Baños

*I wrote the entry below last weekend, but wasn´t able to publish until now. Pictures to come soon.

Another weekend, another mini trip. This time to Baños. The guide book says about three hours from Tambillo, but alas, it took us five. We bused to Ambato. Upon arriving, we realized that we were not near the terminal for Baños buses, so we piled (literally) into a taxi to the next terminal. From there it was another hour to Baños. It´s Carnival weekend, a big holiday in Ecuador, so families are traveling everywhere. We actually had to stand up the entire first bus ride.

After arriving in Baños, we finally ate lunch at around 4pm. Then we did a bit of shopping and walking around town. At 8pm we met up with a group from Santa Martha that had just spent two days in Puyo´s secondary rainforest. For a few days people had been talking about a great restaurant with vegetarian options. It wasn´t until we were walking to dinner that I figured out we were going to Cafe Hood. That´s the place I ate during our stop over in Banos last fall. What a neat coincidence! Of course, the food was yummy again. Later, we hit up Leprechaun Bar. Neat place with a bon-fire out back, dancing in the front and a balcony up top. However, because it was Carnival the place was jammed. Needless to say, I didn´t stay long. Maybe I´ll go back the next Baños go'round.



Today, I hope to take a walk outside town to see some scenary and sites. The guide book has vague directions, but probably smart to ask a local too. Some people are sleeping in and visitng the baths (supposedly with minerals from the volcano that clense the skin) and others have already left for a rafting trip. This afternoon we´re off to the grocery and back to Tambillo. Hopefully this time finding a more direct bus with seats.



Recap from Santa Martha this week...
Tuesday was filled with hard work, feelings of accomplishment and a minor injury all together. In the morning I went on a trek through some overgrown paths with four other volunteers to find fallen trees. Luckily, we found a patch of three trees before too long. Mission: cut trunks in half so they could be used for rehabing the puma enclosure. Each of us had a go at cutting our own tree with a machete. The trunks were not extremely large, but still there was a feeling of pride and accomplishment when I finally hacked through the trunk. Carrying the trunks up muddy stairs was another story. Tricky and exhausting!

Later that day, one of our caracara birds, Duncan, was transfered to a rehabilitation center so he can be released in the near future. I was disinfecting the cage with another volunteer when I slipped on mud (can you tell it has been raining a lot!). My gut reaction was to grab the nearest tree. However, in doing so, I pulled something in my neck. Grrr. The neck pain put me out a bit for the rest of the week, but it is improving.

Two afernoons I cleaned the big bird cages. That´s the best option for cleaning unless there is an odd job to do. I´m becoming quite fond of the tucan. So beautiful. He´s actually mean-tries to bite my pants a lot, but his beak is completely harmless. Did you know that a tucan can´t even break a banana in half? He picks up his food with the tip of his beak and then swallows whole.

On friday afternoon I had the rather revolting job of sorting through trays of donated eggs to throw away the ones that were broken and rotting. Oh the smell...

In case you didn´t notice, I was finally able to upload photos yesterday. Take a peak at the other entries to see some of my adventures in Ecuador.

Cheers!

Becky