passing by

Desde los puntos de estrella en las cuevas nacen las estalactitas. En Jumandy reconstruía mis recuerdos de los cenotes en México, Jeita Grotto en Líbano y tenía la misma sensación de cruzar lo más íntimo de la tierra, recovecos de sus dobleces de mujer. Las cuevas son extensas y están semi-protegidas por un parque cuyos días de gloria pasaron hace mucho. Cascadas subterráneas para zambullirse y columnas de estalagmitas y estalactitas en fusión fueron la primera parada para el viaje de la tierra dando a luz. Después de cruzar Tena y Puyo, donde el maito se convierte en ayampaco y bajando la troncal amazónica, encontramos los laberintos del Chiguaza, una extensión enorme laberintos de todo tamaño. Fósiles marinos.  Arañas de seda dorada a las orillas del Pastaza Formaciones con agua que se esparcía como brisa marina al caer y demandaba una plegaria hacia lo hermoso de este lugar, casi intacto, con miles de fósiles de erizos y caracoles que caí...

I had just seen a ray below me and I was scared out of my mind. -It was my first time snorkeling and the guide later agreed it was indeed quite a large specimen. - I was appeased by the guide’s presence and once the ray went its way, he left me alone again. I tremulously continued swimming until, suddenly, I was following a sea turtle and two sea lions came to my sides. I swam in their company in an experience I can only remember as daydreaming. This was 8 years ago and ever since, Galapagos has been my favorite place on Earth. Work brought me back to the Galapagos. Initially designing a water accessibility project in El Progreso and now with the most passionate group of climate change students - I can feel solastalgia rising but not without glimpses of optimism and particularly with a grounding for a reflective life to be lived. ‘An unexamined life is not worth living’; that has never been truer. During these days I have also been back snorkeling.   Close to a rock fo...

*Due to be published in July 2016 but had some issues with google accounts/blogger. Here it goes anyways :) Ecstatic bewilderment from squirrel monkeys waiting to be prayed by an eagle announced the beginning of our journey into the depths of the Amazonian rainforest. It was a delight for the trained eye and we were lucky to have many with such training in our boat – a primatologist group, a mammalogist group and community guides accompanied us. I was there with a group of Masters students and undergrads from different universities visiting USFQ, where I currently work. It’s been over a year since I’ve written and undoubtedly, so many remarkable things have happened. Carbocycle won at Columbia ! I have began and been part of development projects in the Andean region  that gave us a UNEP award, larger sustainability projects at USFQ, writing for the Drawdown Fellowship and most importantly, an earthquake shook the coastal area and changed all my plans. A large portion of my...

The mud held me back and the rubber boots felt awkward but necessary. We were walking behind the city of Baños, a small town that I have visited since I was a child. Whole Saturday afternoons would be spent next to the jukebox-perhaps the reason why I can sing along to old cumbias and lambadas that my mother loves- while my little sister and I would splash each other with the water in the bathtub we kept in the garden and pretended was our pool. Baños from Illuchi-Los Sauces I had been to Baños so often that I had stopped questioning what activities were available; the trek to Illuchi-Los Sauces was the first eye-opener. My students were eager to show me each plant and its properties, reed and putzos, llantén and tree tomatoes. Initially, we strolled by San Francisco bridge, a beautiful viewpoint for the Pastaza river and the cliff that separates the town from its surroundings. As we were walking uphill, we encountered a little lodge named ´Las Granadillas´ after an endemic ...