Mosquitoes and sweat is a fitting theme for this post. It has been a while since I've blogged. Since vacation and returning from Quito, things have settled into a regular schedule again. We are now in rainy season. As I am typing, a light drizzle is falling. So far, the rainy season has not been unbearable by any means. I should probably knock on wood, but there hasn't been too much rain. From what I gather, there have been rainy seasons where it was three months of solid rain daily. With the coming of the rain, the surroundings have changed a bit. It seemed liked after the first drop of rain their was all the sudden a large beetle and cricket population. It has been nice to see everything flourishing and getting greener by the day. The mosquitoes, which were very present before, have now come out in full force. The humidity dial has been turned up a notch, or two, or three. These past two weeks of school, I've tried to stay as active as possible. Luckily, because of the lack of heavy rains, we have been able to go on our Tuesday bike ride. The mosquitoes made it interesting. This past Tuesday was the worst that I have ever experienced a mosquito problem. We always stop at the trail head. While stopped, I looked down at my right calf. Five hungry mosquitoes were having their way with me. They only got worse. It was actually amazing and impressive to see the swarms of them following us up the trail, biting through shirts. When I got back, I found that I had between 30 and 40 bites on my back alone (and I was even wearing a backpack). I do have to say that it was my own fault. I had forgotten mosquito repellent. The humidity has added another challenge factor. The amount of sweat that one body can produce astounds me. This week, we started our Thursday sports club again. Hand ball and hockey were the games. Both were a lot of fun, considering the mosquitoes and humidity. Every Thursday we play different sports for about an hour and a half and then it's time for a few deserved drinks. I've been going to the gym when I can. It is more like a small sweat box, as there are no fans. Today, I went to Cerro Blanco. It is a protected tropical dry forest region very close to where I live. It was pretty cool. Lots of birds, a huge tarantula, lizards, a small snake, and LOTS of mosquitoes were on the viewing list. The tarantula might have been the biggest that I have seen. Although the ones in Monteverde, Costa Rica probably rivaled this one. The guide tried to coax him out of his hole. It was coming slowing, until all of the sudden he popped out so you could see his whole body. He was really quick. Unfortunately, I only have a picture of his legs. Towards the middle of the trail, howler monkeys made their presence known with their howls. They sounded extremely close, but we were unable to locate them. Now that I've experienced Cerro Blanco, I plan on going there much more often. It is a 25 cent bus ride there and only takes about 10 minutes to get there. It will be nice to have that option to get into some nature at my convenience.
Three more weeks and my parents will be coming down for two weeks during my Caranaval vacation. I am so excited for them to be here. I'm also really excited for the experiences that they will have. They have visited me in Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala before, but in Ecuador everything seems grander. For example, the mountains and volcanoes that we've seen together in Central America have been absolutely spectacular. But, these are the Andes. I'm hoping that they will be as impressed as I have been thus far. Below are a few pictures from the past couple weeks. The mountains remain my favorite. Cool climate with no mosquitoes. I hope everyone is well!
I thought that I would take the opportunity to pass along this message. Everyone is aware of the dire situation that the country of Haiti is experiencing at the moment. As most of you also know, Haiti has had a long history of suffering and poverty. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with the majority of people trying to live off of $2 a day. The alarming statistics go on and on. If you look at the long history of suffering and this recent tragedy, Haiti needs our (everyone's) help. If you have not donated to the earthquake relief, please consider doing so. Whatever you can spare would be helping Haiti a great deal. Thank you for your consideration. Here is a link to a few of the organizations:
One of the beautiful ceibos trees that are common in tropical dry forests (Cerro Blanco).
You can see his legs, but nothing more. I guess you'll have to trust me . . . he was rather large and in charge (Cerro Blanco).
Another neat spider that we found along the way (Cerro Blanco).
A view of the greenery (Cerro Blanco). Unfortunately, surrounding this area, companies have many quarries (including where we go mountain bike riding) and extract the rock and destroy the existing habitat.
A lookout along the way (Cerro Blanco).
Ahhhh . . . is this heaven? No, it's the Andes.
Clouds rolling in.
A river way down below.
