Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic EvolutionSM
 1. Shacay and the blowgun |
Amazonia, Ecuador and New Year's Eve!
13 Of my CMC friends and I took a fantastic trip through |
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Amazonia:
Four of us (Dianne Edwards, Bryan Barnett, Graham Schelle, and me) took a side trip to Ecuador's portion of the Amazon rainforest over the period our group was resting in Baños, Ecuador. It was quite the adventure with Shacay (Rainbow Expeditions) being hired at the last minute along with his driver "Mangetti" (a derogatory moniker both took great delight in addressing each other with - they wanted us to believe it was related to a male donkey's sexual appendage but I remain skeptical...). Wild driving, punctuated with stops for groceries and girlfriends (for the driver!), took us over bumpy rainforest roads to waterfalls, villages, canoe runs, and nature preserves. It was a whirlwind tour none of us will soon forget!!
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In #28 I'm eating a species of ant that resides in one particular type of leaf (they squirm a bit, on your tounge, and taste like tiny bursts of lemon as you swallow them). I now regret having eaten them not only because I'm a Vegetarian, but because we have no right to take the life of another living creature without sufficient reason - and, as these photos indicate, this was at a time in my life when I could afford to have missed a meal or two...
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Rapid Plant Movement This strange little plant folds up anywhere along the leaf where you touch it!! After a few minutes it unfurls itself and returns to normal. In this particular photo I tried to capture just half of the leaf structure folding up. Either way, it didn't appear that the plant was preparing to "eat" anything (in a way similar to our own Venus Flytrap) - its reaction to touch seems to be some defensive mechanism. I believe this species may be related to Mimosa pudica ("Sensitive Plant") but am not sure... |
Getting There:
As I mentioned above, I was able to contract the services of our guide, Shacay, at the last moment. He, in turn, scrambled to find a driver (he called him "Mangetti" in jest...) while we tried on boots (the Rainforest IS wet!) and made other preparations that eventually took us through a checkpoint near Puyo and other adventures...
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Passports, drivers' licenses, business papers and other documents were all examined by the police at this checkpoint near Puyo and the beginning of the Rainforest... |
River Gondola:
On our way to the rainforest, outside of Puyo, we took the
main road from Baños along a steep and narrow gorge.
"Mangetti," our driver, didn't hesitate to pass others, honk
his horn or wave his fist at other vehicles. However, he did
take time to stop to allow us a ride on one of a couple different
gondolas across the gorge - the cost was $1.00 USD, per person,
roundtrip...
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New Year's Eve:
I've never experienced anything as wild and crazy as the New Year's Eve celebration
that's put into action by the people of Quito and most of Ecuador. In the late
afternoon of December 31st (2005), as we were returning to the city, our bus (and
all other vehicles along the roads and highways) was repeatedly stopped by men dressed
in women's clothing who would dance and squirm in tight-fitting dresses to the amusement
off all drivers, passangers, pedestrians and passersby. Sometimes lifting a skirt, or
"flashing" a fake breast, these five-o'clock-shadowed men would blow kisses and wiggle
their behinds until somebody threw them a 50 cent piece or simple wave.Another Ecuadorina New Year's Eve favorite is the selling, display, and eventual burning
of life-sized paper puppets representing anyone that had been up to no-good over the
year. George W. Bush, the local mayor, entire police departments and mothers-in-law all
received equal representation in this annual midnight burning!
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