Saturday 3 July 2010

Howlers and Iguanas / Monos Aulladores e Iguanas




Today we left Guayaquil, and made our way east, The exit by road had similarities to the train departure from Waterloo in "Three Men in a Boat" (if you are not familiar with Jerome K. Jerome, you should be...). Having finally crossed the right bridges and found one of the three competing routes east, we came across a sign advertising the "Mangrove Churute Ecological Reserve" and (obviously) stopped to see what this was. There were no guides available so Leonardo, who was looking after the office, said that he would take us on a custom tour. We had to drive across a river since the bridge was disintegrating, and then found our way to the mangroves, where we found many crab-hunters leaving with their day's catch. We encountered various birds, mostly difficult to see (let alone photograph), however had some camerographic success.. We then headed up hill to the area of the reserve which was in the forest. Here we were found by large numbers of mosquitos (based on their bite and elusive flight, they should have been easily photographable, and could probably compete in the Reno Air Races). We almost immediately saw three female Howler Monkeys above the trail, and once we made our way further into the forest, were pleased to encounter males, whose howling was tremendous. We also photographed a stunning green iguana, as you can see.
Many thanks Leonardo for a spiffing day in the reserve.
Hoy dejamos Guayaquil e iniciamos nuestro camino hacia el este. La salida hacia la ruta fue similar a la salida del tren desde Waterloo en "Tres hombre en una barca" (si tu no tienes familiaridad con Jerome K. Jerome, deberías pensar en tenerla...). Después de cruzar el puente correcto y de haber encontrado una de las tres vías al este, encontramos un aviso: "Manglares Churute Reserva Ecologica" and (obviamente) paramos para ver que era. Allí no habían guías disponibles, entonces Leonardo, guardaparque comunitario, nos dijo que él nos podia llevar por los senderos para conocer. Tuvimos que manejar a traves del río, porque el puente se esta desintegrando y luego encontramos el camino hacia los manglares, nosotros encontramos varios cangregeros (recolectores de cangrejos) que estan trabajando duro en esta epoca del año. También, encontramos varios pájaros, algunos muy difíciles de ver, pero tuvimos exito. Luego subimos al area se la reserva que es selva, allí encontramos muchos mosquitos (Gracias a sus mordiscos y vuelo elusivo, ellos deben ser fácilmente fotografiables y podrían competir en las carreras aereas de Reno). Una vez llegamos al sendero, casi de inmediato, vimos tres hembras de monos aulladores en la copa de un arbol, y cuando avanzamos mas profundamente en la selva, encontramos varios machos que nos dieron un concierto de aullidos (Maravilloso). Tambien fotografiamos una impresionante iguana verde, que pueden ver aqui.
Muchas gracias Leonardo por un espléndido día en la reserva.
Besos,
Alan y Marce











P.D. Banda Ancha dietética, imposible cargar fotos, esperamos lograrlo mañana. besos





PS Broad Band not very broad here, impossible to upload photos today, hope to succeed tomorrow... besos





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