Summer weather in November? This week the weather has been perfect! Maybe at times a little too warm, but so beautiful and clear!! I had Friday off, so we headed down to Shelter Island in San Diego to get a little sailing in.
My Dad's usually the "captain" when we sail, but he's in a sailing race for 3 weeks going down to Mazatlan, Mexico- so it was just Bryan, Mom, and I. One of the perks of being a fireman, he was able to trade his shifts to get almost a month off work to go on the race ... I'm so jealous! Sometimes it's as if my parents are taking an early retirement, but I guess that's the way to truly live. Before he left, my Dad kept calling me to go over his packing list for the tropics, and I made sure to give him my favorite mosquito repellent (I hate deet, and swear by the natural lemon-eucalyptus lotion!) Last we heard from him, he was just off Cabo San Lucas around the tip of Baja...
Anyway, yesterday was the first time we'd ever been out sailing without my Dad, so we had to be extra-responsible with the boat. First, we had to get it out of the dock- a little tricky, with some close calls, but we got it out sans collision. The winds were pretty strong, so we decided to take the boat out around San Diego Bay instead of out to the open ocean. After organizing the rigging and hoisting the sails, Mom and Bryan were at the wenches pulling in the jib, while I took the helm. I love to listen to music while sailing, so we put on a little Ziggy Marley and Peter Tosh to groove to as we took off. As I said before, the winds were strong, so I had to be pretty careful in my steering- my mom tends to freak out if we heel (tip) the boat over too much (really, any heeling over 15 degrees.) We got going at about 6 knots, which is pretty good for a 30 foot sailboat and began a beautiful sail. Too bad we weren't racing, we were catching nice wind! After a few hours, we headed back to the docks feeling good about sailing by ourselves, and having a nice, peaceful time. Bryan took over the helm to steer the boat into the slip (I'm not so confident in close proximity to other boats) and mom and I secured the ropes to the dock.
I think I could live on a boat at some point in life, I really enjoy being out there on the water. Almost nothing beats a week sailing around the Channel Islands living, snorkeling, and diving off the boat... but I'll have to wait till next summer for that again. For now, I'll just enjoy sailing around San Diego until I save up some vacation time.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Cleaning up the ocean, one trap at a time...
What a full day! We woke up early to get down to Huntington Beach to volunteer with Ocean Defenders Alliance (www.oceandefenders.org) a non-profit, grassroots marine conservation organization that "strives to make our coastal waters safer for ocean wildlife by removing dangerous man-made objects from the sea floor, especially abandoned commercial fishing gear that poses a threat to marine mammals, fish, invertebrates and reef systems."
Bryan, me, and two other ODA volunteers went out to Newport Beach Harbor, launched the boat, and cruised down the Laguna coast to Wood's Cove. Some divers earlier in the week had tipped us off that there were a couple abandoned fish/lobster traps in the cove with animals stuck in them. Once we arrived, the tide was high and the swells were getting pretty big—but the conditions were good enough to dive! After gearing up, we descended and began our search for the traps. It was really fun, like a treasure hunt, to look for the derelict cages. We swam northwest toward shore, over rocky reefs and huge beds of eelgrass. The surge was really strong (about 2-3 meters), pushing and pulling us through the water—I had to time myself going around the rock outcrops so I wouldn't get crashed into them. The eelgrass was almost hypnotic swaying back and forth in waves with the surge, but also pretty disorienting—I really had to rely on my compass and keep track of my dive buddies, Bryan and Kurt. Even the fish were just moving back and forth with the surge! After about 10-15 minutes of searching, we finally found a big abandoned trap with a few lobsters and lots of other animals stuck in it.
We then continued our search for another trap, and a few minutes later found a second one. This trap had obviously been down there for a while, as the metal was starting to corrode into very sharp points, we had to be careful not to get stabbed. The trap was a very tricky one to get out because it was caught on a nearby rocky reef structure; we had to cut the lines that were stuck under the rock to get it free. This one was too heavy to float up to the top by itself, so we had to push it up as the float helped us. This trap was full of animals that would've been stuck in there for a long time without ODA's help! A couple octopuses, fish, shrimp, snails, a sea cucumber, urchins, sea stars… We got them all out and hauled the cage up onto the boat. After collecting the other trap that was slowly drifting with the swell to shore, dodging rocks, and pulling the trap to the boat, we finally finished our work! Everything smelled pretty bad—like rotting fish, since some were already dead in the traps.
Once we got back to the boat launch, drove back to Kurt's house, and unloaded our gear into our car, we had no time to waste and drove directly to the Rose Bowl for the UCLA football game. Got there with an hour to spare, met my family, and had fun at the game (UCLA won! Yay!) Tomorrow we're driving down to San Diego for my Dad's 50th surprise birthday party! (he has no idea!!) Should be fun…
Bryan, me, and two other ODA volunteers went out to Newport Beach Harbor, launched the boat, and cruised down the Laguna coast to Wood's Cove. Some divers earlier in the week had tipped us off that there were a couple abandoned fish/lobster traps in the cove with animals stuck in them. Once we arrived, the tide was high and the swells were getting pretty big—but the conditions were good enough to dive! After gearing up, we descended and began our search for the traps. It was really fun, like a treasure hunt, to look for the derelict cages. We swam northwest toward shore, over rocky reefs and huge beds of eelgrass. The surge was really strong (about 2-3 meters), pushing and pulling us through the water—I had to time myself going around the rock outcrops so I wouldn't get crashed into them. The eelgrass was almost hypnotic swaying back and forth in waves with the surge, but also pretty disorienting—I really had to rely on my compass and keep track of my dive buddies, Bryan and Kurt. Even the fish were just moving back and forth with the surge! After about 10-15 minutes of searching, we finally found a big abandoned trap with a few lobsters and lots of other animals stuck in it.
We then continued our search for another trap, and a few minutes later found a second one. This trap had obviously been down there for a while, as the metal was starting to corrode into very sharp points, we had to be careful not to get stabbed. The trap was a very tricky one to get out because it was caught on a nearby rocky reef structure; we had to cut the lines that were stuck under the rock to get it free. This one was too heavy to float up to the top by itself, so we had to push it up as the float helped us. This trap was full of animals that would've been stuck in there for a long time without ODA's help! A couple octopuses, fish, shrimp, snails, a sea cucumber, urchins, sea stars… We got them all out and hauled the cage up onto the boat. After collecting the other trap that was slowly drifting with the swell to shore, dodging rocks, and pulling the trap to the boat, we finally finished our work! Everything smelled pretty bad—like rotting fish, since some were already dead in the traps.
Once we got back to the boat launch, drove back to Kurt's house, and unloaded our gear into our car, we had no time to waste and drove directly to the Rose Bowl for the UCLA football game. Got there with an hour to spare, met my family, and had fun at the game (UCLA won! Yay!) Tomorrow we're driving down to San Diego for my Dad's 50th surprise birthday party! (he has no idea!!) Should be fun…
Thursday, August 31, 2006
A Transition from Wildlife to Trees...
Well, my job as the Director of Education at the California Wildlife Center is over... the Annenberg Foundation grant that has funded CWC's Education Program for the past 2 years is ending in September, and with it my position at CWC. Last Wednesday, August 30, was my last day working at the center. I submitted grants to other foundations, which CWC should hear from in the near future and I am hopeful that the center will receive a grant to continue the Wildlife Education Program at that time.
It's a bittersweet situation for me to be departing from the center for a new job-- I'm both excited for what's to come, and sad to be leaving a place that has had a very special place in my heart for the last 2 years. The friendships that I have made, the animals we've helped, the people we have reached with our message of co-existence...
I'll never forget carrying an emaciated, orphaned harbor seal for 30 minutes to the CWC rescue truck at Point Dume...
...going to 126 classrooms throughout Los Angeles and seeing kids' faces light up when I taught them about the variety of wildlife that thrive just minutes from their doorsteps...
...feeding a tiny baby hummingbird in the hospital who's mom had been killed by a cat...
...working with volunteers and staff to build a new outdoor enclosure for the animals...
...helping to save a sea lion on the beach in Malibu that had fishing line caught around his neck...
...releasing a Red Tail Hawk that had been hit by a car, after 3 months of rehabilitation and giving him a second chance...
I'm pretty choked up about leaving the center... I mean, I've had lots of changes and transitions in my life, but for some reason this one is really affecting me!! I had a thoughtful send-off this week from the staff and volunteers, and have had kind words from everyone at CWC, but those things all make it even harder to go! I cannot fully leave the center and be happy, so I plan to continue at CWC as a volunteer in any way that is needed.
The good news is that I will be continuing my career in the environmental education community with a new job at the non-profit, TreePeople. I start the day after Labor Day, and am excited about my project there and who I'll be working with. I'm still not sure what my long-term career goals are, if they're in the non-profit world or with a more stable, lucrative profession... but in the meantime all I know is I want to help my community in some capacity.
It's a bittersweet situation for me to be departing from the center for a new job-- I'm both excited for what's to come, and sad to be leaving a place that has had a very special place in my heart for the last 2 years. The friendships that I have made, the animals we've helped, the people we have reached with our message of co-existence...
I'll never forget carrying an emaciated, orphaned harbor seal for 30 minutes to the CWC rescue truck at Point Dume...
...going to 126 classrooms throughout Los Angeles and seeing kids' faces light up when I taught them about the variety of wildlife that thrive just minutes from their doorsteps...
...feeding a tiny baby hummingbird in the hospital who's mom had been killed by a cat...
...working with volunteers and staff to build a new outdoor enclosure for the animals...
...helping to save a sea lion on the beach in Malibu that had fishing line caught around his neck...
...releasing a Red Tail Hawk that had been hit by a car, after 3 months of rehabilitation and giving him a second chance...
I'm pretty choked up about leaving the center... I mean, I've had lots of changes and transitions in my life, but for some reason this one is really affecting me!! I had a thoughtful send-off this week from the staff and volunteers, and have had kind words from everyone at CWC, but those things all make it even harder to go! I cannot fully leave the center and be happy, so I plan to continue at CWC as a volunteer in any way that is needed.
The good news is that I will be continuing my career in the environmental education community with a new job at the non-profit, TreePeople. I start the day after Labor Day, and am excited about my project there and who I'll be working with. I'm still not sure what my long-term career goals are, if they're in the non-profit world or with a more stable, lucrative profession... but in the meantime all I know is I want to help my community in some capacity.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Reef Check Diving in Monterey
We just got back from a weekend of volunteering with Reef Check diving surveys up in Monterey Bay. Friday, after work and packing, we made the drive for about 6 hours up to Monterey... arriving at Veteran's Park Campground around 2:00 a.m., setting up our tent, and hitting the sack as soon as we could. Although I woke up with a little sore throat, I chalked it up to breathing in cold air from camping, and continued with our plan to board the boat "Sanctuary" at K Dock at 8:00 a.m. 3 other Reef Check divers were going out Hopkin's State Marine Reserve with us, with the hope of finishing 6 core transects and 12 fish count transects.
Here's a brief description of Reef Check: It's a "volunteer, ocean conservation organization designed to save coral reefs globally and temperate reefs in California. Reef Check is active in over 82 countries and territories throughout the world." While we were in Jamaica, we also volunteered with Reef Check (doing surveys in Portland Bight, Negril, and Drunken Man's Cay outside Kingston) but the field methods are pretty different than they are in California. Last April we were among 15 other divers as the first trained Reef Check California volunteers.
At different sites around the California coast and the Channel Islands, we do underwater research assessing the health of the fish, invertebrates, seaweed, and substrate. We collect data at each site twice a year, which shows the health and change over time of California's rocky reef ecosystem. We really love volunteering with this organization! ... now, back to yesterday...
After leaving the dock, we headed out to Hopkin's State Marine Reserve, which is near the Monterey Bay Aquarium (in my profile pic, you can see the aquarium in the background). First off, there were otters everywhere! I've never dove around sea otters, so I was very excited!!
We geared up and hit the chilly 51-degree water. Quite a temperature difference from the 76-degree water of Catalina Island we dove a couple weeks ago! We started to descend, but due to my "camping cold" I couldn't get my ears to equalize past 15 feet depth... I've never had a problem equalizing, so we surfaced and I decided to try descending again. This time, my ears popped and equalized! I was so glad I wouldn't have to call the dive off, after driving so far to do it! I took the descent extra slow, equalizing every few feet, and reached the bottom at about 50 ft. depth.
We took out our transect lines, and Bryan and I began our fish transect. The fish life in Monterey is extremely different than just a couple hundred miles down the coast- there's no garibaldi or sheephead (very common fish in southern CA), but there are tons of different species of rockfish-- black, blue, kelp, black and yellow, gopher... rockfish in southern CA are pretty rare to find (they're overfished), so it was quite a treat to see them. Since we were in a reserve, all the fish were very large, too, typically measuring 25-30 centimeters long. We also saw some Kelp Greenlings, a very unique-looking fish that you don't see in southern CA.
Our second survey was of invertebrates; unlike southern CA, I didn't see any lobster, urchins, or sea cucumbers-- but I did see huge sunflower stars, gumboot chitons, and tons of anemones, including a huge anemone called a "fish-eating anemone"! We finished 5 surveys during this dive, and ascended after about an hour.
After a brief surface interval on the boat drinking hot tea, we headed back in to complete 5 more surveys. During this dive, we were getting our fins tangled in the giant kelp pretty often, so when Bryan turned around to "untangle" his fin, he was surprised to be staring in the face of a harbor seal! The harbor seal kept biting his fin! Crazy! Also, at the surface above us, sea otters were lounging on their backs in the kelp. Since the seal was hanging around us on this dive, our fish count surveys didn't show too many fish, but we were still able to complete the 5 transects. Our last dive was a bit shallower, at around 25 feet, so we had to deal with surge, but we got the remaining transects done.
My "camping cold" hit me pretty bad :-( after we finished diving. So, now I'm a bit sick- but I at least I was able to get some diving in before the cold hit me hard-core! We finished off our time in Monterey by grabbing some clam chowder and sourdough in Fisherman's Wharf. Although we did a lot of driving this weekend, the dives in Monterey were worth it! Plus, we were able to help out a great organization.
Here's a brief description of Reef Check: It's a "volunteer, ocean conservation organization designed to save coral reefs globally and temperate reefs in California. Reef Check is active in over 82 countries and territories throughout the world." While we were in Jamaica, we also volunteered with Reef Check (doing surveys in Portland Bight, Negril, and Drunken Man's Cay outside Kingston) but the field methods are pretty different than they are in California. Last April we were among 15 other divers as the first trained Reef Check California volunteers.
At different sites around the California coast and the Channel Islands, we do underwater research assessing the health of the fish, invertebrates, seaweed, and substrate. We collect data at each site twice a year, which shows the health and change over time of California's rocky reef ecosystem. We really love volunteering with this organization! ... now, back to yesterday...
After leaving the dock, we headed out to Hopkin's State Marine Reserve, which is near the Monterey Bay Aquarium (in my profile pic, you can see the aquarium in the background). First off, there were otters everywhere! I've never dove around sea otters, so I was very excited!!
We geared up and hit the chilly 51-degree water. Quite a temperature difference from the 76-degree water of Catalina Island we dove a couple weeks ago! We started to descend, but due to my "camping cold" I couldn't get my ears to equalize past 15 feet depth... I've never had a problem equalizing, so we surfaced and I decided to try descending again. This time, my ears popped and equalized! I was so glad I wouldn't have to call the dive off, after driving so far to do it! I took the descent extra slow, equalizing every few feet, and reached the bottom at about 50 ft. depth.
We took out our transect lines, and Bryan and I began our fish transect. The fish life in Monterey is extremely different than just a couple hundred miles down the coast- there's no garibaldi or sheephead (very common fish in southern CA), but there are tons of different species of rockfish-- black, blue, kelp, black and yellow, gopher... rockfish in southern CA are pretty rare to find (they're overfished), so it was quite a treat to see them. Since we were in a reserve, all the fish were very large, too, typically measuring 25-30 centimeters long. We also saw some Kelp Greenlings, a very unique-looking fish that you don't see in southern CA.
Our second survey was of invertebrates; unlike southern CA, I didn't see any lobster, urchins, or sea cucumbers-- but I did see huge sunflower stars, gumboot chitons, and tons of anemones, including a huge anemone called a "fish-eating anemone"! We finished 5 surveys during this dive, and ascended after about an hour.
After a brief surface interval on the boat drinking hot tea, we headed back in to complete 5 more surveys. During this dive, we were getting our fins tangled in the giant kelp pretty often, so when Bryan turned around to "untangle" his fin, he was surprised to be staring in the face of a harbor seal! The harbor seal kept biting his fin! Crazy! Also, at the surface above us, sea otters were lounging on their backs in the kelp. Since the seal was hanging around us on this dive, our fish count surveys didn't show too many fish, but we were still able to complete the 5 transects. Our last dive was a bit shallower, at around 25 feet, so we had to deal with surge, but we got the remaining transects done.
My "camping cold" hit me pretty bad :-( after we finished diving. So, now I'm a bit sick- but I at least I was able to get some diving in before the cold hit me hard-core! We finished off our time in Monterey by grabbing some clam chowder and sourdough in Fisherman's Wharf. Although we did a lot of driving this weekend, the dives in Monterey were worth it! Plus, we were able to help out a great organization.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Roots, Rock, Reggae!
Yesterday was one of those awesome, perfect days in life! Saturday Bryan and I had ran errands (filling SCUBA tanks, getting the bikes tuned up) and cleaned the whole apartment (including washing screens, windows, etc.-totally clean!) Lots of work, but it made the rest of our weekend worry-free. So, Sunday was all about having fun!
We started by walking over to the beach and had a picnic, swam in the ocean, and layed out on our blanket catching rays. The weather was spectacular-- sunny, light ocean breeze, warm. The ocean was beautiful- shimmering blue, nice 2-3 ft. waves, water temperature 64 degrees. It's days like this when I feel so lucky for being able to live here... At around 3:00 we had to go take showers and leave for the Bob Marley Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival!
We caught a shuttle bus (Santa Monica Big Blue Bus) heading over to Hollywood to get to the concert-- didn't have to deal with traffic, parking fees, lines, etc. I highly recommend taking public transportation to concerts, it makes life so much easier! Once at the Hollywood Bowl, I started getting SUPER excited. Not only was I going to see my favorite musician, Ziggy Marley, (my cat's named after him) but also a living legend- Bunny Wailer (of Bob Marley and the Wailers). On the last song, 3 Marley brothers were on stage- Ziggy, Stephen, and Damien "Jr. Gong"! The concert also made me miss Jamaica-- it was nice hearing real Jamaican accents again. We had great seats, a bottle of wine, and the best music ever! The concert went on for hours... (as did my dancing) Just totally awesome! So, now I'm refreshed for the work-week...
We started by walking over to the beach and had a picnic, swam in the ocean, and layed out on our blanket catching rays. The weather was spectacular-- sunny, light ocean breeze, warm. The ocean was beautiful- shimmering blue, nice 2-3 ft. waves, water temperature 64 degrees. It's days like this when I feel so lucky for being able to live here... At around 3:00 we had to go take showers and leave for the Bob Marley Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival!
We caught a shuttle bus (Santa Monica Big Blue Bus) heading over to Hollywood to get to the concert-- didn't have to deal with traffic, parking fees, lines, etc. I highly recommend taking public transportation to concerts, it makes life so much easier! Once at the Hollywood Bowl, I started getting SUPER excited. Not only was I going to see my favorite musician, Ziggy Marley, (my cat's named after him) but also a living legend- Bunny Wailer (of Bob Marley and the Wailers). On the last song, 3 Marley brothers were on stage- Ziggy, Stephen, and Damien "Jr. Gong"! The concert also made me miss Jamaica-- it was nice hearing real Jamaican accents again. We had great seats, a bottle of wine, and the best music ever! The concert went on for hours... (as did my dancing) Just totally awesome! So, now I'm refreshed for the work-week...
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Hola Peru y Hasta Luego Bolivia!
As our time in the southern hemisphere comes to an end, we spent our last day in Bolivia at a park with our host family, ate fresh ceviche made from fish caught in Lake Titicaca, and attended a cultural dance and music parade in the streets of La Paz. We head to the airport tomorrow morning at 4:30 a.m. and although I miss my life in CA, I'm sad to be leaving a country that has made us feel at home and intrigued at the same time.
Last week we boarded a bus toCuzco , Peru Cuzco Cuzco
We hiked around the Valle Sagrado (Sacred Valley ) exploring Inca ruins for two days; all the ruins were very impressive in their own right, some almost rivalling Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machu Picchu for most of the day, we returned to Aguas Calientes and headed up to the hot springs
AfterMachu Picchu and Aguas Calientes, we returned to Cuzco and went rafting in the Urubamba River through the Andes . This was Bryan' Bolivia ; destination: the center of creation according to the Incas, Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca . We took a boat from Copacabana to get to Isla del Sol, crossing the lake, which is even more beautiful close-up. I thought the view from the surrounding mountains was nice, but up-close the water is a brilliant sapphire blue contrasting with the surrounding golden mountains and altiplano, it wasn't hard to see why the Incas believed this place to be so sacred. We found a hostel with the best view and only paid 50 bolivianos (about US$6) for the room, and thought that in the US La Paz
The last few days we've mostly been spending with our host family, walking aroundLa Paz La Cumbre , in the Andes at about 15,000 ft . ele., where we headed down the mountain through glacial-topped, craggy peaks for about 20 km . to a 3-meter wide, bumpy, steep, dirt road with huge cliff drop-offs where big trucks and buses compete with one another (and bikers). I can say that this bike ride was the scariest thing I've ever done-- my life was in my own hands controlling the steep descent of my bike while avoiding the trucks and trying not to skid out. After 62 km ., we finished in the humid tropical forests Coroico at 1,200 m . very dirty with blistered palms and thankfulness that we survived! Heres a link to a better description of this experience: http://www.gravitybolivia.com/view?page=27 as I can't put into words just how incredible this was.
Were all packed now and I should at least get a few hours of sleep before the long day of plane rides in the morning. Now onto our next adventure, explaining to customs why we have 100+ pounds of rocks in our bags...
Last week we boarded a bus to
We hiked around the Valle Sagrado (
After
The last few days we've mostly been spending with our host family, walking around
Were all packed now and I should at least get a few hours of sleep before the long day of plane rides in the morning. Now onto our next adventure, explaining to customs why we have 100+ pounds of rocks in our bags...
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Andes to the Amazon
The last few weeks have been busy ones! Bryan and I have had a successful field season and completed most of his research, including collecting over 70 rock samples, hundreds of paleocurrent measurements, and about 2 1/2 kilometres of stratographic column sketches... all so he can figure out the timing of the uplift of the Cordillera Real in the Andes for his thesis. Whew! After all that work in the bone-chilling climate of the Altiplano, suffering through "el gripe" (flu/cold), and climbing mountains everyday we were ready for some fun (and a slightly warmer climate)! This last Tuesday we went to the ancient ruins of Tiwanaku near Lago Titicaca, one of the most monumental and intriguing archaeological sites in S. America . Tiwanaku is believed to be the cradle of Andean civilization, built around 1000 B.C. It usually only takes 1 hour to get to the ruins from La Paz in a public minibus; however, we were in for slightly more than we bargained for ...
As some of you may know, Bolivia has quite a bit of social unrest. Most days there are protests/strikes going on all around the country on issues as diverse as nationalizing natural gas to raising bus driver wages. Tuesday was no exception to the usual road blocks, but instead of a road block in the city where there are several other routes to take, this road block was on the only road that goes to Tiwanaku. The minibus driver was not to be discouraged! He simply went off-roading for a little while on the altiplano (with a full load of passengers) until we came to a river. Apparently other minibus drivers had the same brilliant idea, and all were faced with the daunting task of fording the river, as there were close to 15 buses unloading their passengers at the river in order to lighten the load so the buses wouldn't get stuck. This left all us passengers (hundreds of Bolivians and us 2 gringos) to figure out a way to cross the river on our own. Luckily the river wasn't too deep, so we just gathered some boulders and made a stepping stone bridge across the polluted river water. Everyone proceeded to form a kind-of human chain across the boulders, but this wasn't even the hard part! The minibuses weren't making it up the muddy slopes on the opposite side of the river, so the men were helping to push the buses up the slopes; meanwhile the tires were spinning mud everywhere! After some real effort and more than a few broken tail-lights from minibuses sliding into each other, our bus made it to the other side where we were able to load it up again and continue on our way through the dusty land of the altiplano. Overall, we ended up driving in the middle of the altiplano for about 2 hours to avoid the roadblock until we made it back to the main road. We finally made it to Tiwanaku and were able examine the ancient stone monoliths and talk to archaeologists who were actively excavating a sacrificial tomb filled with both human and llama remains- it looked like tedious but very interesting work. Afterward we made our way back out to the road where a group of Bolivians had been waiting for hours for a minibus to take them back toLa Paz-- no more cars were able to bypass the roadblock soon after we had because more blocks had been set up at the spots near the river crossings! We were essentially stranded. I started talking with a Cholita woman (traditional Aymara) with her baby on her back about the situation and we decided to just start walking on the main road. I actually really enjoyed this time and made friends with Lucy and her little baby, and she invited us to her family's home to stay in the future. After a few kilometres, a truck stopped to give us a lift (as well as a few other stranded people roaming the road), and loaded us up in the back like livestock-- but believe me, it was a welcome ride!! They were able to take us to the traffic jam on our side of the road block, where we continued walking and Bryan and I tried to help Lucy with her baby and bags. We had to cross the road block, and found out the whole protest was about the contaminated river and lack of fresh water for the local people. There was military and protesters all around, but Lucy was able to help talk our way through the problem, and we just continued walking for another hour on the other side until we finally saw a minibus right before it got dark!!! We didn't get back to La Paz
The rest of this week was spent in one of my most favorite places in the world-- the Amazon basin! Wednesday we flew in a very small military bush plane (seats 4) over the glacial-topped peaks of the Andes, down into the Amazonian cloudforests, landing in theAmazon Basin
After spending a night in the tropical "tranquilo" puebla of Rurrenabaque and buying a hammock I can't wait to use, we awoke early to watch the sun rise over the Rio Beni and made our way to a canoe that was going to take us to the Amazonian rainforest. Once we arrived in the Parque Nacional Madidi, a preserve home to more plants and animals than any other reserve in South America, we hiked for about 3 hours with a local guide who taught us about extremely fascinating plants like the "walking tree" and plants which are used by local indigenous people for medicinal purposes, as well as natural history about many of the unique insects we encountered. Our guide was wonderfully knowledgeable and grew up in a small village a day's walk from the nearest road up in the Amazon. We capped the day off with an adrenaline-filled canopy zip line over45 meters up in the trees. Although we had done a zip line before in Jamaica, this one was much higher. This was my most favorite day yet in Bolivia! I love being in rainforests! Although it was easier to spot animals and birds in the pampas, I felt at peace in the forest-- I can't wait to return again someday.
On our last day in the Amazon, our flight was delayed due to AM rain (the runway is dirt/grass) until 4:30, so we passed our time by taking a water taxi over to the small puebla, San Buenaventura, across the Rio Beni. Of all the days of the year, we were there on their village holiday- live traditional Bolivian music, a bustling carnival and market, food and cerveza everywhere! I made friends with a local who invited us to a "running of the bulls" which is the most popular event in the puebla all year. They had built a stadium out of wood for the event, and hundreds of Bolivians were there for the show. They don't kill the toro, which I was glad to find out, but the bull-teasing really wasn't my thing so I just took it all in as an authentic cultural experience that (to my knowledge) no other foreigners besides us were able to experience there! It was getting late, so we took moto-taxis, where you sit on the back of a motorcycle bumping over dirt roads going very fast (I know my parents would be horrified, but we had no options!), back the couple kilometres to the small port in order to catch a water-taxi back across the river.
We're once again in coldLa Paz , although I really do like the city-- it feels so much safer than other developing country cities I've been in and has quite an interesting history! After working so hard for the past few weeks, it was nice to have some fun in the Amazon. Bryan and I've been talking about how in the future we should do fieldwork in the tropics instead of in the cold, cold mountains... both are beautiful, but we both feel so tranquilo in the tropics surrounded by verdant vegetation, water, and birds calling out to each other. Health-wise we're doing well since we got over "el gripe", although Bryan keeps losing weight (he's had to make two new holes in his belt), we think the combination of activity and cold weather is pushing his metabolism to the max. We have 2 more weeks down here... it seems like it's gone by so fast and there's so much more I want to see and do and experience.
As some of you may know, Bolivia has quite a bit of social unrest. Most days there are protests/strikes going on all around the country on issues as diverse as nationalizing natural gas to raising bus driver wages. Tuesday was no exception to the usual road blocks, but instead of a road block in the city where there are several other routes to take, this road block was on the only road that goes to Tiwanaku. The minibus driver was not to be discouraged! He simply went off-roading for a little while on the altiplano (with a full load of passengers) until we came to a river. Apparently other minibus drivers had the same brilliant idea, and all were faced with the daunting task of fording the river, as there were close to 15 buses unloading their passengers at the river in order to lighten the load so the buses wouldn't get stuck. This left all us passengers (hundreds of Bolivians and us 2 gringos) to figure out a way to cross the river on our own. Luckily the river wasn't too deep, so we just gathered some boulders and made a stepping stone bridge across the polluted river water. Everyone proceeded to form a kind-of human chain across the boulders, but this wasn't even the hard part! The minibuses weren't making it up the muddy slopes on the opposite side of the river, so the men were helping to push the buses up the slopes; meanwhile the tires were spinning mud everywhere! After some real effort and more than a few broken tail-lights from minibuses sliding into each other, our bus made it to the other side where we were able to load it up again and continue on our way through the dusty land of the altiplano. Overall, we ended up driving in the middle of the altiplano for about 2 hours to avoid the roadblock until we made it back to the main road. We finally made it to Tiwanaku and were able examine the ancient stone monoliths and talk to archaeologists who were actively excavating a sacrificial tomb filled with both human and llama remains- it looked like tedious but very interesting work. Afterward we made our way back out to the road where a group of Bolivians had been waiting for hours for a minibus to take them back to
The rest of this week was spent in one of my most favorite places in the world-- the Amazon basin! Wednesday we flew in a very small military bush plane (seats 4) over the glacial-topped peaks of the Andes, down into the Amazonian cloudforests, landing in the
After spending a night in the tropical "tranquilo" puebla of Rurrenabaque and buying a hammock I can't wait to use, we awoke early to watch the sun rise over the Rio Beni and made our way to a canoe that was going to take us to the Amazonian rainforest. Once we arrived in the Parque Nacional Madidi, a preserve home to more plants and animals than any other reserve in South America, we hiked for about 3 hours with a local guide who taught us about extremely fascinating plants like the "walking tree" and plants which are used by local indigenous people for medicinal purposes, as well as natural history about many of the unique insects we encountered. Our guide was wonderfully knowledgeable and grew up in a small village a day's walk from the nearest road up in the Amazon. We capped the day off with an adrenaline-filled canopy zip line over
On our last day in the Amazon, our flight was delayed due to AM rain (the runway is dirt/grass) until 4:30, so we passed our time by taking a water taxi over to the small puebla, San Buenaventura, across the Rio Beni. Of all the days of the year, we were there on their village holiday- live traditional Bolivian music, a bustling carnival and market, food and cerveza everywhere! I made friends with a local who invited us to a "running of the bulls" which is the most popular event in the puebla all year. They had built a stadium out of wood for the event, and hundreds of Bolivians were there for the show. They don't kill the toro, which I was glad to find out, but the bull-teasing really wasn't my thing so I just took it all in as an authentic cultural experience that (to my knowledge) no other foreigners besides us were able to experience there! It was getting late, so we took moto-taxis, where you sit on the back of a motorcycle bumping over dirt roads going very fast (I know my parents would be horrified, but we had no options!), back the couple kilometres to the small port in order to catch a water-taxi back across the river.
We're once again in cold
Monday, June 26, 2006
Aventuras en Bolivia: Parte Uno
I've been in Bolivia for almost a week now as Bryan's field assistant and have had quite an array of experiences...
I arrived last Tuesday at the highest international airport in the world (just outside of La Paz, at ~13,000 ft. ele.) where Bryan was there to greet me. After a small breakfast of mate de coca (local tea made from coca leaves that helps with altitude sickness) and bread, we went out to a few of Bryan's geological field sites. Apparently, the first day for a gringo in the Andes should only include rest and acclimatization, but since Bryan had already been down here for a week and we needed to get started with our fieldwork, I headed out with him. So, for my first day, I ended up hiking (albeit slowly and gasping for oxygen...) around the Eastern Cordilleras of the Andes at around 14,000-15,000 ft. ele., doing recon work with Bryan. Our home-base is in a well-to-do Bolivian family's casa just south of La Paz in a district called Achumani. We're renting a room from them for these 6 weeks, but will be out camping in the field half the time.
Bolivia has a very high percentage of indigenous people compared to other Latin American countries, so most of the people we see around La Paz are Aymara (a culture even older than the Inca) and speak both Aymara and Espanol. Luckily, my rusty Espanol has returned very quickly out of necessity and I can hold conversations with the locals. The streets of La Paz are extremely busy with pedestrians, street markets, stray dogs (that interestingly enough, all look like pure-breds), and tons of minibuses (exactamente the same transportation in Jamaica). It's very hard to walk around La Paz due to the altitude; also, the whole city is basically uphill in any direction, so we're constantly in need of short rests and mate de coca. Whenever a Bolivian sees us winded, they call for "Mate de coca!", it's really a cure-all here and just tastes like an herbal tea.
The Aymara women, both in the city and rural areas, dress in the traditional "chola" ensemble consisting of numerous wide skirts, a blouse, sweater, shawl, and topped with a bowler hat. I don't know what it is with the bowler hats, but they are apparently very fashionable for women! They also sling a hand-woven blanket around their shoulders to carry everything from babies to potatoes on their backs.
Our field areas are in the mountains around the Altiplano at about 13,000-15,000 ft. elevation. Quick geography lesson, the Andes here consist of a very high plain (Altiplano) in the middle, flanked by 2 large mountain ranges, the Cordillera Reals/Eastern Cordilleras to the East (bordering the Amazonian Basin) and the Western Cordilleras to the west (bordering Chile). We're working in some smaller mountains in the middle of the Altiplano.
On the third day here in Bolivia, we didn't waste any time and got to work travelling with our Bolivian geologic field assistant, Nelson, to our first field area, a very rural mountain range near the puebla of Penas. Nelson is Aymara, and speaks both Spanish and Aymara, so we rely on my Spanish to communicate. Nelson explained to the locals in Aymara that we were geologists doing research about the movement of the mountains and studying the rocks, and asked if we could set up a campo in the area. A local farmer was eager to have us set up camp in a resting potato field (the season for growing potatoes is Feb.) where we were surrounded by a few small adobe casas, llamas, cows, sheep, burros, and of course, rocky mountains. Many of the locals came to our campo just to stare at us, they were VERY curious, so I asked Nelson if they'd ever seen gringos here, and lo and behold-- never had they seen gringos before! That explained their extreme interest in us! We camped there for the last 4 days, trekking up a tall mountain everyday (more than 1,000 vertical feet) to do research (stratographic columns, rock samples, measuring paleocurrents, etc.) The trek was worth it every time!! The views were incredible-- unlike any in my life!! In one direction, the sapphire blue of Lago Titicaca, in the other, the glacial-topped mountains of the Cordillera Reals... I still don't know which view I prefer.
In our second night camping, Nelson said that it was an Bolivian holiday where all the pueblas in the altiplano have huge fires to celebrate San Juan de Bautista, and that when we'd get up in the morning the sky would be filled with clouds. We went to sleep with the view of fires burning on the vast altiplano... That night we awoke to the sound of crashing thunder and it began to hail, when daylight approached, we peeked out our tent and were greeted with a very snowy scene. Nelson wasn't kidding when he said the sky would be filled with clouds... After asking around, we found out it only snows here 3-5 times a year, and that it almost never snows in June! We were freezing, but when the equatorial sun was overhead, the snow melted pretty quickly.
We returned last night to the casa in Achumani, and took some much-needed showers. Today we're taking one of our few days off, tomorrow we'll begin research in an area called La Valle de la Luna (The Valley of the Moon) for the rest of the week, returning to Penas for 5 more days of camping & research next week.
I arrived last Tuesday at the highest international airport in the world (just outside of La Paz, at ~13,000 ft. ele.) where Bryan was there to greet me. After a small breakfast of mate de coca (local tea made from coca leaves that helps with altitude sickness) and bread, we went out to a few of Bryan's geological field sites. Apparently, the first day for a gringo in the Andes should only include rest and acclimatization, but since Bryan had already been down here for a week and we needed to get started with our fieldwork, I headed out with him. So, for my first day, I ended up hiking (albeit slowly and gasping for oxygen...) around the Eastern Cordilleras of the Andes at around 14,000-15,000 ft. ele., doing recon work with Bryan. Our home-base is in a well-to-do Bolivian family's casa just south of La Paz in a district called Achumani. We're renting a room from them for these 6 weeks, but will be out camping in the field half the time.
Bolivia has a very high percentage of indigenous people compared to other Latin American countries, so most of the people we see around La Paz are Aymara (a culture even older than the Inca) and speak both Aymara and Espanol. Luckily, my rusty Espanol has returned very quickly out of necessity and I can hold conversations with the locals. The streets of La Paz are extremely busy with pedestrians, street markets, stray dogs (that interestingly enough, all look like pure-breds), and tons of minibuses (exactamente the same transportation in Jamaica). It's very hard to walk around La Paz due to the altitude; also, the whole city is basically uphill in any direction, so we're constantly in need of short rests and mate de coca. Whenever a Bolivian sees us winded, they call for "Mate de coca!", it's really a cure-all here and just tastes like an herbal tea.
The Aymara women, both in the city and rural areas, dress in the traditional "chola" ensemble consisting of numerous wide skirts, a blouse, sweater, shawl, and topped with a bowler hat. I don't know what it is with the bowler hats, but they are apparently very fashionable for women! They also sling a hand-woven blanket around their shoulders to carry everything from babies to potatoes on their backs.
Our field areas are in the mountains around the Altiplano at about 13,000-15,000 ft. elevation. Quick geography lesson, the Andes here consist of a very high plain (Altiplano) in the middle, flanked by 2 large mountain ranges, the Cordillera Reals/Eastern Cordilleras to the East (bordering the Amazonian Basin) and the Western Cordilleras to the west (bordering Chile). We're working in some smaller mountains in the middle of the Altiplano.
On the third day here in Bolivia, we didn't waste any time and got to work travelling with our Bolivian geologic field assistant, Nelson, to our first field area, a very rural mountain range near the puebla of Penas. Nelson is Aymara, and speaks both Spanish and Aymara, so we rely on my Spanish to communicate. Nelson explained to the locals in Aymara that we were geologists doing research about the movement of the mountains and studying the rocks, and asked if we could set up a campo in the area. A local farmer was eager to have us set up camp in a resting potato field (the season for growing potatoes is Feb.) where we were surrounded by a few small adobe casas, llamas, cows, sheep, burros, and of course, rocky mountains. Many of the locals came to our campo just to stare at us, they were VERY curious, so I asked Nelson if they'd ever seen gringos here, and lo and behold-- never had they seen gringos before! That explained their extreme interest in us! We camped there for the last 4 days, trekking up a tall mountain everyday (more than 1,000 vertical feet) to do research (stratographic columns, rock samples, measuring paleocurrents, etc.) The trek was worth it every time!! The views were incredible-- unlike any in my life!! In one direction, the sapphire blue of Lago Titicaca, in the other, the glacial-topped mountains of the Cordillera Reals... I still don't know which view I prefer.
In our second night camping, Nelson said that it was an Bolivian holiday where all the pueblas in the altiplano have huge fires to celebrate San Juan de Bautista, and that when we'd get up in the morning the sky would be filled with clouds. We went to sleep with the view of fires burning on the vast altiplano... That night we awoke to the sound of crashing thunder and it began to hail, when daylight approached, we peeked out our tent and were greeted with a very snowy scene. Nelson wasn't kidding when he said the sky would be filled with clouds... After asking around, we found out it only snows here 3-5 times a year, and that it almost never snows in June! We were freezing, but when the equatorial sun was overhead, the snow melted pretty quickly.
We returned last night to the casa in Achumani, and took some much-needed showers. Today we're taking one of our few days off, tomorrow we'll begin research in an area called La Valle de la Luna (The Valley of the Moon) for the rest of the week, returning to Penas for 5 more days of camping & research next week.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Thoughts upon leaving the country...
I leave Monday for South America , where I'll be Bryan Andes until August. Bryan
First off, it's going to be strange leaving my job for so long-- I'm both worried and excited about what changes are going to occur at the wildlife center in my absence. We're getting a newE xecutive Director, new enclosures are being built, new interns and volunteers will be trained; there will be new stories of animal rescues and successful releases that I won't be a part of. How much will change while I'm gone? I'm also worried because I love my job, the animals, and the people I work with, but the grant that I'm paid under ends only 2 months after I get back. I've been writing grants like crazy to help fund the Wildlife E ducation Program and haven't heard back from most of them, so I'm in this weird stage where I don't know if my job will be funded for very long when I return.
I'm also extremely, immensely, tremendously E XCITE D about living with a Bolivian family in South America and going on new adventures with Bryan while doing geologic mapping work in the Andes. I've been looking forward to living and working in a developing country once again and learning about new cultures ever since I returned from the Peace Corps (even though this will be for a much shorter duration).
In the last 2 days my job has especially touched my heart ...
Yesterday, I gave presentations at an elementary school where they ran a recycling drive all year, collected the money ($300!) and had to vote on a charity to donate the money to. They students voted for CWC! So, I was there at their end-of-the year assembly to accept a big check for the center and give presentations to the students about co-existing with wildlife. The students even gave me little drawings and letters! Very cute!!
I will miss the center while I'm gone, but man, am I excited to travel again!
First off, it's going to be strange leaving my job for so long-- I'm both worried and excited about what changes are going to occur at the wildlife center in my absence. We're getting a new
In the animal department, when I came into work today, there was a Guadalupe Fur Seal with a whole mess of fishing line caught around his neck in our hospital. Cindy rescued him last night out in Malibu
The other animal that moved me ... a little fawn found running around the 101 freeway. His twin was found dead on the freeway, his mother possibly also dead, while he barely survived. I guess animal control had to shut down the freeway yesterday evening to catch this baby. Deer are so scared of people (since we are their predators) that he was running away from animal control and as a result has a lot of injuries from the his flight. He was finally caught and brought to us, bleeding and scared. We have him in our sensitive species room and will be putting him with other fawns soon.
Both animals have just been through so much, a lot of pain and stress it's days like this when I feel like my work at the wildlife center really is making a difference helping to give wildlife a second chance, trying to offset the negative impact people have on the environment, and educating children about nature and what they can do to help save our planet.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Escape to Nature: Backpacking in Big Sur
To celebrate our 3-year anniversary, Bryan and I went backpacking up the Pine Ridge Trail in Big Sur. Our destination: Sykes Hot Springs in the Ventana Wilderness. After spending the night at Aimee's in San Luis Obispo, we got an early start and drove up the coast through Morro Bay and San Simeon. Although I've driven up the central coast more than a few times, I'm always in awe over the beauty of the ocean and mountains up there!! In my opinion, THE most beautiful drive in the world!
Bryan and I have talked about the Big Sur/Carmel area being the ideal place to live... ahhh, if we could ever afford it... After a few short vista stops, we reached Big Sur Ranger Station and got our wilderness permit, laced up our boots, and threw our packs on. The weather was perfect--75 and sunny--this was looking to be an excellent trip.
We hit the trail at 10:00 a.m. and were welcomed with a vibrant blue Stellar's Jay and coastal Redwoods everywhere--a gorgeous start to our hike. Parts of the trail took us through chaparral and wildflowers, where other bends would lead us to picturesque waterfalls and creeks. Some of the switchbacks were killer, but overall it was a manageable trail.
Bryan and I have talked about the Big Sur/Carmel area being the ideal place to live... ahhh, if we could ever afford it... After a few short vista stops, we reached Big Sur Ranger Station and got our wilderness permit, laced up our boots, and threw our packs on. The weather was perfect--75 and sunny--this was looking to be an excellent trip. We hit the trail at 10:00 a.m. and were welcomed with a vibrant blue Stellar's Jay and coastal Redwoods everywhere--a gorgeous start to our hike. Parts of the trail took us through chaparral and wildflowers, where other bends would lead us to picturesque waterfalls and creeks. Some of the switchbacks were killer, but overall it was a manageable trail.
After about 7 miles, we decided to make camp at Barlow Flats along the Big Sur River. We were able to find a great place to pitch our tent with a priceless view of the river.
Our #1 thing to do once we took off our packs was to kick off our boots and get into our sandals!!! My feet weren't in too bad of shape (some minor blisters), but man it felt good to give them some air. After putting up the tent and cooking dinner, we crawled into our sleeping bags to get some rest. Unfortunately, my thermarest had a small hole in it, so we had to repair the hole before going to sleep.
Our #1 thing to do once we took off our packs was to kick off our boots and get into our sandals!!! My feet weren't in too bad of shape (some minor blisters), but man it felt good to give them some air. After putting up the tent and cooking dinner, we crawled into our sleeping bags to get some rest. Unfortunately, my thermarest had a small hole in it, so we had to repair the hole before going to sleep.
We awoke to dappled sunlight and a morning chill. Bryan fired up our small backpacking stove and put some water on to boil while I grabbed the water filter to start pumping some drinking water for our journey that day.
Bryan's coffee and my hot chocolate really hit the spot that chilly morning and got us ready for the climb ahead. After packing up our tent and packs, we hit the trail for our destination: the hot springs!
Now, Bryan and I had journeyed to hot springs before--in Arizona and Jamaica--and you never quite know what kind of people to expect at remote hot springs. At Verde Hot Springs in Arizona, we'd been on back-country roads for over an hour, forged a river, and hiked for about a mile and we thought we we'd be the only ones there, but instead we were greeted by a bunch of nudies. In Jamaica, at Bath, there were a bunch of guys insisting on giving massages-- so REALLY, you never know what to expect
Bryan's coffee and my hot chocolate really hit the spot that chilly morning and got us ready for the climb ahead. After packing up our tent and packs, we hit the trail for our destination: the hot springs!
Now, Bryan and I had journeyed to hot springs before--in Arizona and Jamaica--and you never quite know what kind of people to expect at remote hot springs. At Verde Hot Springs in Arizona, we'd been on back-country roads for over an hour, forged a river, and hiked for about a mile and we thought we we'd be the only ones there, but instead we were greeted by a bunch of nudies. In Jamaica, at Bath, there were a bunch of guys insisting on giving massages-- so REALLY, you never know what to expect
After about 3 miles of switchbacks, we reached a part in the trail where we had to backpack through the Big Sur River. We put on our sandals and for about a mile we kept crossing the river (5 times) until we reached the springs. 11 miles into the wilderness, at what we'd hoped to be a secluded hot spring, we were greeted with a plethora of other backpackers... not quite as remote as we'd hoped, but at least wed' made it! After changing into our bathing suits behind a big redwood, we soaked in the soft mineral-rich water for about an hour before realizing that if we wanted to make camp, we'd better leave soon.
We backpacked out of the canyon for about 6 miles until we reached Terrace Creek, stopping along the way to filter more water in a small waterfall. 
We made camp in a pretty little area surrounded by gigantic redwoods. After a dinner of freeze-dried chili macaroni and cheese, we decided to be ambitious and cook our freeze-dried apple cobbler for dessert. For backpacking food, the instructions were pretty complicated! Once we'd committed to making the dessert, we immediately began questioning our decision--we dont even make apple cobbler at home!! What were we doing?!? One burnt pot and 20 minutes later, we were chowing down on one of the best desserts ever! We crawled into our tent with achy backs and full bellies. It was humbling and inspiring to sleep nestled amongst the tallest trees in the world listening to a flowing creek. I fell asleep calm and serene with the sounds of nature.
On day 3, we awoke a little later than planned, but were refreshed and ready for the last part of the trail. After a quick breakfast, and filtering more drinking water from the stream, we packed up our gear and were ready to go--only 5 more miles. This last part was actually the best part of the trip. We were in no hurry, our packs were lighter, and we'd become accustomed to the aches and pains in our bodies.
Once we got close to the trailhead, we began to smell barbeques, and started craving real food. After 22 miles of backpacking, we reached the car by afternoon, stripped off our backpacks and boots, and headed over to Big Sur Lodge to grab a couple of cold beers and a juicy burger. Overall, our backpacking trip was a wonderful escape from the busyness of everyday life into a much more simple, beautiful world--our worries shifted from bills, gas, and work to the basics of food, water, and shelter--I cant wait till my next rendezvous with nature.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Night Creatures
Just got back from a night dive in Redondo Beach-- awesome dive!! We'd been diving there before, but the visibility and conditions were SO much better this time. Since it was a shore dive, it was quite a workout, but once we descended to about 50 feet the work was worth it! It's so neat to dive at night because you get to see all the nocturnal animals...it's a completely different world. If you cover your light, it's absolute darkness-- the only darkness comparable would be middle-of-a-cave-dark. I used to be pretty afraid of the dark (ok, I still am a little)-- just about the only thing I'm afraid of, but night diving doesn't bother me at all!! In fact, it's pretty soothing and serene. The only bad part of the dive was when, all of a sudden, the water went from 51 degrees to 65, the water turned reddish-orange in color, and visibility was so bad that we couldn't even see our gauges!!...red tide...uggh...It was weird how it was just in a certain area, but it allowed us to swim away, back into the better part of Redondo canyon.
On the positive side, we spotted 6 different red octopuses throughout the dive, one giant sunflower sea star, 4 juvenile horn sharks, California halibut, dozens of small hermissendas (a pretty sea slug, see picture at bottom) a few white sea pens, a variety of sea snail species, a pipefish, a spotted cusk-eel burying itself tail-first into the sand, skeleton shrimp, a California scorpionfish, and it was crab city!! We saw big red rock crabs, yellow crabs, decorator crabs, and hermit crabs galore! I think at night the ocean has crab parties or something ... Anyway, very cool dive! Next weekend I'll be on a live-aboard research dive boat for 3 days with Reef Check around Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands...
(I love these little sea slugs!)
On the positive side, we spotted 6 different red octopuses throughout the dive, one giant sunflower sea star, 4 juvenile horn sharks, California halibut, dozens of small hermissendas (a pretty sea slug, see picture at bottom) a few white sea pens, a variety of sea snail species, a pipefish, a spotted cusk-eel burying itself tail-first into the sand, skeleton shrimp, a California scorpionfish, and it was crab city!! We saw big red rock crabs, yellow crabs, decorator crabs, and hermit crabs galore! I think at night the ocean has crab parties or something ... Anyway, very cool dive! Next weekend I'll be on a live-aboard research dive boat for 3 days with Reef Check around Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands...
(I love these little sea slugs!)
Monday, March 27, 2006
Hike to Santa Ynez Falls
Bryan and I went on a little gem of a hike this weekend to Santa Ynez Falls in Topanga State Park, about 15 minutes from where we live in the Santa Monica Mountains. The hike started with a beautiful view of Santa Ynez Canyon in Topanga, where we could see out to Pacific Palisades.
Deer were browsing in the surrounding meadows, and there were various species of wildflowers I was able press into my journal, including sticky monkeyflower, coastal buckwheat, flax, blue-eyed grass, and a fragrant stand of mountain lilacs.
Bryan, of course, was captivated by the surrounding sandstone formations and kept pointing out folds, faults, and bedding in the rock. Once we hiked down into the canyon, there were little creeks everywhere as well as poison oak. The plethora of poison oak was probably the only negative thing about the hike. Once we were about 2-3 miles into the overgrown canyon, the trail became hard to follow, and we were forced to choose one of the three faint trails we could see. We ended up picking what is probably a deer trail, because we had to really crouch down to get through some of the chaparral.
Eventually, the deer trail led us to a larger creek, which we followed to some small waterfalls. Along the creek we saw several mating California newts rolling around in the water...pretty interesting.
We reached an area where the only way to get up to the waterfall was to climb a rope up a sheer rock.
Once we scaled the rock, we were surrounded by rock cliffs and a little further up was Santa Ynez Falls. Definitely worth the hike. The falls were pretty and secluded, so we unpacked our bag and had had a nice lunch before hiking back out of the canyon.
Although it was a short hike (6-7 miles), we got some exercise, saw some beautiful views, and had a nice escape from the city.
Deer were browsing in the surrounding meadows, and there were various species of wildflowers I was able press into my journal, including sticky monkeyflower, coastal buckwheat, flax, blue-eyed grass, and a fragrant stand of mountain lilacs.
Bryan, of course, was captivated by the surrounding sandstone formations and kept pointing out folds, faults, and bedding in the rock. Once we hiked down into the canyon, there were little creeks everywhere as well as poison oak. The plethora of poison oak was probably the only negative thing about the hike. Once we were about 2-3 miles into the overgrown canyon, the trail became hard to follow, and we were forced to choose one of the three faint trails we could see. We ended up picking what is probably a deer trail, because we had to really crouch down to get through some of the chaparral.
Eventually, the deer trail led us to a larger creek, which we followed to some small waterfalls. Along the creek we saw several mating California newts rolling around in the water...pretty interesting.
We reached an area where the only way to get up to the waterfall was to climb a rope up a sheer rock.
Once we scaled the rock, we were surrounded by rock cliffs and a little further up was Santa Ynez Falls. Definitely worth the hike. The falls were pretty and secluded, so we unpacked our bag and had had a nice lunch before hiking back out of the canyon.
Although it was a short hike (6-7 miles), we got some exercise, saw some beautiful views, and had a nice escape from the city.
Monday, February 6, 2006
Diving at San Clemente Island
We boarded the dive boat "Great Escape" at 10 p.m. Saturday with about 25 other divers in Long Beach Harbor. After lugging all our SCUBA gear and sleeping bags onto the boat, we claimed our bunks and checked in with the divemaster. We knew we had to get our rest for the next day, so I snuggled down into my sleeping bag and began reading The Devil's Teeth : A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks... maybe not the best book to read before going diving...
At about 1:00 a.m. the boat started our 57 nautical-mile journey toward San Clemente Island, the most southern of the Channel Islands. Most of the time, dive boats don't make it out to San Clemente Is. due to rough seas or the military doing some kind of testing out at the island, so we couldn't get our hopes up too much about reaching our destination... we had the possibility of waking up off Catalina (which wouldn't be too bad, but San Clemente's diving is supposed to be even better).
The boat anchored at about 110 ft. depth at the south-east tip of the island near Pyramid Rock; sea lions and dolphins were jumping out of the water everywhere. Bryan and I hit the water by 7:00 a.m. and had a great dive-- the visibility was about 70 feet (amazing for California!), the kelp forests were healthy, and fish were abundant.
The rock formations were so complex that it felt like we were doing a wall dive. The water was a bit on the chilly side (56 degrees) but my 7 mil suit and hood kept me plenty warm.
Our second dive was further north along the coast. This was my first dive with an underwater camera.
(Thank you Bryan for one of my favorite Christmas presents, ever!) Being able to take pictures of the amazing animals and capture the experience really made diving 100% better!!! We got a couple good pictures of some lobster, and a nice one of a juvenile garibaldi (state fish of California).
I took so many pictures I filled up my memory card after one dive! So, between the second and third dives I had to delete some of my pics so I could take more at our last dive—at Little Flower.
We’d made friends with another couple, Kimberly and Brian from Orange County, and at the last dive Kim opted out because she was cold (a lot of people were cold). So, Brian asked us if he could buddy dive with us. The last dive site was probably the best. Tons of fish—garibaldi, blacksmiths, opal eyes, senoritas, kelp bass, sheephead, topsmelt, surfperch … even a couple of swell sharks.
Swell shark
I captured a nice photo of a Navanax inermis, a type of sea slug.
Blue Banded Gobies with a Sea Urchin
On our way home we played cribbage (an old sailor’s card game) with our new friends. It made the 6-hour boat ride go by quicker!
At about 4:30, we saw thousands of bottlenose dolphins jumping in the ocean around the boat. About 20-30 of them swam along the bow for about 5 minutes… it was AWESOME!
The sunset was beautiful, we had a wonderful day!!
Happy Divers 
(but exhausted!!)
(but exhausted!!)
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