Skip to main content

Remembering Montanita #2: The Wildlife

I had never expected to encounter so much wildlife in a beach party town in Ecuador.  But it was all around us.  Partly because we were down a dirt road a little ways out of town and the area used to be full of farms.

First we have Little Burrito, from the previous post and his mom.  There were about 5 donkeys in the area.



These are the street dogs that were probably attacking Burrito.  They were friendly enough with humans though.  A few of the breeds used to herd us into town, walking alongside and slightly behind, making sure the herd of humans stayed together.  Whenever one dog went into another's territory, there was barking and posturing, then they'd either make friends or fight.  We saw a few dogfights that were not pleasant.



 A horse lived behind my room and I would hear him neighing sometimes, but they normally took him elsewhere to graze.



There were chickens EVERYWHERE, and the one behind our cabanas started at 3:15 every morning.  He would hit it on the hour, at 4:15, 5:15, 6:15, and I was usually up by 7:15.  Well, I guess it's a rooster, huh?  Anyway, the rooster was the topic of many a breakfast conversation at the long table, and what time everyone first heard it that day.

The best part was the cows.  The herd lived behind us on the farm but they were released to walk down the road every day.  They were quite imposing, and if you were trying to cross the road, you better get off to the side and wait because they were not going to slow down or stop.


The funniest part was during our classes, they would sometimes graze outside the window of the classrooms.  They would moo really loud, interrupting the lesson and causing us to giggle.  They would also wake us up in the mornings with their moos.  They had funny moos too, like "mow the lawn" but all stretched out, "maaoooow".

Missing Montanita a little...

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

One Week Down Teaching English in Loja

I have officially completed one full week teaching English at in Loja, Ecuador.  It's been interesting, and I can't say I'm thrilled at this point.  The way things are done here is so different than at home, it's hard to go with the flow. I was offered the job by the school's "international recruiter" which was interesting.  There was really no interview, just a conversation about Loja.  I was told I started Monday so I started thinking of a lesson to introduce myself and have students introduce themselves.  My questions about who and when I would be teaching remained unanswered until Monday at 3:00 when I was supposed to meet with one of the managers.  She was out that day.  So I was eventually filled in, told that I'd be teaching teens.  If anyone knows me, this was my biggest nightmare scenario. So I started Tuesday night, from 3-6, one hour each to 3 Teen classes at the same level which is supposed to be Early Intermediate since they'v...

Lovely Loja

Loja is absolutely gorgeous! It's even prettier than Cuenca, surrounded by green mountains.  There are always big puffy cloud when the sun is out, or it becomes cloudy and drizzly and it's not quite as pretty then. I've been able to find things here -- laundromat, hair salons, post office, market,... My hotel is great -- Hotel Paris, and it's about $16 a night.  It's a huge room, they clean it daily, it's in a great location, and it's fairly quiet.  I think there are only 2 of us on the 5th floor. Even 5 floors up in a city, there is a rooster that starts at 4:15.  I can barely hear him but it's enough to wake me up. Sunday is Market Day.  I walked to one park and bought a lot of things from indigenous women selling jewelry and stuff.  The other market is mostly a vegetable and fruit market but I got a few other things there.  I can't wait to get my apartment and go to the market to buy fresh produce to take home! The town sq...

Arriving in Cuenca

I took a bus from Puerto Lopez to Guayaquil (4 hours), dragged my 70 lbs worth of bags all over the place, had a tantrum, and finally figured out where to buy a ticket to Cuenca and where to board at the Guayaquil bus station.  I timed it just right and got on the next bus within 15 minutes.  That busride was another 4 hours.  Once we started climbing, we went through Cajas National Park which is absolutely gorgeous!  Lakes and tall mountains all around, the bus zigged and zagged up to Cuenca. My hostel, the Posada Gran Columbia, was easily enough found with the help of a taxi.  My first room was adorable, with a skylight.  I thought -- cool!  Until morning.  The bright light woke me up at 6:00 and I still couldn't see outside. Check out the bottomless drawer in the dresser: So being a pain in the ass, I asked for a room with a window.  I waited around the next morning 20 minute, then another 20 minute, then another 20 ...