Aves Non Grata - The Blue-footed Booby

I pushed my sister off the roof our house once. I meant no harm. We were simply filming what we expected would be the big winner on America’s Funniest Videos. When her cue came and she didn’t jump, I pushed her. That’s what big brothers do. She was fine. Anyway I have two more sisters where that one came from.

Booby with chick © Pete Corradino

Blue-footed Boobies (Sula nebouxii) are occasional visitors to the United States but they nest primarily along the Pacific from Mexico south to Peru. They are opportunistic nesters, laying between 1-3 eggs on the ground inside a curious white ring. The eggs are laid and incubated asynchronously and hatch in the order in which they were laid. If times are good, everyone gets fed and fledged. When food is scare, competition sets in among the hatchlings who participate in siblicide. They kill their own brothers and sisters. In theory, the first hatchling has the upper hand, or wing as it were, which they use to push the younger siblings out of the nest. In some cases they can push them off a cliff edge but here’s where the mysterious white ring comes into play. What looks like a monochromatic circle of spin art is a fecal ring. The female will rotate around the center of the nest and squirt feces and uric acid in a scattershot pattern.

White fecal ring around nest © Pete Corradino

During a trip to Ecuador I had an opportunity to see the nesting behaviors and artistic displays firsthand. The Blue-footed Boobies will let you approach and seemingly don’t even recognize your presence until you step across the magic white fecal line (which I did not do out of respect for the wildlife). Now facing a threat, her pointed beak becomes all business. Anything within the circle conversely must be protected.

© Pete Corradino

A hatchling does not understand this. They understand hunger and survival. When they push their siblings, hatched or unhatched, across the magic line, the female booby suddenly earns her name. Beyond the line, her young become aves non grata.

© Pete Corradino

It had never occurred to me that with one less mouth to feed I’d have a greater opportunity for more food. In fact our incident on the roof had the opposite effect. No dessert that night and no more access to the roof.  

Pacific Piracy - The Magnificent Frigatebird

© Pete Corradino

To take from others that which is not yours would seem an easy way to acquire any number of things. Treasure comes to mind. Regurgitated squid as well. As long as men have sailed the oceans there have been pirates plundering the belongings of others and as long as birds have taken to the skies, there have been certain species that would steal rather than hunt on their own. The colonial roosting, coast-dwelling Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) is one such bird. While they are quite capable of plucking flying fish and other pelagic species from the ocean’s surface, they have the unscrupulous habit of pestering fellow avian species into reluctantly giving up their meals.

© Pete Corradino

Many of Ecuador’s islands, from the far flung Galapagos (over 500 miles off the South American coast) to Isla de la Plata (just a few miles from shore) were famed pirate hideouts. A stone throw from the rocky cliffs of Islamar is Isla Salango, home to colonies of Blue-footed Boobies (Sulane bouxii), Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis). The island’s high cliffs, draped in tropical vegetation and capped with stone turrets provide excellent habitat safe from many terrestrial predators, but the Blue-footed Boobies must keep a watchful eye on their piratical island neighbors. Frigatebirds target boobies returning to the island with an obvious crop full of recently captured food. The frigates are light-weight, aerial acrobats, weighing in at no more than three and a half pounds with a wingspan nearing six feet. Their ability to pursue and harass boobies and other coastal birds provides them an additional food source besides scouring the seas themselves.

© Pete Corradino

As I stand on the mainland of Islamar, I watch the long-beaked frigates gliding on an imperceptible wind. For hours they drift back and forth across this span of sea. Beyond the limits of my vision, males return to the island with sticks and vegetation for the females who build the nest for a singular egg that both will tend to for nearly two months. The young will remain with the mother for up to eighteen months and by age five they will have learned that the entire ocean contains treasure to feast upon, even if someone else found it first. 

Family Bonding - The Ani

I was recently in Ecuador and while I certainly expected to add a few birds to my life list while touring the jungle, I hadn’t expected to discover my first Groove-billed Ani (Crotophagasulcirostris) while strolling my son in an urban park in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. 

I spotted my first Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Florida back in 1993 and have not seen one since. Anis are slightly larger than a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), members of the Cuckoo family and look like a cross between a crow and a parrot. Their distinctively stout bill clearly separates this tropical black bird from anything similar.

During our stay in Ecuador, my wife, son and I stayed with my in-laws in Guayaquil, a sprawling 125 square mile city on the banks of Guayas River. Their modest, three bedroom home in the heart of the city played host to grandparents, aunts, uncles, dozens of cousins and many friends during our stay. The size of this close-knit “family” seemed as expansive as the city and it was clear that not only was every friend and family member welcome in this home, each of their homes were a welcome extension of the family compound. (I believe the 85+ cousins were raised together and are genuinely close.)

© Pete Corradino

Taking no exception to this, but finding it somewhat unfamiliar, I would clear my head on a daily basis by strolling my son down the street to the local park where I discovered my second ani. The locals playing basketball eyed me suspiciously as I photographed the birds. To most people I suspect, the anis are just birds. Upon closer inspection of the photos I realized that not only were the birds anis, but they were Groove-billed Anis with distinct ridges along the bill.

Groove-bills nest in Texas and are occasional visitors to Florida and other states. They are also found throughout Central America and along the coast from Columbia down to Peru. Both species of anis are unique in that they are communal breeders. Only three percent of bird species exhibit such behavior. Essentially one to five monogamous pairs of anis defend a territory and build a single nest in which the females lay their eggs. Each member is involved in incubation of the eggs and care of the young, but this does not exclude all competition. Occasionally females will push eggs out of the nest that are not their own to assure the successful hatching of theirs.

I spotted two pairs of anis in the park during strolls with my son, an only child. As I wheeled him back to his grandparent’s home I considered the effort required for two people to raise one child versus many parents helping raise many kids. With such a loving family, I can’t imagine any cousins have ever been kicked out of the nest. 

Why I Hate the Beach: Shark Attack Edition

I tend to avoid any liquid that contains things that could eat me. And just by writing that I realize that I'm not telling the truth. I wade in water with alligators and snakes. I've made coffee from Lee County tap water. But I've always had a tough time at the beach. It's sandy. It's hot. There are fish that can eat me called Sharks. 

A 15-year old boy was bitten yesterday off the beach on Sanibel by what "appeared to be" and I will assume out of lack of desire to do any journalistic legwork - a shark bite. Early lazy journalistic reports by actual journalists suggest that the 3 inch chomp in the kids leg may have been from a shark. 

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Sanibel Island is voted one of the top beaches for shelling in the world and it's not a secret that sharks live all along the coast of Florida. Although attacks are rare, they do happen from time to time and just like the "irrational fear" some have for flying, the rarity and novelty of being bitten by a shark or crashing in a plane, or crashing in a plane and than being eaten by a shark weighs heavily on the minds of the irrational. It just makes sense. 

In 2008 there were 58 shark attacks worldwide. There are an average of 4 fatalities caused by shark attacks a year. This is a drop from 71 in 2007 - let's blame the economy. Fewer people are going to the beach. Fewer delicious humans in the water = fewer attacks. But many sharks give birth near shore during spring and early summer and that raises the danger level slightly.  

Shark attack data through 2007 - http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/White/USA.htm

All Florida shrak attacks through 2007 - http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/statistics/GAttack/mapFL.htm

There have been over 11,000 vehicle related fatalities in 2009 in the US as of this writing. Yet we don't freak out as much when we get into the car. Ma-Le insists Ecuador has the safest beaches and they never had shark attacks (4 in 70 years). I thought that was just nationalistic pride but that does seem to be the case. 

Regardless - there are a few safety tips and JunglePete tips to heed when venturing into the briny shallows:

• Swim, dive or surf with other people -- the more people you swim with, the more likely someone else will be bitten.
• Avoid wearing shiny jewelry that might simulate the scales of a prey fish, and also avoid uneven tanning. No shark attack victim wants to be on the news with an uneven tan. 
• Don't swim at dusk or at night. This is when the JAWS theme song plays and that seems to attract sharks. 
• Refrain from excessive splashing. This is very important if you are my niece and should be heeded even in swimming pools and bathtubs. 
• Don't swim near people who are fishing or spear-fishing, chumming or using live bait. The spear ought to be a good deterant. .
• If a shark is sighted in the area, leave the water as calmly and quickly as possible. Tell no one.
• Do not harass a shark if one is spotted. But if you must - turn back to shore and yell "Watch this!"
  

Well - time to head for the beach and if the lightning doesn't hit me and I don't have a car wreck and the package of Easter Peeps I ate for breakfast doesn't stop my heart I might just make it to the sandy shores of the Gulf of Mexico where I will brave the waters and tempt the shark with my deliciousness. I can't wait.

Jungle Pete and the Library of Gold?

Thousands of years ago, members of an extraterrestrial civilization descended upon the Amazonian rain forest where they hid vast treasures of gold within the Tayos Caves of Ecuador. They extended passageways in the underground labyrinth and sculpted a golden library in the darkness beneath the rainforest floor and then disappeared back into the cosmos.

The book Gold of the Gods by Erich von Daniken (1973) popularized this myth based on the accounts of Juan Moricz who claimed to have visited the cave and witnessed these exotic antiquities himself. The book and its assertions inspired the 1976 expedition of 100+ individuals including cavers, zoologists, biologists and archaeologists. Organized by Scottish explorer Stanley Hall, the Tayos Cave expedition was accompanied by astronaut Neil Armstrong as well.

Last November I wrote of my own expedition along the Ecuador/Peruvian border to a Tayos Cave led by a local Shuar guide, Ambale. Our trek was arduous - requiring an hour ride by boat up the turbulent rain swollen Rio Nangaritza to a Shuar village where we met our guide. He led us through the rainforest for three steaming hours to the cave, reminding us along the way of the vestigial mines strewn along the border from the 1995 Peru/Ecuador War.

Apparently there are several such caves, all occupied by Oilbirds and well protected by the Shuar people. Alex Chionetti, a scholar of lost civilizations, was polite enough to point this out.

While the 1976 expedition turned up no gold or metallic libraries, the caves still stir interest and hope that the legends may some day be proven fact. Alex knows this first hand and has journeyed to the cave twice to uncover its secrets.

The Argentinian-born adventurer/independent filmmaker has been dubbed a "real life Indiana Jones" by the Spielberg/Lucas publicists for his exploits including one harrowing escape in March of 2007 when Chionetti's expedition was forced to run for miles through the jungle, leaving behind cameras, equipment and clothing as they fled from the Shuar who pursued with poisoned arrows. The Shuar (formerly known as the head-hunting Jivaros) who number only in the hundreds in this region, took exception to a non-aboriginal guide leading outsiders into their territory. The Tayos Cave along the Rio Coangos is is their "cathedral" where their God resides. It is the Mecca of the Shuar and they defend it ferociously, Chionetti says.

The main entrance is an 85 meter descent into the ground and extensive mapping already covers a 5 square km area. Chionetti says coastal tribes (related to the Valdivia culture) may have migrated to these caves in the past millennia based on ceramics, bones and spondylus shells specific to Pacific Ocean tribes that were found in the caves.

He's currently wrapping up a documentary on his experiences with Tayos and even plans to return to the cave in the near future. I would venture to guess with a new guide, the Shuar word for "my apologies" and maybe Jungle Pete?

Ecuadorable - Just Shut Up!

"Just shut up". That's not a romantic thing to say - yet it was what I uttered just moments before saying the most romantic thing you can say, which is not "I brought donuts" or "fine we can watch Gilmore Girls".

To capture the scene we have to go back to Ecuador. In fact we have to go back to a post from October in which the question was asked to you dear readers "Which adventure should Jungle Pete and Ma-Le go on in Ecuador?" - Volcanoes and mineral springs or Waterfalls and Ziplines. You would have thought that you chose buses and taxis by our itinerary but in fact it was waterfalls and ziplines.

The first adventure Ma-Le and I went on during this trip was to the Tayos Caves. There were hundred foot waterfalls a short hike from our lodge. There were giant cascades along the river and there was a waterfall in the Tayos Cave. Fantastic. But I waited.

Two days later we headed further south to Zamora where we stayed at the well-crafted, well-designed, Belgian-run Copalinga Lodge. It's the Ritz of jungle lodges.Ma-Le and I checked into our cabin, chose one of the trails with a waterfall and headed out. As we left, I subtly suggested that by wearing shorts I was going to get my knee dirty. A comment that went unnoticed.

Zamora is in the foothills of the Andes - a tropical rain forest 5000 feet above sea level. The trails climb a steep path of switchbacks through Cecropia trees - tangled with vines, dripping with moss and covered with bromiliad air plants. A light rain began to fall at the start of the trail and I naively thought the canopy would keep us dry for a little while.

How cute - we took our boots off to cross the stream. The waterfall was not a hundred feet high. It had no name. It was not on any map. But it was a perfect spot. Ma-Le crawled under a rock outcrop to stay dry. I got down on my knee, reached into my pocket for the ring and she said "give me the camera".

"Hold on".

"No give me the camera - I have no pictures of you!"

"Just wait"

"You're always taking pictures"

"Just shut up for a second" and with ring in hand "Will you marry me"

After a few happy laughs between us, I stood up, stepped back and plummeted backwards into the waterfall.

At least my Ecuadorable fiancee said "si".

Everglades Guide Crushed By Free Washing Machine

It could have happened. It almost did and make no mistake - I would have been embarrassed if I had been crushed by a new washing machine. But it would have been worth it. In the middle of the day last Friday I wandered out of my apartment and noticed a washer and dryer next to the recycling bins. They looked new from a distance so I ambled over and lo and behold I have no idea what "lo and behold" means. Apparently someone had vacated their apartment in a hurry and left a delightful assortment of bashed up particle board furniture, a few retro-futuristic lamps and a brand new washer and dryer set.

I darted back to my truck and drove it over to haul my treasure away and like a wolverine, snarled ferociously when prospective free washer and dryer prospectors swung by. Having successfully warded off all appliance competitors I was left with the task of moving these full-sized and ungainly machines into my truck and then up a flight of stairs into my apartment.

Of course I'm in the middle of my work day, but there is no way I am giving up an opportunity to procure my first washer and dryer set. And they are mint!

For a human to carry a washing machine up a flight of stairs by himself is a daunting task. But just a few weeks removed from my Ecuador experience, I am reminded of the powers of Ant who can lift something several times their body weight.

Specifically, the Leaf-cutter Ant was my inspiration. Ma-Le and I had watched a colony of these ants marching through the jungle to an unknown destination. I first noticed a stream of green beneath the Podocarpus National Park's office. On the left, ants with leaves 10x their size carried photosynthetic flags high over-head while on the right a stream of ants returned to cut another leaf .
So direct is their path that these tiny insects cut a swath through the grass. Look close below and you can see a couple heading to the woods.

The leaves are not food. Instead the leaves are food for a fungus that grows on them. The fungus ultimately is the food for the ants but only grows in certain conditions and the ant nest is the perfect place for it to grow. It's hard to step anywhere on the jungle path without having to avoid Leaf-cutters. The one pictured below was well off course. A lone ant climbing the steel wire trail on the suspension bridge to the other side of the river. No friends in sight.

Alone, the ant continued on. As did I with my washer and dryer. I would not be denied regardless of the folly of moving the machine by myself. I didn't have to lift it over my head, but it didn't make it any easier. Lifting it up a step. Holding it. Gripping it. Lifting it up another step and so on until I was on the 12th step. No going back. 2 steps to go. And LIFT!

There would be very little understanding from anyone if the washer had toppled back on me. I would have, without a doubt received a coveted Darwin Award for brilliantly removing myself from the gene pool. Someone might have found me crushed beneath the Whirlpool® Duet HT® Ultra Capacity Plus Front-Load Washer and thought "why didn't he ask for help?" or "At least it was an Energy Star...He would have wanted it that way."

But you never see two Leaf-cutter Ants helping each other with a single leaf. At least that was my justification for not asking for help. In truth an older man offered to help but when he bent down to lift the dryer, I heard several pops that sounded like a kid jumping on bubble wrap. He apologized and departed. A staffer from the apartment complex suggested he couldn't help for liability reasons and a few other people just drove by and stared at the crazy bald guy hoisting a washer up the stairs.

There's something to be said for community. Or lack thereof. For the lowly ants, hundreds of thousands of them perform the same task individually for the good of the colony. I could have used a helping hand. In the absence of assistance, I managed on my own but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. If I had waited for help, someone else might have snagged the goods and I would have been crushed.

Ants - Why Did it Have to Be Ants?

When the water rises - head for high ground. And that's just what thousands of ants did the night of our exhausting horseback adventure.

Cabinas Yambala is just outside the town of Vilcabama and is run by Charlie, formerly of Boston, who has lived in Ecuador since the 70's. When we returned from the mountain he told us he was getting worried that we hadn't returned. It had never happened that people hadn't returned, but having rained an extraordinary amount in 3 hours, the rivers were raging and darkness would make it very difficult to return. I didn't ask what could have been done if we hadn't come back! But now that we were back, we could get cleaned up, have something to eat and sleep.

Sometime after midnight I was woken by Ma-Le who yelled "something bit me". I tapped the lamp on the nightstand and it began to softly glow, illuminating the low-ceiling, wood-framed cabin and revealing a frantic Ma-Le who had discovered not only the ant that had bitten her, but the army of ants that had taken positions on the battlefield of a blanket.

As a kid I was known to exaggerate - someday I'll retell the story of the "100 dead squirrels", but suffice it to say that the lesson I learned in telling that tale was only embellish that which can not be proven to be false. So when I say there were several hundred if not thousands of ants peppering the blanket, pillows, floor and walls I have an honest Ecuadorian who can back up this claim. Just replace the snakes with ants from Raiders of the Lost Ark and this was the scene we'd awoken to.

The super saturated earth outside had left the ants with no alternative but to join us indoors and remarkably, only one ant had taken exception to our presence by biting Ma-Le. Had it not done so, we may have slumbered blissfully unaware of the insects that trekked on, over and around us just as we had trekked the mountain the day before.

But it did bite and woe were the ants who minded their own business. They were brushed off, swept up and escorted back out into the rain. So tired were we from our excursion the day before that we didn't care that they would just trot right back in - 6 legs at a time.

A few thousand ants? Far better than rats, snakes or spiders.

Andean Nightmare - The Horseback Slip n' Slide

The sun will set. Night will fall, the rain will continue and we will be stuck on a remote Andean mountain at 8500 feet above sea level, with no food or shelter or ability to change out of soaking wet clothes. We may be in Ecuador, but hypothermia is a serious threat and our horses, usually sure of foot are just as nervous as we are on the cliff edge.

(CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

In the itinerary that Ma-Le prepared, our excursion for this day was a hike into the hills of Vilcabama, Ecuador culminating in a climb into the jungle canopy where we would experience our first zip line. Excited - I paid no attention to any other details of this day - fixating on what I expected to be the highlight of my trip - zipping through the jungle - 50 feet above the ground.

When our host, Charlie of Cabinas Yambala offered me the reins to his personal horse "Speedy" I realized that I should have asked earlier for the detailed plans of our day. Apparently to get to the zip line way up in the cloud forest, we'd have to travel on horseback from 5000 to 8500 feet above sea level, carefully navigating the cliffs and fording the rivers along the way. Three hours by horse - then 1 hour of hiking - then the zip line.

Speedy knew the way, so I would lead the procession of Ma-Le, our guide Jorge and two other travelers, Nate from D.C. and his girlfriend Brenda from Mexico. We left at 9 am and within less than 20 minutes we were riding a ridge line into the mountains with Mandango in the background. A well-horned cow ambled along in front of us with little room to move from side to side.

For the duration of the three hours up we were literally on edge.

The horses do all the work, laboring all the way, stopping to lick their own sweat from their sides or to eat the grass along the trail. It was cute at first, but the more you tolerate, the more they take advantage. "Vamos!" or "Let's Go!" began routinely echoing through the valley as we all encouraged our horses along.

Dry scrub gives way to cloud forest and as we pushed up higher and higher, gorgeous pink mountain azaleas, aloe plants and giant tree ferns decorated the scenery. I've never seen a landscape like this before - It looks like a wet, painted desert.

After 3 hours of gently kicking our horses up the mountain, a plateau came into view and my horse began galloping along the cliff edge - novel at first, but when I couldn't remember the Spanish word for slow or stop I yelled "he's going faster!" to which the bilingual horse responded by going faster! We had arrived at the camp - where we had lunch before trekking on foot.

After nearly an hour on foot we descended into the valley where the high altitude vegetation gave way to more typical tropical jungle. It was raining higher in the mountains and the streams had begun to rise as we came upon them. We crossed to the zip line by log - an easy task here before the rains had started. The return trip was more treacherous.

After 4+ hours trekking into the mountains, we arrived at the zip line - to which I said "where's the rest of it?". No really. This is it? The zip line consisted of 2 spans, the first being roughly 50 feet long (as seen above). Once you've zipped down this section, you walk across a rickety rope bridge (with safety harness attached), harness into the 2nd zip line which is about 40 feet off the ground and zip back down. Ma-Le was terrified on the final leg and I must confess to being nervous.

You know something in Ecuador is dangerous when they provide safety precautions. I was underwhelmed, but the trek to get here was stunning and Speedy, my noble steed was a good conversationalist. He claimed to not like getting his feet muddy and would step around puddles on the way up. Bad news for the trip down.

As we unharnessed from the zip line, it began to rain. It was supposedly the dry season in this part of Ecuador and when we asked our guide how the horses do in the rain, walking down a cliff edge, he said he didn't know. He'd never had to do that before.

It drizzled as we hiked back to the horses. A beautiful scene, but if it kept up, the 3 hour horseback ride down would prove to be a nightmare. Jorge decided we should walk them down. Looking at my watch and doing quick math, it occurred to be that if it was 3 pm now and it took 3 hours to climb up and sundown is 6:20 pm, we would probably arrive back at camp in darkness.

To panic would serve no purpose. So we grabbed the reigns and began to head down with 1200 lb animals at our back. The trail is narrow from repeated use by horse and cow. There are no water bars so as the rain falls, it creates a constant cascade of water and horse poop on the trail. You can't imagine how slow an hour passes until you have trudged ankle deep in muck, listening for the sound of a horse sliding on rock and writing your own obituary to this crazy scene.

After an hour, everything on my body was soaked. The soles from Ma-Le's boots had completely come off and she was walking on her socks. And the Mexican woman's horse could have cared less that our time was short and slowed us down by grazing more often than walking. The horse not the woman.

Without good footwear - Ma-Le was forced to climb back on her horse, despite the danger of sliding off the cliff. We all decided to try this for a bit but 90 minutes in, Pamona, Nate's horse slipped on rock near the edge, tearing a chunk of flesh off it's leg and nearly sending Nate 1000 feet into the canyon.

How much further? 30 minutes Jorge says.

By the time we hit the three hour mark, I was continuing to ring water from my clothes. Rain jackets were useless and I would tell you how much water was coming off of me but at this point it was too dark to see. With Ma-Le still on her horse, I led mine through the narrow passages and barely escaped being crushed when Pamona slid into Speedy causing a horsealanche with me trapped and nowhere to go. Like a scene from a cartoon - Speedy stopped within an inch of my face, both legs spread to either side of the trail and Pamona nearly launching over Speedy.

How much further? 15 minutes Jorge says. Of course he said 30 minutes and hour ago.

By the time we reached the cabins, it was pitch black. No street lights, no house lights. The Yambala River was swollen and raging and we were exhausted, soaking wet and covered in mud. We got cleaned up, enjoyed a fantastic four course Ecuadorian meal by a toasty fire and were asleep by 9 pm, lulled into dream by the roar of the river.

at 1 am, the rising river caused a whole new nightmare......

too be continued!

Pete, Pete, Pete of the Jungle - Watch Out For That Tree!

It's Thanksgiving and there's football to passively watch, turkeys to baste and pies to eat (for breakfast? I'm looking at you Gibbs!) so I won't write much. I know, I know it takes nearly 6.5 minutes to read a typical post....where will some of you get those minutes back?!? (Blog exhaustion? I'm looking at you Gibbs - put the pie down) So I've removed most of the big words and nearly all of the spelling errors. That should help. But thought I'd share another moment from my Ecuador trip and give thanks to my three heroes for inspiring a life of vine swinging, jungle fun.

Pitfall Harry

Mowgli

and of course Indy

This was back on the trip to Tayos Cave. My first attempt I missed the tree - my second try I found out just how high 25 feet off the jungle floor is.

I need a whip.

(Did you get this far Gibbs?)

Mandango - The Sleeping Inca

At age 37, with aches and pains from my ears to my toes, I can't imagine what life might be like 73 years from now when I would be 110. I'll be happy to make it to 80, but in the "Valley of Longevity" and in the town of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, the locals are reputed to live long lives and boast the oldest humans on the planet with some suggested to be around 120 years of age.


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Is it true? And if so why? Birth certificates are probably few and far between from 1887 and it would be inappropriate to cut an Ecuadorian in half and count their rings, but apparently some researchers have demonstrated that calcium and magnesium levels in the drinking water are such that they promote healthy bodies and longer life. I drank the bottled water anyway.

With the abundance of Coca Cola and fried foods, I wouldn't hold much hope in the local kids becoming centurions.

The area is also noted as the former royal retreat of the Incas who during their 95 year empire in the 15th century came to this valley. It is said that Mandango, the sleeping Inca protects the valley from earthquakes and other natural disasters and can be seen resting on the mountain above the town, arms folded and quite relaxed.

Our late arrival to town made an ascent of Mandango for that day problematic, but when we were offered a less than stellar alternative, we decided to climb the Incan anyway. We were told it would only take 45 minutes to climb the steep 1000 foot climb. I've learned to multiply all times by 2 to get a better estimate of how long we might need.
Half way up I stopped at this tree, covered with bromiliads, which I found strange for such an arid environment.

It's cool on top of the mountain, but insects abound including this lady bug-like insect being slurped up by a spider. We were told that the Incans or possibly peoples that preceded the Incans may have sculpted this mountain to accentuate the features of Mandango. Scale is tough to tell in this environment but from base to peak is about 20 stories tall.
Ma-Le descends the steep slopes.
All of the guide books say "climb Mandango to the white cross". From the peak it looks small, but it's actually a little taller than an above average sized Ecuadorian.
The hike took just about an hour up and another back down. A nice introduction to the town and Mandango and it gave us enough rest to prepare for the following days harrowing adventure.....

CLICK THIS PHOTO FOR AN AMAZING PANORAMA OF MANDANGO!

Tayos Cave: One Giant EEEP! for Mankind

When venturing into a cave, there are a few things that you must bring along. A headlamp, good batteries, an adult diaper and a good knowledge of what resides in said cave. Our second excursion in Ecuador brought us to Tayos Cave 3 hours north of Zamora. To reach the cave, we traveled an hour with 3 Belgians (not required, but amusing) and a local guide (Jorge) up the Nagaritza River to a Shuar Community. They're one one of the few remaining indigenous tribes in Ecuador and the people of this particular community have acclimated to "modern" culture, living in centros or centers since abandoning their traditional nomadic existence in the rain forest. The Shuar are most noted for their former custom of head shrinking - a practice that was intended to capture and retain the souls of their victims. There are over 40,000 Shuar living in the eastern slopes and amazon rain forest of Ecuador.This center is an impoverished area, reachable only by boat, but within the next 5 years, a road will cut through the jagged hills and cascade-lined cliffs along the Nagaritza and connect the community to the network of dirt and roughly paved roads leading to Zamora. It'd be nice to think this is for the welfare of these people, but gold was discovered here and slowly and systematically, the powers that be are constructing the infrastructure to mine these Andean slopes. Further to the east, disputed Ecuadorian lands now annexed by Peru after the war in 1995 harbor vast oil fields. (If you are Peruvian and have a different perspective - please fill out a comment form at http://www.ecuadoresnumerouno.com/) Regardless of their ownership, the people, wildlife and ecosystem are threatened by future exploration and exploitation.

Although it's the dry season in this region of Ecuador, we experienced heavy rains and strong currents on the Nagaritza as well as spectacular waterfalls along our route.

After embarking on the 3 hour hike to the cave, the peril became more perilous. Conga Ants, or "48 hour" ants are over an inch long and bite hard enough to leave you in pain for several days. I took the picture - the guide chopped it in half.

My previous trip to Ecuador brought us in contact with venomous centipedes, so when I came across this cartoonish looking beast I declined to hold it, despite our guides willingness to do so. He did - he survived - I still didn't trust him. In case you're wondering - Centipedes have 2 sets of legs per segment. Millipedes 4 sets.

After 3 hours of hiking through the rain forest, we arrived at Tayos Cave, named for the nocturnal birds that roost within. With headlamps on - our party of six descended from the glowing green canopy of the jungle into the muddy, damp darkness.

The cave was made famous in the 60's by Argentinian entrepreneur Janos Moricz whose expedition in 1969 supposedly discovered a vast series of tunnels and a "Metal Library". The wild claims drew much attention and in 1975 a scientific exploration set out to settle the claims, bringing along an honorary member of the team, Neil Armstrong. The metal library was never found although there are some interesting limestone formations. What we did find were the Tayos birds or Oilbirds that locals harvest. Just before fledgling, the birds gain a considerable amount of weight. Locals climb bamboo ladders to the cave ceiling where they extract the chicks from the nests and render their fat for oil. The birds don't respond well to these disturbances in their cave as you can imagine and screech out a noise in the darkness that sounds not unlike the Predator from Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie of the same name. Later tonight, turn out all the lights and play this clip of Oilbirds to simulate the effect.

I could have sworn I had good batteries. They had been working fine, but my light - which was also Ma-Le's illumination died at quite the inopportune time. Half way into the cave as we carefully stepped back and forth across the cave stream and just as we were ducking under a large boulder and squeezing through a narrow passage with just one more step to reach the plateau - darkness.

I can imagine how the Neil Armstrong expedition in 1975 would have gone.

"That's one more small step..."

EEEEEEEERGGGGGGGGGGGGAGAGAG

"Holy crap what was that!"

It's no wonder Ma-Le reacted the way she did. As the hideous screams echoed through pitch black - I snapped this chestnut.

If that wasn't terrifying enough - a Belgian exclaimed "What is that" and shone his flashlight against the rock wall 3 feet in front of us and there, perched on the wall and about the size of a dinner plate was a Scorpion Whiptail.

Look at the face on that thing! It's just as terrified as Ma-Le! But it does look familiar....

As we left the cave, the Belgians left us behind again to grope the rock walls and slosh through the stream in darkness - eventually emerging back into the rain forest. Why couldn't they wait!

I guess I shouldn't have made that Belgian Waffle joke the night before. But it was a good one.