bears. I'm excited to get back to the forest and away from all the smog (though Quito is a really nice city and very bike friendly!).

Thats all for now, next post will be Bear-y Bear full (I couldn't help myself :D) Off to the jungle!!!

Let the travel begin...again :D

And so, almost two years to the date after having left for Equatorial Guinea, I am off to explore a new continent: South America. The last year and a half since my return from Africa has been wonderful. I graduated UCSD, spent some time kayaking in La Jolla, and about a month after graduation I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. There, I had the amazing opportunity to work with two fantastic girls and one epic boss. The work was great in that it got me outside, but I don't know how fast I'll be running to get another job studying Yellowjackets (Picture is of a Vespula going towards the flower Ohia Lehua, endemic to Hawaii). Living in Hawaii for 5 months was incredible and I got to spend a week traveling with my mom and two weeks on Kauai with three of my best friends from college, and I got to see my godfather too and ride a helicopter!!!



So, to say the least, though I have not been great at keeping up my blog for the last year and a half, life has been good to me and I'm looking forward very much for continued adventure. To anyone who reads this, I'll try and keep it updated for the next 6 to 8 months as I live in South America working with the Andean Spectacled Bear (see adorable picture to left). If you want more information on what work I'll be doing, check out the site andeanbear.org which is great for explaining what our organization does. I'll be working there as the Volunteer Coordinator until at least July and hope to travel around the continent (as long as my savings hold) for up to two months after that. I'll have very limited internet access, but will make a point to write a blog at least once a month so you all can know what's going on with the bears :D Thank you to all my family and friends for continuing your support of me while I gallivant around the world, I do promise that I will eventually settle down...some day ;P

Back from the loop...

so my time in Africa is running low (and i'm spending it online...hmmmm) and I can't believe it as gone so fast. I just got back from three weeks traveling in Malawi and Zambia. It was an amazing trip but I'm very glad to be done with bus travel for a long while. Zambia was just for a few days, me and my travel mates Luther (Australia) and Shannon (Canada) went to Livingstone to check out Victoria Falls, and they were everything and more that we had heard. Then I decided to check bungee jumping off my life list...and it was amazing. Jumped from a 111m bridge in the mist of the falls, and yes, I want to do it again!

Then on to Malawi where we chilled by the lake and I learned how to make a drum from sratch. I had to soak the goat skin, tighten it on the drum base, shave the hair off, and then I carved the drum. It took 4 days and is something I am super proud of now. Went to Vwaza National Park too, where the elephants passed witin 20 meters of our hut! I got some amazing photos and it was a truely surreal experience. Very different from the touristy Tanzania safari (which was also amazing though).

Now I'm back in Dar es Salaam and headed to Zanzibar in a day or so to finish off my time in Tanzania. Then I'm on a fligt back home July 1st, with mixed sadness and excitement. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my blog and email me along my trip. It has been a very life changing trip and I hope I can share my photos with everyone who wants to see them. California, I'm soon on my way!!!

Kenya, Zambia, and Bungee Jumping

I have failed on the blog recently, but now I have a few minutes so I'll try and catch myself up. The last 2 weeks I spent in Kenya with my professor. It was really amazing living off the land in the middle of no where. We had solar power and a charcoal fridge. There were giraffes and elephants roaming the property, as well with a lot of cattle and Masai. I was inspired to go into research of the Dik-dik, a small antelope, due to questions about its taxonomic grouping...we'll see.

Last week was pretty much travel. 9 hours from Nairobi to Moshi, 8 hrs to Dar, 48 hr train to Kipiri-Mposhi (Zambia), 4 hr bus to Lusaka, 8 hr bus to Livingstone...and this morning we went to see Victoria Falls! so it was all worth it :D and I conquered my fear of heights by going bungee jumping. It was absolutely amazing and magical and crazy. You are falling for 111m in the mist of the most powerful falls in the world. Also, the bridge is on the boarder of Zambia and Zimbabwe, so technically you are in no mans land and the jump is right next to this painted line that divides the two countries. Its funny as well, cause there are people everywhere trying to sell you Zimbabwean dollars...of which I bought 100 trillion...for $1. Its crazy to hold an actual printed note that says a trillion dollars...though now they have officially changed to the american dollar, so life is a little more stable, hopefully.

Tomorrow or Monday we head off for the 2 day journey to Malawi, where we will be able to move much slower on our return towards Dar in Tanzania. My time is winding down here and I am trying to make the most of it! Oh, and when I say we, my traveling team for the moment is me, Shannon-Canada, and Luther-Australia. Its another strange batch of English!

I'll try and write again before I get home, but only 3 weeks to go, so maybe not. Home July 1st!

The last days in Moshi, TZ

So I forgot I was keeping a blog for the last few weeks, but I haven't been up to much. After coming back from the jaunt to Uganda and Rwanda, I decided to make the most of my last few weeks in Moshi. The other weekend a group of us from the Hostel went to a Masai village outside of Arusha. It was really amazing to see. The Masai are famous for their beautiful bead-work and their jumping dance. We got to take pictures too, which was a plus. I can't even describe their amazing outfits. They wear bright blue, purple, and/or red plaid clothes draped over their bodies. They always have a machete at their side and usually a club in their hand. And then they have beads everywhere! But I'll have to wait till the slide show to tell you guys more ;D

I also have been keeping myself busy with dance. I got amazingly lucky one day after school when I was walking home...I heard a drum beat and decided to follow the music. It ended up leading me to an after school program that does theater and dance with kids. I tried to sneak in and watch, but being the only white person around, they kinda noticed me right away. As is common with the culture here, they instantly welcomed me in and before I knew it someone had wrapped a kanga around me and I was out dancing with all the kids. (fyi a kanga is a type of cloth here, it is beautiful and very colorful. All the ladies wear them wrapped around like skirts). And so I got hooked. I've been going for the last 3 weeks now, every Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes I get to drum, sometimes there is no dance and I watch them practice acting, of which I only understand the words 'action!' and 'cut!'...Everyone there has been super nice to me and on my last day (yesterday) one of the leaders, Kisodu, gave me a paper with one of the songs on it. This song is about the region of Kilimanjaro and we sing it (or attempt to mouth along) as we dance. I was really excited to get it in writing so now I can keep practicing.

Today was my last day teaching and leaving all the girls was really hard. Karen, the English teacher, and I brought them all notebooks and pens and lollipops and then we played games all class. It was really fun to just hang out with the girls. It was really a challenge working there but I know I learned a lot. Patience is key and learning basic Swahili is a must. Some days were much more frustrating than others, but this last week as we finished up with geometry, the girls seemed to actually understand...so it was a good way to end.

The next month and a half brings a whole new level of excitement and adventure. I leave Moshi on Sunday and take a bus up to Nairobi, Kenya. There I will stay a night with a professor from study abroad Equatorial Guinea. Professor Quintin Luke, an impressive Botanist who is currently putting together a book on the flora of EG. Then I take a bus out around Mt. Kenya and to stay for a while with another professor, Dr. Tom Butynski. He is a very amazing biologist and I will be continuing my frog searches there...and the circle comes back to the frogs! I am really excited to get away from the tourist path and hand out in nature for a while. Tom lives next to a reserve where much research is currently being done, and we will be able to go on mini-safaris and check out some animals (fyi- safari in Swahili just means journey, so whenever you go somewhere, even if not to the Serengeti, then you are still going on safari).

After a few weeks playing with animals in Kenya, I swing back through Moshi for a night, then off for a 5 day train/bus journey/safari to VICTORIA FALLS!!! (Zambia side) I will be traveling with a girl I met at the hostel, Shannon from Canada and we are going to be doing a Zambia and Malawi trip for about 3 weeks. And so far, the country names is about all we have been able to decide on, but we figure with 5 days of travel, we'll have plenty of time to read up before we get there!!!

Once we circle back to Dar es Salaam, we will split up and I will head out to spend my last week in Zanzibar. This is a beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania and I will be able to rest and finish up my shopping (presents for all of you of course!) there. Then July 1st I fly home to see all my dearly missed family and friends.

Although plans are bound to change along the way, this is the current schedule for my last month and a half in Africa. I can't believe time has flown by so fast and I know the next leg will zoom by even faster. So I'm going to get off the computer and go soak up the last bits of Moshi before getting on the bus...

quick trip out of TZ...to Rwanda and Uganda!

Hey all! So the last week and a half have been the most jam-packed, exciting, and fun part of East Africa yet...yes, some friends and I took some time off work and decided to bus over to Uganda and Rwanda for a bit. It was absolutely amazing.

The team consisted of me, Claire (Aussie), Graham (UK), Amanda, and Kendyll (both Kiwi). We headed off on Wednesday afternoon from Moshi, TZ through Kenya to Jinja in Uganda. This took about 20hrs on two buses and added 4 stamps to the old passport. We rented bikes as soon as we got there and biked around town and the hills. The town is known for being an adventure capital as it is based at the head of the Nile River and hosts class 5 river rafting (of which I did not take part, mom, as I know i do not have proper insurance for that!). Its a very cute town and much less touristy than Moshi, so you are not attacked constantly by people trying to sell you things. Everyone speaks pretty good english as well and they are amazingly nice and helpful.

After one night in Jinja, we headed to Kampala, the Capital city and stayed there for 2 nights. We went out horseback riding on Lake Victoria and then made a day trip down to the equator (Uganda is one of only 10 countries through which the equator passes through). They had a cool little set up where you can really test the question about flushing a toilet in each hemisphere. Ans: Northern it flows clockwise, Southern: counterclockwise, and on the equator: it just goes straight town, no turning at all...

After this we headed to Rwanda, and spent an entire day in transit. The bus from Kampala to Kigali (Capital of Rwanda) is about 8 hr. We took a night bus and got there in the morning. Claire had decided to check Gorilla trekking off her bucket list, we we headed straight out to do that. We were really lucky its slow season as usually the $500+ tickets sell out months in advance...but we got one for the next day. So we grabbed another bus (2 hr) out of Kigali and headed to the countryside of Ruhengeri. This town borders the Volcano national park which is famous for its string of amazing volcanoes approx 3000-4000m high as well as the Gorillas (this is where Diane Fossey did her studies). We crashed as soon as we got there and curled up in blankets...this was a first in East Africa as usually we sweat ourselves to sleep.

The next morning we were up at 6 and headed to the park. The Kiwi's had decided to stay in the city (Kigali) and Claire was preparing to head out for Gorilla trekking. Me and Graham decided to go hiking (as we couldn't afford the Gorilla trek). We got to hike an amazing volcano and as it is slow season, we got to have the guide all to ourselves! Total altitude: 3800m+, the highest I've ever hiked before...my cheaper version of Kilimanjaro! It was a lot of fun and really hard. Also, there is a reason it is slow season...its muddy muddy muddy! We spent half the hike coming down on our butts and were covered completely by the time we made it back. Really cool experience though.

After two nights there we headed to Lake Kivu, which borders the DR Congo (we could see it on the other side). This is a beautiful town and kinda like a resort town for rich Rwandans. Many super nice hotels and pools...we stayed in a church for $1.50 a night. We spent the day wandering the beaches then got the guts up to check out the DRC, which was only a 2km walk from town. After peaking over the boarder, we decided to ask about visas (just curious mom, I swear I was not going to actually go in...) It was interesting though, cause they only give you a visa for the city as each city is pretty much run independent, so to move around you would need a ton of visas, and UN protection!

A night there and it was time to head back to Kigali (the Capital). We had had a lot of fun but it was time to go to the Genocide Memorial. It was an amazingly well done museum and included real photos of people lost as well as info on other Genocides around the world. They had 1/4 million people in a mass burial on the site of the memorial. Very moving.

At this point the mood was very somber and only Graham and I continued onward (agreeing to meet up with everyone at the hostel that night). We took a bus out of town about 45 min to a church memorial where another 5,000 people had been killed. It was so extremely real. Most western memorials are always slightly removed, behind glass casing, well organized, and deliberately thought out. This just was. They had clothes piled up on either side and in the rafters and almost 1,000 skulls just sitting on a shelf in the back. You could clearly see some of their causes of death.

We were very glad we had saved this for last, as we were ready to head home after that. The next morning we left Rwanda and went to Kabale, Uganda for a day. Claire had gotten sick so we couldn't travel too far just yet. This town revived our spirits with its beauty. In the south/west portion of the country, its labeled the 'Switzerland' of Uganda. Rolling hills fully terraced from top to bottom line the edges of a lake filled with little islands. It is all green and beautiful. Three little kids came up to play with us so we did cartwheels and farting sounds (yes, a very universal past-time) with them, overlooking the lake. It was a much needed refresher and we all felt much better after.

The next 2 days were travel home to Moshi. We all had work on Monday and had to fight to get back in time. We left Kabale at 5am on Saturday morning and were on buses almost 34 hr straight (literally running between buses). It took 4 buses and another 4 stamps to get back, we had 5 hr sitting on a bus not going anywhere (broken, police ck points, ect) or driving up and down main street for 2 hours to fill the bus (we don't drive until we are full...ahhhhh!!! a very frustrating trip).

But we made it back to Moshi just in time for dinner (of which we were very thankful) and then all jumped in the shower and went straight to bed. Now its back to teaching and we are all happy to stay in one place for a while. Overall, it was an absolutely amazing trip and I was so happy I got to go with such good travel buddies.

Best to all and thanks to our guardian angels that looked over us during our travels...