What Sets Us Apart

What makes me different than you? What makes me different than the 16 year old girl who works here on the reserve? Who is to say whether I have 15 sibblings or 2? Who is to say whether I get an education rather than work full time to support my family?

It is hard for me not to ask myself these questions when I meet people like my friend Alex, a young girl who lost her father, has fifteen sibblings, works a full time job and only gets to go to school on Saturdays. Alex is a wonderful girl. She has a sense of humor, an appreciation for nature, she is hard working and eager to learn. She cooks every meal on the reserve, every week day then walks two hours home for the weekend. She gets paid $20 a week.

Our lives are practically opposite yet we as individuals are very similar. The only major difference between us lies in the opportunites we have, a direct result of the environment that we grew up in.

When Ecuadorians ask me what I am doing in the country, “Tourist? Student? Work?” it is hard for me to explain that I am here to travel. The response I consistently get is pure shock.

“How do you have enough money? How do you have enough time? Are you here by yourself?”

“yeah...” I explain “I am kinda just here to travel and experience new things. I am taking a year off from school.”

The fact that I have the opportunity to just come here is incredible. Unimaginable for most of the people who live here. And the reason that I am able to do so? The reason that I have this opportunity as well as all the other opportunites I have?

That´s simple. I was born in the United States. I was born into the family that I am so grateful to be a part of.

That´s the ONLY thing that seperates me from Alex.

Place of origin.

The Deal With Ecotourism

Paying money to volunteer your time...???
This concept is one that still puzzles me (and many other people) so I have done some investigation in attempt to figure out what is the deal with ecotourism.
According to the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.
For many conservation organizations, like the reserve I am currently staying at, their primary (and sometimes only) source of income is from volunteers. These organizations heavily rely on donations and volunteer payments to run their entire operation. The money at the reserve goes to pay the people who work here, the food, the bills, maitenance, transportation, and the financing of trips to go to important meetings and assemblies. As a volunteer, a paying volunteer, it is an interesting concept.
On one hand, without the money from the volunteers, organizations that are working towards conservation would not be able to operate. I truly believe that by inspiring people to make an effort towards conservation by immersing them in the beauty of nature, they will be more likely to take action and affect change. However, it is a completely unsustainable practice. These organizations rely 100% on volunteers, therefore they are unable to sustain themselves. Without volunteers, everything would collapse.
In this sense, I believe that ecotourism is a start towards conservation but not a final or sustainable solution. We have to start somewhere, but eventually organizations, much like the one I am currently volunteering for, need to be self-sufficient.

The Politics Behind the Policies

This past weekend I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to go to the Asamblea Cantonal de Cotocacchi. This is the yearly assembly for the Cotacacchi municipality (which is like a state for Ecuador) to meet up and set the agenda for the 2016 year.

On Friday, the volunteer coordinator Jose and I went into town and met with a local group of representatives from all of the neighboring communitites; Jose and I were the representatives for the 6,000 hectares of land that is Los Cedros. At this meeting we were informed of the current issues surrounding our area.

The next day, we went into the city of Cotocacchi where we were greeted by hundreds of people from all over the municipality, including the president of the Ecuadorian indigenous population and the mayor of the Cotocacchi region. After many different people gave speeches and a ceremony for blessing the asembly finished, we broke into specific groups. There were groups for education, environment, disabilities, youth, family relationships and several others. I was given the freedom to choose which group I participated in but many of the people there were elected by their communities or schools to be representatives for specific causes. In the Education group, people spoke of their qualms with the current education system; presenting personal stories and examples of their experiences. The ultimate goal of our meeting was to create resolutions, so after everyone finished giving their input, we formulated a list of resolutions to fix some of the problems.

On Sunday, the last day, everyone gathered in the theatre for the final meetings. First there was a speech by a renouned economist who informed everyone of the budget and the history of the government spending. Afterwards, each group was to present their resolutions to the entire assembly. From there, people would ask questions to clarify or propose alterations to the resolutions. To finish it off, there was a vote by the entire audience whether to approve the resolution or not, and we would move on to the next category. For some, it was very easy to pass their proposals. For example, when the disability group suggested that the government make public facilities more friendly to the blind and disabled communities, there was full support. However, when the environmental comittie started with their proposals for conservation or for raising taxes on the water, there was always a large debate.

Overall, it was a really neat experience to take part in such a democratic process. I was able to learn about Ecuador through observing the conversations these people were having. Being fully immersed in this country, I have come to learn a lot about the government. I have spoken with dozens of different people about their government and the overall attitude that I have experienced is discontent. Currently, their president Correa has not done much when it comes to conservation. He makes it very difficult for people to form organizations and so it is hard for anyone to go up against him. In addition to this, he is currently proposing an ammendment to the constitution that will allow him to extend his time in office. In the Ecuadorian government, there is a ministry of the truth that is able to correct anything that is, well, not the truth. If the radio station says something about the government, the government reserves the right to take over the radio station and dispute the truth. In addition to this, there is a rule that all incoming students must pass a specific exam to get accepted to University. Currently, due to the lack of quality education in rural areas, there is a shockingly large amount of people who are unable to go to University. At the hostel I stayed at last night, I was speaking with a girl, my age, who currently helps her family out because she cannot pass this exam. She studies very hard and has taken it three different times but the education in her small town has left her nowhere near where she needs to be in order to pass. The same goes for thousands of indigenous communities throughout the country.

The politics control everything that happens (and does not happen) here in Ecuador. It is interesting to learn first hand about these guiding forces.

I would like to end on this note: the things I have written may contain factual innacuracies due to the presence of bias in the perspectives of my sources.

Life In A Cloud

I have survived my first week in the cloud forest, miraculously, without getting eaten by a puma or devoured by a taranchula. Life is very simple here and often I spend the majority of my day with my face deep in a book, adventuring side by side with the protagonist of the novel. When I am not stranded on Mars with Mark Watney or on a life raft in the Pacific with a Bengal Tiger, I am either wandering the muddy trails that surround the camp, setting up game cameras, swimming under waterfalls, taking pictures of the hundreds of different birds and moths, journaling, or just sitting somewhere cool and thinking about stuff.

Being so far from civilization has definitely had its ups and downs no doubt but in this past week alone, I feel like I have learned a vast amount about myself.

Before coming here, I never truly experienced loneliness. In my previous travels, I had always been with my friends or family, or host family, so my first confrontation with this emotion was one that hit me head on. Gradually, over the past week, I have learned how to deal with being alone, and have taught myself to embrace the beauty of it at times. I started to compile a list of things that helped me confront my loneliness (will post in a later blog), and by pinpointing the cause of my emotions, I was better able to work through them and eventually, resolve them.

Upon my arrival, I was assaulted by a tornado of emotions. I was overwhelmed by the long list of things that are poisonous or things that are dangerous. I was sad to have said goodbye to my mother, who I had gotten so close with over the previous two weeks. I was intimidated because I was the only female and only volunteer on the entire nature reserve. I was out of my element and in a completely new place. I was basically a mess to say the least.

Now, just seven days later, this reserve is home to me. I am used to the constant caucophony of birds, monkeys, crickets and frogs that fills the air every minute of every day. I look forward to the time at night when I get to brush my teeth at the sink outside, loooking out into the dark night sky as the fireflies flicker on and off in all directions. I get excited when I get to explore a new trail. I look forward to the morning when I walk up to the main cabin for breakfast. Stomping through the mud, I watch as the birds peck at the bananas we put out the previous night. I am used to the rain that comes every afternoon and feel comfortable in my hammock with a blanket, reading my book as it patters on the tin roof overhead. I enjoy my showers because they are in a little wooden hut with an open window to the rainforest. As I lather the dirt and grime out of my hair, I look out to the trees; hoping to spot a toucan.

Life is beautiful, and on the reserve, life is abundant. Though I may be one of the only Homo sapiens here, the gap is easily filled with the presence of other, more exotic, creatures.

Indiana Jones

 Alive and well, I have made it to La Reserva de Los Cedros! I am writing to you now from a small, open faced wooden shack with a bench and a table, at the top of a hill cleared of trees. A little cable with some device on the end is plugged into the USB of this ancient computer and I hang it in the air on a rope and move it around to try to find the slightest of signal. The computer battery lasts for about 11 minutes and it takes about 10 to hike here so I will not be updating this often, I will however try to whenever possible. It is quite isolated and somewhat lonely on the reserve and contact with the outside world has proved to be pretty comforting.
With my remaining minutes of battery, I would like to tell the story of how I got here.
I took a bus through the countryside and up a dirt road through the forest for about three hours. We finally arrived at the town of Chontal, and to be honest, town is a generous word, perhaps over exaggerating the dirt road and store that it consisted of. Twenty minutes in a truck up a steep and rocky road was the second part of my journey. At one point, the driver had to stop, get out of the truck and seach for a nice piece of wood to cover the gaping hole in the suspension bridge. Once he set this piece of wood over the missing slat, he started up the car and presumed to ask me how much I weigh. Great.
After we miraculously made it across the narrow slouching bridge, he dropped me of with another man, named Fousto, who loaded my things, and all the food supplies for the coming weeks, onto the back of a mule.
The trail to the reserve started off through a banana farm. As we gradually made our way up the meandering trail, through the mud and various spider webs along the way, the vegetation began to get more and more dense. "This is the reserve," Fousto turned to tell me. Everything around us is alive. Under the leaves lies a multitude of colored insects, each tree is covered with vines, moss, flowers, lichen, birds, leaves and all sorts of crazy other plants I have never even seen before. I smile as I think this is what it must be like to be Indiana Jones.

Into The Clouds

Today I was faced with the difficulty of saying goodbye to my travel companion for the past two weeks, my momma. Departure was hard and left me stuttering and teary-eyed as I attempted to tell the taxi driver where I needed to go. I'm onto the next adventure and seeking a change of scenery for a while. 

Tonight I am staying at a couple's apartment with other teenagers from around the world, like myself, who have taken the year to travel. I couldn't help but smile when I was at the dinner table this evening, exchanging adventurous stories with my new friends. Tomorrow morning I will be taking a taxi to the bus station, going 3.5 hours north to Chontal where a driver is picking me up to continue north. Then I will be meeting a man named Josef, an American ex-pat who owns thousands of acres of cloud forest and runs a conservation program. From there he will put me (and my bag) on donkeys and we will begin the trek up into the mountains. I will be at his nature reserve, la Reserva de los Cedros, for at least three weeks and will most likely not have Internet; so for those of you who read this blog to ensure my safety, have no fear. If you'd like to see where I'll be living for the coming weeks, please follow this link http://reservaloscedros.org/

I'm very excited to see this beautiful place and to disconnect from society for a bit. Until next time! Que les vaya bien

From the Amazon to the Andes

My mom and I are now in Otavalo, after a six hour car ride through the countryside. The landscape here is much different than the others we have seen so far. Otavalo is known for its indegenous people, the Otavalans. Every morning they come down to the town square and set up one of the largest artisan markets in the country. There are many different groups of indigenous people in Ecuador and all are quite different, with varying customs, jobs and traditional dress. 

So far we have seen the more modern and hip city of Quito as well as the old town. With its antique buildings and churches, there is a wealth of history throughout the area. Next we saw the more hippy-town of Baños. Positioned on the edge of the rainforest  where the ex-pats and street performers roam the streets selling arts and crafts by day and roam the busy streets by night. Now, we are in Otavalo, a mountain town inundated with culture and customs, beautiful mountains, volcanoes with several lakes throughout the valley.

 

Comunicación

Hola friends and family! If ever you should desperately need to get in touch with me, my phone number is 994626507 and my email is sami.bierman@gmail.com.

Also, many of you have asked for my address (which will constantly be changing) but there are very high taxes for receiving packages (around $44) so please don't send anything because I can't really afford to pick it up :) 

I am really enjoying writing post cards though so if you would like one please comment your address!

Thanks!!

Self Guided Tour

Today my mom and I decided to go on an adventure and veer away from the busy tour buses with the rambling guides, monotonously saying the same thing over and over. Therefore, we thought it would be best just to rent an off-road jeep and go find some waterfalls in the Amazon, so that's exactly what we did.

We paid this company in town, handed them my drivers license in exchange for the keys and a map of the area that was really lacking in detail. They sent us off, hoping that we knew how to drive a manual.

We drove off and into the countryside. The open air flooded in from the windows and the roof and we were immersed in everything around us- the aromas from the roasting Guinea pigs on the grill, the dripping water from the long rock tunnels, the exhaust from the big semis in front and everything in between. All was going well until we decided to stop at a pullout and look at the view. On our way back onto the road we got the front tire stuck in the big concrete gutter and the back tire in the mud. A truck pulled over and all the guys got out to help us, then a semi driver pulled over to also help us lift the vehicle up and out. On the side of this mountain on a one-way highway, here we are: these two American females in a jeep stuck in the mud with four other Ecuadorian men helping us out. The scene was quit comical but it was a great way to kick off the day's adventure. We drove down the road (and back multiple times because everyone kept giving us different directions to the falls) until we got to El Pailon Del Diablo where we waked around and climbed through some caves to see the powerful cascading falls. 

Afterwards, we stopped to take a canopy tour zip line ride across a huge river to the other side of the rainforest. It was a little unnerving walking up the three story abandoned building which the zip line started off from, but even more so when we watched the guys basically Turing us in with some carabiners and daisy chains. Of course, it was just our luck to get stuck out in the open; not making it all the way back to the platform, we were left dangling by this dinky harness probably one hundred feet above the ground in the superman position. Awesome.

That just about sums up our day. Spontaneous, adventurous, and pretty wild. Having a lot of fun down here in Baños with my mom.

Inherently Good

Sometimes, after a certain series of events, we can't help but have faith in those around us. 

This morning I was trying to contact my program coordinator in Ecuador but my phone wasn't working so I asked a man at our hotel for help and his immediate reaction was to reach into his pocket, dial the number on his phone and hand it to me so I could make my phone call.

On our way into Quito, the lady who was driving our taxi graciously stopped at a safe bank where we could use and atm and walked us into the area, watching our backs as we went in. Her car broke down as we were leaving and her husband came to our rescue and picked us up to bring us to our hotel in the city. 

After a last-minute hotel booking, we were a bit nervous of the place we were staying because of its location in a more notoriously crime ridden area. Our fears were immediately dissolved when we opened the big wooden door from the busting street and met the two owners of this quaint bed and breakfast. This couple was so incredibly nice to us and extremely helpful and accommodating. It's so lovely to meet such kind and happy people when you're traveling I can't even describe how grateful I was for the generosity.

Later, we went to the teleférico, a trolley car to the top of a mountain on the north side of the city. It was beautiful to hike around up there at 13,500 feet and see the snowy volcanoes of Ecuador. We saw the sun set and watched as the lights of the city came to life in the valley below. 

We came down the trolley when it was beginning to get dark and started to get a bit nervous when there were no taxis. We saw a large group of people all wearing the same black leather jackets and dozens of police officers so we were curious as to what was happening. Being the only white people at night in a large city with hundreds of people on the sidewalks wearing the same clothes can be a little intimidating. Anyways, to the point... I asked a man where we could find a taxi and he politely told us down the road. He began walking with us all the way down and talking with me the whole way as we navigated through the crowd. Apparently he was a police officer in Quito and wanted to make sure we made it safely to a taxi. Once we found an available one, the man helped me tell the driver where we were going and how to get there.

We went to dinner at a really neat restaurant called Zazu and met several other groups of travelers like ourselves. All were so friendly and very open to suggesting places to visit and gave me great travel tips and well wishes.

For the week that we've been here so far, I've felt really tense and uneasy in the city. So many people have told me terrible stories of the awful things that have happened to them while traveling and as a result, I wasn't giving people the benefit of the doubt. I was having terrible nightmares of bad things that may happen and I was walking through the city, not trusting anyone around me.

Although these actions and deeds may seem insignificant to most, the willingness of other people to lend us a helping hand without hesitation helped boost my faith in humanity. As my mom reminded me in our taxi ride home - only a small percentage of people actually have malicious intentions. 

I think I had simply forgotten about the other (larger) percentage of the population. 

Islas Galápagos

Increíble. The word I would use to describe the islands. 

For the past six days, we've been living on a sailboat, the Cachalote, with 12 other people from all over the world.

Our days aboard the boat were very long and packed with adventure. Obviously it's hard to sum up our whole trip in one post but here goes my best effort of the highlights from each day...

Day one: San Cristobal 

My mom and I met my grandparents in Quito the night of the 1st and flew to San Cristobal the next day. Once we arrived on the island, we were greeted by the wonderful warm, humid air as we exited the plane to the tiny airport. We quickly discovered that there are sea lions everywhere; basking in the sun on the picnic tables and benches all over town.

After settling on the ship, we took the pangas (dingies) to the mainland and visited a tortoise breeding center. We learned that most of the tortoises on the other islands have completely died off due to the introduction (by humans) of rats. The rats eat the young tortoises before they reach maturity and eventually entire populations were lost on the islands. It was very interesting to learn of the conservation efforts that are being put into place here on the islands because so frequently we hear of the negative damage humans have done but this breeding center is beginning to make a very positive impact on the tortoise population.

Day two: Española

On this day, we went to a gorgeous white sandy beach surrounded by bright turquoise water. We found a whale skeleton near the water, kayaked around the rocky cliffs and sat on the beach, watching the sea lions play in the waves. Later that day we went snorkeling and saw beautiful, exotic fish, and sea lions that came to play with us. This was my first major experience snorkeling and for those of you who haven't done it, it's pretty much straight out of Finding Nemo. Later that day we went for a hike along the shore and saw hundreds of iguanas and even more seals. Sadly, we also saw many dyeing or dead seals and birds. This wasn't a part of the Galápagos we had expected to see but was very raw and real; just like the environment that we were staying in. This reminder of reality was refreshing and eventually I was able to look at it as a beautiful thing. I was able to look at a decaying bird and think of how amazing it is that it will biodegrade into the ground and that its body will fertilize the plants around it and nourish other animals as well. 

Day three: Floreana

On this day we went for a hike across the island and next to a lagoon where we saw many flamingos. Once we arrived at the beach on the other side, we were told to shuffle our feet through the water so we could safely watch the stingrays. There was a huge school of the Rays so we stood still as they grazed the bottom of the ocean floor, right around our feet. Afterwards, we went to a snorkeling area that was an eroded volcano in the ocean called Devil's Crown; a flourishing reef with many different marine species. At the end of our snorkeling venture, we were joined by some playful penguins and got to swim through the water with the feeding birds. They are very small and incredibly agile. What a pleasant surprise! Next, we sailed to Post Office beach. Here, we dropped off our post cards into a wooden barrel that was brought there in 1793 by a whaling captain. Historically speaking, the sailors would drop their letters here and when other boats came by, they would look through the letters to see where they needed to go. If one was close to where he/she lived, they would take it home with them and hand deliver the card or letter. Today, the custom is still going so we did the same. We boarded our boat and put up the sails. El Capitan let us take turns steering the boat, teaching some of us how to navigate using the compass and the wind. For the rest of the evening we sailed the open seas and watched for whales on the horizon. 

Day four: Santa Cruz and Santiago

We woke up and went on a hike through the the barren landscape on the Western side of Santiago. Contrary to what I expected, many of the islands here are very arid and somewhat dry. Although there are no seasons, the trees lose their leaves during this season (the dry season) to conserve their water. On land, we saw a few land iguanas, finches, and huge cacti that grow in clusters resembling trees. After our hike we got back on the boat and sailed to Santiago Island. We walked over the lava flow from an eruption that happened only 115 years ago. The ground was covered with intricate patters and drips of black lava rock; in some places it looked like artwork it was so beautiful. It was a very neat geology lesson and interesting to think that this is how life started on all the islands. The lack of life present in this island gave us a good perspective of how long it took for the other islands to grow luscious forests and vegetation filled with animals. 

That evening, we used our flashlights in the water to attract the fish, and with the fish came the Sharks. From a safe (but very close) distance, we watched the Sharks circle our boat. There was also a curious sea lion that came to our boat and we watched him chase the flying fish through the water. The sea lions here have adapted a method of fishing that enables them to catch these fish because the fish are much faster than them. The sea lions chase the fish into the sides of the boats so they can catch them. 

Day five: Genovesa

We woke up on this morning to clouds and rain but continued with the day's agenda. We took the pangas to the cliffs on the edge of this island and walked up old stairs to the top of the rocks. We hiked around the top of the island and saw hundreds of different birds. There aren't any predators of the birds here so they build their nests on the ground and aren't really afraid of humans so we were able to get quite close. We saw two beautiful little owls and many blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, nazca boobies, seagulls, and frigote birds. There are many different species of finches and it is very interesting to see them up close and observe the size and shape of their beaks based on what they eat. This is some of the evidence Charles Darwin used when formulating his theory of evolution and it is fascinating to see in person. For example, one type of finch has a huge, big, bulky beak because they primarily eat from hard shells and rocks; whereas the other species has a tiny sharp beak to get blood from other birds as a source of water. We then put on our snorkeling gear and went out into the water again. Here we were very excited to see the Hammerhead sharks. The first one we saw appeared out of the murky deep water and was almost 12 feet long. We swam right above the Sharks, observing them as they moved through the water. We also saw an eagle Ray, some trumpet fish, a couple of sea turtles and many other different schools of fish. After our hike we went kayaking around the shoreline to look for fur seals and then went to the beach to walk through the mangroves. We found a dead baby whale and learned that it died because the whales' sonar gets interrupted by the radar on the boat's navigation. The whales get stuck in the cove area and are unable to navigate without their sonar. This was our final night with our friends and our crew members so we made a toast before dinner then set sail. 

Day six: Baltra

For our last day we went for a ride around the mangroves to black turtle cove. We spotted dozens of turtles, back tipped reef sharks and manta rays. On our way back to the boat, we found an area where thousands of blue footed boobies were synchronously diving into the water to catch sardines. The method the birds use to feed was incredible to watch and very systematic. They would all take turns diving and coming out of the water then rejoining the circle; flying back up to the top where they would dive back in again. 

Overall, our trip was spectacular. We met really incredible people from many different places and got to see beautiful new landscapes and exotic new creatures. The time spent with family will always be a special memory and it was a great way to begin my big adventure. 

Exploring Quito

We woke up with quite a view of the city this morning.

First we took a taxi to the Ciudad Viejo (Old City) part of Quito. As we were driving down the narrow cobblestone streets to this place, we began to doubt it even existed. Circling blocks and frequently stopping, our taxi driver seemed to be giving us his own little tour of the area.  Eventually we arrived at the plaza and were relieved to see a few other tourists. We stopped to eat at a quaint little café, trying our first taste of Ecuadorian cuisine: sopa de papas (potato soup with fresh cheese and avocado). We were relieved to be inside when the weather quickly turned to a torrential downpour and the most horrifyingly loud thunder shook the entire café and everyone inside. We then walked to a 400 year old church in the middle of the square and it was absolutely incredible to see the architecture.

Complete with stone walls and ceilings, huge arches and incredibly intricate stained glass; one can't help but think what a feat this was to build during the given time period.