Puyango Petrified Forest and the lost flip flop

hey yáll,

mhhhmmmm, camping in the ecuadorian mountains was quite nice. the bus dropped me off in front of the heavenly gates of puyango petrified forest. from here, it was 6 clicks to the actual forest and camping grounds. i was not looking forward to the hour hike with all my gear in 100 degree heat and humidity, but i luckily found an overpriced transport to take me the rest of the way. after paying the sheister off, i found my way to the campsite with the help of some local kids. about 5 minutes away from the spot, it starts to pour down rain! luckily, my (stay dry contingency plan) was in effect and was able to keep dry with some garbage bags i had stowed in my super backpack.


i had the whole place to myself so i set up camp and had myself a nice tuna fish sandwich and some snacks. after dinner, i decided to explore a bit and take some photos. my campsite was right next to the river, so i gathered my Slik tripod and my Mamiya Rangefinder and rushed to the river to catch the last rays of light. unfortunately, i was running a bit too fast and fell down a muddy embankment and that{s where i found my shoe{s death. i fell about 4 feet and when i impacted the ground, my boot exploded into two pieces! i spent so much time researching these damn boots too! they were supposed to be indestructable, waterproof, and last me until my final days. well, they are waterproof no more.

the river itself was a hodgepodge of polluted nastyness. every plastic piece of garbage had found their final resting place next to my campsite. i found plastic chairs, balloons, flip flops, combs, and a few thousand plastic bags. it was disheartening to see, especially in a national park. so, i headed back to camp and had some more snacks.

the next day i headed out to find some petrified trees. luckily, the forest was alot cleaner and i was able to venture out and explore the mountains. upon finding the petrified trees, i was a bit disappointed.... i was expecting to see fossils and unique rocks with tree rings, but all the fossils were scooped up by the museums and the petrified trees just looked like normal rocks! you could barely tell that they were once trees and proved dificult to photograph... still wanting to take pictures, i switched to my Canon digital. my dad always said that there was always interesting things to photograph, you just have to look for it. so, i looked down to the ground to see what i could find. i spent the rest of the day photographing ants and leaves.

back at camp, i had another delicious tuna fish sandwich. as the night grew on, the animals became restless and sounds of the forest blanketed my senses. the next day i decided to head on out, having seen all the plastic bags and tree rocks i could handle. being the man that i am, i hoofed it out with all my gear out to the bus stop. the pricey transport guy tried to pick me up but i gave him the cold American shoulder.

that{s all folks!