Amazon!

Things are really picking up around here for my last few weeks. I'm working on finishing up my turtle hatchery report to submit to Gabi, and then it's full steam ahead until I come home on the 1st!

Some American documentary film-makers arrived here today to take some footage of Machalilla Park, and Angelo and I get to go to the Island with them tomorrow and be their nature guides. We'll take them to see the albatross and red-fotted boobies (really the only two birds you might not see without a guide) and show them the turtle nests we marked last week, as well as doing a quick check for other possible nests laid since we left. The two guys are from Oregon and work for a big conservation group (I want to say the Nature Conservancy but I can't remember for sure). They're going to donate all of their footage to their organization and give Equilibrio anything we want as well.

On Friday, I finally get to go diving! We're going to search for Hawksbills again, bringing the filmers along for the ride, so Gabis says I'd better catch one. Then in the afternoon we're taking the little kids from ecoclub on their first snorkeling trip, which will definitely be an adventure, hopefully in a good way ;)

This weekend, Angelo and I are planning to go to the Cloud Forest nearby for a day trip, and possibly go visit Los Frailes as well. Los Frailes is a collection of beaches a few kilometers north of Puerto Lopez, commonly said to be some of the best in Ecuador, so we'd love to go do some snorkeling there.

Halfway through next week, my big plans start. I'm going to leave on Thursday for a vacation, and I'm staying at an eco-lodge in the Amazon! My plan so far is this:

Thursday 15 - Take an early bus to Guayaquil and from there to Cuenca, a really cool city in the mountains.

Friday and Saturday 16-17 - Explore Cuenca's old town and visit the Montecristi Panama Hat factory and the Incan ruins at Ingapirca.

Saturday night - Night bus from Cuenca to Quito (12-15 hours, ughh)

Sunday 18 - Pay for my stay at the eco-lodge, night bus to Coca in the Amazon (10 hours)

Monday to Friday 19-23 - Travel to Sani Lodge by boat from Coca (3 hours). At the lodge I'm staying in their tents instead of a room for half price. The lodge is situated on an oxbow lake between two national parks. From the bar at the lodge you can see endangered black caimans and tons of aquatic bird species. To get to the forest trails, you first canoe across the lake, where you can also fish for piranhas, and the lodge provides one bilingual guide and one wildlife tracking guide on each excursion. They have a 100 foot tall canopy tower for bird watching and several trails of different lengths. You can also pay $25 extra to enter the park and visit a clay lick where parrots congregate, and $15 to visit a lagoon and see the bufeos (pink river dolphins). They also do night hikes to see nocturnal wildlife and night-time canoe trips for caiman spotting. Needless to say, I couldn't be more excited!

Saturday 24 - Hang out in Quito and night bus back to Puerto Lopez (12 hours....)

Sunday 25 - First day of my last week in Ecuador!