Zamora Waterfalls

Lewis talked me into getting a taxi to take us on an excursion to take photos of the waterfalls we had seen from the bus but could never get pictures of. It turned out that we had the kindest, most considerate taxi driver and we really enjoyed our outing. His name was Stalin and he knew every curve in the road and exactly where each waterfall is located. He only charged us $25 for more than an hour of driving around and finding us great vantage points where we wouldn't be run over by other vehicles. He told us about several other more spectacular waterfalls. But they required a long drive and/or a long hike and tall boots. We settled for the ones near the highway between Zamora and Loja because they seem spectacular to a girl who grew up in dry Southern California and now lives in dry western Idaho.

This is the one closest to Zamora. The water travels underneath the road and tumbles down the other side where it eventually joins the river below.

The vistas are beautiful. The mountains are tall and densely covered with plants of all shapes and sizes and on this day the skies were gorgeous.

Below you can see a fairly recent mudslide. This one fortunately went directly into the river and didn't impact the road. This year there have been many mudslides that have prevented travel on this busy road, sometimes for several days.

 

 

 

 

 

This is a fairly recent mudslide because you can see bare dirt. The vegetation grows so thickly here that it takes work to get down to the soil. These mountains are not like the Rocky Mountains. They have plenty of soil that can get waterlogged and lose its grip on the steep cliffs. All the vegetation is busy making wonderfully fertile soil that can hold a great deal of water and is therefore at risk when there are heavy rains. 

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 Below is a recent mudslide that they are still working on. The edge of the road is gone. There is a very steep cliff where the mud ends. Our taxi driver was telling us that a couple of weeks ago a driver of one of the big machines felt the ground shift. He immediately got off his equipment and scrambled to safety. The machine (which costs some huge amount of money) went over the cliff as the ground fell away.

How would you like to live up here? It is quite remote but cars and trucks and buses pass every day that the road is open.

Below you can see some signs that were mangled in a mudslide. The men and machines work every day trying to keep this road open and safe for the people who travel between Loja and Zamora.

This is a large hydroelectric project. The flags are the flag of Ecuador and the flag of the province of Zamora Chinchipe.  A very sad thing happened. About two months ago the mudslide that you can see here crushed one of those buildings that house the workers from China and four men were killed. There have been family homes that have been swept away by mudslides in past years.

 

On our way back to Zamora we left the new highway and traveled a little ways on the old highway. There are plenty of potholes in the dirt road these days. But it is the only way to get through if you must travel and the new road is blocked. It takes about 3 hours to travel instead of the hour and forty minutes by bus on the new road. A car can make the trip in an hour but you really don't want to watch while they pass the buses on those twisty roads. We ended up in the tiny neighborhood of the Tenesaca family who often walk for an hour to get to church. This is not their home but it is nearby and this one is very colorful today while the laundry is drying.

I thought this was clever. Someone made a cage of wire and filled it completely with river rocks. It makes a great barrier for mud and water - at least for a small quantity of mud or water.

This is the old bridge into Zamora. I think it is very picturesque.

Zamora is known as the city of birds and waterfalls. I didn't spend enough time out in nature and away from people to get photos of birds. Someday I will find some on the internet. But I am happy to have a few photos of some lovely waterfalls.

Love from Grandma and Grandpa Pettingill