Measuring Miracles in Millimeters

At the risk of sounding sentimental (and overly alliterative), Ecuador's miracles are measured within millimeters of each other.

After two intensive weeks of lectures and classes, we drove up to Papallacta to enjoy the hiking trails and thermal pools. This is not to say that the excursion was a break for learning! Hiking through the high mountain rain forests offers more biodiversity per square millimeter than anywhere else in the world. On the drive to Papallacta if you stopped to fiddle with your camera for more than a few seconds, the nature of the surrounding scenery had drastically changed by the time you lifted your lens. From the pajonal to the bosque montano alto to the páramo alto, mountain sides shifted from green pastures to yellow fields to green brushes to high mountain rainforests. Especially breath taking were the páramos and their astonishing ability to absorb and utilize vast amounts of water. All of the scenery reminded me of one Ecuadorian friend who described Ecuador's unique global positioning, mountainous characteristics, and oceanic influences as a miracle. Even in cold, scientific terms I think it can be agreed that Ecuadorian biodiversity is uniquely miraculous.

We had a hiking tour guide, Patricio, (who looked like he had dropped right out of 1976 with his long hair and full mustache) who helped us identify sacha chochos, árboles de papel, achupalla, mata palo, pugxi and guycundo (to name a very, very small sample of the types of plants out there). We ate taglli berries (they are safe in small quantities). Lamiaceae was introduced to us as a remedy for "stomach aches as a result of excessive coldness," but I just ground it up in my hands and enjoyed its minty odor. I think Patricio may have been referring to altitude sickness, because when I breathed in the lamiaceae, I felt my lungs open up and my head felt clearer. Whenever we found a plant Patricio did not know, he pulled out the book that he wrote about the local flora to remember their exact names (in both Spanish and Latin).

If the biodiversity was not enough of a wonder, the natural thermal pools are geological miracles. Warm pools of varying temperatures gurgled up from beneath the ground. We enjoyed the relaxing effects while watching the stars pop out. Ecuador again showed off its unique positioning by portraying both northern and southern hemispheric constellations.