Local Fauna in Loja

It's been awhile since we've posted 

but not much has been happening in our lives lately.

Like everyone, getting outside and exploring has been limited

since our lock-down / curfew (toque de queda) in Loja.

But the fauna has not been locked-down and continues to thrive, non-stop. This lock-down has given me the opportunity to truly explore my neighbourhood and become acquainted with the local parks and walkways.
above:  This red blossoming bush lines the streets along the two central rivers of Loja, Rio Malacatos and Rio Zamora.

There is a richness of wild colourful orchids that seem to grow everywhere!



Below are a few of my favourite plants and trees that I have yet to classify but they are in abundance along the streets and trails in the local parks.

This orange blossom grows like a weed and has taken over large areas along the rivers. It is spectacularly colourful but I'm certain the city gardeners don't appreciate it's nature. From my understanding, this plant can be used for medicinal purposes. But, I've yet to have this confirmed.

And, there are horses and donkeys in Parque Jipiro, one of our biggest parks in the city. There are at least 15 and all are well-cared for. They roam about freely with only one tethered at a time in different areas of the park. Initially, I thought they belonged to the local farmers. But I have since learned that these horses reside in the park, belong to the municipality of Loja, and a person can ride one through the park for $3. 

Guess what Ken and I will be doing once this opportunity starts up again?

If you recall from our post dated April 29th, I was foolishly "foraging colourful vegetation and wild flowers from alongside the river" to brighten up our apartment. I also wrote, "this may get me arrested." Well, yes! Had I been reading the signs, I would never have taken up such an activity as the new gringo in a foreign city!

The city of Loja 'toque de queda' changed last week. We now can be out and about (with purpose)  from 5am to 9pm. This suits Dylan's schedule much better than having to be indoors by 2pm in the afternoon! More local businesses have opened to 30% capacity and just this alone has brought back some of the vibrancy in Loja that Ken and I had grown to love.

Beneath the masks we must wear, I think a few more smiles are starting to appear. 

At least I hope.

Cuidate.

It is Sharons' birthday today. So she insisted on going for a

"little" walk.

The Rooster Crows at 5 am

   WARNING, THE FOLLOWING ARE CORONA VIRUS INSPIRED, SELF CENTERED MUSINGS. READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL!
 
   Sometimes when you are just sitting doing nothing thanks to the corona virus you wander into your head to see what's going on in there, back in the shadows. This happens to me these days at five in the morning.
   Every morning at 5 am here in Loja, a local rooster on a nearby roof starts crowing and reminds me to get up and stumble off "to visit the facilities" as the English would say. When I return to the warmth of the covers I relish the fact that I have another hour before I have to get up and walk the dog. I snuggle down and wait for unconsciousness to overtake me, unfortunately to no avail.  Since we got to Ecuador and settled into this apartment my brain has decided that this is the time to assess my life and decide whether it has been a success or not.  This is, of course, a result of all the extra time that the virus has dumped into my lap whether I wanted it or not. Normally I would ignore this chance for introspection since self awareness has never been high on my list of priorities.  Picking over the entrails of past suspect decisions can only lead to regrets, something that is a huge waste of time and to be avoid at all costs. After all, what can you do about it now?
   However this time it seems to be different. One factor is that I am now at an age where looking back is much more fertile ground than looking forward. Three months ago I could look forward with some fairly certain expectations. Now? Not so much. I have no idea what is going to happen in the near term and even less of an idea for the long term. For once experience is of no value. So why not spend some time looking back. The worst that might happen is that a reader will say, "well there's a half hour I will never get back!"
   First of all let me say right of the bat that my generation, and me in particular, had the best of it. So this trip down memory lane will not be a woe is me journey. I had the happiest of childhoods, raised in a loving family who never wanted for anything and always had food on the table. We were middle class, and my parents were always encouraging and open to my doing whatever made me happy. This was in Whitehorse in the Yukon in the fifties so we had no TV to tell me that I didn't have the coolest stuff and should be unhappy because I didn't. I didn't even see a TV until I was sixteen years old and am firmly convinced that I am better off for it. I was an only child and although I had some bouts of loneliness, the upside was that I was the center of attention most of the time and got away with more than I should have. My mother was endlessly curious, found the humour in almost every situation, and encouraged me to try anything that struck my fancy. Best of all she thought I was incredibly funny. I could make her laugh anytime I wanted to. I read voraciously, had lots of friends, and as long as I was home when the street lights came on, was pretty much allowed to do whatever I wanted. I was a B student at best, mostly because I could never settle on one thing for any length of time. I was never an athlete of any distinction and was never made to feel bad about it. I was expected to find out for myself what "turned my crank", and get on with it.  But perhaps the biggest thing was, it was the fifties. Everyone had a job and everyone had money; not a lot, but enough to put food on the table and a roof over your head. And if you lost your job or quit you could get another one the next day. Understand, I am talking here about my experience and how that experience shaped me. As a result I have never worried about money or thought for a moment that there might come a time when I should, or needed to. You can imagine how freeing that was when it came to planning your next step in life. Nothing was off the table.
   So for fifty years I traveled the world trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life, first by myself and latterly with Sharon, who has put up with my flaky lifestyle with grace and good humour at every step. Don't ever suggest to Sharon that something "might be fun" because in short order you will be doing it. I once said to her that I had always had a fantasy of sailing to the South Pacific. I was 58, had never been on a sailboat or gone sailing in my life. I had no job, no savings, and no idea how to accomplish this feat. But Sharon said "OK" and two years later we found ourselves off the coast of Oregon sailing down six foot swells on our way to the Panama Canal. To this day I have no idea how we did it but at no point did it seem like a pipe dream to either one of us. Keep your face pointed in the right direction and take one step at a time.                                                                                           
 Looking back it seems that for me it is necessary to reinvent myself every ten or fifteen years. Once you have accomplished whatever you are doing at the moment it seems a waste of time to just continue doing it because you can. Where's the challenge in that?  "Appeared on Londons' West End Stage at 24 to good reviews", check, move on. Of course being an actor meant having huge amounts of free time to explore other options. The unexplored is endlessly fascinating. I've been bored, but never for long. And who wouldn't want to work in a Mars Bar factory, or be a Farrier, as long as it wasn't for the rest of your life? I've even been a ring waiter, pushing cages of tigers and bears into the big top for the Moscow Circus! ...in Australia!!
   There could have been, however, one impediment to this freewheeling lifestyle that I am so casually describing. Children. At some point in this saga an unconscious decision was made that children would be a fly in the ointment. Was that a selfish decision? Who knows? I don't even remember making it, if I ever did. I have no regrets about it. It helps that I am a self centered egomaniac of course but there are worse things to be and how tragic would it have been if I'd had children and resented them all my life because they kept me from doing what I really wanted to do. I can't say I had that much self awareness at the time. It's just how it worked out.
    So, as a result of all of that, I still haven't decided what I want to do with my life. And now we have moved on to a new adventure, probably my last. Sometimes that saddens me because there are so many more adventures to be had. I always thought riding the Pacific Crest Trail on horseback would be fun but that's not going to happen. But as I said at the beginning, we had the best of it. At least from this vantage point it seems that way. There are some things that people today say are big leaps forward that I, as a grumpy old man, can only describe as great leaps backward. For instance without TV I wouldn't be constantly being told that my car isn't new enough, or that, if I could just put up with a bit of anal leakage, I could do away with zits forever. And if there was no internet I wouldn't be slapped in the face every day by misguided cretins wearing MAGA hats. But if I carry on here I will lose it completely.
   So here I sit, looking back from what one my friends calls my fifth life,  feeling that it has pretty much worked out. For a lazy, no talent, irresponsible, gadfly I did OK. Did I make a major contribution to the betterment of mankind? I would say ........no. Do I care ........no. Does that perfectly sum up how useless my mere existence has been? Depends on your perspective. I have always taken to heart the old adage "No one ever lay on their death bed and said 'I wish I had spent more time at the office' ". Why are we here? I have no idea and intend to spend zero hours of the time I have left pondering that question. I will find out in due course and have no intention of coming back and telling you. Some things you have to find out for yourself.
   I do know one thing for sure. When the last few breaths are on my lips I can turn on Frank singing "My Way" ..... and smile.

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.