03/04/10 Hacienda Zuleta Day 2

These farmers were cutting wheat with the mountain in the background. We were out for a walk above the town which afforded a great view of the mountain. Bueno!

I'll put up more images later and more text as well. We're about to eat our lunch and we're heading to Hacienda Cuisin - nearer to Otavalo. I'm told that they have wi-fi as well. Adios, for now.

03/03 Hacienda Zuleta

Plaque at Hacienda Zuleta (1691)

Sign out at the main road for Hacienda Zuleta

Statue of President Gallo Plaza Lasso at entrance to the hacienda

In the town of Zuleta

Breakfast at Hacienda Zuleta

Nice view, nice horses

Horse maintenance

Caballero

Fido the hacienda dog (one of them) at the main door

Ready to tour the cheese factory

What else?

Garden of plenty

A condor up on a cliff wall on our walk

Prehistoric mounds, burial or ceremonial no one seems to know

Two ladies going home on our/their trail?

Condor in the rehab center

Long view of their cages

One of the courtyards at Hacienda Zuleta

Cow herder and helper

These will be the most luxurious days of our stay by far. Hacienda Zuleta is definitely top of the line in every way. The owners are part of the Ecuadorian elite and although they dismiss this place a "just a working farm" it's anything but. A museum that you live in would be how I describe it. The food is what I would call gourmet, although a little high in the creamy side in my mind. The staff has taken care to cater to my dietary needs, substituting lots of fruits and vegetables for starchy foods. Everyone seems to be raving about the place.

After breakfast we took a tour of the hacienda's dairy/cheese operation as well as a walk through their organic gardens. The farm processes 6.000 liters of milk a day (that seems a lot to me) and uses a portion of it for their private line of cheeses. We toured the cheese factory and learned some about that process. Then it was out into the massive gardens to see where all the food that comes to the table came from. They also have an area where they create compost used in the gardens (cows byproduct) and where they create liquid fertilizer for sale. Everything that they have on the farm is used in some way.

We took a little walk into the countryside this afternoon to their condor rehabilitation center that is on the grounds. When I say a little walk it's all relative since we are at a pretty high altitude - 9,500 feet so all walking takes a bit of an effort. We probably walked for about an hour to a spot where 8 condors are kept in captivity. All of these condors have either been shot or injured in some way. They are in cages but have a little room to walk and flap their wings for a while. It appears that they cannot be released due to their injuries and an attempt is being made to breed them in captivity.

Then back to our house for a fine dinner followed by coffee or tea in the study. Everyone sat around by the fire talking and planning tomorrow's activities and it was off to bed. This is pretty simplified but you get the idea of what we did. As always, more as I can!

03/02/10 Reverse trip back to civilization

Last paddle up the creek

Pato in the canoe after we disembarked at Guest Center

My new friend in Coca

That monkey wanted my passion fruit

Toucan in Coca

Llama at The Center of the World outside Quito

Harvey and Luis and El Che

Up into the Andes - Bus trip to Hacienda Zuleta

The bags have arrived at Hacienda Zuleta

Balcony area upon arrival

Main entrance to Hacienda Zuleta

Main courtyard at Hacienda Zuleta

After the 5:00 wake up knock and our final breakfast it was back in the canoes one more time for the trip back to the information Center. We had a 10 minute restroom stop and then back in the motorized canoe for our trip back up the Napo to Coca. The trip back was done in about 3 hours once again with machine like efficiency. We had a few minutes on the dock area in Coca and we walked around and saw 4 parrots sitting on a perch. Luis walked up to one and put out his finger and he hopped right on. Later I put one on my arm and was walking around with a parrot when a monkey jumped on my back pack to try and get a Passion Fruit out of the side webbing. The parrot was squawking and eventually someone gave the monkey the fruit and calm prevailed. It’s pretty funny that we went all that way into the Amazon and got the closest to animals right there on the dock. We got the yell to get on the bus back to the airport when a pair of Toucans hopped out and were right there in front of us. They had blue feet – not what I expected. A few quick shots with the camera and it was off to the airport. After boarding the 30 minute flight back to Quito was calmly routine. When we deplained and collected our luggage (by hand from a cart) Jose was waiting for us out front with the bus. We had left our “extra” luggage at the Hilton when we left for the Amazon. Jose had some money to tip the staff there for keeping the luggage for us and it was all loaded on the bis. It was time to say goodbye to Paul and Lorraine who unfortunately had to head back to the world.
Now it was time to stop at La Mitad del Mundio (The Center of the World). This is about a half hour north of the airport. Way back when the French determined what they thought was the exact location of the Equator. It turns out that when GPS technology was used the place they chose was slightly off. Well, the monument had ben built so the original wrong spot remains the place to go. There is a red line painted in the ground and you can take a goofy picture with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one foot in the Southern Hemisphere. Who could pass up this opportunity? After the photo op and some light lunch we piled back into the bus to head upwards into the high Andes. Weaving upwards with many switchbacks we eventually found or stop for the next three nights. The final 2 miles or so are down some pretty bumpy rocky roads but boy was it worth the effort! Hacienda Zuleta is a working farm described as “An intimate encounter with the Ecuadorian Andes”. The hacienda has 15 beautifully decorated bedrooms, all with their own fireplace. Guests have access to cozy reading and living rooms inn a peaceful atmosphere. Wonderful cooking and regional cuisine is offered daily with fresh organic vegetables, trout and dairy produced on the farm.
We were greeted upon arrival by Fernando the son and grandson of two previous presidents of Ecuador. Later that evening he gave us some of the history of the hacienda. Dating from the late 16th century,, Hacienda Zuleta lies in the spectacular Andean Mountain range in Ecuador on a 4.000 acre (2,000 hectare) working farm. One of the world’s “Top Ten Finds” according to Outside Magazine, this estate has been in the family of former Ecuadorian president Galo Plaza Lasso for over 100 years. Hacienda Zuleta is located at 9,600 feet (2,800 meters) above sea level and only two hours north of the capital city of Quito. The previous was taken directly from the brochure for the hacienda. It’s pretty obvious that this family is super rich! Fernando told us that his relatives were among the first Europeans to arrive in Ecuador and were granted large (hugh) amounts of land by the Spanish governors. The hacienda is a home with tons of spectacular silver and antique wooden furniture peaces not to mention priceless religious artwork and statues. There are family picture in every room and you really feel you are in a home (although not one we are used to being in). It’s more like an Ecuadorian version of a castle in Europe. After a fantastic meal we retired to our rooms which had a fire going in the fireplace. After a day started in the jungle and ending high in the Andes we were ready for some sleep and ready to go for it in the morning.

03/01/02 NWC Day 2

Heading for the canoe at dawn

Entering the creek

The end of the paddle

Our group in front of a huge tree

Dragonfly

Illinois Jones?

Tower next to the Kapoc tree and platform

Robbie and Connie and telescope on platform scouting for activity

2 Toucans in the distance - trust me. Click on the image and it will enlarge!

View from the platform

Bird in the platform's tree

Mariano showing some medicinal property of a tree

Poison Dart Frog top side

Poison Dart Frog bottom side

Along the forest trail

Nice filmy leaf canopy

This morning we had some extra sleep time. We got the knock on the door at 5:30 instead of 5:00 yesterday. Another wonderful breakfast and it was into the canoes again @ 6:30. Today we paddled back across the lagoon and down another little creek. This creek got us to within about a 15 minute walk to our destination for the morning. Three years ago the NWC erected a 36 meter high observation tower/platform. The platform, which rests in the top of a Kapoc tree, has been built to the strictest safety standards and with the utmost respect for the surrounding ecology. It provides a unique opportunity to view birds and animals in their natural canopy habitat, including monkeys and sloths. Well, we did see some Howler Monkeys quite a way off in the distance, but no sloths.
We spent about 3 hours up un the forst canopy and saw Macaws, parrots hawks and many other birds in the surrounding treetops. Several of the smaller birds actually flew up into the branches of the Kapoc tree and spent some time looking at us. Robbie had brought a powerful telescope up and whenever anyone found something he zoomed in with the telescope for a better view. You could see all the way back to the lagoon and could hear boats going back and forth on the Napo River. I have some images from up there but once again they don’t do justice to the reality of what we saw. This is pretty relaxing and there are chairs and wooden benches so you can rest or watch with your binoculars from the seats.
After some time we climbed back down and hiked our way back through the forest with Robbie, Mariano and Pato once again spotting stuff that we never would have seen at all. The trail through the forest was in dappled sunlight and how they spotted these creatures is almost mystical. At one point Mariano was walking ahead fo me and leaped down on the ground and successfully captured a poison dart frog. This frog secretes a substance from glands behind their eyes which the Kichwa use for tipping their darts with for hunting. Apparently it is not dangerous to handle the frog, they said you would only suffer if you ate the frog. When you see how small this frog is in the pictures you’ll understand how difficult it is to spot one in the foliage. They have bright colors on their bodies which Mariano explained is to warn others to leave them alone. Most creatures in the forest use camouflage to hide from predators – these guys are just the opposite.
Mariano sopped at several places along the path to show us plants that are used for medicinal purposes. The native Kichwa have a complete understanding of their environment and know what to use for common ailments like stomach aches or fevers. He also showed us a palm tree leaf that is stripped into small “rope” and combined together to make hammocks and strings for their ornamental jewelry.
The expected afternoon rain kicked in but stopped after only 15 minutes or so. The final paddle of the day took us back the the lodge where we had lunch and free time! We were invited to go on a after sunset walk through the forest but no one wanted to put on the long boots and apply insecticide (it’s hot there) so we opted for a long relaxing afternoon siesta straight through till suppertime. Since this was our last dinner at the camp the chef and his helpers came out of the kitchen to receive a well deserved round of applause. We had a 5:00 wake up in the morning so it was off to sleep.

02/28/10 Day one at NWC

Up EARLY and getting into the canoe!

Dawn on the lagoon

Native canoe along the bank of the creek

A Kite in flight

At the first parrot clay lick

Connie in the viewing blind

Blow dart with kit - poison was stored in gourd

"Bwana" with the blow gun and darts

Along the trail in the afternoon

Back at the lagoon just before dusk - a long day!

We were given a wake up knock on the door this morning at 5:00! We met in the dining hut for a breakfast at 5:30 and by 6:00 were loaded back into our paddling canoes with Robbie, Mariano and Pato for a paddle back up the creek. We took a slow paddle and the guides were amazing at pointing out many creatures that we would have NEVER seen by ourselves. We saw monkeys, a boa constrictor, many, many birds and butterflies including many blue morphos. I wish I could load the video I have taken but for ehatever reason it won’t load. Too bad, it really gives you a feel for where we were.

After about and hour we arrived back at the information center. We were transferred back into the motorized canoe for a short trip to the first of 2 parrot clay licks we would visit. Parrots and parakeets visit the locks daily to eat the clay which assists with their digestion. The NWC have constructed comfortable blinds where we were able to observe the colorful spectacle of these beautiful playful birds. Here is where the video would give you a real feel for the activity and noise! I posted a couple of images on an earlier post but it does no justice. Some of the birds stay up in the surrounding trees as watch birds and they take turns watching and eating. We were lucky in that the day we went conditions were perfect and we saw hundreds of birds eating at both licks. The very next day the other group saw no birds on the ground – perhaps a hawk was threatening them.

We stayed at the licks for around 3 hours and then went back to the Information center on a trail where we were served a lunch and saw what the old Kichwa villages were like. There was a meeting room where we met a shaman or yachaj in Kichwa who treated Lorraine for her larangitis in the old way. It was pretty cool to watch all the chanting and waving of palm leaves around Lorraine. Later she felt a little better to boot! We all then had a chance to try our hand with shooting a blow gun at a target parrot. The tube was real long and pretty heavy and hard to aim. That’s my excuse as I missed with every shot! Dave Tivoli hit the parrot with his first shot and Lorraine hit the post under the parrot. Pretty cool! The darts themselves were real slender and we were told the Kichwa can hit their prey up to 50 meters! After that we bought some souvenirs at another little hut and were off for our next activity.

We loaded back into the motorized canoe for a 20 minute trip to Mariano’s home. We looked at his compound and then started our walk back thru the jungle on a native trail where we eventually were on the other side of the lagoon. Again, they saw all sorts of stuff we never would have seen! About an hour out from the finish it started to rain and eventually we were pretty soaked. We all said it would have been have been unfortunate not to be rained on in a rain forest so we got our wish. It really wasn’t cold so we weren’t troubled at all by the rain. At the end of the trail a canoe was there with Pato waiting for us and we got back to the lodge at about 4:30. So, up at 5 in the morning and back at 4:30 in the afternoon. A pretty long day but we weren’t done yet. We went for an hour paddle in the dark, back up the same creek to observe night time activity. Robbie had a bright spotlight he used to see creatures in the trees and along the creek. We spotted a female tarantula on a log over our heads. She lives in a hole in that log and is almost always out at night. Later Mariano spotted a juvenile boa constrictor and we watched it get into a threatening strike position. We left him alone and went back to the lodge for our first dinner. Amazing food when you consider that everything we ate had to come from Coca by canoe. Around 8:30 we were really ready for sleep to prepare for the next day. I can say I slept like a baby in a mosquito netted bed.

More about day 2 later..