Our Favorite Photos

Teo, January 16, 2015

A couple of days ago we decided to have a little contest to see who could take the best pictures.  Whoever won would get a little prize.  We each had a camera to use and we went around taking pictures of the farm that we are staying at.  We went into the woods and around the yard to photograph the wildlife.  Here are some of the things I found:  some butterflies, some flowers, some plants, some trees, some buildings.

We went back to our little cabin and our dad put the pictures on his computer.  We looked at them and chose our favorites.  No one really won the contest because everyone's pictures were good!  My favorite was the one of the moss underneath the leaves that my dad took.

Here are some of our favorite pictures.

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Leaf-cutter ants

Javy, January 12, 2015

I saw something pretty cool on our stone walkway here at Ecoparque Uruguay.  Leaf-cutter ants are a type of ant that cut leaves off little plants and they carry the leaves to their nest.  They chew the leaves and make they make a pulp.  Then they poop on it and then it sits there for awhile and it grows fungus.  They eat the fungus.  They are farmers because they grow their own food.  Don't you think that's pretty cool?

I took some videos of the ants marching with their leaves on their backs.  They hold them by their mandibles.  A mandible is a jaw.  But the amazing thing about that is that they carry ten times more weight than themselves.  That would be like Dad carrying a truck.

Here is my video of the leaf-cutter ants.  

More Ecoparque Magic

Marilyn, January 13, 2015

We've been at Ecoparque Uruguay for a week now. I'm feeling kind of ridiculously like I belong here, and I'm already starting to be a little sad about leaving a week from today. So much magic here!

 The evenings are particularly special times, and the beautiful sunsets with accompanying frog chorus continue to fill me with awe. The other night the sky was beyond extraordinary. A bank of tall pinkish clouds was spread across the western horizon, and an apparent lightning storm filled it with flashes of light. Explosions like fireworks lit up a portion of the clouds every few seconds, and every once in awhile, a jagged bolt of lightning cut through from top to bottom. I sat outside and watched until the mosquitos drove me inside; a couple hours later as I was walking back from the boys' bedroom, it was still going on. I've never seen anything like it, but Steve, our host here, says such a display happens from time to time.

 Last night, we decided to let the boys stay up later than usual so they could see the magnificent night sky. It's not getting completely dark until after 11 p.m., so we had awhile to wait. The boys and I started out in a hammock pleasantly reading together, and after the sun set, we traded our reading for star gazing. We could easily identify Orion, and with the help of Gene's on-line, interactive night sky map, we could pick out other stars and planets. It was quite a display, but almost as grand was the show the fireflies were putting on for us lower to the ground. The lawn and woods were full of the little blinking lights, and the boys could identify three or four different colors. Also, once, we saw a slightly larger, continuous light that moved much more quickly, though clumsily, and up higher than the fireflies. Gene and Teo had seen something similar the night before, and of course Gene is dying to know what creature can do such a trick. His best guess is that it's a bat with its belly full of fireflies.

 Speaking of bats, we have one that has taken up residence in our kitchen. Yesterday morning I was getting breakfast ready and heard something banging around in the sink, and there it was, and not looking any too happy finding itself amongst dirty dishes. Gene removed it on a stick and placed it on the trunk of a tree outside the kitchen, where it staggered around for a few minutes before spreading its batty wings and flying off. Today, again as I was preparing breakfast, it flew past my head and did a crash landing on the table, where it lay all limp and exhausted. Teo later found it hanging from the thatched ceiling, and it again got relocated to the tree outside and flew off. I'm hoping it gets the message that it's not welcome. Most of the other wildlife has been more respectful of our space, with the exception of a large toad that came into our bedroom uninvited. We continue to enjoy seeing the large variety of birds, and love watching the huge lizards plod across the lawn. We're still hoping to get a good glimpse of a fox. Insects haven't been as plentiful as we expected, but we've seen ladybugs in a kaleidoscope of colors. Gene was happy to discover a mole cricket in the garden, and Javy was fascinated by a parade of leaf-cutter ants outside the bedroom door.

 Our work here has in its own way had a touch of magic as well. A morning of non-stop raking in the hot sun leaves me bone weary in a way I don't often experience, but it's a good, honest kind of weariness that tells me my body is still capable of pushing itself. Today we weeded the garden in the rain, grateful for the break in the heat and for the chance to share a rainy-day peace with the birds who came in looking for a worm or two. As I weed, I enjoy thinking about the volunteers who came before and did the planting, and the ones who will follow us and bring in the harvest. It's been a long time since I've done any serious gardening, and I am very much appreciating the chance to get my hands dirty and feel the satisfaction of a row well-weeded. Keeping the boys engaged in the work is more of a challenge, but singing songs ("The Garden Song" and "All God's Critters" top the list) and listening to stories from Gene's college days help.

 Also high on the list of magical encounters have been those with the people whose paths have crossed ours here. Steve's girlfriend Diana, who is Uruguayan, joined us earlier in the week. She is an English teacher who is very patient and encouraging with my Spanish. Sunday, Steve and Diana invited us and seven friends for a potluck lunch that turned into a delightful all-afternoon affair. Including our two young Guatemalans, the thirteen of us represented seven different nationalities and were conversant in probably a dozen languages. One man had worked all over the world and had built a hotel out of shipping containers near the pyramids in Egypt. Another grew up in French Guiana and spent part of his life guiding tours through the Amazon rain forest. Gene quickly bonded with a Dutch biologist and the two of them set off like a pair of little boys to explore the woods together.

After lunch, dessert, and more talk around the table, someone suggested we move down to the riverbank. Javy, Teo, and the Dutch biologist were interested in taking a swim, and talked Gene and me into it as well. From Steve's boat ramp, it was about 30 yards across the river to a sandy bank, much of the way too deep for me to touch bottom. Although we had to keep ducking underwater to avoid the horseflies, it was a lovely way to cool off. Other local folks were also enjoying the water, with canoes and kayaks and the occasional motor boat. We swam for close to an hour and were just coming back to join the others on the bank when Steve showed up with his boat and two oars. He let Javy and Teo climb in the boat, and, surprisingly to them and to Gene and me, just pushed them out into the current on their own. They struggled a bit but eventually figured out how to more or less navigate the thing. I was watching from high up on the riverbank, wondering if someone would be able to get to them in time if there was a problem, but also appreciating the great Huck Finnian experience that this was for them. Gene made his way closer to them just in case, and so was on hand to intercede, as much as his limited Spanish would allow, when a young local man asked if they'd like to kayak with him. He gave them turns riding in front of him on the kayak and paddled them around, much to their delight. Meanwhile, his sisters and Gene did their best to converse, and they asked him all the usual questions, where are we from, where are the boys from, etc., and Gene was able to stumble and gesture his way through adequate answers. Then the sisters told Gene what Steve, up on the riverbank, was also explaining to me: that the young man who was spending his afternoon paddling my boys around on the Santa Lucia River is a world champion kayaker. Teo and Javy were appropriately impressed by that fact, as well as by their new friend's incredible, rippling muscles. I'm pretty impressed by his kindness toward a couple of strange kids who showed up out of nowhere on his river.

Gene's laptop is in need of some magic right now -- the humidity or something less definable has disabled it. When he gets it up and running, we'll post some pictures of these adventures. Thanks for reading!

Next stop, Ecoparque Uruguay

Marilyn, January 8, 2015

The next phase of our adventure began Tuesday morning when Teo, Javy, Gene and I packed up our eleven (small) bags and backpacks, handed over the key to our AirBnB apartment in Montevideo, and set out to find a taxi to the bus station.  It was pouring rain, and no one answered our call to the taxi dispatcher.  The concierge of the building we were staying in came to our rescue, went and knocked on the door of a guy named Raul, and arranged for him to drive us.  Besides being willing to get out in the rain and haul us across town, the other great thing about Raul was that he didn't mind speaking to me in very slow, clear Spanish the whole way there.  Turns out he has a daughter whose family lived in Atlanta for thirteen years.  Most of the rest of our conversation was about vaccinating cattle.

The bus station where he delivered us is next to Montevideo's port, and is not the same station as the one we had been to before, on the lower level of a fairly classy shopping mall.  It is perhaps the least appealing place I've been to so far in Uruguay.  Javy had his first encounter with a squat toilet, which he declined to use.  After an hour wait at the station, it was nice to get on the bus and head away from there.  Our two-hour ride took us to the small town of Aguas Corrientes.  I had been instructed to ask the driver to let us out at the bus stop next to the bust of General Artigas, and he did, a few minutes ahead of schedule.  After a brief wait, we were met by Steve Scott, the owner of Ecoparque Uruguay, which will be our home for the next two weeks as we serve as WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) volunteers.

Ecoparque Uruguay is a short drive outside of Aguas Corrientes.  It is a large and lovely expanse of land with an interesting history.  A hundred years ago, it was owned by European engineers who had come to the area to build a water purification plant.  They had a prefabricated stone house, which is still standing on the property, shipped over from England.  Somewhere along the line, someone else bought the land and built some other structures, including a hall to be used for meetings and events.  Steve has owned the property for four years now, and I had gathered from his website that he wanted to turn it into both a model farm for experimenting with and teaching organic farming methods, and a conference or retreat center.  The reality is, though, seems more to be that he's just trying to keep one step ahead of the forces of nature that cause weeds to sprout in the garden, grass to grow to tall in the lawn, and humidity to peel paint off walls.  It's more than he can manage on his own, and that's where WWOOFers come in, exchanging 20 hours of work per week for food and lodging.

Our home at Ecoparque Uruguay

Our kitchen

Steve works hard to live as much at peace with the wildlife around him as possible.  No pets or domesticated animals are allowed, and one of the first and only rules that Steve taught Teo and Javy was that they are not to chase any birds or animals.  The animals have rewarded Steve's efforts by being surprisingly comfortable around humans.  A falcon stayed perched on his tree while we approached, and Steve says there are lots of foxes that will come visit from time to time.  (Teo spotted one in the shadows last night.)  We frequently see large tegu lizards strolling through the grass on their way to their holes under the swimming pool.  The trees are full of noisy cotorras and their amazing nests.  These little green parrots, which we first saw in a Montevideo park, live communally, and they work together to build huge nests out of spiny branches.  One chunk of an oversized nest fell to the ground here, and we got to inspect it up close.  There are multiple tunnels built into the mass of thorns, where the eggs are laid and the young are protected from predators.  It's astonishing to think how something like this could be constructed with just beaks and claws.

Tegu lizard

Teo next to a fallen cotorra nest

Tunnel inside nest

After showing us all around, Steve invited us to have lunch with him.  He served us a wonderful meal out under an enormous century-old eucalyptus tree, and told us a bit of his story.  He came to Uruguay in the late 1960s from Salt Lake City as a Mormon missionary and grew to know the language and the people.  Although he left the church shortly after his two-year assignment here, the experience set him on a course to work in Latin America as a distributor for Crocs shoes.  When this property became available at a price he couldn't refuse, he embarked on the Ecoparque project.  He lives here about nine months out of the year.  His experiences and insights fueled great conversation over lunch, and left us looking forward to more during our time here.

Unexpectedly, two carloads of guests appeared before we finished our meal.  They were three French couples who had driven over from Santa Lucia, the closest town of any size.  One of the women was an acquaintance of Steve's who he had met at a local market.  She is an artist and told me she has done several murals locally, which I am eager to see.  Her husband had come with her to talk to Steve about some work that Steve needs done on the swimming pool.  Also with her were her sister and brother-in-law, who are visiting from Réunion, an island near Madagascar, and her brother and sister-in-law, who are visiting from France.  After they had explored the property, we all gathered in Steve's house for drinks and conversation, which switched between French and Spanish, with a few words of English mixed in.  It was fascinating to me.  At one point, Steve and the artist's husband became engaged in a drawn-out disagreement about the work that Steve had asked him to do, and while Steve had to struggle to remain patient, I appreciated the exchange because both of them kept repeating the same words and phrases over and over, and it was wonderful comprehension practice for me.  I also noticed that all of these guests practice the two-cheek air-kissing ritual for greeting and saying goodbye, unlike all the Uruguayans I've met who are satisfied with one "kiss" on the right cheek.  I guess it's a French thing.

Around 9 p.m., we were treated to one more surprise of the farm, an amazingly beautiful sunset.  Pinks and purples filled the whole western sky, and the peace of the evening, so different from twilight on the beautiful but busy beach in Montevideo, enveloped us.

The next morning, we began our farm work.  Steve showed us how to weed and thin plants in the garden and set the boys to work cutting dead flowers from the beautiful flower beds.  The major task, however, was raking and hauling grass clippings from the lawn after Steve mowed.  Gene and I got a strenuous workout, and Teo and Javy had a chance to hear me expound on the subject of developing a good work ethic.  I also had plenty of time to contemplate and question John Holt's theory, which I recently read, that when children see their parents doing real, meaningful work, they naturally want to be part of that work.

After our four hour work shift, lunch, and some reading time, the boys and I walked into town to get some treats.  As this will probably be one of the few chances we have to practice Spanish while we're here, it's something I want to make part of our daily routine.  Hopefully we will become more successful with it the more times we do it.  The long walk in the hot sun apparently baked every Spanish word I ever knew out of my brain, and the guy at the little tienda probably thought I was an idiot.  I've always said that in order to learn a foreign language, you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself.  I suppose I should be glad that I've got that requirement met, in spades.

Dinner (the first I've cooked in five weeks) and a rousing game of baseball in the yard with the boys rounded out our day nicely.  So far, it seems that our experience here at Ecoparque will be full of opportunities for rich learning experiences, restful enjoyment of nature, and meaningful family time.  I am feeling very grateful that we have the chance to be here.

The Awesome Park

Teo, January 4, 2015

Yesterday we went with our brother Luke and our mom and our dad to a park that had a zip line and horses and swimming.  There were people swimming in the river and there was a waterfall.  You could camp there if you wanted.  

It was fun to do the zip line.  First I put on a harness and a helmet.  Next, the guys who were helping me hooked carabiners onto my trolly and I got some gloves.  Then we walked up to a high wooden platform.  When we got to the top, the guy attached my trolly to the cable and I zipped down to another platform about 300 meters away.  My belly kind of felt like it was missing a little bit.  Then I waited for Javy and Luke and Dad to zip to the platform.  And then we went on another zip line.  It went right through some trees.  I was kind of scared at first, but then I got used to it.  It was so much fun that we went again.  

After the zip line, we went to get something to eat.  The restaurant looked over the waterfall and the view was awesome.  I want to go back to this park for my birthday!

Hike at the Canyon

Javy, January 3, 2015

We went to a very cool place called Quebrada de los Cuervos (Canyon of the Crows).  It is a breeding ground for vultures.  You could see four or five vultures out in the sky flying.  But the coolest part about it was the hike.  The hike started with two arrows pointing two ways.  It was a fork.  We went left.  We walked until we got to a wooden boardwalk.  We walked down for several minutes.  Then there was an oval spot where you could take pictures and look out over the canyon.  But then there was a scary-looking pathway.  It was incredibly steep.  There was no walkway but there were sharp rocks and the only support was a rope line.  It was not the best but it made it so we were safe.  But if you fell, you would be a goner.  We were very happy when we got down to the bottom.  There was a little stream and some rocks.  It was like a tropical jungle.  There were vines and palm trees and weird butterflies and plants that we would not have in Atlanta.  It was very dense.   The hike was very fun and rough and hot as a black car sitting in the sun.  We hiked up some more steep hills and finally we got on flat ground.  We went over some bridges and there was a nice little stream.  Then we came back to the same fork where we started.  Then we went to our car and went to a hotel.  We slept peacefully that night.

Holiday Travels

Marilyn, January 1, 2015

A lot has happened in the past week!  Gene and Luke have joined us, so now we're exploring as a fivesome.  It's hard to believe that Teo, Javy, and I have been in Uruguay for a month.  In many ways, the time has flown by.

Gene, Teo, Javy, and I celebrated Christmas Eve with a wonderful dinner with our host family.  The food was typical Uruguayan, including chicken and sausage grilled on the parrilla, milanesa, fruit, cheese, and bread.  For dessert, I contributed brownies made from chocolate raised on my friend Sharon's farm in Ecuador, and thought about the route that chocolate had taken from Ecuador to  Missouri to Georgia and then to Uruguay.   By the time dinner was over and we were all contentedly full, we could hear the celebratory firecrackers beginning in the neighborhood.  At some point, we discovered that a strange dog, obviously petrified by the noise, had somehow made its way into the house seeking refuge.  We did our best to comfort it, and to keep Lucas the cat, who was feeling territorial, from attacking it.  At midnight, the serious fireworks began in earnest.  Watching them from the roof of the house made us feel like we were right in the middle of them, and I guess we really were.  Javy kept asking if the sounds were like what soldiers in the Civil War heard.  It was pretty spectacular and a little frightening, but it made for a Christmas Eve we'll always remember!

Our host's son had been thoughtful enough to buy some firecrackers for Teo and Javy, and they gleefully shot those off.  Later, we discovered that there were also presents under the tree for us!  Gifts are traditionally opened here after midnight on Christmas Eve, and the family graciously welcomed us into their gift exchange.  When the night finally wound down, Teo and Javy had enough leftover excitement to make bedtime an even bigger challenge than usual.

Christmas morning, I got up early and walked to catch the bus to take me to the airport to meet Luke.  Busses were running infrequently due to the holiday, so I allowed myself plenty of time, leaving the house well before Luke's connecting flight from Santiago, Chile, was scheduled to take off.  I knew that his flight from New York had been delayed, so I was hoping that he would make the connection.  As it turned out, he made it only by running across the tarmac to the Montevideo-bound plane, and about fifteen minutes after touching down in Santiago was in the air again over the Andes.  He says the view was incredible, and I am hoping I get to see it someday!

Although most businesses are closed here on Christmas Day, Luke spent some time on the phone and found a restaurant that was open that night, and we had a lovely dinner.  The next day was a frustrating one.  In the morning, we packed up, said goodbye to our great host family, and decided to make a stop to arrange phone service for Gene before setting out for our beach vacation.  Since getting my phone working had been so problematic, someone suggested to us that we just go to an Apple store and ask them what to do.  We managed to find the Apple store without too much problem, but the guy there had no good advice for us, except to send us to the Antel (phone company) office down the street.  The wait there was going to be an hour or so, but we decided it was worth it.  Gene took a number and got in line there while Luke and I accompanied Teo and Javy to Burger King.  That's about when the rain started.  By the time the boys' burgers and fries were history, it was raining steadily; nevertheless, we decided to walk the three or four blocks to Antel and check on Gene's progress.  On the way, we got caught it a tremendous downpour, and arrived totally soaked and dripping.  (Later I learned that this was the heaviest rain in the last fifty years in Montevideo, and many roads and cars were flooded.)  Teo and Javy and I stood in the lobby of the building shivering and trying not to make too much of a puddle while Luke checked in with Gene.  It was fortunate that he did, as no one in the office spoke English.  Luke was able to translate well enough to get my phone's issues fixed, and to explain everything to Gene.  It was at that point that Gene discovered that he had left his passport, which was required by Antel, in the car, about four blocks away.  He ran through the rain to retrieve it, returned as thoroughly soaked as the rest of us, took a new number, and began the wait again.  In the end, it took about two more hours before we could take our functional phones and pile our wet and miserable selves into the car and set out.

We headed first to Atlántida to see the home that we'll move into in February and meet the owners.  After that, we drove for three more hours to Punta del Diablo, one of the loveliest beaches in South America.  Arriving at the hotel tired and still damp, I said something to the woman at the desk about "mucha lluvia (rain)," trying to explain our disheveled state.  She responded with something about the rain not having started yet there.  That sounded ominous enough to squeeze every remaining drop of optimism out of me, and checking the weather forecast only dampened our spirits all the more.  It was to rain up until Tuesday, the day we were to leave.

Fortunately, weather forecasts have been known to be wrong.  By Saturday morning, no more rain was being predicted until a brief shower on Monday, and later even that disappeared from the forecast.  We ventured down to the beach, making our way through a maze of streets, shops, restaurants, and ramshackle houses in the little town of Punta del Diablo.  Luke and Wikipedia informed us that the town has a population of well under 1000 during most of the year, and 25,000 during the tourist season, December through February.  A good portion of those 25,000 seemed to be  on the first stretch of beach we came to, so we set off exploring further down, where huge boulders are all piled on top of each other, making for some challenging climbing and producing numerous tide pools to poke around in.  It seemed to me to be a bit like Arabia Mountain in Atlanta, only with an ocean attached.   Later on, we found a less densely populated sandy beach where we spent a very pleasant afternoon playing in the waves, digging in the sand, relaxing in the sun, and kicking a soccer ball into other people's personal space.  True to the guide book's description, there were plenty of stray dogs looking for companionship on the beach, too, plus a lot of other dogs who were fortunate enough to have owners accompanying them.  The dogs were having a ton of fun in the surf.  If I am ever reincarnated as a dog, I want to find my way to Punto del Diablo.

Sunday, Teo had his first surfing lesson!  He did a great job, and is looking forward to many days of surfing once we get once we get settled in Atlántida.  It was lots of fun watching him ride the waves and seeing his big smile.  Later on during our stay at Punta del Diablo, Luke and Javy also took lessons.  It turns out that when it comes to surfing, being shorter is better, so the little guys had the advantage over their tall brother.

Other notable activities while we were at Punta del Diablo:

• A visit to Santa Teresa National Park, just up the beach from Punta del Diablo.  The park has some beautiful areas to explore, including a near-deserted beach and a wildlife area where we enjoyed watching rheas, capybaras, and other animals.  It was a surprise to us that the military administers the park, and that uniformed soldiers were doing a lot of the work that in the U.S. we would see park rangers doing.
• Learning about sea turtle rescue at Karumbé, a small conservation and education center in the village of La Coronilla.  We got to see a few of the turtles, bought some t-shirts, and had a great conversation with the staff and volunteers there.  I was especially interested to learn about the center's outreach efforts to the local schoolchildren and fishermen.  I asked if they feel encouraged about their work in this area, and the answer was a resounding "yes!"  One of the main messages they try to get across is the danger plastic poses to sea turtles and other marine animals.  Plastic bags are used liberally here, and they inevitably end up in the water and in the guts of turtles.  The Karumbé folks told me about the changes they are seeing in people's attitudes about littering and in their use of cloth grocery bags.  Their optimism is heartening, but it's hard not to feel a bit pessimistic about the enormity of the task they are facing in trying to create a sustainable environment for turtles and for the rest of us.
• A hike Luke and I took along the beach to find a geocache.  It involved a lot of climbing over boulders and a little sleuthing, but it was a lot of fun on a beautiful evening.
• A drive around Laguna Negra where Gene was especially excited to see burrowing owls for the first time.

On our way to find the geocache.  The barely-visible farthest point has a lighthouse which was our destination.

Tuesday morning, we packed up and headed to our next destination, an estancia, or guest ranch, near the town of Melo near the Brazilian border.  Following Google Map's directions, we drove for about ten minutes on the highway before turning onto an unpaved road that we followed for the next two hours.  The landscape was beautiful with wide-open grasslands (it looked like what I would imagine pampas to be, but the key on the map indicates they are bañados, whatever that means) and blue, blue skies.  We saw countless herds of cattle, several groups of wild rheas, and other birds and animals.  If I am every reincarnated as a cow, I hope I can find my way to this part of the world.  

The towns we passed through on the drive to the estancia show more signs of poverty than Montevideo or the beach towns.  While Uruguay is considered a developing country by the International Monetary Fund, our time in the capital gave me the impression that it was pretty well holding its own economically.  I'm seeing, though, that there is still a lot of developing left to be done in these small communities, where conditions remind me more of those in Guatemala and other poorer nations I've visited in the past.  

The estancia, where we've spent the last couple of days, is a quiet and inviting place, where the boys got to ride a horse and Gene got to explore the grounds and the adjacent river for bugs and birds and crawly things.  Luke prepared us a wonderful New Years Eve dinner last night, and a little before midnight, we climbed the steps to the roof and watched the fireworks in Melo.  This afternoon, we are relaxing in the pleasant courtyard, waiting for the rain to pass, and feasting on watermelon.  I'm remembering my dad, who would have been eating black eyed peas this New Years day.  No black eyed peas here, but I inherited his love of watermelon, and think of him often when I get to enjoy a good one.  When the weather improves a bit, we're setting out for the tiny part of Brazil's Mata Atlântica, or Atlantic Forest, that creeps across the Uruguayan border.  Hopefully we'll get to see a bit of the incredible plant and animal diversity that the forest is known for.