Left the farm after breakfast and headed to San Vicente to catch a boat to Bahia, this, supposedly, special ecocity. Again in the back of a pick up truck we sped down a road that hugged the coastline. It was pretty, really, if only the sun would make an appearance. When we stopped I took off my glasses and they were thick with dust and grime, oh, I can only imagine what my skin must look like! I am super self conscience of my old lady skin and this trip has aged it considerably :(
We enter San Vincente and jump on a 30 cent boat ride across the river to Bahia. Here's the view of the glorious port of San Vicente from the boat...
(In case you get ahead of yourself and forget where you are, all you need to do is look around once and a while!)
I look across the river and see the city of Bahia.
Those tall buildings are apartment buildings for the rich people of Quito to own as summer places. I'm not sure when or even if the sun ever comes out here, but it is much warmer than Quito, also the humidity actually makes you feel like a person and not a reptile.
We head over to the penisula of Bahia - full name Bahia de Caraquez - which juts out and bisects the Pacific Ocean on the west and Rio Chne Estuary on the east. We are going here because apparently in 1998 when the El Nino effect was really strong it destroyed much of the city with mudslides, and then there was the double earthquake. Houses, businesses, over 200 buildings wiped out. When the city decided to rebuild they (no clue who "they" actually is) decided to build an ecocity. Apparently an ecocity in Ecuador means that you have trash cans in the streets, recycling programs, environmental education programs, and reforestation and conservation efforts. After the forest was wiped out they goal was to plant native species instead of invasive foreign species. They also try to reduce pollution by allowing only a few cars on the penisula, but they are currently building a bridge, so we'll see how long that lasts. Also most of the taxis are men on bikes with a two seat carriage for people (luckily the town is really small). You see that all over Asia. I had this image of an ecocity in my head... Bahia didn't live up to my image...
We climbed up the hill in town - to a big cross that you can climb - and this is the view... trash and all, hummm.
Here's a view of the new bridge they are building, right now you can only cross by boat... I wonder how this bridge is going to change things.
Here's the cross you can climb to get a view of the city.
After walking around for a bit we headed to a local school to visit a giant turtle. I can't remember the story, but I think some people were caught trying to take this turtle out of the country and it has lived in this school since. Apparently it can't go back to the Galapagos because now it has been exposed to bacteria that the other turtles have not been exposed to and the population is to fragile to allow him back. Also, he just had surgery, so he is confined to this classroom for now, although usually he is allowed to walk around the school.
Here's our tour guide, Edwin, feeding Miguelito.
You can tell by the expression on my face that I'm a bit creeped out by Miguelito's huge mouth.
You can really get a perspective on how big Miguelito really is!
After the turtle visit we headed to a different part of the city to see an eco project - papermaking from recycled paper. I don't know why I love recycled paper so much, but I do. The colors and the texture are amazing. Don't worry Mary, I bought you some sheets to use in your scrapbook! Here is the EcoPapel project...
First you have to collect a bunch of paper - not hard to do - they use paper from phonebooks (I love this idea, I've always hated stupid phonebooks) and banks send their paper here.
First you have to shred all the paper - they use a shredder.
Then you add the shredded paper to a vat of water and mix it.
Then you put a screen with a wooden frame into the mixture and let it fill with the paper stuff.
Next you let the excess water drain from the screen and clean up the frame.
Now you have to flip the frame upside down so that the paper in on the sheet.
Now you use a sponge thing to absorb the excess water, and...
Wow - a perfect sheet of recycled paper.
In one day they make 70 sheets of paper. They also can make gift boxes, greeting cards, etc... I love this stuff!
After paper making we had a little tour of Bahia by bicycle taxi...
In the afternoon we headed to a mangrove forest on Isla Corazon. This area is being protected because the mangroves are being destroyed to raise shrimp. The native birds are loving this island...
To access the island you take a taxi 20 minutes south of San Vincente to a really, really small village of only 10 families called Pureto Portovelo. One of the families that lives in this house... has 10 children!
Not the house in the front... the house in the back - up on the hill! Yes, the mother, father and 10 children all live there. She was bringing in some fish while we were waiting for our ride to the island...
Isla Corazon, named because of its heart shap, has been a Wildlife Sanctuary since 2002. This mangorve forest is vital for the 30 bird species that nest in the mangrove canopy. Wait til you see the photos of the frigate birds...
Look closely for the birds in the canopy.
The canopies are covered with frigatebirds.
The male frigatebird blows up his throat and flaps his wings and makes noises to attract the females. It is a really cool display!
Next we get off the boat and head into the mangrove forest. They have built a wooden bridge so that people could explore the forest...
The island is made of Red Mangrove which starts with these little flower buds that grow into long root like things...
The long bud thing eventually drops to the ground and a new mangrove grows.
On our way up to the little tower we spotted these guys...
We were at the island during low tide so we weren't able to canoe through the mangroves. None-the-less it was a very cool experience!
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