El Pahuma

1/16/09 to 1/18/09
This weekend we went to El Pahuma Orchid Reserve about 1 hour north of Quito. Everyone in my group was itching to get out of the city and very excited for the trip. it is a 600 hectare reserve that has a nice visitor center for eco-tourism. They have a restaurant across the highway with some pretty amazing food. The first day we just took some short hikes, one around the botanical garden and another to a small waterfall. Then we headed up the mountain to get to the elevation of cloud forests. The hike up was pretty much vertical and very muddy since they have had much more rain than usual for mid-January. Because of the mud we all wore super stylish rubber boots for the hike. They worked very well in keeping our feet dry, but are kind of hard to hike up a mountain in, since ankle support is nonexistent. It took a little over an hour to get up to the top, all of which was in the rain. We got to camp, which consisted of a ìcabinî with bunk beds, a cooking area, and a campfire area. We all got out of our wet clothes and started a fire. Soon the chef had made some pasta and we all helped ourselves to multiple servings. The pasta was very good, especially for being cooked in the middle of the rainforest. It continued to rain all night, some people went out on a night hike to look for frogs, while a few of us stayed by the warm fire and played camp fire games. Once we went to bed it took me awhile to fall asleep because I had so many things going through my head. I was just thinking about how amazing of a place I was in and how many amazing and possibly poisonous bugs were around me. I also woke up a lot during the night, I was hoping it would stop raining and I could go outside to look at the stars, but each time I awoke I heard the rain still pattering away on the roof. The next morning I woke up around 6:30 to the sunrise and went on a short hike with 2 other students while we waited for the others to wake up and breakfast to be served. On our hike we saw a guan, which is a lot like a small turkey. After breakfast we started or long hike. Keep in mind is has not stopped raining since we left the lower camp. On the hike our teacher Joe would stop and lecture for a bit about the plants. We are going to be tested on the plant family names later in the semester so our hikes always have a purpose and we are constantly taking notes. The cloud forest is a rather gloomy place when it is raining, because you are literally in a cloud and visibility is very poor. At the top of the mountain we had a little lunch and started on the Yuma trail. This trail is over 1,000 years old since it has been used for so long the weight of humans has compacted the soft soil to a point where some places there are 10 foot ìwallsî on the side of the trails showing where the surfaced used to be. It is pretty cool to walk on something that you know has been used by humans for a century. Eventually we turned around and headed back to camp. This is where is started to get really fun. The whole way down was pretty much a controlled fall down a mud slide. Most of us fell multiple times, however one of the girls had promised to buy a beer for everyone who made it down the whole mountain without falling. Once we got back to the camp we ate a little packed up and heading down the rest of the way. I can say I definitely fell more than a couple times, but a few people did make it down without a muddy back end. When we all arrived at the bottom, we were all very dirty and wet, so most of the students went to the waterfall near the visitor center to wash off. I declined since my broken arm was hurting from falling so many times, bt I did tag along to take some pictures. After dinner beers were bought for those who earned them, and the owners of El Pahuma made us candalaso (I will have to check the spelling,) which is a traditional drink made of sugar cane liquor and cinnamon and served warm. After some drinks we started to warm up and took a little night hike. We only saw one frog, but we did find a snake. I think some people were a lot happier than others about itÖ
The next morning we took a 25 minute hike to a 45 meter waterfall. This waterfall was irresistible. I had to go swimming, broken arm or not. The water was pretty cold but you get the best view of waterfalls from in the water, so it was well worth it. We finished up the day with some lectures and the history of El Pahuma. It turns out my teachers, Joe and Cath, pretty much stumbled upon this piece of land started talking to the owners and eventually signed a conservation easement to protect the land. It was a very inspirational and amazing story, one that makes you want to go out and find a beautiful piece of land to protect. We all went back to Quito wanting more nature but knowing there is much more to come.