Expedition: Day 1 — Reserva: The Youth Land Trust

Wednesday, September 18th

Written by Carter Ries

Breakfast was at 7:30 in the morning and so Lucy, Callie, and I were ready by eight to eat some corn and fruit (a hearty breakfast). We discussed our schedule for the day, and looking at it, we knew it was going to be an adventure. We were ready for Javier to pick us up at 9:30 so that we could head to the School for International Training (S.I.T.) office where we met Lou Jost, a co-founder of Fundación EcoMinga. He briefed us on what he would like us to say to his class of 19 students, and as he did so, Callie prepared Lucy and I with some first-time filmmaking tips and tricks. Callie gave us a camera each, and asked us to get specific shots of the students as she spoke, and of her as they asked questions. It would be appropriate to say that neither Lucy nor I had any clue as to what we were doing, but Callie proved to be a great teacher.

As Callie spoke and we filmed the students, you could see the looks of excitement and passion in their eyes. After a short presentation, the kids were more than happy to help however they could, and that’s when Callie mentioned the 1 Million Letters Campaign. Within seconds of hearing about the campaign, the students had their pens and paper out, writing beautifully-crafted letters to world governments asking them to protect the rainforests of not only Ecuador, but the world. After receiving these first letters from them and reading what they wrote, the three of us knew that we were having an impact, and it was such an amazing feeling.

We stayed and answered questions before heading to our next location, the National Institute of Biodiversity, where we met Mario Yanez. Mario is a herpetologist who’s been studying different species of amphibians for over 20 years. He was kind enough to let us view all of the different species that he and his team have seen and collected over the years, and when I tell you that there were a lot of species, I mean thousands upon thousands of them all in one room, some of them yet to be published. Mario explained to us the importance of each and every creature’s role in the forest, and this information motivated us more and helped us realise the importance of the work we had come here to do.

Mario Yanez holding a new species of glass frog found on our site. Photo by Callie Broaddus.

After an hour or so of learning about the biodiversity of Ecuador, we headed next door to the Botanical Garden where we met Lucho, the lead orchidologist. He was one of the nicest and most genuine people I’ve ever met and was more than happy to show us all of the orchids that he and his team have found. There was a sliding door into the greenhouse and when we entered, all you could see were thousands of orchids, spread out across this big room. We took pictures as he explained all of the different species. It was an overwhelming experience because, as a U.S. citizen, I hadn’t paid attention to different flowers that much, let alone their role in the environment.

Lucy practicing her macro photography skills. Photo by Callie Broaddus.

After about two hours of looking at orchids, we were introduced to the Dracula family of orchids. They were the most stunning flowers I have ever seen, and each one seemed to have a face of its own. Some looked like monkeys, while others more represented people. It was like being on a completely different planet, because never in my life have I ever seen so many different species of one plant before. We spent a good four to five hours talking to Lucho and learning about his passion and why he still has hope for the rainforest.

A Dracula orchid. Do you see the monkey face? Photo by Callie Broaddus.

After we left, we drove with Javier back to our hotel and prepared to have dinner with Lou Jost at a vegan restaurant. While we ate, we discussed Lou’s work and why he founded EcoMinga. He explained to us that he’s always been passionate about nature and that as a kid, he respected nature and the creatures that lived in it. His parents were very flexible and when he was a teenager, he convinced them to let him canoe along a river for a month to go deeper into nature to see what he could discover. He brought all the supplies he needed and was off. He found that the solitude let his mind think and seek answers to different questions he had. After this story, he opened his computer and showed us the territory and land that was already preserved, and what we were striving to preserve. It was amazing to see the amount of land that was still in danger of deforestation, and the look in his eyes told us that he’s serious about protecting every inch of rainforest that he possibly can. He was a very passionate person and had hope for the next generation of leaders in protecting this land as well.

We said goodbye to Lou and headed back to the hotel, where we sat down and spoke about our adventures for the next day and were told that we needed to be out the door by 4am to reach Casa Dracula — our next location — in good time. By 9:30 we were back in our rooms preparing for bed and a very early, but exciting, morning.