Sunday, January 21, 2007

Hemisphere Hopping

Jan 16th
As we collapse into bed after a long day, let’s do a recap…

We started the day with our guide, Edwin Navarez of the Quito Botanic Garden, taking us into the highland rainforests near Quito. He led us on a hike up to the cloud forest, stopping as we went to learn about various endemic plants. There was an abundance of epiphytes, including many orchids, bromeliads, and semi-epiphytic plants. We passed the plant family quizzes that Edwin was throwing at us with ease (well at least the families we had heard of!).

Lunch brought us to a beautiful vista chocked full of hummingbirds. With four feeders and plenty of nectar-filled plants around us, the place was humming. We all agreed that the long tailed bird with feathered feet was our favorite (Booted Racket-tail, Ocreatus underwoodii).

Enough about hiking—we made it to the equator, twice! After hearing all about the feats that could be performed when standing on the equator, it was time to see the magic. The Solar Museum proved to be the perfect spot for this. We saw water drain in different directions on each side of the equator, Amy balance an egg on the head of a nail, and a real shrunken head.* Of course, we were more than happy to take the requisite pictures straddling the official equator line!

Just when we thought we would have a nice relaxing evening, the fiesta followed us back to San Jorge. We were surprised with a performance by a local dance group during our dinner. The traditional dances of their culture were based on the harvest season, and of course, included crowd participation. It didn’t take long for the whole group to be up on their feet- boy can Bob dance!

As they left, we retreated to our final hands of the Uno Championship Series. The San Jorge series ended with a shake up! There is currently a three way tie for second place. Current cumulative point scores: Keri-11, Amy/Bob/James-8, Grace-5, Tee Jay-2.
Stay tuned…



*Amy would be more than happy to show you her certificate for balancing the egg.

No comments: