Picturebook

We are back in Alexandria. I am working on a sum it all up post, so stay tuned. In the meantime, hope you enjoy these pictures.

The Beach - Canoa
Running around in circles on the beach in Canoa:
Banana break:
Maya, invoking the spirit of the sea from the bow of a local fishing boat:and then plunging to her death (figuratively, of course):
Jonah does everything his sister does (but not as well):Seaside dinning (thanks for the picture Maya!):
Making friends with local kids at the beach:
and at a swimming hole outside of Canoa:

Picking out dinner, delivered by the fisherman - straight from the sea to our bellies. Lobsters on the left. Giant crabs front and center:
Feeling good in the courtyard at Olmito's, the hotel where we stayed in Canoa:



On our balcony at Olmito's:
Maya's knight without shining armor:

Rio Muchacho Finca Organica, north of Canoa.

Ecuador has the highest rate of deforestation in the world. The area where the Rio Muchacho Organic Farm is located has the highest rate of deforestation in Ecuador. The finca has been operating for about ten years and the co-founders (Dario and Nicola) try to engage the locals (who all farm) in more efficient and self-sustaining farming methods. Rio Muchacho has adopted the perma-culture method of farming. Perma-culture means that each aspect of the farm complements the other. For example, the cows and pig poop is composted. The compost is picked clean of bugs by the chickens. The cleaned compost is then given over to the worms. Once the worms have worked through it and pooped it out, the worm poop dirt (which is apparently the best fertilizer you can have) is used to grow the crops. The crops go to feed the people who live and work at the farm and also to feed the cows and pigs. And the cycle continues. There's more to it than that, but that is the twenty-five second summary.

Maya adored feeding scrap food to the pigs, who truly do live up to their name:
Jonah loved picking bananas and feeding the peels to this donkey (who was named "Donkey"):

Maya and Crystal visit the cuyes (guinea pigs), by climbing inside their hutch and terrorizing these animals, who clearly aren't used to being picked up and cuddled. At the finca, rather than cute pets or tasty dinners, the cuyes are only used for their poop, which falls from their hutch into the worm beds below, mixed with cow poop and pig poop, and left for the worms to eat.

Milking the cow (I actually knew the grip to use):
Love to the fishies in the river:
Jonah's birthday cake: lemon cake made with local lemons, frosted with chocolate grown at the farm, decorated with edible hibiscus flowers picked outside the kitchen. You can see that he's a bit overwhelmed by the whole affair:
We took a horse-ride
to a waterfall

where Maya had a great time:
and Jonah fell asleep on the smooth ride home:

The local harvest and harvesters:
Farmer Jonah:


and Maya with her harvest:Roasting cocoa beans:
grinding them

and eating the chocolate syrup
which made Maya's second front tooth fall out:
Making cheese, a wet piece of curdled milk that couldn't win honorable mention at a cheese show even if it was the only entry (no offense meant to any Ecuadorians who actually like this stuff).

The giant Matapalo tree
Climbing the giant Matalpo tree
In the courtyard of the communal dining area
Rubber boots are a vital component of farm attire. I never went anywhere without them:

There were animals on the farm in addition to the domesticated ones. This tree frog was on our bathroom door one night. Do you know the difference between a frog and a toad? I do:
And this reptile was trying to cross the road on our way out of the farm. A real-live boa constrictor.
Dario Proano, one of the farm's co-founders and a devout vegetarian, pushed the boa in a new direction (i.e., out of the road), so it could live to kill and eat another animal.After the farm we went back to Canoa. But we were out of cash so we had to go to Bahia, a one-hour bus and panga journey, where the closest ATM machine was located.

This is Jonah with Miguel, a 100 year-old Galapagos turtle who lives at an Eco-school in Bahia. Notice the trash strewn about the courtyard:

A few days later walking on the beach in Canoa, we came upon a sea turtle that had washed up after being struck on the head. It had a cracked skull. Some locals conjectured that it was caused either by a propeller from one of the local fishing boats, an angry fisherman and an oar, or even by a shark bite. We tried to push it back into the surf so it could swim away, but all it wanted to do was die on the beach. It could barely move and kept trying to get itself out of the water. Sad, but it was neat to see the turtle close up (and touch it). We didn't have our camera, so no picture.

After the farm, Jonah's new love: carrots!