Remain Calm: The Volcano Is Just on Fire
On our way home from Cochasquí on Friday, I looked up and realized Taita Imbabura was smoking. Concerned to see smoke coming from the peak of a volcano, I asked Pepe was going on. At first, he thought Taita Imbabura was just cloud-covered (pretty common), but he explained that people sometimes set fires to kill the vegetation on the mountains here. Since the altitude of the peak is too high to grow anything, I was confused as to why anyone would bother clearing vegetation, but I didn't get more of an explanation from Pepe, who was disgusted with the people responsible for being wasteful and ignorant. I wrote the incident off as sad, and maybe a little scary, but ultimately assumed it was under control.
Cut to Sunday, when we took a family visit to the Echeverria's land in Pucara Alto, and Imbabura was still smokin like Jim Carrey in The Mask. In the picture below, the dark part of the lower right peak is where all the vegetation had burned off. It was impossible for local firefighters to access the peaks, so they were just monitoring the fire from below. There are firefighters in Quito who could've put the fire out by helicopter, but I guess because the fire wasn't near homes or fields, they decided it wasn't worth it. The fire finally burned itself out by Monday, but it was a weird couple of days to see smoke where there's normally only clouds. I have to admit, Taita Imbabura still looks a little odd with his makeover (or makeunder?). But not to worry: Pepe has assured me the spirit of Taita Imbabura will take care of the miscreants responsible for his new look.
Nonetheless, the fields in Pucara Alto are pretty picturesque.
From this side of Taita Imbabura, you'd never know there was an issue. Also, moo cows and agave!
Cristina took advantage of our trip to the country to collect items from nature she just couldn't live without, starting with eucalyptus branches to make the house smell nice. Then, she spotted a dead tree trunk, and asked if I could help her with it. I said, "no problem," thinking it looked like it'd be light like driftwood. Let me tell you, that sucker was heavy! After coaxing the trunk with some nice words and dragging it down the hill, I had to get Jenny and Cristina to help me lift it into the back end of the truck. We tried to be sneaky, but Pepe wanted to know why we were bringing garbage back to the house. Busted! Cristina wants to paint the trunk with lacquer and use it to display plants in her yet-to-be-realized cafe (see next post). This trunk has been the source of many jokes [ex: my labor to move the trunk is my payment for my homestay...gotta earn my keep, after all ;)], and it was at the prompting of Jenny and Cristina that I decided to include it in my blog.
Cut to Sunday, when we took a family visit to the Echeverria's land in Pucara Alto, and Imbabura was still smokin like Jim Carrey in The Mask. In the picture below, the dark part of the lower right peak is where all the vegetation had burned off. It was impossible for local firefighters to access the peaks, so they were just monitoring the fire from below. There are firefighters in Quito who could've put the fire out by helicopter, but I guess because the fire wasn't near homes or fields, they decided it wasn't worth it. The fire finally burned itself out by Monday, but it was a weird couple of days to see smoke where there's normally only clouds. I have to admit, Taita Imbabura still looks a little odd with his makeover (or makeunder?). But not to worry: Pepe has assured me the spirit of Taita Imbabura will take care of the miscreants responsible for his new look.
Nonetheless, the fields in Pucara Alto are pretty picturesque.
From this side of Taita Imbabura, you'd never know there was an issue. Also, moo cows and agave!
Cristina took advantage of our trip to the country to collect items from nature she just couldn't live without, starting with eucalyptus branches to make the house smell nice. Then, she spotted a dead tree trunk, and asked if I could help her with it. I said, "no problem," thinking it looked like it'd be light like driftwood. Let me tell you, that sucker was heavy! After coaxing the trunk with some nice words and dragging it down the hill, I had to get Jenny and Cristina to help me lift it into the back end of the truck. We tried to be sneaky, but Pepe wanted to know why we were bringing garbage back to the house. Busted! Cristina wants to paint the trunk with lacquer and use it to display plants in her yet-to-be-realized cafe (see next post). This trunk has been the source of many jokes [ex: my labor to move the trunk is my payment for my homestay...gotta earn my keep, after all ;)], and it was at the prompting of Jenny and Cristina that I decided to include it in my blog.
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