An experience to remember: Maquipucuna

First of all, I'm just going to say that even though it seems like all I do is travel around Ecuador and go on field trips, unfortunately that i not the case. I really do go to class. At a University. My normal daily schedule involves getting up at 6am for an hour long run/power walk within my hamster cage (i.e. gated community). Post breakfast, ect, I have to catch a bus around 8:30 to be in my class by 9. Our classes are more like blocks, from 9-12pm, although (thankfully!) my professor doesn't feel the need to continue talking if there's really nothing left to say. It is his belief, and hopefully many others, that we learn better hands-on in the field. Which I admit, is definitely true, at least for me :-) Lunch, followed by another class that I really have no idea what it is about expect that it's mandatory when learning abroad through IPSL, the third party program I came here through. Because I have the same class everyday, there's usually quite a bit of reading to prepare for the next day. Not to mention that the block classes are only three weeks long, so in three weeks I'm doing 3/4 of what we would normally do in a 16 week semester class. Papers, presentations, pop quizzes, ect. Oh and of course the field trips :-)

The second field trip for Tropical Ecology was lasted from thursday to friday and landed me in Maquipucuna, a protected region of cloud and montane forests approximately two hours from Quito, and somewhat close to Mindo. It is absolutely beautiful. This region has 15% of its biomass in just epiphytes alone! They're everywhere! Mosses growing up the sides of tree trunks, large plants growing on top of mosses hanging off tree branches. Although beautiful, it's also quite sad because many of the weaker tree branches can't hold all the weight from the epiphytes and end up breaking off the tree.

The coolest thing I think I've found so far are the hemiepiphytes. These plants actually start out as seeds in the canopy of the forest and slowly start to grow their roots downwards, towards the soil. So as you're walking throughout the forest you're constantly getting 'hit' with roots that literally look like they're coming from the sky.

As part of the learning experience, we were required to split up into three groups and carry out certain activities, as decided by our professor, Esteban (no matter what your educational level is here, everyone is on a first name basis). My group was to determine the density, coverage, and diversity of the epiphytes. Do determine this, we decided to walk for 5 minutes, which was timed, and then choose the tree with the widest trunk to maintain somewhat of a consistency. After two hours of walking and analyzing epiphytes, we can to the determination that increased epiphyte coverage positive correlated with epiphyte diversity. On average each tree contained 5-7 different species with approximately 80-90% coverage. This creates an environment that appears very jungle-like, with massive growths that make it appear as though each tree is connected to the next. Upon returning to the 'camp', each group had to present their findings to the rest of the class, in a fun and comical way, if possible (extra points if you do). Oh man, do have any idea how difficult it is for a scientist to come up with a creative and exciting way to share data? B/c I don't. I tend to write papers, give power point presentations, or read off a piece of paper in a monotone voice. Eh, it's a learning experience. My profs at New Paltz will probably give me very quizzical looks when I present material next spring.

Another cool plant we also saw is called a strangler. If you guessed it's called that b/c it strangles other things, well, you're correct. No, not people, geez, where do you think I am (that will probably occur in Tiputini this week)?! Stranglers grow around other trees, eventually growing large enough that they suffocate the other tree and it dies and decomposes, leaving nutrients for the strangler.

At one point along the trail I saw a fairly large brownish-black mammal run across the path. Esteban called it a rodent. Apparently they have many of the same things here in  South American (and the jungle), but they're much larger. I would consider a mouse or rat a rodent. This thing was a good 1 1/2 feet long. Not okay. And the armadillos are huge!

This armadillo hole is about one foot in diameter, maybe a little more. Thankfully they only come out at night!

The lodge where we stayed. Equipped with a bell to let you know when when breakfast, lunch, and dinner are ready. we were told to run when we heard the bell, but I never heard it. It would have been funny to watch people running for their food.

Relaxing in the common area, which includes rocking chairs, hammocks, and a bar. Students aren't allowed to drink on class trips which is probably a good idea as we are really in the middle of nowhere and someone could get lost, or fall off a crevice. Hey, it could happen.

Early morning in Maquipucuna. The sunlight breaking through the trees in absolutely beautiful.

On friday morning we set off pretty early for a 5 hour round trip hike to a waterfall. We were to follow a guide as the trail at points can be difficult to follow due to forest growth. At one point it was thought that a few people wandered off a different trail which seemed to worry both Esteban and our guide, Carlos. Thankfully someone just miscalculated the number of people in our group and from then on we were okay.

Speaking of things being larger in South America, this sucker, called a snail, is larger than my fist. We found it along the trail to the waterfalls. If a snail in the montane forest is larger than my fist, imagine the size of them in the amazon!

Largest leaf I've ever seen, probably greater than half the length of my body...

So far I am having a wonderful time in Ecuador. The sights, the people, the food, everything is great. Unfortunately, the food illnesses have started as well, as I had one for a few hours on wednesday and again in Maquipucuna starting friday morning. To keep it clean I'll leave it at it was a rough day, and I'm still recovering, living off bread and tea. Yes, I went on the hike with pretty rough GI problems, although it was worth it for me as I love waterfalls and I got to see this...

Monday morning we leave for Tiputini, the Biodiversity Station in the Amazonian jungle, upon which I will be returning on friday evening and will have many great things to tell, I'm sure.