camera traps

A few years ago I bought a couple of camera traps for one of my grad student's projects. I didn't think much of them but have since decided they are a blast. I brought them down to Mindo and set them up on a trail about 1.25 miles from our cabin, just for fun. The kids think it's a lot of fun to see what we can get. They work by attaching them to a tree and then they detect motion. Whenever they 'see' something move, they started taking pics. Here is some of what we have gotten so far. 

Might as well lead off with the best pic, a PUMA!!!

He must have been walking the trail as we got him in both cameras that night.

This is a tyra, sort of a very large weasel.

This is a red-brocket dear. This camera was set up about 18" above the ground, so you can get an idea of the size of these deer. They are much smaller than north american deer, more like a medium sized dog.

This was the other camera and the puma is sniffing the ground.

Opossum. Not too exciting but at least it's not dead on some road like most of them we see in Virginia.

Paca. Kind of a giant rat. I bet the puma loves these!

trip to the cascadas

A week or so ago the kids had Thurs and Fri off from school. As such, we took Friday and decided to go to the cascadas (waterfalls). These trails are super busy on the weekend so we took the opportunity to go then. To get to the trails one has to take a cable car across a valley. The ride is ~500m and you must be at least a few hundred feet up. The car is powered by a Nissan can engine and transmission. To go one way the 'driver' selects 1st gear and come back he selects reverse. The cable works on pulleys and winds around what would be the drive shaft. Pretty cool system and I'm glad he is using a reliable engine!

Riding in the cable car means holding onto your hat!

and it's lots of fun!

Amalia made friends with a damselfly.

Camilo ran downhill on the trails to get to the waterfalls. Back up was another matter.

Sitting on a rock to eat a snack.

Playing in the pool beneath the waterfall. You can see the bigger one in the background.

The water was quite cold but refreshing on a hot and sunny day.

Crossing on bridges like this is fun. Problem is that lots of wood is rotten being in the rainforest. These were well cared for and very secure.

Amalia caught a lizard which was very cool!

And we took the cable car back to our car and then drove back to town, probably 5 miles.

Here is a quick pic I took of the 'driver' and the whole mechanism. Pretty neat.

School uniforms

Finally got the uniforms all sorted out, with the exception of the shoes. Amalia only has to wear hers on Mondays. Other days she can wear sweats like Camilo. Camilo's class is the only one that gets to wear sweats everyday. I guess they figure it is hopeless trying to keep a bunch of 4 year olds clean! 

Frogs!

One the highlights of this area is the amphibian diversity. We actually have a little pond right in front of our cabin where we can go 'frogging'. This is one of the kids favorite past times! We are currently in the dry season so there aren't too many frogs around, be we still have found quite a few. Here are some pics.

This is probably the most common frog around right now, a cane or marine toad. They are currently breeding so we hear them calling every night. This male was calling in our hands!

The kids love to catch the toads. They are easy to catch and are quite cool!

Amalia and her toad.

Camilo wasn't quite as confident to hold one but did so anyway. Very concentrated!

This is a glass frog we caught right in front of the house. This area is a center of diversity for glass frogs so we should be able to find more species of them. Cool little guys!

This is a leaf-litter frog. There are quite a few around. They are small so can be hard to catch.

Here is some kind of tree frog, very cool.

A toad in a pond.

Another leaf-litter frog.

Since the toads are breeding we collected a bunch of eggs. Amalia counted out 39 exactly! They have hatched into tadpoles and we are following their development. Here they are about a week old. We will have to let some go as they develop but hope to have some all the way through metamorphosis.

School

Finally got a full uniform for Amalia and she wore it to school today. Her sweater is not part of the uniform but she likes to wear it to walk to school. They have to wear this official uniform on mondays. Other days they can wear sweats like Camilo (see below). Couldn't get Camilo to stand still for a pic but his uniform is simply grey sweat pants and sweatshirt over a white t-shirt. 

And here is the sign at the entrance to their school. 

Week 1 in Ecuador

Well it has been a full week that we have been in Ecuador and it has been eventful to say the least. We spent the first few days in Quito. We had to meet with people at the university, get visas, pick up my truck, etc. To make things crazier, Amalia got the flu or some such. It mostly resulted in a fever and her feeling miserable but her fever did go as high at 104. Being locked in a hotel room in Quito didn't help things as her brother was going crazy, the city is dirty and loud, and there isn't much to do when you are sick.

Moving to Mindo was a relief. Amalia was feeling better and the drive to Mindo is beautiful once you escape the sprawl of Quito. We stopped at the Pululahua crater north of town. Its a little tourist stop that has a nice view point on the edge of a crater. Quite spectacular view to look into a crater. The inside is all farmland now but you can definitely see the outline of the crater. Camilo thought it was cool to be on the edge of a volcano.

The drive from there to Mindo is long and very windy. The descent is probably 60km and goes from over 3000m elevation to around 1400m. There isn't a straight stretch of road so the going is slow and easy except that the crazy ecuadorians still drive like maniacs. Blind corner approaching? Who cares, got to make that pass!

Settling into living in Mindo has been pretty easy. The town is very small with a central square and lots of restaurants and such arranged around it. The main business is tourism so there are lots of people here on the weekends but its quiet during the week. We are starting to find our way around and have identified a local bakery, market, pharmacy etc. We have been getting loads of help from the people who own the place we are staying at. They have registered the kids for school, helped us find books and clothes, etc.

The biggest change in our lives has been enrolling the kids in school here in Mindo. They are going to the catholic school. It is private, but not in the american sense of the word. In fact, we haven't even been asked to pay anything which is kind of odd. Our kids are in 3rd grade and pre-school. Their grades don't directly align with ours but the kids are in with other students of their appropriate ages. Camilo's teacher is Susanah. She is very nice but strict, which is probably a good thing. Camilo is having a hard time adjusting and each day he does not want to go. Hopefully he gets better as he starts to make more friends. Amalia had a rough day the first day but since has been doing better and better. There is a girl in her class, Sabina, who has an american mom and she speaks perfect english. So it is easy for Amalia to get help from her. The teacher, Profesor Pedro is very kind and lets Amalia sit next to Sabina and talk to her in class. The highlight for Amalia has been soccer. Her first full day we went to pick her up while her soccer match was still going. She is by far the best player. She scored two goals and her team won. All the other girls worship her. Then the next day they had some kind of field day that meant they were outside all day and had a soccer match against another class. Amalia scored two more goals and her team won. She already has a reputation and parents and other students have come up to us and told us how great a player she is. In summary, Camilo started school fine but is having a hard time adjusting and Amalia was terrified the first day and is now looking forward to school each day.

The worst thing that happened all week was on my return trip to Quito last Wednesday. I drove in and got pulled over by the cops. Quito is trying to decrease congestion so on Wednesdays you cant drive if you license plate ends in 4 or 5. Guess who forgot? So I got pulled over and the truck was impounded. I had to pay a $106 fine and was supposed to pick the truck up the following day. To make a long story short, I went to the police station and begged some chief or something the release it early. He agreed to give it to me at 7:30pm after the traffic regulation ends. That meant I didn't get home until almost 10pm but at least I made it out of there. The good news that day was that I got a lot done. I got the truck's registration paid, got our visa stuff done, found school uniforms for the kids, etc.

Its been a long week but a good week and we are doing well!!!

Trip to Ecuador

As most of you know, we are moving to Ecuador from August 2013 until March 2014. This will be a sabbatical for Lisa and I and, probably more importantly, a chance for Amalia and Camilo to learn a new culture and a new language. 

The trip started August 15 with flights from Roanoke to Atlanta and finally to Quito. It was a long day and we didn't make it to our hotel until almost 2am. But it was all good. We spent yesterday visiting our host university and getting visa stuff done. Unfortunately, Amalia got sick and has a fever so we are grounded. Tomorrow we plan to move to Mindo to begin our new lives there.