Old Town, Quito

We finally cleared immigration and reached the gates of the Quito airport after 1:00 am. Booking.com had provided us with a complimentary taxi ride to our hotel in the heart of Old Town so we weren’t too concerned about finding a taxi at that time of the night. Someone would wait for us with a sign, right? Wrong. There were a few names held up by several drivers, but none of them was ours. Sean had the number of our driver, he messaged him. The driver wrote back that booking.com told him the wrong date so he was at the airport the previous night. He was very sorry and didn’t know what to tell us. We were tired, cranky, and extremely frustrated. There were taxis outside so we got an airport taxi around 1:30 am and headed to the heart of the town about 27 kms away in the middle of the night in a completely unknown city. Our driver was a 34 year old man named Henry and he turned out to be the sweetest individual whom we hired to take us places for the entirety of our stay in Quito. One of the best experiences for me when I travel is to meet individuals whom I never would have met if I had not made the trip. Henry was one such soul that I am honored to meet; full of interesting questions, full of music, dance, and laughter. Henry brought us safely to our hotel, Hotel San Francisco De Quito in Old Town, Quito. While the rooms and facilities are basic and clean, the hotel is set in a 17th century restored house located in the town center which is designated by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage site. We found the courtyard and the decor to be beautiful.

We finally went to bed around 3 am, slept in and missed breakfast which was included in our hotel price. We went out to beautiful Plaza San Francisco, one of the iconic and historic plazas of Quito with the impressive San Francisco Church set against the majestic Pichincha Volcano.

We were starving at this point so we decided to eat breakfast and explore the church.

I am a lover of churches from an aesthetic point of view so I dragged Ryan and Sean to all the beautiful churches that dotted the narrow and historic, cobblestoned alleyways of Old Town, Quito. My favorite was the The Basilica Del Voto Nacional. According to https://theculturetrip.com/south-america/ecuador/quito/articles/the-most-beautiful-historic-churches-in-quito, this is the largest of all Quito’s churches, inspired by Bourges Cathedral of France. It was a steep (for me) hike to reach the basilica. While the boys marched ahead, I stopped several times to catch my breath and look at the shops on both sides of the street. But once I arrived at the basilica, the beauty and the majestic stature of the building made me stop in my tracks. The basilica is technically unfinished and according to several sites that I read, if the basilica is ever finished, the world will come to an end. So it is better for humanity if the basilica remains a work in progress. Here I conquered my fear of heights and climbed high up the spires and was rewarded with a spectacular view of Quito from the top.

We also stopped to admire the intricate gold leaf covering of La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús. The design was so ornate and visually striking.

After visiting the Santo Domingo Church and Church of San Augustine, we were ready for some chocolate experience. I was thrilled to try the chocolates. Even vegan Sean enjoyed his almond milk hot chocolate drink and Ryan ordered two different kinds of treats.

After a little rest in the afternoon, we went to Calle La Ronda for dinner. Again, according to theculturetrip.com, the origin of La Ronda dates back to the time of Incas before the Spaniards in 16th century. The curving and steep lane has a alluring ambiance with the floral balconies of the residential houses, the twinkling lights of the restaurants offering local and international cuisine and shops selling local artifacts. I was eyeing the beautiful ponchos but since we travel only with carry-ons, I had no space in my luggage to bring one home.

After a sumptuous dinner at a gorgeous restaurant where we were the only diners (we went early) we headed back to the hotel and to our beds as we were exhausted. Next morning, our friend Henry came earlier than we had asked him to, to pick us up and bring us to the airport. He messaged Sean saying that he had come early so we could have peace of mind. And he was in no rush, we should take our time. He said to Sean (he didn’t speak any English so I felt like I missed out on conversing with him) that he was thankful for giving him work.

We had our breakfast in beautiful Quito airport and boarded our Avianca flight to head to paradise, or in other words, the Galapagos Islands. Our first destination was Santa Cruz Island to meet the giant tortoises.

Mind’s eye

After 8 hours of bumpy ride on our third day at the safari, I decided to stay at the camp instead of joining Sean in an evening safari. We had left Enkawa camp at 6:15 in the morning after witnessing a gorgeous sunrise. We rode all the way to Mara river to see a glimpse of the great migration of animals crossing the river. We saw some dramatic escapadse as I wrote on one of my previous blogs. We waited for hours to see a leopard and finally came back to eat a late lunch after 2:30 pm. Caleb, our wonderful driver and guide, turned to us with his brilliant smile and said, “So, should we go out again at 4:30?” My enthusiastic husband said an enthusiastic ‘sure!’ The other couple in the van also committed to the 4:30 safari to see a sunset in the savanna. I declined to get on that van again. My back declined. Instead, I decided to spend the evening enjoying the vastness in front of my very own glamorous tent.

I wanted to take a nice hot shower, I wanted to take a book, sit outside on the porch and take in the beauty in front of me.

I did just that. After Sean left, I took a luxurious shower, washed my hair, moisturized my body, took my kindle and sat on the camp chair outside our tent to read. It is hard to focus on written words when nature revealed itself in front of me in its resplendent glory. I must have been immersed in the words of Abraham Verghese (I was reading The Covenant of Water) because when I looked up I was startled. Right in front of me there were some zebras grazing. You have to understand I am a city girl. I was raised in the congested city of Kolkata. I live in the suburbs of US now and I get to see my share of deer, fox, rabbits and birds, but I never thought in my wildest (haha, see what I did there?) dreams that I will be sitting close to zebras grazing right in front of me. I will always remember that moment.

The first day we checked into the camp, we saw three wildebeests resting under a tree right in front of our camp. That was a magical moment too till we realized that they come there every day looking for shade during the heat of the day. We became used to their presence, but had never seen zebras that close. When Caleb and Wilson, our driver and spotter, picked us from the airstrip in Mara, they said they will take us on a safari tour before taking us to the Enkewa camp. Within a few minutes we saw a male ostrich prancing not to far from us. We whipped our binoculars out to see the deep pink color of this hindside and his legs. Male ostriches, we were told, turn pink when they look for a mate. Right after that we saw herds of wildebeests and zebras. I remember that moment being full of wonder. We had never seen anything like this before. The next day, however, herds of wildebeests, zebras, topis. antelopes, wild buffaloes, and even families of warthogs would become commonplace. While we appreciated seeing them, we would consider them part of the landscape as we saw animals that did not make them as easily accessible as these others, like lions, elephants, jackals, serval cats, rhinos, cheetas, leopards….

There were so many magical moments. The first time I spotted something orange that turned out to be a pride of lions, or when Sean spotted tall heads of giraffes from a bush and we drove next to them as they calmly looked at us and continued eating. The sun radiating its last light on the scruffy grass of the savanna dotted generously by the dark bodies of wildebeests or striped zebras. The buffalo families glaring at our van in a hostile manner as we drove by them. The curious face of the momma hyena as it interrupted her feasting on a dead wart hog to look at us, the onlookers.

Since I read Wordsworth’s poem, I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud as a child, I ingrained within me these lines:

“For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

In my mind’s eye, I revisit these magical moments. On my walk this morning, my mind had wondered back to the moment when I first saw the ostrich right after getting off our little plane in Mara. The first sighting of lions. the mama rhino whisking her baby away to protect it from us, the little elephant learning to kick tufts of grass from earth to dislodge it, the baby hippo lying on top of mama, the little jackal waiting to eat the remains of the lioness’ kill, the baby cheetahs playing with each other and mom. I have photos. But I also have them in my mind’s eye. I seek upon these moments in solitude and relive them all over again.

Patience and the great migration

Patience is a virtue that I was not born with. As a child and a young person I got bored easily and moved on to different things. I had crushes and then got over them quickly as well. So much so that my mother worried that I will never have a stable relationship in my life. I take every opportunity to remind Sean how lucky he is that I have loved him for over 28 years now. As I got older I mindfully worked on my patience. But I am far from achieving the desired state. I am certainly a work in progress.

I had an opportunity to practice this virtue during our safari trips in Masai Mara though. Spotting wild animals in their natural habitat is not an easy feat. They do not come to us at our beck and call. We are visitors in their domain and we need to wait out patiently, hoping they would grace us with a rare sighting. On the last day of our stay at Enkewa camp, our driver and spotter Caleb took us to the Mara river hoping to see the great migration when wildebeests and zebras cross the river to go to Serengeti. The drive from our camp to the river was long and bumpy. I don’t recommend this trip if anyone has a bad back. We were rewarded, however, for the drive to Mara river by the sighting of a large herd of elephants. This is the first time I discovered how they eat in the wild. They yanked the grass or shrub with their trunk and a kick with their powerful leg at the roots to uproot the grass. I had only seen them eat at a zoo and no idea about this kicking routine. And we saw some elephant babies, one being only a few months old.

When we reached close to the river, we saw lines of wildebeests and zebras moving slowly in the direction of the river. Caleb, Lesoloi, and Wilson got excited. They hoped they could show us at least a trailer of the great migration. But this involved a long wait. Caleb parked the car at a distance from the river so as not to interfere in the animals’ journey towards it. And we sat there. Quietly. All around us was the whistling of the wind, dust blowing and the sounds of different birds flitting around. The Masai tribe are warriors and lion hunters. Patience is innate in them. Sean is patient too. I am not. At the beginning, I wondered how long do we have to wait and if the wait is long, do I really want to see the animals crossing the river? In our van was another couple who were also very willing to wait. I had no choice. As we sat there in silence, and I started getting comfortable in it, I had a strange exhilarating feeling. One associates ‘exhilaration’ with adrenaline rich adventurous activities. Yet, sitting in complete silence in the wide savanna with only bird songs to keep us company with complete strangers (except my husband) was exhilarating. I can’t quite explain why. I think the realization that I am a part of this huge cycle of life was gratifying. The fact that I was experiencing that moment with nature, in nature, about to experience something that happens every year when I am living my life in United States was exhilarating. I really don’t know. I sat there. Waiting.

After an hour or so, Caleb’s walkie talkie came alive with information from other spotters in the area. Something was happening. He quickly turned the ignition key of the van and picked up speed racing towards the river. We held on for dear life. He parked close to the river’s edge with a clear view of what was about to ensue. The animals had just entered the river to cross and crocodiles were ready for them on the other side. It was like watching a tense sports game – will the crocodiles get the wildebeests? We were told that crocodiles go without food for up to six months and during the time of great migration, they eat well. We saw one crocodile almost got a wildebeest but somehow the animal escaped to the other side only to be chased by a hyena. We were rooting for a safe crossing for the animals, but that meant the crocodiles having to go without dinner.

We had left the camp at 6:15 am, we had bush breakfast by the river around 9 am, overlooking a family of hippos. And after the viewing of the great migration, we started our long journey back to the camp over heavily rutted roads. But while we were on our way back, Caleb heard on his walkie that Kasuri, the famous leopard has been spotted napping on her favorite tree. How could we not pay our respects to one of the most beautiful creatures that ever roamed this earth? We took a detour to see the sleeping leopard on our way back. There were several safari vans lined up there to see her so we had to wait our turn. And while we marveled at her sleeping form, all those tourists snapping pictures marred the experience for me.

We arrived at our camp close to 2:30 pm. A smiling Caleb turned to us and said, “So should we meet at 4:30 to go out for an evening safari?” Sean and the other couple said “Sure.” I knew I wasn’t going to join them as I needed to collect my thoughts, experience the beautiful camp, and revel in some solitude. More in the next blog.

A moment with the lions…

I take credit for spotting her first. We were driving along the rutted roads of savanna in the Mara district of Kenya when I saw a glimpse of orange behind the dry grass under a palm tree. “Is that a lion?” I tentatively asked our Masai guide and spotter. Like a cheetah, Caleb,our amazing guide turned the steering wheel of the van and drove closer to the lion and I cringed a little bit at the proximity. We were no more than 15 to 20 feet away from the lioness, calmly panting in the shade. She gave our van a cursory glance and casually put her head down to sleep. We noticed she was pregnant. Caleb turned around to me and gave a thumbs up, “Good spotting!” My chest inflated in pride. Huge compliment from a professional. The excitement of spotting the lioness increased tenfold when we turned our head and discovered that right across from her, two teenager cubs and another fully grown lioness were feasting on a wart hog (already dead and mostly eaten). Our van was between the mama lion and the three others.

Sean and I would eventually get acclimated to our close proximity to the wild animals eventually during our three day stay at Enkewa Camp, Masai Mara but this was our first day and we found it hard to believe how close we were to lions in the wild. Caleb, Lesoloi, and Wilson, our amazing driver, guide, spotters told us that the animals, especially lions, wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, hyenas and many others were so used to the vans that they don’t really react to them any more. While I was very glad to see wild animals so up close and personal, this fact of human intrusion did bother me somewhat (while actively participating in the intrusion).

Apart from Sean, me, and our guides, there was a lovely young couple in the van from Sydney. While the lions ate the wart hog and mama lion slept, we sat there in silence experiencing circle of life, thankfully as witnesses.

During our stay at the camp and our daily safari tours of over six hours and sometimes more, we saw lion prides many times. We sat in our vans watching them rest, feed, practice their roars. We learned how they smell the prey by grimacing, how they stalk. We sat quietly with only the sounds of birds around us. I finally understood the sounds of silence. As I sat there I marveled at the fact that at that moment I was in the presence of a most powerful animal, sharing space, sharing the moment together. Alive in the same frame. I never thought I would experience it. I did, and for that I am so thankful.

A sudden gift of a day.

I don’t want to sound like a whiner but I will say this: Mother Nature doesn’t always play fair with me. I don’t get every weekend off like many (not all) do. I get every other weekend off because I work at a library and the library is open seven days a week! My weekends are special. We, at the library, look forward to our weekends like souls thirsty for rest and relaxation. Let’s be honest, very few of us get the above stated rest and relaxation because….laundry, dirty house, bills, meal prep for the week and chores! And here is where you will tell me to quit whining. But I will say it anyway. Most the time it RAINS ON MY DAYS OFF! Ok, now that’s out in the universe, let’s move on.

Today was different. I woke up after a restful sleep. The sun was bright and my reading chair was awash in its golden light. The sky was baby blue with pillowy clouds lazily floating by. The tree in my backyard is full of buds and the daffodil bulbs which we discarded from our flower patch in ignorance has bloomed at the edge of our yard. We threw them out there but they come back each year to put a smile on our faces. They bring me joy. There is something special about these exuberant, bright yellow flowers that inspire hope and happiness in me.

For me, they are the first signs of spring. The second sign is the sighting of ants in my bathroom. I think I have written in one of my blogs that the first appearance of ants make me happy. That means spring cannot be far behind. Oh stop with your cringing! I am from India, I have seen worse than ants. I get mad at them as summer progresses though.

I can not stand winter. I love spring because it is full of hope, sunshine, and longer daylights but spring also means I have endured another winter. Fall is beautiful too, but what follows Fall? Not so much. No matter how long I live in this country, I cannot get used to winter.

I wanted to keep this day in my memory. I nodded at the happy daffodils today, watched an amazing performance at a local theater and witnessed a spectacular sunset.

Simple joys.

Back at it….maybe?

Yesterday, the emails kept coming. Ping…ping…ping. They were from WordPress telling me I had comments on my blogs. That was surprising since this blogsite has been lying dormant for many months. It is not that I don’t think about this space. I think about it all the time. As I drive to work or gym, I formulate in my head, sentences that I would write in the blogs. But when the day is done, I look at my laptop and never turn it on.

Yesterday, my littlest cousin in Kolkata could not sleep so she went to my blogsite and read many of my blogs. Not only that, she kept writing comments on them. My favorite was “I love you so much, Didi.” I read the blogs where she left comments. Some of the blogs were sad, some of them were general observations of life around me. Seeing her comments and the fact that she was reading them thousands of miles away made me feel connected. I have written so much about my life in this space. I have written about my children, my travels, my everyday life that encompasses my joys as well as my grief. I still have not seen a grief counselor, although I am getting closer to the idea but this blogsite has helped me cope by allowing me to write down my feelings. I made those public and readers responded by saying some of those blogs helped them process their grief. That made me feel less alone.

We had beautiful weather this week. The barren trees are sprouting their luminous green, the green that is my absolute favorite. This new green that I get to see every year fills me with hope. This is potential at its finest. What flowers will May bring? How this nascent green will change to a deeper, somber green as the summer progresses till they are leached of their colors and become red and golden? I love this process, this circle of life. And I don’t mind my own transition from somber, deep green to the red and golden of mature years. Sure, I don’t enjoy the new medications that get added to my life, or the daily aches and pains of getting older, but I wonder with some anticipation (and a little dread of losing people I love) how the next phase would be? For the most part, I am eager to move on with life. At certain times, I am wistful. Especially as I see my children become their own people with their own lives. This is what every parent hopes for, yet there is a twinge in my heart as the grip loosens. Did I give them my best? Did I enjoy them to the fullest when they were younger? Why did I complain so much about how busy life was when they were little? Why did I make life so busy? So many questions, so much self critique. However, despite that, I feel so proud of them. Both of them are good people.

Back to weather. Yesterday, Sean and I went for a long walk in a local park. We decided to leave the paved walkway and follow a trail deeper into the woods. I was looking at my feet as I walked, mindful of treacherous roots that poked above the ground dangerously. I had already stumbled a couple of times but managed to stay on my feet. We stopped for a second and I looked around me. Sean was in mid conversation, saying something about his work. I touched his arm, and whispered, “Look! Look around us.” We were surrounded by young royals – trees that were getting their new leaves. The sun tried to peek in through the foliage that rendered the leaves luminous, fluorescent even. There was nobody around us. There was no sound except sweet chirp of birds. I felt insignificant and I felt special all at the same time. Insignificant in front of such majesty and special because I got to witness it.

I don’t go to any building that is designated as a place of worship. The little opening, surrounded by trees, sunlight creating dappled shadows around me was my temple, my church, my mosque. I did not pray. But I gave my thanks.

Yesterday was a weird day.

Yesterday was a weird day. I hardly saw any of my family members. The partner is traveling, daughter was working and my eighteen year old son did an errand and then shut himself in his room for the rest of the day, and night. It is interesting how little I see of him even when he is home. I noticed this with Sahana before she headed out to college and I am noticing this with my youngest too. They let us know that it is time to loosen the grip, it is time to let go. I think of how their little hands fit in mine just a few years ago. I miss that touch but it makes me happy to see they are ready to take the flight.

I ditched going to the gym yesterday and cooked for the week instead. I even baked a cookie cake for no reason at all, because, why not?

I ordered biriyani from a local store. IT WAS NOT A GOOD IDEA. I was sick as a dog at night. I haven’t been that sick for a very long time. Before I got sick though, I spoke to my cousin sister for a very long time and realized how much I needed that conversation. So that was nice. And she offered to be my Piglet when I needed her. She read my previous blog.

This morning, though, the sun is shining. I am sitting in front of my parents (their photos). And I have this book on my lap.

On days, when I feel I have nothing to look forward to this book may provide some inspiration. I forget to focus on the little joys sometimes and require a reminder once in a while that even pouring cup of coffee in the morning can be a simple delight. A hot shower on a cold day. Sitting by the sun on my reading chair. The sunset that I get to witness everyday from my kitchen window. My dear friend, the lop sided oak tree in my back yard is full of buds. The cherry blossoms in my neighborhood are blooming their vibrant pink. The pink and white rhododendrons will appear soon to brighten the world briefly.

My daughter looks hopeful these days and my son can not wait to go to college.

An accidental sunrise

The most important part of my morning ritual is sitting quietly in front of the photos of my parents with my cup of coffee and staring at their smiling faces. The world around me is quiet, fast asleep. The only sound that I hear is of the heating unit pumping blessed heat in our house on cold, winter mornings. I do this every day, without fail.

Today, as I got up to put my coffee cup away after my morning ritual with my parents, I happened to glance out of the window. I caught the sun rise, accidentally. Everyday, I wake up early and look inward instead of outside. And while I introspect and look back at memories or wipe away tears or question ‘why’ again and again, the sun rises with resplendent glory. I guess, this is nature’s way of balancing sadness with beauty. I will, perhaps, incorporate looking outwards in my morning ritual. After all, life is about balance.

Nature playing Holi

Nature, in my neck of the woods, is playing Holi right now……or dying, however you want to think about it. I chuckled as I thought of dying. Never did I ever think of death when leaves changed colors in past years. Since last year the thought of death lingers in my mind like a constant. Not in a scary way, more in an ‘absolute truth’ way.

The leaves turn red, they fall, they turn to dust, and then they return again. Each year they come back in new form. As I thought of resurrection, I wished the same happened with our loved ones – except I want them to come back in their old form, as my ma and baba. They, of course, don’t come back to us in a tangible form, but their essence remains imprinted on us, within us. Life goes on in its own rhythm.

The idea of resurrection brings such hope to both the religious and non religious. Our physical life is finite, but the soul perhaps recycles in some form. Or it becomes one with nature and radiates the beauty that surrounds us.

I thought of this as I walked around my neighborhood marveling at the gorgeous colors on the trees.

On a separate note, our county planted a baby elm tree at the edge of our property to compensate for the dead oak tree that they had to cut down last summer. Sahana and I disagree over naming our bald, and if I am honest, quite bare and unassuming baby tree. I want to call it Elmo and Sahana wants to name it Freddie Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street.

You vote!!

Solitude

I shared this pond with no one this morning. The resident ducks and Canada geese were nowhere to be seen. The sun was not strong enough for the little turtles to climb up on logs and sun themselves. I stood by the edge of the pond to look for them. They were perhaps snoozing in their nests.

It felt strange and beautiful all at once to find myself alone in this tiny bit of universe. The cerulean sky was sparkling with golden rays of the sun. That color, I have realized, makes me immensely happy. The trees and bushes stood quietly, their reflection in the water somehow doubling their silent presence.

No matter how much I sparkle outside, I struggle most days to get off the couch and put my game face on. However, on days when I feel the gentle sun caressing my face and the splendid blue of the sky penetrating my soul, I feel I will be okay. I get up to face another day. I love, I am loved. I will live today and remain hopeful for tomorrow.