Can You Predict the Future?

On October 26, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge, South America14 Comments

Whether or not you believe that certain people have a sixth sense, we are firm believers that people should trust their gut feelings. There have been times in our lives when we have had a sense that something had occurred and found out that those were true. Sometimes it isn’t anything magical, it is just a matter of using a little common sense, life experience, and trusting your senses. If you are in a strange city and get off of the main streets at night and get the feeling that someone is watching you, it isn’t a stretch to think that something bad might happen to you and that you should turn around and try to get to a more populated area. Traveling puts you on edge as it is, so it isn’t uncommon to get that nagging feeling that something is going to go wrong. A flight will be delayed and you will miss your connection. The taxi driver isn’t taking you to where they are supposed to or they are purposely taking a longer route to run up the bill. These feelings aren’t a bad thing, they make you more aware of your surroundings, make you plan for unexpected changes, and will ultimately make you a more confident traveler.

When we were in the Amazon Jungle, there was definitely no telling what we would see every time we rounded the next bend of the river or trail. Obviously, we were with experienced guides, so that definitely gave us confidence. All the same, we knew that we could come across anaconda snakes, caiman, poisonous frogs, snakes, spiders, and other insects. This week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge is things that start with the letter J and are at least six letters long. We have chosen photos from the Jungle from both our trip to Bolivia last year as well as our trip to Ecuador this year.

Getting Above It All

On October 10, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America4 Comments

One of the favorite things that we did during our time in Ecuador was to climb up a twelve story tower in the rainforest to watch for wildlife. Like most days that we spent at the Napo Wildlife Center in the Amazon, we were woken up at 4:30 am to have a quick breakfast and jump into a canoe to paddle to our destination. Obviously, the best times to see wildlife anyplace is at dusk and dawn when animals are most active and the same is true of animals in the jungle.

Once we beached our canoe, it was a relatively short hike through the forest to reach the observation tower. Standing at the bottom of the tower will certainly test any potential fear of heights, but it was an easier climb up the stairs than we had at first anticipated. We climbed up through the tree tops as well as the fog and arrived to see an amazing view of the jungle below us. It didn’t take long for the group to start spotting birds. The goal was to act as a team, each of us looking through binoculars and zoom lenses searching for motion that might be from an animal. Once someone saw something, our guides would point their telescopes at it and determine what we were looking at.

We were able to see so many amazing animals from macaws, toucans, and various monkeys. Overall, during our time in the jungle, we saw over 52 types of birds, 5 different monkeys, 2 tree sloths, as well as caimans. We weren’t able to take photos of everything because of the denseness of the forest, but we will treasure our memories of seeing them forever. We had several wonderful adventures during our time in Ecuador, but this day was definitely one that was extremely memorable.

Ecuador – Land of Biodiversity

On September 25, 2017 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn South America10 Comments

Ecuador is a country made up of three distinct regions, each with their own opportunities to discover. There is the coastal region, which also includes the Galapagos Islands, the highlands with the Andes mountains and all of the volcanoes, and the Amazon with the largest variety of plants and animals of any country. We did not visit the coastal region or the Galapagos Islands on this trip, but instead focused our time on the highlands and the Amazon.

One thing was immediately clear upon our arrival in Ecuador, it is a country that is embracing eco-tourism. Although the country is still heavily dependent on the revenue from oil, there is a conscious effort to embrace tourism as the future of the country. Changing the currency to the US dollar in 2000 has also made it easy for visitors from the States to travel to Ecuador. Spanish is the official language of Ecuador, but there are still many indigenous people who speak Quechua, and English is commonly spoken.

Our time in the highlands was highlighted by visiting three of the many volcanoes, both active and non-active, that exist in Ecuador. One of the most famous is Cotopaxi, which has been active since 2015, although fortunately it has only spewed ash and steam and not lava. The snow covered volcano peaks can be seen on clear days from the capital city of Quito and are a constant reminder to the volatility of the forces that have formed the landscape of Ecuador.

Ecuador gets its name from the equator line, which runs through the country. Visiting the equator actually involves seeing two separate sites. There is the equator monument, commonly referred to as the historical equator as it was originally calculated as the center of the world in 1736, but was later proven to be wrong. With the use of GPS, scientists were able to calculate the true equator, which is actually slightly north of the monument that people often visit. Going to both equator sites is worthwhile as it is interesting to learn about the history of the equator and how indigenous people were able to calculate the center of the world thousands of years ago even closer than more modern scientists.

The Yasuni National Park in Ecuador is considered to be the most biodiverse location on the earth with all of the varieties of birds, amphibians, insects, plants, and trees. It is run by a group of indigenous natives and even has two tribes inside of the park that have no contact with the outside world. Despite the reliance upon oil, Ecuador is trying to balance the need for drilling with the desire to protect their natural resources. Spending time in the park is something that was truly special and we will treasure forever.

Napo Wildlife Center in the Yasuni National Park

Ecuador is a wonderful country and we enjoyed the time that we spent in the country. We didn’t have enough time on this trip to visit the Galapagos Islands, so we will definitely return sometime in the future to go to the coastal regions. Considering the variety of things to see and do in Ecuador, it is definitely a country that deserves to be visited.