The Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest

In mid-December, Liese, John, and Finn came down for a tour of some of the "best of" places in Ecuador.  We first went to the Amazon jungle, flying from Quito to the city of Coca, motor boating down the Napo River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon, then paddling in a canoe for an hour into a lodge in Asuni National Park. 

The jungle in this area is old-growth forest, so some of the trees are gigantic and the diversity of the plants and animals is stunning.  On this climb onto a treehouse platform in the upper forest canopy (about 200 ft. off the ground), looking off into the vast distance of the Amazon jungle, I felt like we were entering into a sacred religious shrine.  From the platform, we saw sloths and monkeys in treetops, scarlet macaws flying at eye level, and the amazing sounds of all sorts of birds and animals calling out to one another.

These parrots come from afar to feed on exposed areas of clay which contains a mineral that helps them digest certain foods.  They arrive in huge flocks--and make an equally huge racket as they are dining!

On the contrary, these slumbering bats are enjoying the peace and quiet--and move around to the shady side of their perch when the sun comes up. 

Hans and our guide are spying on a small deer that is trying to hide in the underbrush.

These caiman hang out along the shore of the lagoon where the lodge is located.  We were all a bit reluctant to swim in the lagoon at first, but were assured that these guys only come out to feed at night, so we made sure we finished our swimming before the sun set!!

The indigenous people in this part of the Amazon are the Quichua, a group of people who migrated into the Amazon from the Andes, bringing with them a version of the language of the Incas (Quechua). 

One of their principle hunting weapon is the blow dart!  The darts are small, so they travel at high speed, and bring down their prey only because the tip of the dart has a paralytic agent, curare, on the tip.

This man is a local healer who gave a demonstration of a healing ritual.  He used Liese as a volunteer in the ritual and her head shrunk to the size of walnut before we pleaded with him to return her as close as possible to her previous condition!

Cajas National Park

A fifteen minute drive from the city of Cuenca takes you to a beautiful national park that reminds me of the national forest lands that surround the city of Bozeman.  It’s one of the reasons why I can understand Cuenca has become a place that a lot of Americans have decided to retire.  

The highest peaks reach 14,000 feet with valleys at 9,000 feet.  

The vegetation in the valleys form what is called cloud forest, a type of high altitude rainforest.  

Special Feature Video Clips!

Iguana Park, Guayaquil

This is our first try on uploading video footage, so bear with us.  This footage is from the coastal city of Guayaquil on our trip to the coast last month.  Unfortunately, uploading requires compressing the video file, so the resolution is unbearable if you enlarge the image to full screen, but maybe you'll get the general picture.  This city park has hundreds of iguanas, climbing the trees, basking in the sun, begging from people like pigeons.   And the ponds in the park are filled with hundreds of turtles the size placemats!

A Beautiful Young Voice of Azogues

During the annual Independence Day celebration of Azogues there are a variety of street fair activities, food vendors, and processions featuring dance and traditional music groups.  A small radio station that broadcasts from the house across the street from us hosted recording studio performances for a few talented children who sang regional folk songs.  This girl, practicing her number outside of the station, won my heart singing a ballad about the town of Azogues.

Ophthalmology at the Azogues Regional Hospital

Opthalmology is a gadget-intensive specialty, often requiring expensive equipment for diagnosis and treatment of disease.  The local hospital has some of the basice machinery for adequate eye exams, but surgical treatment options are limited.  When patients do require surgery for cataracts or other ailments, they are required to purchase their own suture, gauze, patches, and any other non-reusable supplies.  There is a decent operating microscope at the hospital, but very few surgical instruments.  Despite this, patients are well taken care of by Dr. Diaz, an ophthalmologist from the nearby city of Cuenca.  He has graciously allowed me the opportunity to help him in both the clinic and the OR.

In Montana, a patient might describe a few months to a year of vision decline before seeing an ophthalmologist.  Here, the history often begins with “My vision has been getting worse for the past fifteen years…”

I’m on my own in the Eye Clinic, so have the chance to use and improve my Spanish.  It’s good to be forced to describe medical findings and surgical procedures in another language without terrifying the patients.  Body language helps.   Everyone has been exceedingly gracious.

Cataracts are the most common cause of treatable vision loss.  In a country like Ecuador with few ophthalmologists over all, there are even fewer who perform cataract surgery.   In areas where access to eye surgery is limited, cataract surgery is often provided by volunteer physicians with the support of charitable foundations.   Fundacion Hogar, based in Cuenca, has supported over 6,000 cataract surgeries over the past year.  Dr. Diaz and Dr. Cabrera are excellent surgeons—the surgeries are safe, efficient and effective.   As soon as a bed is vacated, new patients are moved into the operating room.  Here, two patients undergo surgery while a third awaits her turn.

Inca Ruin Site near Azogues

Ingapirca is an Inca temple site that was built between 1400 and 1500 AD.  The Incas only ruled for 150 years (until the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in 1532).   But during their short reign, they controlled a huge region extending from what is now Colombia in the north to Argentina in the south.  Their capital cities were in Cuzco, Peru, and Cuenca, Ecuador.  The Incas enforced the use of a single language, Quechua, in a region that previously was comprised of hundreds of different language and cultural groups.  As you might guess, in order to accomplish this, the Incas had a very well-organized military.  But they also had a successful agricultural system including irrigation, beautiful art with gorgeous textiles and ceramics, and an extensive  road system allowing rapid travel, albiet by foot.  Perhaps most noteworthy, however, was their sophisticated and compelling religious system, centered around the Sun God or Inti and local mountain spirits.  The Inca ruler was considered the son of Inti.

Inca architecture is well-known for its stunning building sites (location/location/location).  The trapezoidal structures were extremely sturdy and the most important structures were built with carved boulders that fit together so tightly that there was no need for mortar.