Day 10: Zamora, Amazon Once we awoke, Jess and I headed down to the lodge for breakfast. Minutes before we arrived, we were told that a Capuchin monkey had just left, after being fed by the employees of the lodge. Sadly, the two of us were the only ones to not have seen the monkey. Once breakfast was finished, the group had to decide what we would be doing for the day. Originally, the entire group was scheduled to hike in the Podocarpus National Park but one of our group members needed to go to the hospital so Tait and Diego let the group decide what we wanted to do. A small group decided to explore the city, another decided to stay and explore the trails of the lodge and the remaining of us decided to continue on with the plans to hike the National Park. Haley, Lauren, Val, Victoria, John and I really enjoyed our hike through the Park. Along our hike we stumbled upon a orchids nursery, there were only two species of orchids that were bloomed in the nursery but they were beautiful. At the end of our hike, we came to a beautiful Amazonian Waterfall. It was only natural that we had the need to “shower” in in, which we did! The water was freezing but we had so much fun. Once we finished exploring the park, we returned to the lodge for lunch.
A cold, Amazonian waterfall shower!
After lunch the group went on a short hike around the Lodge to see more of the Amazon rainforest. Diego informed us that the land of the lodge was once used for cattle ranching, which eventually recasted the land. Because of this, a couple from the Netherlands bought 100 hectares of the land to help it’s recovery and grow again. The couple had built all of the different lodges themselves and decided to open it the public to Further help with the upkeep of the lodge. We further learned that the soil of the Amazon Rainforest is very dry but it is very fertile, there is always lots if water flowing through it. The waterfalls in the Amazon are everything to the indigenous people. They believed that water is everything in life. The biomass of the Amazon is very different than the biomass found at home in New Jersey. Here, 80% of the biomass is above ground and 20% is below ground due to the humidity preventing all of the biomass from decomposing. The biomass in a temperate rainforest is very different, the biomass % would be reversed. After our hike we ate dinner at the Lodge and continued to watch the hummingbirds and night life come to life once again.
The beautiful surroundings of the Amazon
After dinner we had a presentation by Moira Sweeder and John Escobar, they discussed life at high elevations. The Andes are the most elevated area in Ecuador, the area we hiked in at the beautiful Cajas. As altitude begins to increase, the air pressure actually begins to decrease; you often experience this when on an airplane and your unopened bag of chips expand, caused by low air pressure. When you are at a higher elevation the air seems to become thinner, the oxygen and pressure levels decrease. Often times, when people are exposed to this change in oxygen and air pressure, they begin to experience hypoxia or altitude sickness. Some of the effects of hypoxia include dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, heart rate increase and more. If one does not slowly acclimate themselves to the change of oxygen and pressure, the extreme effects of hypoxia can even cause death. In addition to hypoxia, people are at risk of higher UV exposure (even though it may be extremely cloudy). Unlike humans, certain plants that grow in these high-altitude regions have adapted and increased their tolerance to the UV rays, which in normal circumstances would stunt growth and photosynthesis of the plants. Plant mortality had also decreased at higher elevations due to this adaption.
Valeriana rigiola, adapted in the highlands
Cattle farming and climate change are two of the biggest threats to the highlands, which is believed to be experiencing increases in temperature more than the lowlands. Another threat to the highlands is water quality, although water quantity is not an issue. The paramos are an essential water source due to vegetation filtration which are located on a tiny belt of the Andes. Ground water in Ecuador is at risk of high sedimentation and high nutrient pollution. In order to combat this, the incas developed terrace farming, flat cuts or “steps” in the land, used to create less erosion, improve soil quality, and increase water and nutrient flow from one level to the next. When irrigating crops in high elevations the main source is aqueducts, as well as hydroelectric power, which generates potential energy into electric energy. Due to the mountain ranges and slopey landscape, the use of farming machinery is very difficult, if not impossible. In order for farming to be successful without machinery, llamas and other farm animals are used for the heavy work but agriculture is typically done by hand. Greenhouse crops, such as tomatoes and roses, have now become a very popular method of agriculture. This has been very successful due to the highlands experiencing 12 hours of full sunlight.
The beautiful highlands of Saraguro
Volcanic eruptions in the Andes have introduced new minerals in the soil, of which 70% of the Andean region is experiencing erosion, although the remaining soil is very rich in minerals and nutrients. A small community of Ecuadorians inhabit the area of an inactive volcano, the Pululahua Crater, and lives off the rich soil left behind from the eruptions. The Pululahua Crater last erupted roughly 2,500 years ago and is now a protected reserve, thePululahua Geobotanical Reserve. Although the volcano is considered to be inactive, scientists can never be 100% sure if a volcano is truly inactive. One can only assume it to be true based on the time frame of the last volcanic eruption. There are also communities that live outside of active volcanoes, like Cotopaxi, that will struggle to evacuate if a volcanic eruption were to occur due to lack of transportation and lack of care towards an eruption. Diego once informed us that Ecuadorians do not believe that eruptions will take place very often, especially not soon after one occurs, and they do not feel the urgency to take precautions for the next volcanic eruption. It is a very different world we live in. I feel as though at home we try to take the proper precautions or we stress so much about natural disasters and Ecuadorians are the complete opposite. Instead of running from an area surrounded by volcanoes, communities live in a volcanic crater.
Adolescent frog (Photo taken by Greg Fischer)
After their presentation, Greg, Moira, Maddie, Diego, and I searched for frogs along the road. Greg and I hoped to be more successful than our previous frog hunt. When we walked down the road a bit, we heard so many frogs croaking. We saw many tadpoles in small and large puddles of water. After looking for a while Greg finally found what looked like an adolescent frog. As we continued to look, we found many baby frogs. Greg was able to get some amazing picture of the frogs. We continued to look for more when Maddie said she had found something in the bushes that had looked like a big frog. As Maddie and I got closer to this creature, Diego informed us that it was actually a very venomous snake. It was a juvenile Bothrops atrox or known as the “X” snake for the X markings on its body (pictured below). It is very venomous and is even more dangerous when it is a juvenile because they do not know how much poison to inject into its victim. Unfortunately, we were not able to get a picture of him. After finding the snake we decided to head back to the lodge and get some sleep.