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Visitor Center, Machalilla National Park, Puerto Lopez, Ecuador #AtoZChallenge
Machalilla National Park surrounds Puerto Lopez, Ecuador. Two monkey species and more than 270 bird species, including the endangered Waved Albatross live in the park. Whales mate and birth just off the coast and turtles hatch on the beaches. If you like active outdoor vacations, this is the place for you! Activities in Machalilla National Park Hike, bike and horseback ride Dry forests – from sea level to midway up the hills, the dry desert-like flora is brown for about half the year, waiting for water Cloud forests – always green hills where monkeys, orchids and a wide variety of birds live Hike beaches – Playa Los Frailes is often referred…
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Greenery Delivered to Your Door in Puerto Lopez #AtoZChallenge
Some of the items sold by entrepreneurs on foot or tricycle: Plants Shrimp Cheese Ice cream Croissants Towels Clothes Plastics Rugs Produce Bicycle kickstands Phone chargers ______________________________________________ Around Puerto Lopez in 26 words. A look back Last year, I wrote Guayaquil – Iguana Park and other free attractions
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13 Postcard Photos From Ecuador 911 Surveillance Cameras
Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is. –Ansel Adams You want great postcard-like photos of Ecuador but do not have time to travel the country to take the photos yourself? You can search blogs and social media or you can search Twitter for the hashtag #PostalECU911. Ecuador 911 is the national emergency response system. Their Twitter accounts are a great follow for anyone visiting or living in Ecuador. Several locations have Twitter feeds, often named after each province capital. They are a great source of information on road conditions, volcanic activity, and other emergencies around the country. The photos in this post are all from…
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Ecuador Rice Fields – Beauty, Predators and Allies
Planting rice is not a joke Just bending all day long You can’t even stand still You can’t even sit down. — Traditional Filipino Folk Song Ecuador rice Rice is a staple in Ecuadorian meals. It is generally served with your main meal regardless of what the entree is. A typical meal might include soup, chicken, rice, green salad, potato salad, and juice. The other side dishes vary but rice is always included. On separate occasions, I have served chili and spaghetti to guests and been asked if there was any rice (I had not made any). When eating out, I have been served a side of rice with my…
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Imagination, Moats And Drawbridges
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. –Albert Einstein When you were young did you dream of living in a castle with a moat and a drawbridge? Maybe you imagined you were a prince or a princess and your dog was your pet dragon, guarding your drawbridge. Some kids in Ecuador’s rice country have bridges over aqueducts leading to their homes. Parents build the bridge to get from A to B. Imagination turns the bamboo walkway into a drawbridge (albeit one that does not raise) over a moat protecting the family castle. I imagine kids who live here playing on the bridge, calling…
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Tree Stump Art
“We have those in Houston now, too.” — My Mom when I told her about the chainsaw tree stump art in Cuenca Many years ago, when my husband and I cut down a tree in our California backyard, we left the tree stump about 6 feet tall. Scott built a bird feeder on top of the stump. I planted flowers at the base. Birds enjoyed the feeder year round. It never occurred to either of us to take a chainsaw to the stump to create something beautiful. Tree stump art was not a thing back then. Most people we knew struggled with removing unwanted stumps. We were glad to find…
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Zoo – I live in one! #AtoZChallenge
Someone told me it’s all happening at the zoo. — Paul Simon When I wrote my first post for the A to Z Challenge, I did not know the what the remaining posts were going to be about. While blogging about my life in Ecuador for the past month, I realized that I live in a zoo. A natural, wild, amazing zoo! Let’s recap what is in my zoo. Wildlife in my zoo Throughout the month, I introduced the following zoo residents: (click link to open post) Blue-footed boobies Humpback whales Iguanas In a park At my home A Monkey Owls A Frog Sea Turtles Rounding out my zoo…
