Today's Visit to the SF Botanical Gardens

The One Day of the Cóndor

Taking my group to Otavalo, it first seemed that the highlight would be the main market, the previously noted meat market and the surrounding crafter villages. But the star attraction was up on a windswept hillside at Parque Cóndor. The birds were the true star attractions, but almost as memorable is park director, a Dutch man named Joep Hendriks. His love for these remarkable birds is equaled by their attachment to him.

In general I am opposed to zoos (poor Tatiana!), but this place is an appropriate place for humans and animals to converge. The only birds on display are those who have either imprinted with humans or who have been injured, have development problems or were abused by humans. There were some disturbing stories Joep shared of birds brought to him in paper bags, one that had been a pet of a priest and was near death when they found it, others that had horrible accidents before he rescued them.

Any bird that has a chance or recuperating and returning to the wild is kept out of display to avoid human imprinting. It was lucky for us that we saw a 35-year-old cóndor rescued from the Quito Zoo and spreading its magnificent wings.

I had the chance to let one of the birds perch on my gloved wrist, and I hope to have photos of me taken by my fellow travelers to post soon.

As a finale, Joep demonstrated some of the free flight animals.

El Angel - Bio-Paradise

My visit on February 26 to Carchi Province further brought out the many contradictions that exist in Ecuador. Heavy dependence on pesticides and fertilizers have made cost of production higher than purchasing potatoes, the main crop for campesinos in what was once a very productive area (I'll be writing more later...)

At the same time Carchi, located in the northern highlands near the border of Colombia (where young people are often abducted by para-military groups) has some of the most gorgeous and mysterious landscape in the region.

El Angel Reserve (above), located just a few minutes from the settlement of the same name, has a cool climate and is home to a variety of flora, such as the unique frailejón plant. Home to a large number of highland lakes and forests, the Reserve is the habitat of a variety of mammals, such as deer, rabbit and the paramo fox, and a slew of endemic bird species.

The village of El Angel with just 5,300 inhabitants seems, on the surface, to be just a typical village. Indigenous women stroll its streets carrying babies in their arms and items to sell in the market on their backs. Roosters crow at all hours, accompanied by braying donkeys. But strolling the streets one sees the first irony. Virtually all the streets have well maintained sidewalks with wheelchair and bicycle ramps. Try finding that in a city in the U.S. Midwest!

From the distance, the cathedral in the middle of town is impressive but not that remarkable for Latin America. Like many public spaces in Ecuador, it is surrounded by beautiful and sometimes quirky public art.

The real shock is another square (below) behind the church featuring the jaw-dropping topiaries of Jose Franco Guerrero, better known for his similar work in the cemetery in Tulcán. This park would be remarkable in Paris or Buenos Aires. To find it in a remote Ecuadorian village further builds my case made in my previous post comparing Quito to San Francisco.