23 March 2019
I am in mid-air above the sunlit tropical Atlantic, on the
way to Lima, Peru! I am on the way to meet one of my PhD students, Lynn Wilbur
from Sitka, Alaska, whom I inherited because her original supervisor left
Aberdeen. This is the reason why the department transferred her to me – and the
reason why the University is paying for the whole trip. She is working on
intertidal ecology in the south of Peru and how that is impacted by El Niño.
Afterwards, I will visit a former Ecuadorian MSc student of mine, Gabriela
Vinueza Hidalgo, who is now manager of a research station, Tiputini, which is a
shared facility between Boston University (USA) and the major Ecuadorian
university, in the middle of nowhere in the western Amazon. Life is interesting
for sure!
I left Aberdeen this morning at 6 am after a short night with
too little sleep, and after a stopover in Amsterdam Schiphol, I embarked on the
12 h flight to Lima.
(Make sure to view the images full screen!
Just click on them, then move forward with the cursor buttons)
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Leaving Amsterdam Schiphol AMS for Lima LIM - pictured here: the port of Ijmuiden
23 March |
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After a very long, diagonal trans-Atlantic flight - land in sight: the coast of Guyana and the estuary of the Rio Essequibo
23 March |
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Sunset above the Amazon rainforest, Brazil.
Note the altitude of the clouds, as high or higher than the flight path
of the aircraft (> 12,000 m): This is a typical feature around the
Equator.
23 March |
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Amazon rainforest, Brazil
23 March |
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Amazon rainforest, Brazil
23 March |
(A few hours later)
The aircraft is now above the Brazilian Amazon SW of Boa
Vista, and the high energy of air masses rising above the rainforest can
clearly be felt in the turbulences that we are flying through. Clouds here in
the tropical rainforest belt reach much higher up into the atmosphere than
elsewhere on the planet – in fact they almost reach the height of our flight
path at 40,000 ft! About an hour ago, I got spectacular views of the coast of
Guyana west of Georgetown and the estuary of River Essequibo.
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Landed in Lima, Peru:
Very tired, but all fine
23 March 2019 |
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View of the street in front of the guest house after getting up during my first morning in Peru
24 March |
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Miraflores, Lima
24 March |
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Miraflores, Lima
24 March |
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About to board the bus from Lima to Marcona
24 March |
24 March 2019
I landed at Lima International Airport, where a cab driver
(whom Lynn had ordered) waited for me and took me to the hostel where we
were staying. After sleeping only 2 h
the night before, I was glad to have my room and bed and a full night’s sleep.
We were staying in Miraflores, a pleasant part of Lima. After working on a
paper and e-mail in the morning, we went out for last shopping and changing
currency before going into the field, then headed back to our hostel and
relaxed a bit. We then took a cab to the nearby bus station, where we are now
waiting for our overnight coach trip to San Juan de Marcona (usually just called "Marcona") in Peru’s South.
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| Arrival in Marcona by bus in the early hours of 25 March |
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| Arrival in Marcona by bus in the early hours of 25 March |
25 March 2019
We left Lima at shortly after 9 pm by long-distance coach.
In the absence of a railway network, comfortable long-distance coaches are a
good way to travel around Peru. Despite the constant shaking, I had a large,
reclining seat which was quite comfortable, and I managed to sleep for most of
the trip. We reached Marcona around 5 am after an about 8 h trip, where we were
picked up by Marco, manager of the Reserva de la Punta San Juan, which was an
approx. 10 min drive from the town center. Even though it was dark, I already
got some key impressions of the place as we disembarked the pickup truck: the
dryness of the area, the shouting of numerous fur seals and the pungent smell
of guano, which had been one of the reasons why the first western settlements
were established on this coast in the 19th century. As we approached
the building of the reserve which was to be our home for the next week, a large
coyote crossed our path – probably preying upon seabirds.
After sleeping a few more hours, a lovely breakfast prepared
by Jasmin and Daniel, who both work at the reserve, awaited us (including a
large bowl of guacamole). Daniel, Lynn and I then went on a hike around the
reserve to familiarize myself with her study sites. It struck me how dry this
area is: In fact, this is the northern part of the Atacama Desert (most of
which is in Chile), which is considered (together with the Namib) the driest
desert in the world: Not a single green leaf could be seen, anywhere, and not
even dry plants of any sort! The reserve has large colonies of South American
fur seals (Arctocephalus australis),
Guanay cormorants (Leucocarbo bougainvillii)
and Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti). The
latter two are the bird species which have built the large guano deposits. Even
though these animals are close relatives of those which are common and which I
had often seen in the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego, they are very shy
in this part of the world and did not tolerate us coming very close: This is
probably testimony to human pressure, possibly hunting, which has left a mark
on their behaviour avoiding human interaction. Descending to the shore, we
walked through large, 10- 20 cm deep deposits of feathers and bird residues,
among an intense smell of guano. The water is very clear, with floating patches
of kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera - albeit with a slightly different morphology
than elsewhere, with smooth blades - and Lessonia
sp.).
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The
"guanera", former building of the guano mine. Now the guest house and
lab of the Reserve Punta San Juan. The stench of guano is everywhere!
And the fur seals are a very noisy bunch of neighbours, they can be
heard day and night.
25 March |
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The
"guanera", former building of the guano mine. Now the guest house and
lab of the Reserve Punta San Juan.
25 March |
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One of the rocks from which guano used to be harvested (note the stairs and footpath built for this purpose).
25 March |
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This is a moonscape, one of the driest places on Earth, and covered in guano!
There is a large colony of Guanay cormorants and Humboldt penguins.
25 March |
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Parts of the area are covered by thick deposits of bird feathers and guano dust
25 March |
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Parts of the area are covered by thick deposits of bird feathers and guano dust
25 March |
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Humboldt penguins and Guanay cormorants
25 March |
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This
afternoon, we went snorkeling. I was the first to enter the water and I
was alerted by the rest of the team (still on the shore) that I was
encircled by a group of fur seals which I had not noticed since I was
looking down! They were much closer than this, Lynn said that a big male
came up less than 1 m behind me!
H Vivian έχει δίκιο, κάποτε θα με φάνε λάχανο και θα γίνω μεζεδάκι!
25 March |
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Southern fur seal checking me out: Am I dinner?
25 March |
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Turkey vulture
25 March |
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Turkey vultures
25 March |
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Guanay cormorants
25 March |
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Guanay cormorants
25 March |
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Guanay cormorants and pelicans
25 March |
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Turkey vulture
25 March |
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Fur seal cub
25 March |
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Deserted cormorant colony in the coastal desert (outside the breeding season)
25 March |
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Turkey vultures
25 March |
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Daniel, one of the Peruvian students working at the reserve
25 March |
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Turkey vultures and penguin vista point
25 March |
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View of the coast at Punta San Juan
25 March |
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Coastal desert
25 March |
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Coastal desert with the wall surrounding the reserve - built in the 1990s in order to prevent unregulated guano harvesting
25 March |
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Sea lion view point
25 March |
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Sunset above the Pacific
25 March |
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Sunset above the Pacific
25 March |
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Sunset above the Pacific
25 March |
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Snorkeling survey
26 March |
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This
afternoon, we went snorkeling. I was the first to enter the water and I
was alerted by the rest of the team (still on the shore) that I was
encircled by a group of fur seals which I had not noticed since I was
looking down! They were much closer than this, Lynn said that a big male
came up less than 1 m behind me!
H Vivian έχει δίκιο, κάποτε θα με φάνε λάχανο και θα γίνω μεζεδάκι!
26 March |
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Fur seals next to me in the water
26 March |
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Dictyota kunthii
26 March |
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Southern fur seal checking me out: Am I dinner?
26 March |
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South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis)
26 March |
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Sea star
26 March |
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Lessonia trabeculata kelp
26 March |
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On another occasion, when I resurfaced, there was this pelican next to me...
26 March |
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On another occasion, when I resurfaced, there was this pelican next to me...
26 March |
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...and plenty of vultures like this one were waiting on the rocks above me. Oταν οι φώκιες έχουν τελειώσει το μεζεδάκι, οι γύπες είναι έτοιμοι να φάνε οτι μένει στα κόκκαλα μου!
26 March |
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Sea star
26 March |
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| 26 March |
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Dictyota kunthii
26 March |
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Macrocystis integrifolia (giant kelp)
26 March |
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Jasmin snorkeling
26 March |
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South American Fur Seals
26 March |
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Seabed at approx. 3 m depth
26 March |
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Sea star
26 March |
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Henri and Jasmin snorkeling with me
26 March |
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The tidal zone on the surrounding rocks
26 March |
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Snorkelling at Punta San Juan
26 March |
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Turkey vulture about to land on a cliff at sunrise
Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
26 March |
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Humboldt penguins and fishing boats
26 March |
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Birds on the shore
26 March |
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Pelicans and Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata)
26 March |
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Pelicans and Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata)
26 March |
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Band-tailed Gull or Belcher's Gull or Peruvian Gull
(Larus belcheri)
26 March |
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Pelican carcass
26 March |
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| 26 March |
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| 26 March |
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Two of Lynn's temperature loggers, attached to the rocks for long-term monitoring
26 March |
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Seal and turkey vultures
26 March |
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Lynn conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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Sea star in the intertidal
26 March |
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A piece of giant kelp
26 March |
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Lynn conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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Lynn conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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Lynn conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)
26 March |
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Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)
26 March |
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Turkey vulture
26 March |
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Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)
26 March |
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Guanay cormorants
26 March |
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Lynn and Daniel conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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Turkey vulture
26 March |
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Lynn conducting intertidal survey work
26 March |
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| 26 March |
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Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)
26 March |
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Sea lion
26 March |
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Sunset above the Pacific
27 March |
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The lab in the evening. Electricity for lighting is 12 V from a solar panel with battery.
27 March |
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Coralline red algae and Dictyota kunthii
27 March |
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Sea cucumber tentacles
27 March |
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Sea lion
27 March |
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Inca terns (Larosterna inca)
27 March |
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Scenery while snorkeling
27 March |
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The brown alga Colpomenia?
27 March |
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Lizard in front of the kitchen
27 March |
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Lizard in front of the kitchen
27 March |
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Today, a seemingly endless flock of Guanay cormorants flew northbound along the coast
27 March |
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Today, a seemingly endless flock of Guanay cormorants flew northbound along the coast
27 March |
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Today, a seemingly endless flock of Guanay cormorants flew northbound along the coast
27 March |
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| Turkey vultures waiting for food outside the kitchen |
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Typical residential houses in Marcona
27 March |
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Coast north of Marcona
27 March |
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Coast north of Marcona
27 March |
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The crew before another round of snorkeling
27 March |
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Unfortunately, plastic litter pollution is a huge problem also in Peru. Coast north of Marcona,
27 March |
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One of the few green plants which I saw during the week in Marcona, in this extremely dry desert! This is obviously a salt-resistant member of the Chenopodiaceae. Coast north of Marcona,
27 March |
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Seawater intake of the desalination plant owned by Shougang Hierro Perú, north of Marcona,
27 March
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Seawater intake of the desalination plant owned by Shougang Hierro Perú, north of Marcona,
27 March
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Seawater intake of the desalination plant owned by Shougang Hierro Perú, north of Marcona,
27 March
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One of my underwater encounters here: a crab overgrown with seaweed.
North of Marcona,
27 March
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Daniel and Jasmin returning from snorkeling,
north of Marcona,
27 March
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Lynn returning from snorkeling,
north of Marcona,
27 March |
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Daniel and Jasmin returning from snorkeling,
north of Marcona,
27 March |
29 March 2019
I am writing these lines during the lunch break on what
would have been BREXIT Day – for 2 years, since March 29, 2017, Theresa May,
Prime Minister of the UK, had announced “The UK will leave the EU on 29 March
2019”. I have just read the BBC News, thanks to Fernando allowing me to use
internet via his smartphone hotspot for a few minutes, and May’s “deal” has
failed again to secure a majority in the House of Commons. I am delighted,
because this means now a long delay to BREXIT, and quite possibly, no BREXIT at
all.
This has been a good 4 ½ days in Punta San Juan. The
research station and reserve’s guard house are a former guanera, the building
of a guano mine, overlooking several seabird cliffs, whitened by sun-baked
guano. Working days started at sunrise, with Lynn doing intertidal work on
mussel beds and associated communities, accompanied either by Daniel or myself.
In the afternoon, we would go snorkeling, for surveying seaweed communities
and associated invertebrates. We typically encountered numerous fur seals in
the water, who were very inquisitive and playful and seemed to approach me more
than the others in the team… In the
evenings, we would work on the materials collected, preparing herbarium
specimens and subsamples for DNA extraction. Usually we would also go to the
office of the Reserva Punta San Juan for connecting to the internet (since the
field station has neither internet, landline telephone, nor mains water and
electricity). We were well fed by Daniel, Jasmin, Carmen and Marco, who
lovingly cooked for us twice a day.
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| Breakfast, 29 March |
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| Breakfast, 29 March |
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Fieldwork supported by a drone.
Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 29 |
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Fieldwork supported by a drone.
Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 29 |
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Fieldwork supported by a drone.
Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 29 |
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Fieldwork supported by a drone.
Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 29 |
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Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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About to go snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Having fun in the waves - Snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Coming out of the water after snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Coming out of the water after snorkeling at Punta San Juan, Marcona, Peru
March 30 |
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Sunset above the Pacific
March 30 |
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Beer after work - outside the office of the nature reserve in town,
March 30 |
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| Hiking through the desert to a survey, 31 March |
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| Hiking through the desert to a survey, 31 March |
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How are we going to climb down to that shore for our survey?
31 March |
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How are we going to climb down to that shore for our survey?
31 March |
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How are we going to climb down to that shore for our survey?
31 March |
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How are we going to climb down to that shore for our survey? Seal cubs are blocking the footpath!
31 March |
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How are we going to climb down to that shore for our survey? Seal cubs are blocking the footpath!
Most of the seals here are tagged and numbered.
31 March |
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| Guanay cormorant |
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| Rock arch |
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| Inca terns (Larosterna inca) |
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| Rock arch |
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| Inca terns (Larosterna inca) |
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| Lynn conducting intertidal survey work |
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| Turkey vulture feasting on a dead seal |
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| Turkey vulture feasting on a dead seal |
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| Inca terns (Larosterna inca) |
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| Peruvian booby (Sula variegata) |
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| Peruvian booby (Sula variegata) |
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| Seals |
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Band-tailed Gull or Belcher's Gull or Peruvian Gull
(Larus belcheri) |
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| Inca tern (Larosterna inca) |
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| Inca terns (Larosterna inca) |
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| Lynn sorting samples during intertidal survey work |
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| Very intense swell prevented us from snorkeling today! |
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| Very intense swell prevented us from snorkeling today! |
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| Seal cub |
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| Seal cub |
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| [Help with the ID of this bird would be much appreciated!] |
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| Seal cub |
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| Nest boxes for Humboldt penguins: since they nest underground, this open landscape poses quite a challenge for them! |
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| Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) |
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| Crab in the intertidal |
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| Guanay cormorant or Guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Guanay cormorant nests in the desert (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) |
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| Happy Birthday, Lynn! |
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Jasmin Scholl Chirinos and Carmen Tucto Llaguento
29 March |
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This is how Would-have-been-BREXIT Day was honoured in the south of Peru!
29 March 2019 |
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| Selection of Peruvian beers |
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| Selection of Peruvian beers |
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Sunset above the Pacific
30 March |
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Reunion of the biologists involved with the reserve about Humboldt penguin research and conservation
30 March |
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| Turkey vultures |
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| One of the rocks from which guano used to be harvested (note the stairs and footpath built for this purpose). |
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| One of the rocks from which guano used to be harvested (note the stairs and footpath built for this purpose). |
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| Center of San Juan de Marcona |
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| Center of San Juan de Marcona |
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| Seen in the center of San Juan de Marcona: There is lot of potential for wind energy in the area! |
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| Center of San Juan de Marcona |
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| Tricycle taxis in San Juan de Marcona |
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| Tricycle taxi in San Juan de Marcona |
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| License plate on a tricycle taxis in San Juan de Marcona |
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| Tricycle taxis in San Juan de Marcona |
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| Residential housing in San Juan de Marcona |
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| Residential housing in San Juan de Marcona, in front of a large wind farm |
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| Outside wall of the Punta San Juan |
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| Adolescent seal |
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| Adolescent seal |
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| Adolescent seal |
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| Sunset |
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| Working in the lab (illuminated by my dive torch) during a power failure |
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These
Peruvian students here at the Reserva Punta San Juan are exceptional!
They wanted me to give them a lecture on Seaweed Ecology on Sunday
morning!!
31 March |
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...the audience even grew!
31 March |
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Fried banana for breakfast, delicious!
31 March |
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Breakfast
31 March |
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Visiting the seals for one last time!
31 March |
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The guanera: Tonight it's time to say goodbye to this magic place!
31 March |
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At the nature reserve office in Marcona,
31 March |
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| Humboldt penguin statues on the office of the nature reserve in town (Marcona) |
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| The Chicago Zoological Society and the Saint Louis Zoo have been generous donors to the Programa Punta San Juan which has e.g. enabled purchase of this 4WD |
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Jump-starting the car for going on a survey
31 March |
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On the way to Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Susana holding a sea urchin at Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Susana holding a sea urchin at Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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The brown seaweed Lessonia trabeculata drying in the sun at Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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The brown seaweed Lessonia trabeculata drying in the sun at Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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The whole team at Playa Huecos,
31 March |
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Driving from Playa Huecos to Marcona,
31 March |
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Seal cub
31 March |
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Seal cub
31 March |
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Jasmin with sea urchins,
31 March |
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Jasmin with sea urchins,
31 March |
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Farewell from Marcona - before a very tiring overnight bus ride back to Lima (soundblasted by an unwanted movie),
31 March |
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Arrival in Lima in the early hours of 1 April:
Feeling bad about our own plastic waste, we took it all back to Lima for proper recycling. |
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Building of Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Miraflores, Lima,
1 April |
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Miraflores, Lima,
1 April |
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Back to Lima after a week in the coastal desert wilderness in the south of Peru
1 April |
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Pre-Inka ruins by night: Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana is a great
adobe and clay pyramid located in the Miraflores district of central
Lima, Peru, built from seven staggered platforms
1 April |
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Dinner in Miraflores, Lima
1 April |
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Coffee in Miraflores, Lima, before heading out to explore more of Peru's capital
2 April |
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Miraflores, Lima
2 April |
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On the way to downtown Lima. There are 2 lines reserved for an express bus in the middle of this freeway.
2 April |
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Lima is choked by car traffic
2 April |
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Plaza de Armas, Downtown Lima
2 April |
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Plaza de Armas, Lima
2 April |
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Plaza de Armas, Lima Cathedral
2 April |
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Inside the Archbishop's Palaca, Plaza de Armas, Lima Cathedral
2 April |
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Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Guard in front of the Government Palace, Lima
2 April |
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Change of the Guard in front of the Government Palace, Lima
2 April |
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Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Pizzaro's grave in the Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Mural depicting the arrival of the Spaniards, above Pizzaro's grave in the Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Pizzaro's grave in the Cathedral of Lima
2 April |
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Government Palace, Plaza de Armas, Lima
2 April |
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Security personnel, downtown Lima
2 April |
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Security personnel, downtown Lima
2 April |
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Catacombs of Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Basílica y Convento de San Francisco, Lima,
2 April |
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Statue of Bolivar in front of the Congress of Peru in Lima, Plaza Bolivar
2 April |
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The Congress of Peru in Lima, Plaza Bolivar
2 April |
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The Congress of Peru in Lima, Plaza Bolivar
2 April |
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Lima
2 April |
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Fishing harbour of Pucusana,
3 April |
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Leaving the harbour of Pucusana for a dive,
3 April |
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Leaving the harbour of Pucusana for a dive,
3 April |
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Pelicans underneath a cliff near Pucusana, at our dive site,
3 April |
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Near Pucusana, about to start our dive,
3 April |
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Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Giant barnacles - seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Sea lion seen during dive near Pucusana,
3 April |
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White sea anemones and seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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White sea anemones and seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Sea star and seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Cliff near Pucusana,
3 April |
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White sea anemones and seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Shoal of sardines in the Pacific off Pucusana - one of Peru's natural riches!
3 April |
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Shoal of sardines in the Pacific off Pucusana - one of Peru's natural riches!
3 April |
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Shoal of sardines in the Pacific off Pucusana - one of Peru's natural riches!
3 April |
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| Sea anemone in the Pacific off Pucusana 3 April |
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Shoal of sardines in the Pacific off Pucusana - one of Peru's natural riches!
3 April |
 |
Seabed community near Pucusana,
3 April |
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Sea lions seen during dive near Pucusana,
3 April |
 |
Surfacing after our dive near Pucusana,
3 April |
 |
Our second dive, at the mouth of Pucusana's harbour inlet,
3 April |
 |
Macrocystis integrifolia (giant kelp), near Pucusana,
3 April |
 |
Dictyota sp.,
3 April |
 |
Dictyota sp.,
3 April |
 |
Macrocystis integrifolia (giant kelp), near Pucusana,
3 April |
 |
Our second dive, at the mouth of Pucusana's harbour inlet,
3 April |
 |
Macrocystis integrifolia (giant kelp), near Pucusana,
3 April |
 |
Codium sp., near Pucusana,
3 April |
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| The second site, being more sheltered, was very different from the first one. Large seaweeds dominated, and a multitude of fish species could be seen. Near Pucusana, 3 April |
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| The second site, being more sheltered, was very different from the first
one. Large seaweeds dominated, and a multitude of fish species could be
seen. Near Pucusana, 3 April |
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| The second site, being more sheltered, was very different from the first
one. Large seaweeds dominated, and a multitude of fish species could be
seen. Near Pucusana, 3 April |
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| Chiton snail, near Pucusana, 3 April |
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An invasive Caulerpa sp. in the harbor of Pucusana
3 April |
 |
Return to Pucusana,
3 April |
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The association "Lobos de Mar" (="Sea Lions") runs activities against marine litter pollution in Pucusana.
3 April |
 |
Tricycle on the northbound road from Pucusana,
3 April |
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Tricycle on the northbound road from Pucusana,
3 April |
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On the northbound road from Pucusana to Lima,
3 April |
 |
Farewell dinner in Lima,
3 April |
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Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana, Miraflores district of central Lima,
3 April |
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Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana, Miraflores district of central Lima,
3 April |
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Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana, Miraflores district of central Lima,
3 April |
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Huaca Pucllana or Huaca Juliana, Miraflores district of central Lima,
3 April |
4 April
I am once more in mid-air, today between Lima and Quito,
Ecuador. The time in Marcona came to an end 4 days ago. The Punta San Juan is a
magic place indeed. Living a week in this beautiful coastal desert wilderness
was very special and, what is important in the bigger picture, Lynn managed to
complete the intertidal surveys and get enough data to complete the write-up of
her PhD. A special moment for me was giving a talk about my diving expeditions
around the world, exploring marine biodiversity, to the scientists and students
at Punta San Juan. The electricity for the projector came from a
gasoline-powered generator, and as background music for my talk, one could hear
the waves of the Pacific breaking on the rocks beneath the guanera…
The last day, Sunday, we visited another very interesting
site, Playa Huecos, where Fernando, myself, two students, one local fisherman and I went
snorkeling. Large amounts of Macrocystis
pyrifera and Lessonia trabeculata
were spread out on the shore, drying in the sun prior to be sold off to
industry for alginate extraction.
We returned to Lima over night on the express bus – rather tiring
this time, since I was sound blasted with the unsolicited soundtrack of a movie
by a loudspeaker above me for the first 2 h.
Back to Lima, we spent a day visiting Universidad Cayetona
Heredia, and another day sightseeing in the historic city center – the Plaza de
Armas with the Palacio del Gobierno, Cathedral and Archbishop’s Palace. The
Cathedral contains the grave of Conquistador Francisco Pizarro – I found it
weird how revered he is, having recklessly destroyed the Inka culture and
empire, and leaving Peru’s First Nation inhabitants in centuries of foreign
domination. The nearby monastery of Basílica y Convento de San Francisco (Saint Francis
Monastery) left us deeply impressed - long walls of Moorish / Spanish
tiles, frescoes, carved woodwork, and the catacombs.
The next day, we still managed to go on two dives out of Pucusana, south of
Lima, which were spectacular. The area is the same kind of desert like what we
had seen near Marcona. Pucusana is a major
fishing harbour, home to part of Peru’s anchovy fishing fleet. The first dive took
us to a steep dropoff beneath the perpendicular cliffs on the open coast of the Pacific, outside
the inlet of Pucusana’s port. We saw large shoals of anchovies which attracted,
not surprisingly, many sea lions and fur seals, who kept buzzing us as divers. A second dive, in a sheltered bay in the inlet, showed us a beautiful giant kelp (Macrocystis) forest with a large diversity of smaller seaweeds and fish. Finally, when I went snorkeling at the pier outside the dive shed, I realized that the seabed
in the harbour is densely covered by what looked like the invasive green alga Caulerpa filiformis.
The day closed with a lovely Italian dinner with Susana and Bruno, without
whose support much of our work would not have been possible.
The day closed with a lovely Italian dinner with Susana and Bruno,
without whose support much of our work would not have been possible.
 |
Arrival by cab at Lima Airport in Callao,
4 April |
 |
Leaving Lima for Quito
4 April |
 |
Landing in Quito, Ecuador's high-altitude capital (almost 3,000 m)
4 April |
 |
At Aeropuerto Internacional Mariscal Sucre, Quito - about to board my flight to Francisco de Orellana / Coca
5 April |
 |
| Aircraft of the Ecuadorian Government at Mariscal Sucre Airport, Quito |
 |
Flying across the Andes: Mt. Cayambe (5,790 m; last eruption: 1786)
5 April |
 |
Flying across the Andes: Mt. Cayambe (5,790 m; last eruption: 1786)
5 April |
 |
| Another Andean volcano, seen in flight from Quito to Coca |
|
|
|
|
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| Another Andean volcano, seen in flight from Quito to Coca |
 |
| During the descent on the eastern side of the Andes, the visibility became quite poor as the aircraft passed through the dense cloud layer covering the lower ranges of the mountains and the Amazon Basin |
 |
Final approach to Francisco de Orellana / Coca. This city has developed only in the last few decades, mostly due to the oil boom in Ecuador's Amazon region
5 April |
 |
Landing in Francisco de Orellana / Coca in Ecuador's Amazon region
5 April |
 |
| Boarding the canoe in Coca, which was to take me and the students down the Rio Napo |
|
|
|
 |
| The
left bank of the Rio Napo. In the surroundings of Coca, much of the
old-growth rainforest has been cleared, but secondary forest covers most
of the area and some old trees remain. |
 |
| The
left bank of the Rio Napo. In the surroundings of Coca, much of the
old-growth rainforest has been cleared, but secondary forest covers most
of the area and some old trees remain. |
 |
| Near Coca, the Rio Napo is several kilometers wide and has numerous islands in it |
 |
| Since there are not many roads in this area, water buses (like this one), cargo ships and canoes (like the one we were traveling on) use the Rio Napo as the main traffic artery |
 |
| Settlement on the left bank of the Rio Napo |
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| Cargo ship on the Rio Napo |
 |
Loading the boat for the last leg of the trip on the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
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On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
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On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
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The Maxus Road crossing the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
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On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
On the Rio Tiputini,
5 April |
 |
Arrival at Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS),
5 April |
6 April 2019
Tiputini Biodiversity
Station, Rio Tiputini, eastern Ecuador
These have been a very eventful 2 days since I wrote the last
episode! A smooth flight took me from Lima to Quito, Ecuador’s high-altitude
capital. I stayed in a lovely guest house in the countryside near the airport,
which also made my departure the next morning easy. Coming from the heat of
Lima, the mountain air felt refreshing!
Yesterday morning, I boarded a flight from Lima to Coca, a small
town in Ecuador’s western Amazon and gateway to this region. I was picked up by
Javier, a staff member of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS), which is
managed by my former student Gabriela Viñueza Hidalgo (who had done her MSc
with me and Rainer Ebel in Aberdeen back in 2013). Together with a group of
Ecuadorian students from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and two
Colombian scientists, we boarded a long, slender river boat which took us ca. 2
hours downstream on the Rio Napo, until we reached an oil field of Spanish oil
giant REPSOL which, conveniently, has a pier and logistics facility on the
river. It struck me that we had to go through what looked like an
immigration-style passport / ID check and security control with all our
belongings being X-rayed and us having to walk through a metal detector gate – the
“authority” was not the Ecuadorian or some regional government, but REPSOL. There,
we were greeted by the TBS Manager and my former MSc student, Gabriela Viñueza
Hidalgo, and we transferred onto a pickup truck for the scientists and an open
bus for the students, and drove ca. 3 ½ h westwards on a dirt road built by
REPSOL in parallel to an oil pipeline, which runs all the way from the Amazon
across the Andes to the Pacific. On the way, we could see several settlements
of the native Huaorani, who
traditionally were nomads in this area but who have adopted a more settled life
style in villages. We stopped in one such village and bought a few artefacts
made from rainforest plants. Even from the road, one could clearly tell that a
more settled lifestyle of the population impacts the rainforest with numerous
clearings, fewer old-growth trees and an overall reduced diversity – even if
overall the area looks very green and forested! All this, even though we were
within the boundaries of Yasuní National Park. We finally reached a research
station of Ecuador’s other major university, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, where we
once more transferred onto a long river boat, and now drove down the Rio
Tiputini. This second boat ride took another 2 hours!
This area seemed pristine, with no further sign of human presence:
No further roads, clearings, settlements, powerlines, no more oil pipelines…
only sporadically a floating plastic bottle, likely being carried downstream
from one of the settlements.
We finally reached Tiputini Biodiversity Station, in a scenic
location in a bend of the Rio Tiputini. Considering the extreme remoteness, but
also the environmental sensitivity of this area, this facility is amazing: A
pier with a vista platform overlooking the river bend, a lab, administration
and library building (where I am writing these lines), a separate dining area
in a pavilion which is open at the sides, and further accommodation outhouses
one of which is my own for the duration of my stay here. All this is maintained
in a very neat, tidy state. Only organic waste remains in Tiputini, everything
else is returned to civilization for proper disposal. Amazingly, the
Library/Admin/Lab building has internet via satellite, to which visitors can
connect by WiFi. Of course the speed is lower than broadband DSL in a city –
but it’s still amazing, considering that this place is in the middle of the
Amazon!
After a long day, I retreated to my cottage. Electricity went off
a few minutes later, which means that I had candles and my dive LED light. The
sound of the rainforest at night is even more intense at night than at day time
– especially the countless insects like cicadas, occasionally with the song or
cry of a bird, or a screaming monkey. At first I thought, how would I sleep
with such loud noise and in this heat, but I rapidly fell asleep and had an
excellent, uninterrupted sleep until just before sunrise when other noises
started appearing.
Every day at TBS follows a regular pattern – breakfast at 6 am, lunch
at 12 pm, and dinner at 7 pm. Electricity is provided by generator twice per
day, from 10 am – 12.30 pm, and from 6 – 9.30 pm (which is enough for charging
camera batteries etc). In between, people go about their research and studies
in the rainforest.
I woke up by myself at about 5.30 am, when dawn together with a
change in the sound of the forest woke me up. After breakfast, Gaby, two
Colombian scientists and I headed into the jungle to familiarize ourselves with
the local biodiversity - which was my first-ever exposure to the Amazon Rainforest ecosystem. The biodiversity was overwhelmingly impressive. It is difficult to find words!
After a sumptuous lunch and a good siesta, we headed out again –
this time by boat up the river. On the way, we found a turtle in the water,
which we took onto the boat, where Gaby liberated it of about 10 ticks. We
landed about a kilometre upstream, secured the boat, and then hiked to a lake,
which is connected with the Rio Tiputini only when there is high water in the
latter. We used a canoe to explore the lake further, which featured … I spent some more time at the vista point
above the TBS pier, trying to spot a river dolphin which according to Gaby are
common in the area, but to no avail.
After dinner, José, a TBS staff member, took me on yet another
hike in the forest. I had to realize that with diving at day- or night time,
there is a huge difference in the animals that you get to see.
Besides an armadillo, we saw numerous frogs and toads, including a
beautifully coloured poison dart frog, a highly venomous coral snake, and two
large tarantulas. Some of the creatures from the worst of your nightmares!
To the arachnophobes among my friends: You can sleep well because I can
confirm that the tarantulas of your worst nightmares are not under your pillow
or blanket, but here in the Amazon rainforest around Rio Tiputini! Instead of
going to bed, I had a fascinating nighttime hike in the jungle with Jose, a
staff member of Tiputini Biodiversity Station, to whom I owe very special
thanks for this incredible experience. Besides two giant tarantulas, we came
across many other intere
sting critters including a
poison dart frog, a highly venomous coral snake, many other amphibians,
spiders, and an armadillo. In light of these many poisonous and biting animals
here, Vivian
would certainly say again, "Nα προσέχεις γαμώ το κερατό
σου, να μην γίνεις μεζεδάκι! Κάποτε θα σε φάνε λάχανο!"
This was the conclusion of a spectacular day, which started just before 6 am
and included several hikes in the jungle, a ride in a boat on the Rio Tiputini
and in a kayak on a nearby lake in the rainforest. I encountered numerous
monkeys, birds, lizards, frogs, insects, spiders, turtles...
 |
Tree in the rainforest with impressive buttress roots at TBS,
6 April |
 |
Close-up: Bats on the same tree
6 April |
 |
Close-up: Bat on the same tree
6 April |
 |
Tree in the rainforest with impressive buttress roots at TBS,
6 April |
 |
Diego, Gaby and Emmanuel at TBS,
6 April |
 |
| Gaby pointing out the fruit of a tree |
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Like for all other groups of biota here, the diversity of mushrooms is mindblowing
TBS, 6 April |
 |
Hiking in the rainforest
6 April |
 |
Centipede, near TBS
6 April |
 |
Flower of a shrub, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Fern of the Aspleniaceae, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Orobanche sp., a root parasite (without chlorophyll!)
6 April |
 |
Hiking in the rainforest
6 April |
 |
Hiking in the rainforest
6 April |
 |
In the rainforest, light levels on the ground can be very low!
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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Spiny palm in the rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
A termite burrow in the rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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The diversity of mushrooms was mindblowing! Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
The diversity of mushrooms was mindblowing! Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Caterpillar, rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Fire ant - don't touch! Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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Termite burrow, rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
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The diversity of mushrooms was mindblowing! Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Also, the number of different spiders looked amazing to me. Rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Dead leaf, rainforest near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Manikin (Pipridae) chick in nest,
Amazon rainforest near Tiputini Biodiversity Station
6 April |
 |
Rainforest near TBS (seen from the balcony of the TBS Lab Bldg),
6 April |
 |
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) scavenging organic waste near TBS,
6 April |
 |
About to leave for an excursion up the river.
6 April |
 |
| Going upstream on the Rio Tiputini by boat... |
 |
| ...when we found this turtle swimming in the river! |
 |
| Diego pulled it out for a closer look... |
 |
| ...it was not shy... |
 |
| ...the poor thing was infested by ticks! |
 |
| Which Diego removed skillfully... |
 |
| ...before, when we made landfall again, releasing it. |
 |
Gecko on a tree
6 April |
 |
Hiking in the rainforest
6 April |
 |
In the rainforest, upriver from TBS,
6 April |
 |
Spiny palm tree in the rainforest, upriver from TBS,
6 April |
 |
| Our hike took us to this secluded lake (which is linked to the river only during flooding events)... |
 |
| ...where TBS scientists have a canoe permanently moored. |
 |
| Led by Gaby, we then explored the lake by canoe... |
 |
| ...it was a sight like from another world, pristine rainforest, no humans... |
 |
| Gaby leading the excursion on the lake |
 |
Lake upriver of TBS,
6 April |
 |
Birds on a tree, on the lake in the rainforest, upriver from TBS,
6 April |
 |
On the lake in the rainforest, upriver from TBS,
6 April |
 |
Gaby and I hiking back to the shore of Rio Tiputini,
6 April |
 |
Diego untieing the boat on the bank of Rio Tiputini,
6 April |
 |
Boat ride back to TBS,
6 April |
 |
Boat ride back to TBS,
6 April |
 |
Even though this was only a single plastic bottle, its sight brought home to me that even here, there are human impacts. It may come from an oil facility or Huaorani village upriver. Boat ride back to TBS,
6 April |
 |
Boundary of Yasuni National Park, seen from Rio Tiputini,
6 April |
 |
| One of the TBS staff scientists explaining the fruit of tree |
 |
| A dead beetle taken over by fungi |
 |
| Another spiny palm tree |
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Rainfores near TBS,
6 April |
 |
| Capuchin monkey |
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Gaby watching monkeys
6 April |
 |
Rio Tiputini near TBS,
6 April |
 |
| Welcome to TBS! |
 |
Rio
Tiputini at sunset - from my vista point, I tried to spot one of the
river dolphins which I was told were common in the area, but to no
avail...
6 April |
 |
| Dinner at TBS, 6 April |
 |
Night hike in the rainforest: I got to see very different creatures on this occasion - like this tarantula!
Near TBS, 6 April |
 |
Toad seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Frog seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Spider devouring its prey, seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Cricket, seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
"Dead leaf", seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Tree frog seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Frog seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Cricket seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Spider seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Centipede seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Spider seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Tarantula seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Poison dart frog
At night in the Amazon rainforest near Tiputini Biodiversity Station
6 April |
 |
Poison dart frog
At night in the Amazon rainforest near Tiputini Biodiversity Station
6 April |
 |
Perfect camouflage! Seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Caterpillar seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Caterpillar seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Caterpillar seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Cricket seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
What is this? Seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Frog seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Millipede seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Centipede seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Spider? Seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Searching the rainforest for critters at night
6 April |
 |
Tailless whip scorpion (Amblypygi), seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
A highly venomous coral snake -
at night in the Amazon rainforest near Tiputini Biodiversity Station
6 April |
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A highly venomous coral snake -
at night in the Amazon rainforest near Tiputini Biodiversity Station
6 April |
 |
Harvester ant,
6 April |
 |
Cricket seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
Centipede seen during night hike, near TBS,
6 April |
 |
My chalet at night (no electricity, candlelight!)
6 April |
7 April 2019
Tiputini Biodiversity
Station, Rio Tiputini, eastern Ecuador
This is my 3rd and last night in Tiputini, which follows another exciting
day here. This Sunday started with a boat excursion to the Saladero, a cliff
with high salt and mineral content, where many wild animals come to enhance
their mineral nutrition. We saw over a hundred parrots gathering there - and on
the way back, a large Amazon tapir c
rossed the path
of our boat!
 |
Boat excursion down the Rio Tiputini to a saladero at sunrise,
7 April |
 |
Sunrise on the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
 |
Green parrots at the saladero on the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
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Green parrots at the saladero on the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
 |
Gaby and I watching parrots from the boat,
7 April |
 |
Green parrots at the saladero on the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
 |
Tapir crossing the Rio Tiputini in front of the boat,
7 April |
 |
Prof. Cecil Kelly Swing, founder and director of Tiputini Biodiversity Station,
7 April |
 |
In order to illustrate the low visibility, I held my underwater camera ca. 15 cm from the root of a tree in the Rio Tiputini. A challenging environment for divers!
7 April |
 |
Bat on a tree, TBS,
7 April |
 |
Breakfast on Sunday morning,
7 April |
 |
My chalet at daylight,
7 April |
 |
My chalet at daylight,
7 April |
 |
Rainforest at TBS,
7 April |
 |
Boardwalks connect the buildings of TBS, since the ground of the forest is very muddy
7 April |
 |
| TBS, 7 April |
 |
The Lab Bldg, TBS,
7 April |
 |
Rest area and water storage tower, TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree fungi, near TBS,
7 April |
High above the canopy of the Amazon
rainforest
In the afternoon, Gaby and Diego showed me a canopy tower, 45 m / 150 ft
high, which allows accessing a platform in a towering, very old tree. The steel
tower itself is built by TBS, but it is host to a CO2 flux monitoring station
developed and funded by the US Forest Service, which will soon go online – the
only such facility in all of Ecuador (there are less than a handful in all of
Brazil, one in Colombia and one in Peru)! Measurements from such facilities are
obviously very important to determine the effectiveness of different forest
types as carbon sinks.
 |
Canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Climbing up the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Climbing up the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Gaby and Diego servicing the CO2 flux measuring station on the canopy tower, near TB.
The top of the canopy tower contains a weather station,
solar panels and CO2 flux sensors (funded by the US Forest Service)
7 April |
 |
View from the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
View from the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
View from the platform of the canopy tower to the forest floor, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
A large yellow-blue parrot - view from the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
Tree epiphytes on the platform of the canopy tower, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
View from the platform of the canopy tower to the forest floor, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
| Camera trap deployed on the platform of the canopy tower by Diego |
 |
| Camera trap deployed on the platform of the canopy tower by Diego |
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| Camera trap deployed on the platform of the canopy tower by Diego |
 |
| Gaby and I on the platform of the canopy tower by Diego |
 |
View from the platform of the canopy tower to the forest floor, near TBS,
7 April |
 |
At the buttress of the old tree which is the basis of the platform of the canopy tower , near TBS,
7 April |
 |
| What is this?? |
 |
| Diego's camera trap deployments have revealed much of the megafauna of the area, which would otherwise be mostly invisible to humans - like this jaguar! (Photo from Diego's evening talk at TBS, 7 April.) |
In the evening, I participated in another boat ride up the Rio Tiputini,
searching for caymans - and we were lucky, we found two of them lurking in the
water!
 |
Cayman in the Rio Tiputini.
Can you see the protruding front teeth? Lovely, aren't
they?
Vivian was right: "Φίφη, κάποτε θα σε φάνε λάχανο, θα γίνεις
μεζεδάκι!"
7 April |
 |
Top predator: Cayman lurking in the
Rio Tiputini at night!
7 April |
 |
Watching caymans in the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
 |
Cayman in the Rio Tiputini,
7 April |
 |
| Lizard on a tree, TBS7 April |
I am leaving this magic place tomorrow morning by boat, then again on the
dirt road until the REPSOL terminal, and then another almost 2 hr boat ride
until we will reach Coca. From there, a TAME flight will take me back to
civilization, to Quito, in the evening.
In the evening, Diego Mosquera gave a very interesting talk in the TBS library about his research with camera traps in the surroundings of TBS. These amazing and now relatively affordable devices have been able to confirm the presence of 5 species of
cats including jaguars and ocelots and other megafauna in the area - animals which are otherwise very hard to see by humans.
It struck me that the night sky in the east was red – which is due to large gas flares of recently-started oil wells of the Yasuni-ITT project. This does not only damage the rainforest, flaring of "stranded" natural gas (because of lack of suitable infrastructure to transport it out of the area, unlike the oil also releases very significant amounts of greenhouse gases. Globally, the greenhouse gas emissions from such flaring is of a comparable order of magnitude as that of global aviation - but the public takes very little notice of this problem.
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Farewell dinner at TBS,
7 April |
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Birthday party at TBS,
7 April |
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Diego and Gaby in the TBS office,
7 April |
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| Leaving TBS after sunrise of 8 April. The students were very sleepy. And, it is not always hot in the Amazon region as can be told from the clothing and blankets! |
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| Leaving TBS after sunrise of 8 April |
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Cayman on the bank of the Rio Tiputini,
8 April |
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Reaching the Maxus Road on the Rio Tiputini,
8 April |
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Boarding the bus for the return trip at the field station of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador,
8 April |
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Huaorani village in a clearing in the forest,
8 April |
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Huaorani village in a clearing in the forest,
8 April |
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REPSOL facility at the roadside,
8 April |
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The second canoe ride of the day, on the Rio Napo up to Coca,
8 April |
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| Arrival at Coca, 8 April |
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Boarding the TAME flight to Quito at Coca Airport,
8 April |
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Leaving Coca for Quito,
8 April |
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Arrival in Quito at sunset,
8 April |
8 April 2019
Quito, Ecuador
I am back to civilization, a lovely guest house on the outskirts
of Quito where I had already stayed last Thursday. But I am already missing the
pristine rainforest in Tiputini. I woke up this morning, again about half an
hour before sunrise at 5.30 pm, when the forest concert changed to different
musicians and tunes – from the cicadas, frogs and monkeys of the night to numerous birds closer to sunrise. After a quick breakfast, it was sadly time to leave. We boarded again the canoe, traveled up the Rio Tiputini, then transferred onto vehicles, and drove on the Maxus Road to the Rio Napo, and then on another canoe up the river to Francisco de Orellana. After a snack there, I went to the airport and boarded an evening flight which took me back to Quito.
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Driving from Tababela into downtown Quito
9 April |
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| Quito, 9 April |
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| Hiking on the Pichincha Volcano (the cable car goes up to almost 4,000 m!), 9 April |
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| Hiking on the Pichincha Volcano (the cable car goes up to almost 4,000 m!), 9 April |
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| Hiking on the Pichincha Volcano (the cable car goes up to almost 4,000 m!), 9 April |
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| Hiking on the Pichincha Volcano (the cable car goes up to almost 4,000 m!), 9 April |
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Downtown Quito,
9 April |
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Downtown Quito,
9 April |
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Downtown Quito,
9 April |
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Downtown Quito,
9 April |
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Indigenous women, downtown Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Cathedral in Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Recycling and waste bins, Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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Quito,
9 April |
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In front of the guest house in Tababela, suburb of Quito, where I stayed for 3 nights
10 April |
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Stopover in Guayaquil on the Pacific coast of Ecuador,
10 April |
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Stopover in Guayaquil on the Pacific coast of Ecuador,
10 April |
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Stopover in Amsterdam on the way back to Aberdeen: the port of Ijmuiden.
10 April |
10 April
In flight from Guayaquil GYE to Amsterdam AMS
I am once more writing in mid-air – in the skies above Colombia,
flying back to Amsterdam – tomorrow early afternoon I will land there. I spent
my last day in Ecuador visiting its capital – the volcano Pichincha, which can be
reached by cable car, and then the historic city center. From the upper cable car station on Mt. Pichincha, I hiked for about 2 h at around 4,000 m altitude. I clearly felt the effects of the thin air on my physiology! In the later afternoon, Esteban (a member of the family owning the guest house in Tababela), showed me downtown Quito with many picturesque, colonial historic buildings on foot. The amount of gold decor in several of the churches was amazing. I had to think that the Conquistadors certainly did not mine it themselves!
This trip was another highlight, it has taken me to two countries which I had not visited before, Peru and Ecuador, and, especially, to the Amazon Rainforest. I feel incredibly lucky and privileged being able to do things like this - and I would like to thank the wonderful people who have enabled me to have this experience: Lynn, Jasmin, Susana, Bruno and Marco in Peru, and Gabi, Diego, and Cecil in Ecuador.
Epilogue
Especially the impressions of my trip to the Amazon have to be seen in the wider socio-economic context of Ecuador. The Huaorani Indians, whom I met in the Yasuni area, had violently resisted outside contact until the late 1950s, culminating in the events of Operation Auca during which 5 American missionaries, attempting to make contact, were speared to death on the banks of the Rio Curaray (the next major river south of the Rio Tiputini). Their widows pursued the work of Christianization, which resulted in around 80-90% of the Huaorani tribe abandoning their nomadic life style and settling in villages in the area which I visited on this trip. About 10-20% of the tribe, however, did not follow this transition and remained nomadic. Called Tagaeri (after Tagae, their leader), they violently resist any attemot of contact by outsiders - together with another uncontacted tribe, the Taromenane. The Ecuadorian Government has set up the "Zona Intangible" (the "untouchable zone") to protect these uncontacted First Nations, but it has, in recent years, reneged on this, by opening up part of the area for oil development and production - notably within the framework of the Yasuni-ITT project. My readers will wonder, why does the Ecuadorian Government not afford the highest level of protection to this area, given that this may well be the most diverse (in terms of number of species per unit area) rainforest area in the world? The sad reality is that
35% of Ecuadorians live under the poverty line and that oil exports provide 1/3 of the country's export revenue. After several bankruptcies which came with the inability to access the international financial markets, Quito has looked increasingly to China as a major source of
credit – including loans that are supported by crude oil deliveries. Indeed, China’s aggressive quest for foreign oil has reached a new
milestone, according to records reviewed by
Reuters, by achieving near monopoly control of
crude exports from Ecuador (an OPEC nation), a rare feat in today’s diversified oil market. Shunned by most lenders since a $3.2 billion debt default in
2008, Ecuador now relies heavily on Chinese credits. Very sadly, developing oil in the area meant
losing an aid package by the German Government which would have meant
leaving the Yasuni-ITT area untouched for the long term in exchange for $ 3.6 billion to which Germany was willing several hundred million $ as part of its global efforts to combat climate change.
