Cambio de Las Personas
I know it’s a little stereotypical for a pair of gringos in a South American country to kick things off with a horribly strained and mispronounced “Hola”, but since we are gringos and are lucky enough to find ourselves in the beautiful Spanish speaking country of Ecuador….. what the hell? We will play our part. Hola.
First, let us begin by introducing our selves. Our names are Corey and Niki and we will hence forth be the captains of the good ship Las Tangaras. Well, for the next 4 months or so anyway. And let us follow this with a fond farewell to the previous managers Ryne, Jen and their jungle baby Cyprus. Now that the introductions are done, we are excited to be able to share with you our first thoughts about where we now find ourselves.
The beauty and tranquillity of Reserva Las Tangaras hit us immediately. We couldn’t put our finger on it initially. It wasn’t necessarily the sound of dozens of small waterfalls trickling or the mixed flocks of Tanagers foraging together in the canopy…. It wasn’t even the beautiful wooden lodge tucked away in the valley that we now call our home and its swarms of Humming Birds that greet us every morning. It was the Cloud Forest its self. It’s like the entire forest welcomes you all at once in a big, warm (and somewhat moist) Hug. It’s almost as if, both knee deep in mud and rain soaked, it was excited to meet us as we were to meet it. And since that initial moment, things for two budding naturalist adventurers have only got better.
As ecologists with particular interests in Mammals and Herps we will venture into semi-unknown territory in the Reserve by exploring the variety of species from these groups of animals that live here in Las Tangaras. Stay tuned for tales of our adventures and misadventures in this realm, as well as adventures and misadventures in regards to the Reserves ongoing Avian research and infrastructure maintenance. Our first week has been amazing with lots of Jobs to do, wildlife to encounter and a visit from a great couple of adventure minded individuals. We are really looking forward to what the future has in store.
Reserva Las Tangaras 
Good luck to you both! Hope you have a great time and best of luck with your pit-fall traps. Had we had another month or two, we’d have gone for that too.
Tom and Freya (Feb to Aug ’13)
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Hi Tom. Yeah, the pit-falls during the rain are proving difficult. And the presence of small reptiles on the surface seems to be minimal at this time of year. We have seen a small lizard or 2 on the trails though and IDd a couple of snakes we found under tarps etc. so we still hold out hope. Hopefully someone might continue this work during the drier months to get a more holistic view of what’s here. Will keep you updated.
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