Baños and Zoologico Ecological San Martin

Captain's Log, Day 229: Under rare circumstances, Ernesto, Edwin and I had a chance to visit Baños for a day. I knew Baños was a fairly touristy town, and that their hot springs were a big attraction...but I had no idea what kind of volcano-fun awaited us. Baños is located below the volcano Tungurahua, which has been more than it's fair share of active as of late. The locals call her 'Mama Tungurahua,' and much of the town revolves around the volcano. Not only did we get the chance to see Mama Tungurahua erupting when we were there, but we also got to visit friends of Ernesto for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Ecozoologico San Martin; Ecuador's first and oldest zoo. Between volcano-watching, Condor talk, and Ecuador ecology speak, it was a pretty biology-fantastic way to end the weekend.

When you're exhausted from one and a half cross country drives, have been learning Condor medicine all day, and arrive just before dark to a town where the tunnels and bridges are temporarily blocked off to avoid volcanic mishap, obviously the only thing to do is find the nearest hotel, drop off your stuff, and book it to the highest vista to volcano-watch until midnight.

Or at least it is if your boss is as awesome as mine.

Some hastily captioned photos of our time in Baños.

Also, check out San Martin's official website here: http://ecozoosanmartin.com/

Go.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to capture the mountainside rooftop bar/restaurant we found across from Tungurahua. Suffice it to say that the warmth from a fire, some hot chocolate and canelazo, and VISIBLE LAVA running down the mountainside following occasional earth-shudders and chest-resonating rumbles and Ernesto's excited gesticulating was an experience I will never forget. Tungurahua has been in a period of active eruptions for the last 15 years; we were lucky to be headed through on a night she was restless.

Ernesto pointing to the church of the 'Volcano Virgin'--built with lava, and home to the town's most sacred relic.

Lavaaaaaaaaarock.

All along the church's walls were two centuries' worth of stories about the terrors and destruction wrought by the volccano, and how the parish has always survived, with thanks to the Virgin.

The aforementioned Volcano Virgin. 

Some shopping for little Ernesto Filipe!

We stopped and bought some sweets and fresh-cut sugarcane before heading to the Zoo. Yummm.

The sign reads: 'In the Aquarium, African Lions.' Innnnnnteresting...and true. About a month and a half ago, Ernesto sent two of our lions to the Baños Zoo! The parents of the newborn lioness were the ones selected to go--we were getting a bit over-capacity at the zoo, and we don't want any more breeding for the moment.

The Zoo is located on this super-awesome island-like structure you have to reach by bridge. They have fantastic views of the rivers and surrounding mountains. 

The zoo began it's life as a small animal refuge in 1974, and blossomed into a public zoo and education opportunity for Ecuadorian conservation in 1988, under the directorship of the current owner, Orlando Vega.

They do an excellent job with their birds. 

We visited some old friends.

Incredible, how they followed Ernesto and Edwin around the exhibit. At the Banos Zoo, they have more space than they would at Amaru, due to territorialism amongst the males. The grass, natural trees, and ledge overlooking the river is nice for them.

Edwin's super awesome tattoo. Edwin is one of Amaru's zookeepers, now specializing n mammals with the new biosecurity measures. He has the most incredible chemistry with animals I have ever seen. 

Handsome Golden Pheasant male.

This poor Rufous-collared sparrow juvenile fell into one of the goose bathing pools at the zoo--we fished him out and set him up to dry. D'ohhh.

Happy Roseate Spoonbills! They do a really good job here with watering systems and pools; with their proximity to the river, they are able to have constant running water, like we have in the multi-species exhibits in Pittsburgh. 

The Flamingoes, a breeding rescue population, really impressed me: without a diet formulated specifically for Flamingoes, the zoo has combined waterfowl maintenance with shredded carrots, dried shrimp, and mineral salts to keep their flock looking good! 

These cuddly. Pacific. Parrotlets.

They had a lot of excellent natural enrichment in place for their psittacids. 

...and an excellent serpentarium to boot!

They get fairly heavy traffic through the zoo! Since Banos is such a popular Ecuadorian tourist destination, the weekends are usually fairly busy. 

Edwin, admiring the collection.

My personal favorite: Pseustes sulphureos sulphureos. 

After visiting the serpentarium and aquarium, we headed to a mirador also owned by the zoo.

They called it 'Casa del Duende.' which as far as I can tell means House of the Imp.

They had an overlook for the river--a carefully engineered platform built to fit thirty large people. The distance down was sobering.

And beautiful. Pictured here: The Pastaza River. 

Ernesto pointed out a crab spider to Edwin and I, and told us it was marginally venomous, so we took the opportunity to observe it.

The beauty of biodiversity. In evey nook and cranny here. 

We took a lunch break. 

Fried chicken and plantains, grilled choclo, and that special brand of picante made with tree tomatoes that I will miss terribly when I am outside of Ecuador. We ate with the zoo's owners. 

Continuing our tour, we visited yet MORE flight aviaries. They really have a lot of experience in birds, here. 

Caracaras.

And King Vultures, complete with breeding success and nest cavities. 

And, finally, looking down over the impressive Andean Condor flight aviary.

See the male in the lower left hand corner?

They house three Condors here. 

Mixing awe-inspiring exhibits of  healthy native animals, rescued and rehabilitated, with conservation messages such as these? Good call, Banos.

More aviaries on the way!

Friendly Aratingas. yee.

And these guys, which I saw in Brazil. 

THE SCREAMING UNICORNS. Or, Horned Screamers, if you go by their English common name. Haha. 

Awesome birds, however you choose to call them.

Not only did they have impressive exhibits for their birds, but they also had impressive equipment behind the scenes. 

They've had a lot of success with bird breeding. Check out those home-made incubators! Very effective.

They also have a decent amount of equipment in their veterinary clinic, and a solidly established program for national and international vet students looking to do practica in zoological medicine. 

Gorgeous king vulture, one more time. 

It was an excellent afternoon getting to know yet another organization working towards native species conservation in Ecuador. 

If you ever find yourself near the Banos/Ambato area, I highly recommend a stop at the Ecozoologico San Martin. 

And a genial drive home, complete with sugarcane and delight at the mix of radio stations at the continental divide. Hee.

Field trips with colleagues at Amaru. Educational, inpsirational...and instructional. It would be awesome if we could implement a running-water system in any of our aviaries or bird exhibits at Amaru. The enrichment regimes were also good lessons...we're getting there. Advancing with every passing month.

Speaking of recent Amaru advancements and news, check out the two links below to recent zoo stories featuring staff members liberating our Black-chested Buzzard Eagles--or aguila pechinegra--and our esteemed Dr.Alejandra Recalde helping study abroad program students from Lewis and Clark with their animal protocol improvement final projects.

Eagle Liberation in Cajas National Park, Courtesy of TeleAmazonas

Dr.Recalde and Lewis and Clark Students at Amaru


Until next time.
Cheers,
NB