Weeks Three and Four:Classes, Cotopaxi, Quilitoa, El Pahuma, & Lalo Loor (and Grad School Update)

1/27/20
Classes in Quito
We had another week of classes last week where we continued learning Spanish and conservation biology. Most evenings I would spend with two kids named Karli and Henry at the mall (which is less shopping focused and more social space focused than American malls), a brewery in the valley, or at a restaurant working on homework or just relaxing. We've been finishing up data analysis and papers from our field work the previous weekend (1/18) in the paramo. We've also been getting reading for our next week long trip to cloud and mountain forests. 
​Cotopaxi and Quilotoa Weekend Trip
This past weekend almost all of use decided to do a weekend trip to Cotopaxi National Park and Quilotoa Park. Cotopaxi is an active volcano with a peak hight of a little more than 19,000ft (the peak is actually closer to the sun than Mount Everest because of the way the Earth is shaped but its actual elevation is lower). We drove to a trailhead at about 13,000 feet and then hiked up to about 16,000ft, the base of the glacier. The air is super thin so breathing almost seems pointless. It was cool to see snow. We took lots of pictures of the valley below before hiking back to the trailhead. Instead of biking back to the park entrance, we got to mountain bike down the rest of the mountain. It was truly horrifying and consisted entirely of squeezing the brakes and 0% pedaling. We spent the night at a lodge in the mountains where they had a (much needed) hot tub and pool table. The next morning we drove 2 hours to Quilotoa, an old volcano that erupted and blew its top off. It is now a volcano with a crater at the top which has filled with water. We  started at the rim of the crater and hiked down to the lake where some us kayaked and some of us napped.
2/3/20
El Pahuma
We got back from out weekend hiking trip at about 9pm on Sunday. I packed and went to bed to I could be back at the university at 7am to leave for El Pahuma, an orchid reserve that Ceiba* helped establish as its first conservation project in the 90's. When I say this place is rustic, I mean RUSTIC. There's no running water and only minimal electricity in the main building. We split into two groups–one hiked to a remote cabin at the top of the mountain and the other stayed at the main cabin. I stayed at the main cabin for the first day. We hiked to a waterfall to swim in, had a nature walk (which really is just a fancy term for a lecture because my professor is a botanist and can't walk more than 10 feet down the trail without stopping to look at a plant), and got to sit around a fire and drink some ~very strong and suspicious~ alcoholic beverage with the landowner. The next day the groups switched and we hiked to the top of the mountain (about 2000 feet higher than the main cabin) through pouring rain. We then sat around a campfire and had lecture. At night the rain stopped and we went on another walk, but this time we were looking for birds, snakes, and insects. The next morning we hiked along the mountain ridge on an old trade route from BC that goes from Quito to the coast. We then hiked back down to the main lodge and then drove to our next stop, Lalo Loor on the coast.
I feel it very necessary to talk about weather because, contrary to what you may think about the tropics, El Pahuma and the previous weekend trips have been freezing. Not only is it cold, El Pahuma is a cloud forest which means that it is wet all the time–that could be actual rain or just the fact that it is literally in a cloud. I'm back in Quito writing this and this is the first time I've felt dry in 9 days. To make things worse, because it is so humid, you can't hang wet clothes up to dry (or sleeping bags after you hike to the top of a mountain in the pouring rain). Hats and warm pull overs are a necessity. 
Lalo Loor
We got to Lalo Loor at about seven, hiked to our cabins, had an amazing dinner, and then were told to go to bed at 9 because thats when quiet hours are. However, neither myself nor Karli or Henry were tired to we sat on the porch in the candle light till 12 telling stories and trying (probably unsuccessfully) to not laugh too loudly. Lalo Loor is another reserve that Ceiba helped establish (although more recently,) except this one is a semi-dry tropical forest. So unlike El Pahuma, it is HOT (80+ degrees) and incredibly humid. While this sounds great, we are also here in the wet season so the bugs take advantage of any exposed skin. This is also a rustic establishment, although they do having running water (but no hot water). We were there until Saturday and in that time we usually had lectures in the morning and then field work in the afternoons. This ranged from river water quality monitoring, reforestation, or nature walks. We saw monkeys on one of the afternoon walks. Karli, Henry and I made a habit of spending each night on the porch in the candlelight playing cards, telling stories and relaxing in the hammocks (and surprisingly never got yelled at for being loud.) I will likely be returning to Lalo Loor for the last 3 weeks I'm here to do an internship monitoring water quality.
On Saturday we left early early in the morning and drove about 30 minutes to a small coastal town called Jama where we camped on the beach. We had our first sunny day the whole week. We spent all day surfing, playing frisbee, soccer and pool, eating, and napping in the shade. Our professors left us in the hands of our TA so they could go spend the day at their house but they came back for dinner and a bonfire. During this bonfire they dramatically revealed that they can both sing and jam out on a guitar. We finally went to bed at about 12 when it started raining. On Monday (today) we woke up early and drove 7 hours back to Quito. My host mom was less than pleased with my muddy boots, sandy body, and backpack full of wet, dirty, sweaty clothes. 
​This coming week we have Tuesday off and then class starting again on Wednesday. We will be working with the data we've collected over the last week and preparing our research project for the Amazon next week. 

​In other news...
I have been accepted to Idaho State University and have also officially been accepted at UW-Madison. I have not heard back from Virginia Tech but should be hearing back within this week. Also I really miss cheese. 

*Ceiba is the organization that sponsors this trip. It was started in the late 90's by Joe and Kath (my two professors). The goal of the organization is to protect and conserve tropical biodiversity in Ecuador. They've have helped establish two different preserves and do tons of other smaller projects with landowners to use land in ways that promote or protect biodiversity. They started running this study abroad program 12 years ago. Kath is a professor at Madison and she teaches courses in the fall semester. Joe doesn't teach at Madison (although I think he is technically still a professor there). They both are on the current board of directors for Ceiba.