Sights and Sounds

 There were none , nothing ; pitch black and I couldn’t even hear my heart beat . Surreal;  experiencing the inside of a stone sarcophagus. This was an advertised ‘event’ offered by our hotel ; all free!  Fortunately we were inside a tunnel cut into the rock some 500-1000 years ago for some strange religious reason , now lost in the mists of time . To enhance the memory , candles were extinguished and I was encouraged to feel my way to the exit . I emerged onto a narrow footpath on the side of a 300 m deep canyon, alongside which was a stone channel recently conveying water to another Ecuadorian farm. Clever lot these locals.

Our host was the grandson of the original hacienda’s owner. Formerly the estate covered 120,000 hectares! ( for comparison that’s half the size to Leicestershire ). Now it has shrunk to just 10 hectares , and most of that seemed to be canyon wall. To compensate , and provide further guest delights , great efforts had been made to restore native plants and bird environments.  96 varieties of feathered guests counts as a success. 

We sat enjoying the midday heat , sensibly shaded from  the fierce equatorial sun; an altitude of 2500m moderates the temperature to enjoyable levels . With no wind , the summer stillness accentuated the humming of the bees drawn to the profusion of flowers and numerous bird feeders containing syrup. A buzzing of wings announced the arrival of the first of a succession of humming birds, for which those feeders were intended. They proceeded to delight us with their aerial acrobatics and vibrant colours . 

The hotel was developed to serve the relocated airport . At only 15km away , rapid transferred is ensured . Unfortunately it is also directly under the flight path and being 150 metres higher than the runway , that much closer to the undercarriages of the passing jets . Their engines may be throttled back , but their noise shatters that summer peace. 

Blackness to nature’s brilliance ,a visual kaleidoscope. 

From coffin  stillness, through summer delights to jet roars; an audible panoply. 

There is a way out !

Even the omelette came with visual reinforcement 

Chrysalises

The hillside is two km away and 250m higher , and at night time exhibits a repeatedly flashing light . Investigation and deduction finally revealed the lights were car headlights as they emerged from the road tunnel from  Quito central. The tunnel happened to align with our house in a suburb , this time a coincidence . 

Maybe not so for Box hill railway tunnel. Built by Brunel in 1840 , 3 km long and at a constant gradient of 1:100, the morning sun shines through on Brunel’s birthday ( or thereabouts . ) This light took four years in gestation bursting forth towards Bath . 

The second emergence took 10 months to materialise . Last April we closed the door an a 20ft container full of French procurement and furniture ; the latter having spent the last 18 years in our garage awaiting a family need . This was a move to Quito , but for arcane import restriction , required a diversion via Southern Africa . World shipping and container problems, meant that it was only last week that those goods ,at long last , saw the light of day . 

Ah , but not without an impact from the final development . We had arrived at the end of the year , in time for celebrations to be swiftly followed by Covid lockdown. First it was the cook , then what seems like malign fate, everyone else in the household succumbing one after the other over the last 6 weeks . A perpetual family lockdown , which determined that even container contents had to be quarantined in the garage ( removal men not allowed in side) . This week we all will ( hopefully ) emerge into the world , released at last from our Covid chrysalis.

 I am sure it is in here, somewhere!

What a difference a day makes…there is a song in that! … ( Amy Winehouse ,Dinah Washington et al )