Anticipation

Waiting with much excitement for Alyssa to arrive tonight and then to travel with her around the country next week. :)

Making good progress with the mapping of the Búa territory. Visited Búa again Tuesday and Wednesday to coordinate with Pascal, who's been living there, taking GPS measurements of parcels and collecting information from campesinos about crops, soil quality, etc. Walked briskly(!) with him and two of the community members around the parcels of one family for 4 or 5 hours on Wednesday through deep mud, thick brush and stream crossings. Still have blisters from the wet rubber boots rubbing against my bare feet.

Worked out a process for acquiring, organizing and transferring the GPS data and integrating this into a digital map with an aerial photo from the Ecuadorian military geographic institute. Through meetings with the local council and accompaniment by council members in the data collection, Yanapuma has eased suspicions about the purpose of the maps so that we now have the enthusiastic support of almost the entire Búa community. Pascal will also be teaching a few of the locals to use the technology so they can continue the data collection after he leaves in a couple of months.

In the thick of it

Taking a break for fresh papaya

Quito, Ecuador