La costa
Sábado, 31 de octubre
To begin our adventure to the coast, we convened at Quicentro at 8 o´clock in the morning. We were able to see our friends in the liberal arts program before they departed for the Oriente. The bus ride was quite an adventure in itself, including a dance party in the bus and various food-related accidents. We stopped at a very strange restaurant at which our waitress seemed incapable of understanding anything that either we or Tania said. For example, Tina ordered a Sprite but instead received a Coke or Tor who was the only person who was served his lunch in the correct order- soup then plato fuerte. After no receiving any dessert at this choice restaurant we stopped at a gas station for Ice cream. I got guanabana flavor mostly because it was just super fun to say the name. Beth got chocolate but went back to the bus to eat it alone. As we embarked, de nuevo, all of the ice creams were a drippin´ but Beth thought that she had devised the ultimate solution to this problem by sticking her arm out the window to let the helado drip freely. Sadly what she forgot was the puke/spit out the window phenomenon in which the liquid tends to splatter back. Needless to say, Beth was a deaf, chocolate mess that needed consoling. This came in the form of a hair wrap. Then after numerous hours of sleeping and almost falling out of my seat which our bus drivers driving, we arrived at la Estación Biomarina Congal. We were warmly welcomed by Andres and Tor, Katie and I took our personal tour of the nearby surroundings which included bird filled swamps and the nearby chicken coop. For dinner we met the other volunteers living at the reserve and feasted upon camarones and lentils!
Domingo, 1 de noviembre
The next morning we woke up quite early to make our way to Nuevo Muisne. From here we disembarked on a boat with our breakfast for the camaronera (shrimper) which is located in a mangrove forest. After a breakfast of pineapple, bread, ham, and cheese we had to tow the boat through the mangrove forest because the tide was low. This was quite a hilarious experience since we got stuck in the mud and Andres´ son straight up sat down in the mud on accident. We went on an expedition looking for howler monkeys (monos aulladores) in the little pieces of rainforest that remain in the area. We tracked the monkeys by inspecting fruta botada on the ground and observing bite marks out of this fruit. We found a little family of monkeys after a while. The guagua was so cute! After this we went to Isla Congal and learned about the four different types on mangroves (Red, Black, White and the terra firme Congal). Some of the species that live on the ground that is underwater during high tide have stilt roots in order to provide support. Later we went to Muisne on a rickshaw motorcycle, on which our driver was 20 years old. We stayed at the beach until it got dark and played in the waves, volley, and Frisbee.
Lunes, 2 de noviembre
We went to the beach in Mompinche with our new friends Christian Ugge, Jaime, and Willy. I was on a mission to try an authentic piña colada, and Esperanza, Annie and I succeeded in doing in this. A man walked up to us and said, “¿Oye chicas, concen a Andres?” basically just because we were gringas, but later became our personal bartender and kept asking us if we wanted more rum. When we returned to the beach we found Willy injured by a sting ray and Christian became his personal nurse. Later, for some cultural immersion, we visited the cemetery for Dia de los Muertos. The cemetery had a beautiful view of the ocean and there were various families visiting their decreased with flowers and food. After that we went back to the beach where Esperanza was pursued by an inebriated man in the ocean. For lunch I tried ceviche mixto for the first time! It was pretty good, but not as great as everyone had talked it up to be. We returned to the beach and I found a coconut shell and stick and made myself a strange Rafiki staff and coincidentally also had a towel cape. Before leaving, Claire and I enjoyed a delightful coconut juice. Later that night we went on an exploratory walk in the rainforest with one of the employees of the station. I saw hundreds of land snails the size of my fist and frogs from the size of both my hands to the size of my pinky nail. We also encountered a black and white striped snake, a cockroach, and several wolf spiders. Willy brought his machete while I was just fine with my headlamp. The diversity of nocturnal creatures that we witnessed was amazing!
Martes, 3 de noviembre
On Tuesday we woke up early and said our goodbyes to our recently made friends and set off for the journey back to Quito. This ride was slightly more energetic than before, with nearly the entire ride being a dance party, ranging from interpretive dance to gangsta rap. We stopped at a gigantic flammable hut for lunch and were served tiny portions. In order to try my fill up more, I decided to give Calde de Pata another try. Sadly, I could not accustom myself to the gelatinous texture of the cow hoof and remained hungry. A few hours later we arrived back home in Quito.
