Expedition: Day 8
Lucy in camp. Photo by Callie Broaddus.
Wednesday, September 25th
Written by Lucy Houliston
It was a bittersweet morning, as today was the day the Reserva Expedition team would be leaving camp for good. At least, that’s what we thought, right up until the moment we heard the dulcet tones of our trusty satellite telephone. It was a colleague from Chical, calling to deliver the news that strikes in the nearby town of Tulcán were escalating, and that many of the surrounding roads had been blockaded. There was no viable way for us to leave Chical and move on to Tulcán as per our original plan. Instead, we’d stay put for an extra night, and head back to Dracula House the following day.
Our cozy camp—tents were elevated on long strips of bark, which got quite lumpy in our sleep, but they kept us dry and away from curious critters. Photo by Callie Broaddus.
The matter of local political unrest aside, this came as welcome news to Callie and I; we’d been complaining about how sad we were to be leaving all morning long. For Carter, the update was less well-received: it meant that he’d have to unpack and reconstruct his now disassembled tent all over again...
The forest was bathed in morning light as the clouds ascended from the valley below. Drone photo by Callie Broaddus.
Scrambling out of our tents that morning, we’d been greeted by a glorious sunrise that bathed the treetops in a hazy, golden light, which set the stage for Callie and Carter to capture some incredible drone footage. Meanwhile the scientists spoke animatedly about last night’s discoveries over a spot of breakfast. While we’d been sleeping, they’d been busy exploring a large, mysterious lagoon that turned out to be home to several populations of exciting species—including some extraordinarily rare frogs and toads.
Each morning, we discussed the previous night’s adventures over breakfast. Pictured, INABIO herpetologist Mario Yánez. Photo by Callie Broaddus.
While the herpetology team regaled us with their adventure, the mammalogy team eagerly set off on a long and muddy uphill hike to inspect an array of recently set traps. Carter joined them, only to return about an hour later, sweaty and exhausted, with the unfortunate news that their mission had been totally fruitless. Unfazed, the scientists promptly returned to skinning and stuffing an earlier batch of dispatched rodents on an outdoor bench-turned-dissecting table, protected from the hot glare of a sun by an old, wonkily-strung tarpaulin sheet. It was a sight that rest of us had all become rather used to by now.
(The mammals team, led by Ulyses Pardiñas. Photos by Lucy Houliston.)
While Carter had been gone, Callie, Daniel, and I had got to work photographing the team’s most recently collected batch of specimens. One particular green, sticky individual seemed more intent on leaping into the barrel of Callie’s lens than it did on making an escape. Perhaps this wasn’t the wisest choice for the frog in question to make—in the event that he did turn out to be a new species, he'd be destined to encounter a similar fate to those poor rats…
Daniel, Lucy, and Callie with a Red-spotted Glassfrog, Nymphargus grandisonae.
(Bolitoglossa sp. and Nymphargus grandisonae, with Lucy and Carter. Photos by Callie Broaddus.)
In addition to the tried-and-tested tricks, we also experimented with a new photography technique involving a small, acrylic box. It may have been a rather unassuming-looking piece of kit, but it offered us a totally new and unique perspective of our sci-fi subjects.
The Red-spotted Glassfrog, Nymphargus grandisonae. Photo by Callie Broaddus.
Not too far away from our makeshift photography studio, Javier was also busy documenting his latest finds on camera, and I watched as he employed some of his newly-learned camera skills on yet another tiny orchid specimen, this one perhaps even more minuscule than the last. He’d set it upon a moss-smothered tree stump, but ended up moving slightly too close to it and knocking it off of its elaborate perch with the barrel of his lens. I helped him search for it, but unfortunately its tiny size made not being able to find it the inevitable outcome.
That afternoon, we recorded some video interviews with Daniel and Javier. Callie having disappeared off in search of a more picturesque backdrop to Javier’s moving monologue, Carter and I wandered out into the surrounding wilderness, clambering over numerous fallen logs and branches and taking extreme caution not to step in any of the muddy patches and puddles that were dotted about the place as we went. At that hour, the forest was quiet and tranquil, and the mood of our afternoon not too dissimilar. Of course, this peace didn't last—soon it was time for Carter and I to be quizzed on our highlights, lowlights, and takeaways from the trip so far. And with that, things descended into chaos and giggles once again.
Daniel and Javier. Photo by Callie Broaddus.
A little later, while sheltering from a rain shower, Callie, Carter, and I got our first opportunity to reconnect with the outside world. At last, we could update friends and family members on our whereabouts, and reassure them that we weren’t caught up in the chaos of the Tulcán strikes (no, we were just surrounded by puma-and snake-filled wilderness, instead). While Callie was itching to get back online and share updates of the trip on social media, I relished in this most wild of digital detoxes.
Callie and Javier discussing plans for the next day’s departure. Photo by Lucy Houliston.
The lack of technology certainly seemed to be getting to Carter; that night, he and Daniel resorted to playing competitive games of thumb wars at the dinner table, and serenading the team with their own rendition of Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy.’ Not only did this end up becoming the soundtrack of the expedition, but it also proved to be a helpful and entertaining way to help Daniel better his English skills. After retiring to our tents for the night, we discovered that the performance wasn’t quite over yet—in the early hours of the morning, Callie and I awoke to the sound of Carter reciting one of his earlier interview responses in his sleep.
Trees in the cloud forest are like plant hotels, draped in numerous species of flowering plants, mosses, and bromeliads. Photo by Callie Broaddus.