How our Activities have Changed

During our first visit to Ecuador in 2017, I bought a field book, The Birds of Ecuador. Since moving to Loja, I have been eager to learn about the birds in this area. But my bird watching has changed. I hear their songs, see them fluttering in the trees, but I certainly never thought I'd be sharing this activity with my cat, Coral, from our apartment windows!

What do we see from our windows and balconies? Many Ecuadorian ground doves, various sparrows like the rufous-collared sparrow, yellow finches (I may have seen the saffron finch), the golden grosbeak and a beautiful rust-coloured bird who I've yet to identify. There are short-tailed hawks soaring above us and at dusk we always see and hear the very vocal pacific parrotlet flying to their nests in small groups. I can't wait to leave my cat behind and head out to some local birding sites. Loja, and a nearby town, Copalinga, are touted as great bird watching locales.

"A V-8 a day, keeps the doctor away", was my daily motto at lunchtime at the South Arm Community Centre. Now, I make my own juice to my liking! It is a V-6 or sometimes a V-7 jugo depending on what is fresh at the local market but it always includes a pimiento rojo picante! This change is an activity I intend to keep.

I had been regularly enjoying fresh flowers. (Bouquets cost $3-5, with fresh roses being 25-50 cents each!) These days I've become the 'crazy gringo' who forages for colourful vegetation and wild flowers from alongside the river.  This may get me arrested, so this activity needs to change.

My weekly visit to the local grocery store, Gran Aki. I'm about to get sprayed with disinfectant. We get sprayed, our temperature checked, given hand disinfectant and then we walk through a tub of disinfectant solution to then get inside where a recently disinfected shopping cart awaits us!
This performance can't change soon enough!
But from the local news, sounds like we'll be doing this for awhile still.

Dylan's activities have changed too. His last walk of the day is at 1:30 pm (Ecuador's toque de queda is 2pm to 5am) so to keep him stimulated for the remainder of the day, he has his toys. Well, these toys are no longer. They are chewed up bits of rope or bone that have disintegrated to being too small for any enjoyment. I have been keeping my eyes open for larger sized dog toys, which are difficult to find since most of the pet dogs are of a smaller size. But I got lucky, or I guess I should say, Dylan got lucky last Friday...

We are doing fine but keen to change our activities as you read in the previous blog by Ken. I am baking sweet pastries (known here as pasteles) more than I have ever done so in my life. In fact, I used to say I didn't have a sweet tooth. Things have got to change before my size does!

Blogging?

  When we started this blog we sent out a note to our friends to say we were up and running. Part of that message was, "I may regret this". I think I am already there. I have never done well under pressure and this is pressure!! Thinking of something to put in a blog is one thing, sounding  somewhat intelligent while doing it is another.  So today, if it's alright with you, I will gleefully abandon that idea.
  The first time I saw this view from our back window, the virus was not around, or at least it hadn't affected us much. I thought I could still go out and find interesting things to talk about and take pictures of. Then I would upload our fabulous new life and all of you would be terribly jealous and wonder why you weren't doing something similar. I would then sit here being smug, an attitude I have perfected over the years, at least so my friends tell me. But unfortunately for me, and probably fortunately for you, that has not been the case. The only time I am outside is at 6 am when I take the poor trapped dog for a walk. Not a soul on the streets and the light is bad for pictures.  After breakfast I sit around reading or corresponding with the few people who haven't written us off completely, and then at 1:30 pm it's dog walking time again before the 2 pm curfew when everyone has to be off the street. You can imagine how exhausted I am by that time, so a nap is now required. Then it's more reading and browsing the internet where I pick up some bizarre bits of info that are of no use or importance to anyone and that I will casually throw into a conversation at some later date whilst wearing the smug look referred to earlier. Then for awhile I gaze out the window, at the view above, and ponder whether it is worth even getting up tomorrow, until it's time to turn on the news and see how everyone else is coping. That tends to bring up waves of guilt as I realize that we are incredibly fortunate to not have to stress about where our next meal is coming from or how to pay the electric bill this month. So now I have to turn on You Tube and watch some funny dog or cat videos to distract myself. By now the burden of all that guilt is enough to make me switch to Netflix and start watching something like "Better Call Saul" so I can see someone who is even more screwed up than I am.
Then I look at the dog and he's got that, "I have to

cross my legs for HOW LONG?" And the guilt
comes flooding back.  With it comes the realization that I have accomplished nothing today, even with all the extra time the pandemic is giving me. Maybe I should go out to a bar and mingle, get the virus and then people would feel sorry for me and overlook the fact that I must have been a huge disappointment to my long suffering parents. But nothing is open and everyone else IN THE WORLD is inside weaving, or studying astrophysics, and is going to emerge from this lock-down a new and better person. I will just be a bearded fat guy who has read every John Sandford book.  Is being an expert on the adventures of Lucas Davenport a saleable commodity? So now I go back to the office (yes, we have an office!! Oh the shame!) and I think about what I should Blog about.  As I gaze at the view below absolutely NOTHING comes to mind and I am now frozen with self loathing.  Maybe tomorrow I will start an exercise program.....or get back to my Spanish........ or start on online course ...........or write to..........

I CAN do better....I MUST do better.....I WILL do better...........Oh, are you still reading? Good Night.

WISHING

Gazing, dreamily, out our office window, wishing I was in the mountains. 

However, I think, hope is on the horizon for all of us.

On March 8th I hiked (and climbed) in Podocarpus National Park near the eastern range of the Andes. This bio-diverse park spans over 1400 km2 through 3 provinces that includes Loja. It is  a protected area, recognized by UNESCO, of cloud forests, moorlands and scrub lands with magnificent vistas.

I didn't know what to expect so I mentally and physically prepared myself for anything and everything. I went with 18 people from the gym I had joined. We had a guide, one of the park rangers, and everyone was extraordinarily fit (or, at least I thought they were).

Perhaps because of the pace of the hike, perhaps because of the altitude, or perhaps because I had overestimated my stamina, after one hour I realized that this was going to be a more grueling "hike" than I had expected. We hiked and climbed with ropes 3000 metres above sea level (Loja is already 2100 metres) with breath taking views along the way. (I was certainly huffing and puffing!) But it was indeed fabulous. We hiked through what I call jungle-like terrain and swampy areas with such interesting flora and fauna. As we climbed further up into the clouds the air got thinner and the temperature cooled. I soon began hearing the "60 Minutes" theme - tick, tick, tick, tick... I finally asked someone what it was (once I assured myself it wasn't my heart beat) and was informed it was a tiny frog that lives high in the mountain terrain. I never did see one, but we kept hearing them as we climbed higher. 

As the hike progressed, continuously up, our gang broke into 2 groups. (Yes, I'm happy to say I stayed near the front of the pack and I was by far the oldest). I was relieved and truly impressed with how everyone helped one another with the ropes. At times the bigger muscle dudes would grab hold of our hands to help assist us up the steeper climbs. Everyone was encouraging and made sure no one was left far behind. I couldn't have wished for a better group.

Unbeknownst to me, Juan (Mr. Ecuador and the gym owner), was behind us carrying one of the ladies on his back. He carried her for at least a kilometer up the steepest parts of the hike. And, he had knee surgery 5 months ago! 

It was a fantastic, exhilarating day. I couldn't have wished for better. This was the first hike they had done together as a group from the gym. We all agreed to do another hike in two weeks time. Sadly, life has changed and now all we can do is gaze out our windows... and wish. 

Here are a few photos from my first hike in Ecuador, wishing for more...

BUT LUCKILY

As I sit here in isolation, along with everyone else on the planet, I can't help but think how lucky we have been. I know that sounds counter intuitive but traveling to Ecuador could have been disastrous. We arrived here on Jan. 19th with five huge overweight suitcases, a dog, a diabetic cat, and sundry other bits and pieces. When we got passed through customs and immigration in Quito we discovered that our onward flight to Loja wouldn't take us, because there was no pressurized luggage compartment for the dog, even though we had booked and paid and they had confirmed the dog on our reservation! BUT LUCKILY there was a cab driver outside the terminal who said he could get a van the next day, pick us up at our hotel, and drive us to Loja. And he did! Mind you it was a twelve hour wild ride through the mountains, in the rain, and required a overnight stop in the middle of nowhere when I insisted on not going any further that night. BUT LUCKILY part of the trip was through Banos, a resort town with waterfalls and jungle tours that was fascinating.

Dylan did NOT ride on the roof!!

Then we arrived at our Air B&B which could have been less than ideal BUT LUCKILY turned out to be even better than expected. I had booked for a month so we could spend time looking for a long term rental. In Ecuador there are only a few centralized places that have rental listings online. Apartments come as furnished, semi-furnished and unfurnished. Furnished is as you would expect, in some case including linens and all. Semi-furnished comes with a fridge and stove and not much else. Unfurnished comes with...nothing !!! One place we saw, the landlord took us to the "kitchen". It was and empty room! No cupboards, no counters, no plumbing, no sinks....nothing. Mind you, for a 1200 sq ft, two bedroom apt, blocks from the center of town, in a good neighborhood, the rent was $200/mo. All you had to do was build a collapsible kitchen so you could take it with you when you left.
The usual way to look for apartments here is to go to a neighborhood you think you might like and start walking around looking up at buildings for signs in windows advertising apartments for rent. Then you take down the phone number and call. Easy Peasy when your Spanish is limited to "Hello", "Goodbye" and "How much?" So we set out to look knowing we had a month to find something.
BUT LUCKILY, on the second day, we were walking by a brand new empty building with Se Vende
(For Sale) signs in the apartment windows. There was a man coming out of the building and I said to him in barely intelligible Spanish, "Too bad they are for sale, we're looking for something to rent."
He looked us over and then beckoned us inside and the short story is we are the proud renters of a lovely, new, slightly better than semi-furnished, three bed, three bath apartment. We had to buy a few things like cutlery, flatware, a bigger bed and a washing machine, BUT LUCKILY the landlord threw in a new big screen TV and microwave, all for $350 a month including water, electric, high-speed internet and cable TV.
So now we had to buy stuff for the apartment, sign up for phone, get a bank account etc.  BUT LUCKILY Sharon had signed up at a gym near our Air B&B and it was run by Mr Ecuador, a body builder who had lived in New York for years and spoke English. He took a shine to Sharon (who doesn't) and drove us around showing us where the best places were to buy things. Finally the day came to move out of our Air B&B and into our new apartment which is three floors up with no elevator. I'm still in pretty good shape for seventy six but I wasn't looking forward to this. BUT LUCKILY  Juan (Mr Ecuador) showed up with his uncle who owns a truck and four other muscle bound dudes who drove around, picked up our new stuff, humped it up three floors, and put it all together for the price of lunch. A little over two weeks later Covid19 hit.
BUT LUCKILY, here we sit in a comfortable apartment in a country that has taken the whole pandemic seriously. Social distancing, curfews, transit and bus stoppages, masks and gloves to get into stores etc. All done almost instantly. As a result the number of new cases is flattening and starting to go down. I'm in the vulnerable age group BUT LUCKILY all I'm being asked to do is stay at home, lie on my sofa and binge watch "Breaking Bad". Something I have been rehearsing for almost all my life!!!
So there you have it. How much luckier could we have been? Unfortunately for this blog the next few posts will be:
Mon.  Stared out the window, watched TV
Tues.  Watched TV, read a book, don't remember which one.
Wed.   Stared at the TV, watched the dog lick .......

Maybe check back later this month!

Ken



COVID 19  IN  LOJA

Greetings from locked down Loja. Virus cases going down and things are looking up but on the early morning dog walk the streets are still strangely quiet. I am reminded of the old movie "On The Beach".

click picture to enlarge

 We were late buying face masks and by the time we realized they were required in order to get into a grocery store they were all sold out. Sharon needed to get creative. This is the result.
Sharon wearing her boxers on her head.

The first thing to understand is that all the gyms in Loja are closed because of Covid19. That means no facilities and no weights and exercising at home. Once again, Sharon's creativity comes to the fore. After numerous trips to the grocery store, wearing her boxers on her head, Sharon brings home enough bags of cat litter to start her own gym. She's got cat litter in the bag. There's only one trouble with this piece of exercise equipment. The cat uses part of your weights everyday.