Jungle Vacation

In mid-January, we took our vacation to the third region of Ecuador: the jungle. Yes, we've supposedly lived in the jungle throughout our two years here, but this was our chance to go "muy adentro"--way far in. We took two days to hike through Jatun Sacha (which means "big jungle" in Kichwa) with our guide, Fabio (not the margarine-eater that's on your romance novels).

Standing in front of a ceibo tree.

This is Where Your Trash Goes

Part of our coastal vacation included a trip to visit a fellow Peace Corps volunteer in Esmeraldas. Isaac helped him with a tourist mapping project (that will hopefully be up soon for all to see and use!), and we also got roped into doing a beach cleanup (I say "roped in" only because we thought we were going to see the mangroves, didn't, and ended up stranded on a beach with our guide and a bunch of trash bags--but it was okay!)

I've heard a lot about the Pacific Garbage Patch and the baby albatrosses who fill their stomachs with plastic. I've taught how "all our litter eventually ends up in the ocean" (which is hyperbole, but not really). But I didn't actually GET it until I saw the beach in Muisne.

I don't want this blog to be a giant guilt-fest--there's enough of that elsewhere, and I don't know if it's particularly helpful or healthy. I do want to share some photos and some of the thoughts I had while working on the beach so that you can maybe think my thoughts with me.

Let's start with a pretty landscape of the beach.

Foto Friday: Monos en Misahuallí

Usually foto Friday is just one picture, but there's so many good ones that I can't pick. So you get some yapa this week. These photos are taken in a tourist town about an hour from Santa Clara. If you come visit us, we'll take you there.

Kirstie chasing Golem

If you have ever been around monkeys, you know they are always looking for food...

...Even if it means stealing someone's snow cone.

But they don't stoop to eating logs.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

..Isaac..

Foto Friday: The Angry Jungle Goat

Meet Kirstie's friend-goat. He likes to fight Isaac.

Foto Friday: Momotus momota

A blue-crowned motmot (Motmotus momota), also known as a culebrero, near Canoa, Ecuador.

Vacation to the Coast!

We finally made it to the coast! We took about a week and a half off from our activities here in the jungle and made the fifteen-hour bus journey to help a friend with a tourist mapping project (more about that visit in a future blog) and then head down to Puerto Lopez to chillax on the beach.

Snail trails on the beach in Puerto Lopez.

Creepy Crawlies of Ecuador, vol. 2 (Extra Creepy)

Happy Halloween! We thought it appropriate to share a dose of jungle-creepiness with you this year to celebrate. These are some of the more bizarre, terrifying, and weird insects we've snapped on camera during our journeys through the Amazon.

(If you missed it, you can check out volume 1 of Creepy Crawlies here.)

We'll start with one that isn't TOO terrifying. It may look cute and fuzzy, but these furry guys are not for petting. Ecuadorians tell us: "Esos pican." Those ones sting!

Read on... IF YOU DARE!!!

Foto Friday: This is Where Milk Comes From

Foto Friday: Door Frog

Fatty and the Bulgers 2: Ready to Fly!

Well, it's that time again. The kittens have grown to monstrous proportions, are eating us out of house and home, and are ready for new adventures.

UPDATE: Thanks to our friends Bertha and Nancy for helping us find good homes for all the kittens! Humpty's getting cuddled to death by Nancy's kids, and the girls are in their new jungle homes looking for tasty rats to eat!

The Bulgers are watching... UP YOUR NOSE!!!

Foto Friday: Horses

It's not just us! It seems like everyone in town has caught horse fever!

Germán takes part in the town's celebration.

Carlos and Joesi also take to the ring. They're fast!

Here's Joesi again, getting some help from Isaac during a training day. The high school kids learned some basics of dressage, which is like dancing.

Robinson ("Copy") and Estrella working on some moves. (We should mention that Copy's attire--shirt up over the belly and pants in danger of slipping off--is the style here, for both young and old men.)

 This post is part of the Forest and Farm series.

Video viernes: Double Yolk

We slacked off the last two weeks and didn't post a photo on Friday, so this week you get a video instead.

Foto Friday: Fatty and the Bulgers

Meet Fatty and the Bulgers (a.k.a. Chicken the very pregnant--again--cat). Her swirliness makes it hard to see, but she looked like she swallowed a melon at the end of it.

 Kirstie and a black and white Bulger, the only one that isn't tabby like its mom (although the black parts might be tabby--we won't know for sure until it's a little bigger).

Isaac and a little, tiny Bulger! They were born on Tuesday night. This is the noisy one.

Kirstie and the third Bulger. You can see their little makeshift cave in the back. Go recycled building materials!

Five points to anyone who can guess why they're Fatty and the Bulgers.

..kirstie..

 This post is part of the Forest and Farm series.

Foto Friday: Chocolate Kisses

Chocolate the pony is very affectionate.

What's a watusa?

Time for a food blog! Today we're introducing two Ecuadorian foods: cuy and watusa, two animals that you might not think belong in this jungle country.

Most people have heard of cuy before. It's English name is... GUINEA PIG! It's really popular in the mountains, and is one of the quintessential native Ecuadorian foods, despite their cuteness.

Guinea pigs.
Photo by Kirstie Bickford.

Chicken's Kittens

About two months ago, a stray cat started hanging out around our house. At first, she was terrified of us, but we produce a lot of chicken bones, and she liked to watch our chickens, so she stuck around (and got herself the name Chicken). Some of you may remember her from Isaac's blog Stalked at Night.

Chicken the Cat with a kitten and the chickens.
Photo by Kirstie Bickford.

As luck would have it, she was pregnant. (A story blog about that will be coming soon to I Have Girl Parts, my sister blog.) She gave birth to four kittens the day after Thanksgiving, November 23, making them six weeks old as of January 4.

Chickens are fun

Because protein-rich foods like meat, legumes, eggs, and milk products are relatively expensive here, we decided to buy some chickens for eggs and meat production. You can visit our post with pictures on Back Yard Chickens.

..Isaac and Kirstie..

 This post is part of the Forest and Farm series.