Coolcoper

Resolving to Resolve

2012-02-04T11:37:00.016-06:00

Now that the first day of February has passed and the newspapers are no long publishing op-eds about the futility of resolutions, I'm am meeting my resolution to blog more. Just kidding.I did make a resolution this year, however, and I think it might be the first time I have ever dared to make a New Year's promise. I'm sure I made them as part of grade-school exercises in holiday making, but I

From the State Department's DipNote Blog

2011-12-28T14:49:00.006-06:00

Science Without Borders: Embassy Brasilia Prepares Students To Study in the United States Posted by Aimee Dowl / December 22, 2011 Aimee Dowl serves as Assistant Information Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil. The average university student doesn't find Monday morning very stimulating, but the vibrant young Brazilians who came to the U.S.

Kanga za Baraki Obama

2011-09-27T21:01:00.005-06:00

When my friend, Ann, came to visit me in Tanzania last year, she looked all over for a Barak Obama kanga. This one, like many others, congratulates Baraki for his election in 2008. Barak's father was from neighboring Kenya, but the U.S. president is beloved all over Africa. Hair cut shops, buses, juice carts commonly use his name and image as a trademark.

EXPENSIVE HAIRCUT

2011-09-04T22:44:00.006-06:00

If you're interested in a haircut in Dar es Salaam, just look for one of these . . . I'm a bit partial to another form of street art, the tire cover, but I like haircut signs, too.If you're interested in a haircut in Dar es Salaam, just look for one of these . . . I'm a bit partial to another form of street art, the tire cover, but I like haircut signs, too.Among the expensive haircuts

Ndoa! Hongera! Some Wedding Pics

2011-05-17T20:40:00.008-06:00

Derek and I got married in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on January 14. It was, well, interesting, and I can't imagine having done it any other way. Our witnesses were two guys, both named Steve. We're all wearing kitenge.

Bitch's Brew in Bust's New Book

2011-05-15T09:55:00.009-06:00

Debbie Stoller, the publisher and editor of the iconic Bust magazine, just emailed to tell me that a part of my 2007 piece, Bitch's Brew, will be anthologized in the forthcoming (very soon) hardcover anthology, The Bust DIY Guide to Life. Here's the article in full, and look for the book at your local or online independent bookseller soon. The illustrations by Emily Flake (including the one above

birdingtanzania.blogspot.com

2011-05-09T15:14:00.005-06:00

Derek made a rare breeding record of the Uluguru Violet-Backed Sunbird over the weekend. Check it out at his blog. He's also been getting into plenty of trouble with the car in the Tanzanian bush lately - all for the love of the birdies. See the rest of the blog for the usual stories of stuck 4x4s and trucks driven off the road.Derek's photo of Pin-Tailed Whydah

George Lilanga

2011-03-15T23:07:00.002-06:00

Some reproductions of George Lilanga paintings at Derek's school, the International School of Tanganyika.

The Genet

2011-03-01T22:43:00.003-06:00

Since returning from our long safari for the Christmas and New Year's holidays, we have made it to Mikumi National Park, Mafia Marine Park and last weekend, Saadhani National Park. Derek's blog post covered our visit to Saadhani beautifully, but I wanted to add one thing. We saw a new mammal there called a genet, an impossibly adorable feline-ish animal that I could barely resist breaking various

Not Just a Tire Cover

2011-02-23T08:22:00.018-06:00

Tire covers are works of art in Tanzania. Companies use them to advertise, handing them out to drivers to wear on their back ends and spread the word. Many motorists in turn have them painted over with messages and designs that have personal meaning. These images are a from a handful that I photographed around Dar. Scrolling through you'll see commemorative events, classic tinga tinga paintings,

Swimming with Whale Sharks on Mafia Island, Tanzania

2011-02-21T01:32:00.003-06:00

These photos are from a recent trip to Mafia Island, where we went scuba diving and also got a chance to swim with whale sharks. Mafia Island is a much chiller and sparsely populated version of Zanzibar. It has world-class diving, and we got great looks at 100kg game fish while diving in Chole Bay. The Mafia archipelago is mostly Muslim and strikes me as what people mean when they talk about Old

Mikumi Comes to Life

2011-01-31T06:30:00.011-06:00

Last time I wrote about Mikumi, it was a deathly dry scene of hard-won survival from early November. When we arrived in late January, the habitat had dramatically turned the corner. It had become verdant and teeming with new life. I'll just leave you with a couple of photos to describe the comparison and one image of big game, in which a lioness and her cub take midday refuge in a drainage

Northern Tanzania

2011-01-17T06:16:00.005-06:00

Our northern Tanzania safari took us to Mkomazi National Park, Arusha NP, Lake Manyara NP, Tarangire NP, Serengeti NP, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and a lot of places in between. I though a photostream might be a nice way to share. If you want to see the birdy side of it all, go to Derek's blog, where he has some outstanding pictures of raptors, endemics and others. We climbed Mt. Meru,

Christmas Day Summit of Mt. Meru (4562 meters)

2011-01-17T05:53:00.004-06:00

Derek and I just returned from a three-week safari in northern Tanzania. We hit the jackpot on big game and birds. Naturally, if you want to see the best bird photos, you should go to Derek's blog about birding in Tanzania. Highlights include African Crowned Eagle, African Hoopoe, and a few interesting endemics. Here's a photostream from the first phase of our adventure at Arusha National Park,

The Lost Artist

2010-12-13T04:57:00.001-06:00

I've been meaning to post a picture of these paintings I bought in Suriname almost two years ago. I don't know who painted them, and unfortunately I only have a vague idea of what the words mean (Sraanan Tongo speakers, help!). The only thing I really know is that several of them were for sale in the Paramaribo market, and the fruit vendor who was selling them (in the picture above) couldn't tell

. . . As Opposed to a Cheap Haircut

2010-12-05T08:10:00.012-06:00

Look, nobody wants a cheap haircut. That's the worst! Among the expensive haircuts available to the urbanites of Dar es Salaam are the Pole Sana (Very Sorry!), the Bongo, the Jambo and the Mambo Poa. Take your pick. Derek contemplates a nuevo look.

Dar's Double Delish

2010-12-05T06:11:00.007-06:00

Many Chinese people live in Dar es Salaam. How many I don't know, but such a large population naturally calls for many Chinese restaurants. Derek and I mostly can't stand them because they are smoky, greasy, and noisy with the thunderclaps of mahjong tiles hitting lacquer tables and the volume of Chinese television programming turned up too high (although this college Chinese student admits that

Kitenge

2010-12-02T06:12:00.008-06:00

Uhuru St. in Dar es Salaam is one of the best places to go for kanga and kitenge fabrics. Kangas are the bright wrap-around cloths that Swahili women wear. They always come in two pieces, usually with various sayings written on their borders. I'd like to write more about kanga, but today I just want to post some photos of kitenge cloth, which comes in large folded bolts. Kitenge is heavier cotton

Death in Mikumi

2010-11-08T23:31:00.012-06:00

Our second visit to Mikumi National Park was very different than first safari there. The watering holes have dried up, and the animals look thin and desperate - except, of course, for the vultures, who have multiplied and fattened in the dry-season feeding frenzy.Also see Derek's post about Mikumi at his Biriding Tanzania site. Derek identified a full five species of vultures enjoying the spoils.

2010-10-28T09:32:00.009-06:00

I was a bit worried about Stone Town. Would it be a tourist trap? run over by touts? a rip off? There's potential for all that, but the principal city and port of Zanzibar is genuinely fascinating site, with a history of commerce and cosmopolitanism reaching back some 400 years, a history carved into every alleyway and threshold. Stone Town is the cultural centerpiece of an island whose natural

Dolphins and Nudibranches

2010-10-28T08:46:00.010-06:00

Derek's fall vacation came as welcome break to the school grind this fall. We headed out to Zanzibar, starting with an open water diver course the first week and followed by exploring Stone Town and the east side of the island the second. I didn't come back from our dive course with amazing underwater pictures. If we had an underwater camera, you might see a lot of photos of us learning and

2010-10-13T03:59:00.010-06:00

We just bought these two pieces by Sarah Markes, a British artist who does colorful prints depicting characters, corners and tokens of life in Dar es Salaam. Her point of view is that drawing and graphics sometimes do a better job of conveying reality than photography, which I get from this image of the mayai (egg) man. Mayai guys are as emblematic of Dar A.M. as the sun rising over the Indian

Tanzanian Wildlife

2010-10-10T07:47:00.009-06:00

I have to put in a plug for Derek's bloggy site about birds in Tanzania. I've done that a thousand times here, but I love the newest pics and want you to appreciate them, too. I think you'll also like his mammals gallery, although we're still waiting for a big lion kill.

The Smallest Screen in Africa

2010-10-03T03:20:00.021-06:00

Derek and I joined a Mejah, a bicycle activist and tour guide who works for Afriroots in Dar, on a "Dar reality ride" yesterday. We rode about 30km through neighborhoods that tourists and expats rarely, if ever, visit. Along the way, we stopped at several homes and businesses and learned more about urban life in Dar. Given the conditions of the roads and alleys, it's good that we went on mountain

Bagamoyo

2010-09-27T07:33:00.016-06:00

Derek and I took a one-hour drive up to Bagamoyo, a sleepy town that was once one of the most important coastal cities in East Africa. Nowadays it stands as a disheveled monument to slavery and a decaying relic of German and British colonialism in Tanzania. Bagamoyo was an unavoidable stopover for the slave trade between the mainland and Zanzibar and also an important trading post of the Omani

Largest Screen in East Africa

2010-09-23T03:02:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine who works in media production here invited me to a premier of Tanzania's first Swahili movie. Dar has one cinema of the kind you'd find in Europe or America - the one pictured above - and it costs about US$6 to see a film. The red carpet premier of Bloody Sunday, happened at this cinema, which claims to have the largest screen in East Africa. (My guess is

Bongoyo Island

2010-09-20T00:57:00.006-06:00

Bongoyo Island I believe it's time to change the subtitle of my blog, as I am definitely not doing anything anywhere near 2800 meters anymore…. This weekend we went to a place called Bongoyo island. Our intention to go to Bagamoyo were foiled and we needed a plan B. Guidebooks for Dar say that a mechanized dhow (traditional sailboat) leaves for the uninhabitated island of

Selous Game Reserve

2010-09-13T01:38:00.014-06:00

Derek and I ventured out for a much longer solo trip, testing the car and ourselves in the rugged interior of Tanzania, about 230km to the Selous Game Reserve. We had four days off for Eid (end of Ramadan holiday). The journey went off without a hitch, building our confidence to explore a safari way of life. Derek will have the birds and mammals photos up at his post about the trip in a couple of

Settling in to Dar

2010-09-08T06:03:00.013-06:00

our bathtub chile gardenThe last month has been packed with all kinds of excitement that I haven't had time to do any blogging. Unfortunately, it's excitement of the banal kind: moving, getting services in place, and learning how to get around Dar es Salaam. The moving was not fun, but since our shipment of personal affects has not yet arrived, it was relatively harmless. We did find ourselves

First Shots of Africa

2010-08-05T00:41:00.017-06:00

People talk about African sunsets, and they're right. This one comes to you without any editing.We just landed in our new place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Safe to say that I am no longer copin' at 2850 meters - a friend pointed out to me that it's more like 60 meters above sea level here in Dar. I'll get around to changing my blog, hopefully within this lifetime.The first week took us through a

My Top 10 Birds

2010-06-06T09:13:00.000-06:00

With just fours weeks to go in South America, I am pondering the strange outcome that I have become a birder. Our friends, colleagues, and thousands of people who have read Derek´s blog know that he is a birder. They also know that he has recently contributed photography to a series of Ecuadorian postage stamps, making him a follower of what many critics would say are the world's two most boring

Darling, you look marvelous!

2010-06-04T10:36:00.011-06:00

Print by FP BennettThis is what I wrote about on one my favorite birds ever for Lonely Planet's Peru destination guide...You don't have to be a big-time birdwatcher to get turned on by the Marvelous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis), a rare and exquisitely beautiful hummingbird that lives in limited habitats of scrubby forest between 2000m and 2900m in northern Peru's remote Utcumbamba valley.

Sellos Postales por Derek Kverno

2010-05-25T19:11:00.005-06:00

Derek's postage stamps are out and being sold now at Correos del Ecuador. For the full story on how his photographs ended up on Ecuadorian stamps, go to his blog entry about it. Equally interesting is his description of stumbling upon his one thousandth bird species in Ecuador. As usual, photos accompany.

The Mother of All Lingua Francas

2010-05-25T18:55:00.008-06:00

As we get closer to our final departure from Ecuador, I have been thinking a lot about our time in the region. Although we have come to know and love (and sometime be a little frustrated with) Ecuador, including everyone of its varied and surprising provinces, we have also ventured all over South America, from the tooth-like peaks of Torres del Paine to the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Indeed,

PLANTS AND BASKETS FOR SALE

2010-04-17T11:25:00.004-06:00

SOLDSOLD

Moving Sale

2010-03-16T17:07:00.032-06:00

This is an interesting new application for my blog, but what the hey. Everything below is for sale for the price listed, and there are more items on the Excel spreadsheet I sent around to friend and colleagues. If you didn't get it but would like to see it please email me. Most items will not be available until mid-June, but we could part with some things a bit earlier.Our 3 bedroom/3.5 bathroom

Medaled!

2010-03-10T09:14:00.004-06:00

During the Canadian Winter Olympics, I read that athletes actually prefer winning the bronze medal to the silver. The silver apparently leaves the Olympiads wondering about that just-missed gold for the rest of their lives; the bronze, however, tends to leave runners and gymnasts and skaters grateful that they reached the winners' platform at all.I won a bronze medal in the Solas Awards Travel

Ecuador officially in Drought

2010-01-19T12:14:00.007-06:00

Anyone who has spent a little time in Quito in the past few months - or who has a Facebook friend who lives in Quito - knows that we have been experiencing frequent blackouts. I posted about the infernal apagones recently, at a time when we still thought they would be a temporary measure, but alas, it's nearly February and we are still waiting for rain.Amidst the tragedies in Haiti, other far

PRAISING NATURE

2009-11-24T17:19:00.013-06:00

David Moscoso may be one of Ecuador's most important living artists. Although his work is devotional and traditional, his technique is admired around the world and has gained him international stature that many of his contemporary and hipper artist friends in Guayaquil and Quito haven't achieved. If you keep looking at David's work, you'll find that he has an extraordinary and truly original take

The Guianas: The Great Unknown

2009-11-18T14:37:00.007-06:00

Check out my article in the South American Explorers magazine about the magical, mystical and little visited Guianas - or just read it below!Lonely Planet author Aimee Dowl takes us on a journey to three South American countries that seem a world away from the rest of the continent. Click on image to enlargeThe Guianas are one of those geographically challenged regions of the world. Even

Lady Tzantzas for Sale

2009-11-18T11:46:00.003-06:00

The Ecuadorian newspaper, Hoy, published a fascinating story today describing the increase in sales of female tzanztas, or shrunken heads, which are trophies of Amazonian Shuar tribes who cut off the heads of their defeated enemies after battles and shrink them in a lengthy process involving herbal mixes and boiling and stuffing the skulls. These extraordinary objects have attracted

Rolling Blackouts in Quito

2009-11-08T10:26:00.003-06:00

Ecuador is in the middle of an electricity emergency. The mountainous sierra region is not getting enough rain to produce power in the hydroelectric facilities (the represa del Paute, above) that provide light to much of the country. The crisis is expected to linger - it's cloudy today but we need several days of rain to really get the lights back full time - and may become more serious.According

Some of My Photos in the New Lonely Planet Ecuador Destination Guide

2009-08-07T09:36:00.013-06:00

Finally, the new Lonely Planet destination guide for Ecuador & the Galápagos Islands is out! I am pleased to learn that the editors have included two of my photos in the Color Highlights section that opens the book. These are the photos and captions that appear in the new edition.Volcán CotopaxiThe all-night climb to the summit of Vulcán Cotopaxi (p155) is rewarded with extraordinary views of the

Bird of the Month

2009-08-06T16:53:00.004-06:00

Aves Ecuador, whose main goal is "to stimulate birdwatching in a serious and popular scientific manner," just chose my partner-in-Ecuadorian-crime's photo of the Gray-breasted Mountain toucan, as their Bird of the Month photo. It originally appeared on Derek's blog, Birding Ecuador.

There's Gold in Them There Hills!

2009-07-29T11:19:00.031-06:00

A typical street in the beautiful, poor, declining city of Potosí, Bolivia (4090 meters above sea level), where the Spanish are said to have extracted enough gold to build a bridge to Spain and back. Historians estimate that during the last half millenium millions have died in the mines around Potosí and in Cerro Rico, the dry brown mountain lurking in the background of this photo.I've been

Is Quito safe?

2009-07-20T18:43:00.005-06:00

If there were still any doubt about whether Quito is safe destination, let this weekend's Wall Street Journal settle the matter once and for all. The issue first came up a 2007 San Francisco Chronicle article by my Lonely Planet Colleague, Danny Palmerlee, about Quito's civic investment and revitalization. In 2008, Chris Kraul gave Los Angeles Times readers a detailed report of how much safer and

A New Bus Station for Quito

2009-07-08T16:50:00.009-06:00

I know that Quito's main bus terminal is every traveler's favorite place. Aren't luggage slashers, dark and dank quarters and vendors screaming the names of pueblos you'd never want to go everyone's idea of a good time?The folks at V!VA Travel Guides just posted a nice comprehensive list of links related to the closure of Quito's main bus terminal, Terminal Terrestre de Cumandá. Here you'll find

Flights to Máncora, Peru

2009-06-12T14:51:00.004-06:00

For all you surfistas who are trying to get to Máncora for waves, there's good news. Star Peru has just started a flight from Lima to Talara through Cajamarca. You still have to jump a bus or taxi for the 40-minute ride to Máncora, but it beats bussing the whole way or flying to Tumbes and backtracking two hours.The flight goes three times a week, but I refer you to the website (and the 7th

South American Explorers

2009-05-01T12:55:00.009-06:00

My review of the new Ecuador Hiking and Climbing Guide, by Mark Thurber and Rob Rachowiecki (V!VA Travel Guides), is out now in the April 2009 edition of South American Explorers Magazine. If your clicking finger is tired, check it out here:Writing guidebooks for Ecuador, as with much of Latin America, is like aiming at a moving target — prices rise, governments fall, businesses close. But if

LONELY PLANET PERU

2009-04-16T07:30:00.010-06:00

I've just signed on to Lonely Planet's Peru title, to be released in 2010. It looks like I will be working with a super team of authors who live in Peru and who have all kinds of journalism, travel writing, guiding, and aid and development experience.I'll do some posts, maybe emphasizing similarities and differences between Peru and Ecuador as I research the North Coast, Huaraz & the Cordillera

Hang on this . . .

2009-04-08T15:04:00.006-06:00

Close to 6% of all home energy use in the United States comes from clothes dryers, and the figure for Ecuador would probably be comparable—though, unsurprisingly, unavailable—if more than a few homes had a dryer.Derek and I are among a small percentage of people in Ecuador who do have a clothes washer and an even smaller number who own a clothes dryer, but thanks to my beloved clothesline, that

Plane Crash

2009-03-20T06:50:00.012-06:00

Sadly, a plane crash took the lives of seven people in Quito last night in an area of the city that has suffered aviation catastrophes before. The neighborhood where it happened is along Gonzalez Suarez, an upscale avenue of high rises that sits right in a major flight path over Quito. The week of December 10, 1998, the residents here witnessed not one, but two planes crash into buildings on

Reciprocity Fees in National Geographic Traveler

2009-03-14T14:48:00.016-06:00

My comments about visa reciprocity fees appear in this month's National Geographic Traveler magazine. It is a brief response to Christopher Elliot's 'Letter to the President' in the November/December 2008 issue and on Nat Geo's Intelligent Travel Blog.This only appears in the mag's Travel Talk section (March 2009).Among other issues raised by the Dear Mr President letter was the critical need for

LET THEM CHEW COCA...

2009-03-14T14:26:00.009-06:00

Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia has an Op-Ed in the New York Times today. He asks why it is against international law to chew coca leaf and "Why is Bolivia so concerned with the coca leaf?"He answers, "Because it is an important symbol of the history and identity of the indigenous cultures of the Andes.The custom of chewing coca leaves has existed in the Andean region of South America since

GLAMOUR BIRDS

2009-03-11T06:52:00.011-06:00

My partner in birding crime, Derek, just posted this beautiful picture of a Booted Racket-Tail on his blog. He took the shot at Paz de los Aves, the antpitta mecca owned and run by the famous Ángel Paz near Mindo. I hate to divert from Coolcoper today, but go check out Derek's Birding Ecuador blog for a description of this very special place.In addition to this glamorous little guy (yes, it's the

Copyright Violation

2009-03-03T13:02:00.011-06:00

Dear Facebook Management Team,Thanks to the extraordinary power of social networking and the innovative third-party applications you include on Facebook, expats in Quito have been able to share their insider knowledge about life at 2850 meters. I am cutting and pasting it here today, with due acknowledgement that you own all of the words and images posted on Facebook . . . maybe . . . whoever "

Vote for Rachael!!!

2009-02-27T13:05:00.005-06:00

Vote for Roaming Rachael for "Best Expat Blog" in the Lonely Planet 2009 Travel Blogger Awards.Our friends over at V!VA Travel Guides apparently have one of their own kickin' butt in the blogosphere, and the best part is that it's Lonely Planet who's all worked up about Rachael's expatriate musings. Now that's collegial!Apparently Rachael is trailing a blog about Spain, but not by much! Go ahead

Happy Birthday, Darwin!

2009-02-12T10:47:00.010-06:00

In honor of Darwin's birthday, I am posting my favorite piece of his writing. It's the rationalist's approach to marriage -- a Pros and Cons list.The left reads "Marry" and the right reads "Not Marry."In the center is underlined: "This is the Question."Among the left-side items, he writes, "better than a dog anyhow."Among the right-side items, he writes, "Freedom to go where one liked — choice of

Election-year Carnaval in French Guiana

2009-01-25T10:42:00.004-06:00

I thought it might be a cold day in hell before I saw a French parade honoring America, but hey, they probably thought it would be even longer before Americans would elect a leader like Barack Obama.The usual Carnaval mischief wasn't forgotten, either.

Border Crossings

2009-01-22T10:05:00.001-06:00

The border between Suriname and French Guiana is reminiscent of the US-Mexico border, save that the boundary between these radically different GDP's is a river flanked by resplendent jungle instead of an artificial line in the sand.Suriname, the former Dutch colony that has been wrestling with civil war, the inexorable rape of its resources and out-migration since independence in 1974, shares

The Inauguration

2009-01-20T11:46:00.005-06:00

I celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama in Georgetown, Guyana, a city of descendants of African slaves, indentured East Indian and Chinese laborers, Portugese immigrants, and Brazilians banking on a future here. As I sat in this cafe, the Oasis Café, with many upwardly-mobile Guyanese, I could hear shouts of joy in the streets outside as tears streamed down cheeks inside.One of four

Brokopondo Lake

2008-12-29T11:04:00.001-06:00

It looks innocent enough -- a beautiful lake surrounded by pristine rainforest. But if you look closely, it's a lake of death, with tree stumps jutting from its surface, a watery grave for tens of thousands of animals and a human catastrophe.Suriname's biggest export is bauxite, the raw material for the manufacture of aluminum. In 1964, the national aluminum company damned the Suriname River to

Correction

2008-11-15T17:34:00.011-06:00

In August, I posted an excerpt of an alert I received about visas in Ecuador -- in particular about the June 20 decree by the Director of Migración limiting tourist stays to 90 days (earlier, tourists could extend their stays for another 90 days by request).The excerpt stated, "The implications of this are horrible for many of us [expats] living here, to say the least. But more than that, the new

The Life

2008-11-05T12:33:00.000-06:00

This is an excerpt from an interview with Sandra Bao, author of the new Lonely Plant guide to Buenos Aires, from South American Explorers Magazine. I appreciate her straight-up skinny about writing for Lonely Planet, something I've been learning a thing or two about. She is also another Lonely Planet author who has one foot in South America and another in the Pacific Northwest of the US (smart

The Indigenous Peoples of Ecuador

2008-10-28T06:32:00.001-06:00

There are 13 indigenous nationalities in Ecuador -- Kichwa (Quichua), Siona, Secoya, Cofán, Huaorani, Shiwiar, Shuar, Achuar, Chachi, Espera, Tsa'chila, Huancavilca, and Awá -- and many of them are broken into distinct local groups, such as the Cañari of the Kichwa.Getting a handle on the percentage of the Ecuadorian population that is indigenous isn't a straightforward exercise. Depending on

The Aye's Have It

2008-09-28T22:13:00.007-06:00

That is, the Sí's won Sunday.I was napping on a bus headed north on the Panamerican Highway, through the heart of Ecuador's highland indigenous communities, when I woke up next to a Saraguro teen and the voice of the president piped in over the speakers. He was announcing 77% approval for the new constitution.It turns out that the official number was more like 69% in favor and 23% against the

Montecristi al país

2008-09-10T09:42:00.004-06:00

On September 28, Ecuadorians will take part in a historic election to adopt a new constitution. In April 2007, president Rafael Correa (the seventh Ecuadorian president in ten years -- yes, that's seven!), called for a referendum on the writing of a new constitution. For much of the year that followed, Ecuadorians chose their delegates to the assembly and supported them as they went to a small

The Devil's Nose

2008-08-22T08:35:00.084-06:00

El Nariz del Diablo is a portion of track in the Ecuadorian train system that is alternatively hailed as a "death-defying voyage" and a "technological marvel." Finished in 1908, the rails of the Devil's Nose drop from Alausí to Sibambe on the route from the capital to the coast, which ultimately drops passengers thousands of meters to sea level.To descend the massive rock face that the track

Ecuador goes to Beijing

2008-08-16T06:47:00.015-06:00

Jefferson Pérez (far left) is Ecuador's Olympic hero, a world-champion speed walker -- a marchista or andarín -- who took gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and won a silver medal in Beijing yesterday.Anyone who has ever witnessed futból fever in Ecuador, as when the national team made it all the way to the World Cup in Germany in 2006 or when the beloved team Liga won the Copa Libertadores this

Ecuadorian Visa Problems

2008-08-05T19:50:00.004-06:00

Here´s the latest news delivered by the El Comercio newspaper in Ecuador and by a trusted Ecuadorian Source at the South American Explorers:"If you're an expat and you haven't heard the bad news yet, sit down to read this...: there is a new director of Migración for the Ecuadorian national government. As of July 15, all persons who have entered Ecuador on or after June 20 are unable to procure

Lost Tribes of the Amazon

2008-05-31T00:36:00.019-06:00

Photos taken from an airplane of an uncontacted tribe in a remote area of Brazil. Image taken from Survival International and FUNAI.I've recently read the works of Charles Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle, The Origin of Species, and The Descent of Man. Darwin passed through these parts in the 1830s, giving an account of his research on the Galápagos islands in Voyage. As much as I love the

"Aye, there's the rub . . . " another way to see Quito's centro.

2008-05-10T14:20:00.024-06:00

Iglesia San Francisco Palacio BenalcazarSanta CatalinaHospital San Juan de Dios

Quito surfacing in the New York Times

2008-04-27T12:50:00.007-06:00

The New York Times called Quito a surfacing destination this week. The article happens to be by me.Photo by Ivan Kashinsky for The New York Times

Oso de anteojos, or the Andean Spectacled Bear

2008-03-02T01:04:00.016-06:00

Just another day near Papallacta . . . clear views of Antisana, Andean deer nibbling on the paramo, and a family of bears, frollicking in the sunshine. Click on the title of this post to get a video peek.These bears like to eat the flowers shown here.

The "mythical" jungle volcano Sumaco, 3990 meters

2008-01-08T20:31:00.023-06:00

Vulcán Sumaco is a rarely ascended mountain in the oriente, and for a good reason: it's five days in and two days out. In this area Derek saw or heard about two hundred kinds of birds among 831 species known for the area. The number of species living in this 1-degree quadrat (1-degree latitude x 1-degree longitude) is roughly the same as all of North America north of the Mexican border. Here are

El Reventador, 3562 meters

2008-01-05T20:12:00.038-06:00

Derek summited El Reventador volcano in December, 2007. Still very active, the volcano looks like this right now (above).On 19 November 2002, it looked like this (below) and dumped a meter of ash on Quito. The international press was delighted to know that the TransEcuatorial Pipeline (crude oil) was unaffected, although nearly all the pipeline workers and thousands of local people faced lava

Time for a new Quito international airport?

2007-12-11T20:45:00.001-06:00

This Iberia Airlines flight popped a tire and sped off the runway on 31 August 2007. The jet sat at the end of the tarmac for a week, and Quiteños checked in every morning to see if it was still there. Click on the photo for a better view.

El Cayambe, 5690 meters

2007-10-26T14:17:00.003-06:00

Cayambe is the highest point on the equator anywhere in the world and the only place on the equator with snow. Derek and Griffin, below, on the summit before a sea of clouds.

Women's Words

2007-09-01T10:20:00.002-06:00

Ms. Magazine has just published my article, "Women’s Words: A Moroccan scholar-activist links language and power." It's about Fatima Sadiqi, an pioneering linguist whose work focuses on Berber and Moroccan women. It's online here.I met her in Fez while on a Fulbright-Hayes grant. She was one of our most inspirational speakers, and I've enjoyed keeping in touch with this outstanding scholar and

Bitch Magazine: Friend or Food

2007-08-24T13:35:00.003-06:00

My article, "Friend or Food: Raising the Flag for Feminist Vegetarianism," has just appeared in Bitch Magazine's green issue. Check out the full article here, and take note of the great illustration by Tammy Stellanova (above).

Cotopaxi Province

2007-08-22T18:49:00.001-06:00

The cut throat guineau pig -- cuy -- trade at Saquisilí. The word is onomatopoeic, reflecting the "kwee" sound made by the cuddly rodents.This woman is tending her sheep at about 4000 meters on the Quilatoa crater while spooling handmade wool.

Mt. Cotopaxi

2007-08-22T08:47:00.002-06:00

The summit of Mt. Cotopaxi, the tallest active volcano on earth at 5897 meters (19, 347 feet).Cotopaxi means Smooth Neck of the Moon in Quichua, the native language (or group of languages) of Ecuador, still spoken throughout the country.Antisana is in the foreground, and the plume of El Reventador, which has been active for several years, can be see in the distance.An Andean fox hanging out by

El Inca Women's Prison, Quito

2007-08-21T12:07:00.007-06:00

El Inca women's prison is home to many foreign prisoners, most of whom worked as mules for drug traffickers. Over 80% of all inmates are in the prison for narcotics offenses. My friend, Stephanie Kreutter (not an inmate), took these photos clandestinely with a contraband camera. Pineapples are also considered contraband.Laundry hangs in the corridor from cell windows. Women do not wear uniforms,

Ballenas Jorobadas

2007-08-21T11:30:00.004-06:00

The videos and photos below display several humpback whales we saw on the Manabí coast. The whales migrate every summer from Antarctic to equatorial waters, where they mate. Courting involves a strange dance of fin-flapping, jumping, and spinning their bodies at the surface -- sometimes in unison. These videos are not terrific, but the second one shows a whale hurling himself out of the sea.

Imbabura province

2007-08-21T10:22:00.001-06:00

Chivas are common transport in the highlands.

Brothels!

2007-08-21T10:01:00.001-06:00

A couple of Ecuadorian brothels near Portoviejo.I think this a brothel, given that it has such a nice entrance in the middle of nowhere. In any case, the car's graffiti reads, "The Heaven Hotel, Drive like me."

Semana Santa (Easter week) in Popayan, Colombia, 2006

2007-08-21T09:49:00.001-06:00

Colombians and obvious foreigners (Norwegian-looking Derek) can travel safely on the Panamerican highway and outside cities only during major holidays, when the military and police reclaim the roads from the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia). FARC guerrillas, who have been waging a civil war for decades, retreat into the hills during these holidays, leaving travelers susceptible to a

Flora and Fauna

2007-08-21T09:43:00.000-06:00

Have I mentioned that Ecuador is generally considered the world's most biodiverse region, enclosing coastal, mountain, and jungle regions from sea level to over 6000 meters? The cup runneth over into Perú and Colombia, but Ecuador lays claim to many important species records: insects, birds, reptile, amphibians, and plants. Birds species, including the smallest (hummingbird) and largest (Andean

Another Crater

2007-08-10T08:14:00.003-06:00

This is Pululahua crater, said to be the largest in South America. The forested hill in the middle is a resurgent cone, which is formed by a second eruption that builds up land out of the original crater. Cute overload?

Guagua Pichincha

2007-08-10T05:44:00.002-06:00

This steaming crater belongs to an active volcano, Guagua Pichincha, whose slopes are home to Quito's growing population. The last eruption in 1999 pushed a mushroom cloud several miles into the sky and dropped a couple feet of ash on the city. We climbed up there in July 2007.

Coastal Ecuador

2007-08-05T09:09:00.000-06:00

A family affair -- selling oyster ceviche on the beach.Some typical houses in the coastal areas, which encompass Ecuador's poorest provinces.

A camping excursion in Cotopaxi Province, June 2007

2007-08-03T18:07:00.000-06:00

Camping under the twin peaks, the Ilinizas.Base camp on Mt. Cotopaxi.Wild horses, strong and well adapted to high altitude, populate the páramo lands of Ecuador.This is a Polylepis, a native tree of the Andes with deep red, papery bark, growing in a stream bed in the Ilinizas.

El galope, el trote!

2007-07-30T17:58:00.000-06:00

A day riding in the country. The hairy chaps are called zamarras and are made from llama.Derek's horse just had this baby, who liked to stick close to his mother. Our good friend, Ruti Vela, in her chaps!

Imbabura Province

2007-07-27T18:32:00.000-06:00

El Cajas National Park, Southern Ecuador

2007-07-27T18:23:00.000-06:00

A long haired llama.

The Oriente

2007-07-27T17:20:00.000-06:00

A Jungle Outpost

The Panamerican Highway

2007-07-26T14:29:00.000-06:00

The Mama Negra Festival at Latacunga

2006-09-30T16:48:00.000-06:00

Mama Negra is a festival in the Cotopaxi province capital of Latacunga that celebrates the dark-skinned Catholic Virgin. Processions of barrio-based bands and effigy bearers trail through town all day long while consuming enormous quantities of grain alcohol. Roving bands of costumed "blessers" -- a more pagan elements of these festivities -- bestow unsolicited benedictions on revelers -- here,

Our house is a very very very fine house.

2006-08-21T11:22:00.001-06:00

We recently had a small guest house and garage added to our house. Here, in sepia. Check out Derek's bird list and avian commentary for our house.

Hummingbirds

2006-08-15T12:41:00.001-06:00

Derek has a lot more about hummers and other Ecuadorian birds at Birding Ecuador.Note the pica or beca (snout or beak) on this one!