Tuesday 15.5.18

Not quite so flat out today because yesterday, with several pairs of helping hands and lots of enthusiasm we finished opening all the boxes!.

So we awarded ourselves some time out.The next step will take some planning so a bit of list making was in order.

Which is probably a good time to admit to how well we are being looked after and what an absolutely beautiful place this is.
It`s a bit of an artifical bubble - rather like the difference between rural Aberdeenshire and the National Trust properties with their manicured gardens and neat paths - but stunning nevertheless.
Kelly (remember her from the BookBus in Zambia - see previous posts from 2013) recommended a Sunset river cruise on our first night as a way of recovering from the journey. It would have seemed rude to decline ;) and it was the perfect antidote, especially as it included drinks (G&T anyone?) and tasty snacks (the best spare ribs ever) as we floated past a pod of hippos and watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon.

So after a relatively relaxed day today (including lunch at the Lodge

with two other BookBus stalwarts and Waterberry regulars) we are raring to go to the next stage tomorrow, even if it may be a slighter shorter working day for reasons that will be revealed........
.


P.S. Wednesday 16th. We did have shorter day because it was a special birthday for one of our esteemed volunteer colleagues: no fuss she said so all we did was have our own private cruise on the river and a special meal at the Lodge. Definitely no fuss but Many Happy Returns B. ;)

Monday 14.5.18

Another post from the verandah. Had intended to write last night but an early night took precedence after a hot and busy day with those boxes. However - we had some help yesterday and progress was definitely made,books and discarded boxes piling up in a very satisfactory manner .......

Although this is not a BookBus project we might not have been here at all had it not been for meeting Kelly. In the five years since then she has moved on to working here, the community project at Waterberry Lodge (https://www.waterberrylodge.com/community).


In 2009 Waterberry founded Tukongote Community Projects to improve the educational opportunities in nearby villages. They began with one preschool class, and now support over 400 children in 3 preschools and 1 primary school.

And then they built a library! And Kelly obviously thought "Who do I know who works in a library....." The invitation to come and help came completely out of the blue and it took us a nano-second to accept. Little did we know then what an absolutely stunning location we would be coming to, never mind the task we would be taking on. Talking of which, our "taxi" to work will be here any minute so it`s time to slap on the sun cream and the mosi repellent and get going.

Sunday 13.5.2018

So here we are again. Not with the BookBus this time but in Zambia. Already been here two days but still finding it hard to believe.
As I write we are sitting on the verandah of the house where we`re staying, listening to unfamiliar bird song and about to get ourselves some breakfast before we spend another day at the book-face. Or should I say book-mountain.

That`s what 27,000 books looks like and our mission is to make some sort of order out of them for a new community library. Yesterday we worked for about 6 hours, unpacking and sorting and estimate we conquered about a sixth of the mountain. And we`re only here for a fortnight......
Our lift will arrive any minute so time to go and tackle a few more of those boxes......


.......tbc.

Sunday 19.10.2014

Been back a fortnight though it seems longer. Though not, as some have suggested, back to "reality". Hate to be picky but only returned to our reality.
Plenty of memories stored away: the kindnesses of Pedro and Mirella during our stay; their little boy Jordan teasing Susan with a baby bird he`d found - until he realised, to his amazement, that she really was scared; the dozens of children we met and worked with; the turtles swimming round our boat off the Isla de la Plata; the beach on our last evening at Puerto Lopez; Arturo`s big smile; humming birds around the breakfast table; Mindo Lava Cake (never did explain - a kind of fantastic chocolate "mousse").......could go on and on.
And of course there`s Paolo Santo: light a small piece and the scent takes you straight back.
Meanwhile we`ll do our best to maintain contact and to that end will be investigating the notion of "twinning" libraries as well as the logistics of sending more books out....not to mention trying to encourage as many other people as possible to go out and see for themselves. Go on. Why not? :)

Wednesday 1.10.2014

Last day in Mindo....had to have at least one swim in the river that runs alongside the hostel so an early morning dip seemed the thing, the water looking very inviting with the sun shining and a blue sky overhead.....

......and it was absolutely baltic!! Nevertheless it was idyllic - even if it took me a couple of hours to thaw out......
A stroll in the sun, a bit of souvenir shopping, a couple of coffees (well alright - and a brownie but only one between the two of us) at The Beehive on Mindo`s main drag, a desultory attempt to find a butterfly and orchid garden...but hey look it`s lunchtime...another time maybe.


This little town has been such a delight to wander around with its mix of idiosyncratic buildings,

exotic blooms,

butterflies, humming birds - oh, yes, and the Jesus Christ lizard (I kid you not) that Susan spotted doing its special thing this morning.*

And, a bit like Puerto Lopez,it`s the laid back atmosphere that really makes it special: it may be an up and coming destination for stressed out Quito-ites as well as foreign tourists but for now at least it retains its own special character and we`ll be very sad to leave.

Which is what we must do tomorrow morning so this is probably the last post from Ecuador but there yet may be room for a few more reflections - and pics - once we`re back.
For now though, adios Ecuador.........


*http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Brown_basilisk

Tuesday 30.09.2014

After two days of glorious, guilt-free, self-indulgent laziness (for which it turns out Mindo and in particular this hostel are perfect)we felt maybe we should do something a bit more energetic and fortunately a fellow traveller was up for a visit to the local "cascadas" and suggested we shared a taxi to get there so that spurred us on to get going - especially as he kindly ordered the taxi!

It was the perfect excursion: a ride up to the "tarabita" which translates as cable car though that makes it sound grander than the metal cage on a wire which it turned out to be.

However it zoomed confidently across the tops of the trees in an exhilarating swoop that only lasted minutes but gave fantastic views across the forest

and down into ravine.

Then it was a trek through the forest

and arrival after a few detours at one of the bigger cascadas - time to cool the feet and enjoy the spectacle.

And after all that activity - not to mention the long slog back up to the tarabita, more swinging across the trees

and another bone-rattling ride down the hill in the back of the "taxi"

(the only way to travel...apart from a tuk-tuk)

we felt perfectly entitled to visit the chocolate factory again, not for Mindo Lava Cake this time (of which more later) but for three cups each of good strong coffee, a sandwich and some chips. As we have felt forced to remark on several occasions in the last few days...it`s a hard life.

Sunday 28.09.2014

It seems we may have died and gone to a small piece of someone`s heaven or maybe with a little bit of time travel (two taxi rides and a plane hop) we`ve arrived on a different planet.
It began in the dark at 4.30 on another warm, damp morning in Puerto Lopez as Pedro and Mirella who look after the Book Bus house (and the volunteers!) waved us off and we began the journey to Manta, glad we`d opted for a taxi rather than a trek to the bus station as somehow our bags are still heavy, despite leaving books and pencils and stickers. Might be something to do with the souvenir shopping maybe.....

It was light as we got to Manta - where the air was suddenly much drier and we realised just how humid Puerto Lopez had been - and with the minimum of fuss boarded the plane for Quito......

...a regular service people seem to use like we might use the bus from Inverurie to Aberdeen (we met someone who was off to the dentist). However, it turned out to have rather more spectacular views.


We`d hardly had time to fasten our seat belts before some serious mountains hove into view




and then the big one....






....the "snow-capped, perfectly symmetrical cone of Volcan Cotopaxi". The Rough Guide also informs us that at 5897 metres Cotopaxi is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world "it`s also one of Ecuador`s most destructive, with at least ten major disruptions since 1742 (though) fairly quiet since it`s last burst of activity in 1904, and today Cotopaxi is the most popular climb in Ecuador."

From the plane window it was quite simply awesome in the true sense of the word.





Then it was back to earth (not with a bump - very smooth landing) straight into another taxi (a process organised incredibly easily at the airport), quickly leaving traffic-clogged Quito behind

and watching as the landscape changed from dusty to green

to the lush surroundings of Mindo,where the cloud that makes it so hangs permanently over the forest

and Susan has decided that humming-birds don`t really count as birds at all ......I think we`re going to like it here. :)