Day 412: The birds and the butterflies

We read that we didn’t need to get up at the crack of dawn to go bird-watching. We could go to a guesthouse that had a yard that was full of birds until eleven in the morning. Had we known the only birds that would be at the guesthouse were hummingbirds, we would have definitely gotten up early to walk through the rainforest instead. Word to the wise: get up early. That’s when the birds are out! We watched the hummingbirds, and then made our way towards the butterfly sanctuary, hoping we would get a little bit more action. Fortunately, the butterflies were a plenty and worth the visit!

If you look really closely at the feeder to the right of the picture, you can see three hummingbirds- or rather, the blur of their wings. While we were looking forward to seeing some bigger, more colorful birds, watching around thirty hummingbirds buzz around was mesmerizing. And a bit fascinating. There were actually three different feeders, but one feeder was under control of a “boss” hummingbird who was not keen on sharing. When any other hummingbirds tried to approach his feeder, he would chase them away!

After about a half hour, we walked through town and then hopped into a cab to go out to the butterfly reserve. We’ve been to gardens before, but this was by far the most populated one that we’ve been to yet, even if there were a lot of the same butterflies.

We got a brief introduction, mostly so we could understand that the butterflies were in part harvested out in the rainforest, but also bred within the sanctuary itself. And then we were told we could feed the butterflies with any of the banana left out for the butterflies to feed off of. All we had to do was get a finger full of mushy banana and put it as close as possible to the butterfly’s mouth. Andrew was better at this than I was. Most butterflies seemed more interested in my orange sweater than any banana I had on my finger.

We tried – I tried to get a beautiful bright blue butterfly to land on one of us, or at least let us feed it, but failed for the majority of our visit. Right as we were about to leave, one of the blue butterflies landed on Andrew. He stayed long enough for me to get some banana for him to eat. Unfortunately snapping a picture of him with his wings spread, revealing the bright blue wasn’t easy.

You can see a little sliver of bright blue inside the wings as they are closed. These guys flitted all over Mindo. They were just beautiful. It was fascinating to see how different they looked when their wings were closed!

Day 397: Whale watching off the coast of Puerto Lopez

Whale watching has been on my to-do list for quite sometime now. And once I found out it was a possibility to do on this trip- in Northern Peru, or in Ecuador, I got excited. I may have even started singing Will You Be There in my head every time Andrew and I discussed when and where we were going to go whale watching. Once we decided we were going to go whale watching off the coast of Puerto Lopez, I may have wondered what the chances were of a whale breaching over me standing on top of our boat with my arms outstretched while water rained down over me. Although we were on the tail end of the season, other travelers we had met had good luck seeing some whales and we thought it was worth a try. The humpback whales stop along the coast of Ecuador between June and September to mate and give birth before heading to the polar waters. So we hoped to catch a few loiterers on their way out. We also decided to take a tour of the Isla de la Plata. It’s known as ‘The Poor Man’s Galapagos’ so if we didn’t see any whales, at least we’d see some other animals and birds on the island!

When I first heard that the whales mate and give birth during that time period off the coast of Ecuador, I wondered how long the gestation period is, thinking it had to be impossible for an entire whale to be made within a couple of months. According to Wikipedia, Females typically breed every two or three years. The gestation period is 11.5 months, yet some individuals have been known to breed in two consecutive years. The peak months for birth are January, February, July, and August, with usually a one- to two–year period between humpback births. They can live up to 48 years.

That answered a few questions.

Our guide also told us that if the whales were moving fast, they would need to surface often for air. If they were hanging out in the water, chances are we wouldn’t see them that often. On our way to the island, we saw one whale surface and could see water being blown up a couple of times, but then the big guy disappeared.

As our boat pulled up to the island, sea turtles swam around in the bay reminding me and Andrew of our sea turtle experience in Zanzibar. Now, I’m all for hiking and trekking through natural habitats, but had I known what (little) we were in store for, I would not have paid extra to take a tour of the Isla de la Plata. Birds are cool, but only seeing two species of birds when we were expecting more, and other animals as well, was a bit of a let down. Here’s some Booby pictures for you nonetheless. I feel it’s my duty to mention that halfway through our trek on the island, Andrew leaned in and whispered “I never thought I’d hear this come out of my mouth… but I’m a little tired of all of the Boobies.” I couldn’t have agreed more.

We walked to a few high points of the island, dodging Blue-footed Boobies all along the trail. They like to nest in open areas. The island was mostly covered in scrub brush and thorny looking plants and a few trees. The only open areas were the paths that were cleared for visitors. We had to walk in single file past each nest and weren’t able to stop. Some Boobies would get scared, and you could see their throat fluttering, pulsing even, but they would never leave their nest. They were interesting to see, but between them, and the numerous Frigatebirds on the island simply didn’t leave me begging to stay on the island.

After we walked around the island, we were served lunch (sandwiches and fresh fruit) and then immediately after we were finished eating, it was time to snorkel. Like our guide never had a 10-20 minute time-out from swimming rule after eating or something. Andrew and I both got in, but my first mask was broken and then by the time I got a good mask, I realized the water was too cloudy to see anything anyway and it was time to go. (I now look forward to our future shorter vacations where I can more easily bring along my own snorkel gear!)

I worried slightly that we were just going to head back to Puerto Lopez, and not get a chance to look for any more whales. But we headed further away from the island (and the mainland) in search of more! We saw quite a few, but right as half of us turned to sit down, the other half of the boat gasped as the whale we were just following breached in the distance. Of course, I missed it. Later, another whale seemed to follow right alongside our boat for awhile, but the pictures simply didn’t turn out. The most I was able to capture was several backs protruding out of the water and fins that were playfully slapping the water. It was like some of the whales knew we were there, knew we were watching and wanted to show off. Another couple of travelers we met, got really lucky and saw the same whale breach several times. They too, said they thought he (or she) was showing off.

We probably didn’t see much, compared to how much we would have been able to see had we been in Ecuador a couple months ago. But it was breathtaking nonetheless. These whales are just so enormous that it makes you wonder how it’s even possible for something so big to exist in the first place. And so peaceful. They swim about, look like they are playing, and if you’re lucky enough you get to see it all. Amazing. This earth is simply amazing.

Day 364: Colca Canyon

Colca Canyon is where the condors roam. Unfortunately for us, I think we timed it all wrong. In the middle of winter in Peru, farmers are burning off excess brush to make more room for future farming. I don’t think the condors were keen on the smoke anymore than we were. Despite waking up early and being one of the first at the viewing platforms, the condors didn’t get close and it was a little bit hard to see what all of the fuss was about. We heard that condors flew over other viewers and were awestruck by how large these birds are… We simply didn’t have the same experience.

I entertained myself with the beautiful local women selling snacks, jewelry, blankets, and other crafts instead. That is, until one of my lenses stopped working. Now, keep in mind that I’ve already sent two lenses home that have stopped working for one reason or another. Momma actually sent one away for repair and was able to bring it with her to Peru. I should have been optimistic about the timing that she had brought an additional lens for me just in time for another one to go kaput. But I wasn’t. All I could think about was how expensive it was going to be to repair or replace this professional lens… and how badly I wanted to have it for Machu Picchu. I was crushed, to say the least. The irony of this third lens breaking on this trip was that I’m pretty sure it happened when the camera bag I had my mom bring – was dropped – with the lens in it. I tried to make do with the wider lens, or trying to manually adjust the zoom despite the sticking. Tears escaped my eyes throughout.

The worst part about being so crushed about something when you’re traveling is that there’s this very strong struggle inside of you willing you to let it go and enjoy where ever you may be at the time. When you have a bad day at home, you can kinda scrap the day, right?

I like the show, Suits, and got a kick out of Lewis saying “I need a day.” and leaving the office. You can’t do that when you’re traveling. You can take a nap, and then you have to brush yourself off and see what you want to see before you leave the next day.

Which is exactly what I did- or at least tried to do, and we all walked through town and towards another viewing area of Colca Canyon from just outside of Cabanaconde. On our way to the viewing, we saw some farmers using a telephone pole to help them put a yoke on some cattle. It looked a little dangerous and I thought it was wise of them to use the telephone pole and some ropes to keep them safe.

The view was vast. That little line snaking around the mountain on the opposite side, that’s a road. Would you want to travel on it? The city of Cabanaconde looked a lot bigger from this vantage point than it did when walking the small streets within. We walked past an arena on our way back and wondered if bullfights still go on today or if it’s a thing of the past.

When we got back in town, Momma went to a mass that was being held in the town’s church. She said there were only two other women at the service. Afterwards she had a nice conversation with the pastor of the church who held the mass.

“Oh did he speak English?” Andrew asked. Mom laughed.

“No.”

And then we might have laughed, imagining how the conversation sounded. To give you an idea, Mom’s favorite words in Spanish are “No necesito” and “hija” and “paRdon” pronounced en français. Granted, she probably knows more Spanish than I do (before we enroll in classes after she leaves) but it makes for some really entertaining conversations with the locals.

I had my Polaroid on me and was able to snap a picture of this little girl with her baby. She was the sweetest thing, and was quite unsure of what I was up to, until I handed her the picture. Once she got a good look at it, she was pretty excited and later asked me if I could take another. Unfortunately she might have been at school the next morning when we walked past again… and I didn’t see her to take another.