Beautiful Day In Baños

The weather has been wonderful this past week in Baños. The skies have been almost cloudless and the temperature warm. The volcano continues to be activ emitting a small amount of gas, ash and small amounts of lava that dribble down the western slope for a short distance, however in Baños, this all goes unnoticed since the winds take all the ash to the West and from the city center the view of the crater is obscured.

There are a few tourists, but only a fraction of what normally are here this time of year. Everyone is looking forward to an increase of locals from Ambato and Quito on the weekend.

I did get my first look at the new DVD that is now available of the recent eruptions. The vendors on the streets are selling it for $1.00. I am going to include one of these videos with each of Lorenzo's tapestries.

Maybe It's a Good Idea & Maybe Not...You Decide.

A few nights ago while in Ambato, I met with a friend who is a rice distributor. I was telling him of my project to raise a little money for the famililes who were forced out of their homes when Tungurahua erupted. He offered to sell me rice at cost and I even talked him into going with me to deliver it at no extra cost.

The conversation drifted to tons of ash that needed to be cleared and he suggested that I send a little bag to each person who made a donation. The more he talked, the more excited he got. His last comment was, "we could bottle it and make a fortune". I told him that that was not the idea, however we could send an ounce in a little plastic bag along with a note describing where it came from.

So this is the plan...I do not want to take anything from the donations, but if anyone would like an ash sample, just add an extra $1.00 to cover the cost of mailing, and advise me that $1.00 is for the ash.

Better act fast....There are only 40 thousand tons of the stuff scatered around Ecuador.

Thanks again for all of you who have made a contribution.

Clean-Up Begins In Salasaca Hours After The Big Bang.

Tungurahua Eruption Sale

Because of the lack of tourists in Baños, the artisans from Salasaca who provide many of hand-made items in the shops are finding no market for their products. One of the artisans happens to be Lorenzo, a friend of mine, who came to see me a few days ago and told me that he was not able to sell his work and was thinking of moving to the coast to look for employment. I offered to buy his inventory for the same price that he would get if he sold them to his customer in Baños.
I now have 10 tapestries which represents about a months work. I will now try to sell them at the wholesale price of $22, plus of course the $14.72 which is the cost of delivery to anyplace in the Americas. If you would like to own one of these 1.7 meters x .7 meters all wool walhanginggs and help a hard working entrepreneurur at the same time, just push the button below.

I thank you, and Lorenzo thanks you.

Baños is Ready...When You Are.

Just a week ago the volcano Tungurahua exploded in grand style discharging an estimated 30 to 50 million square meters of material in the form of ash and heavy pyroclastic material and lava which caused the death of four people, injured a dozen more, killed thousands of cattle and other livestock, devastated thousands of acres of prime farm land, burned a number of houses and displaced thousands of people. From one day to the next lives changed drastically and there wasn't much anyone could do about it..

While many areas were changed others received little or no damage. Baños, for instance, received a pelting of small volcanic rocks, but it had very little ash which is the real healt hazardrd. The lighter ash moved west with the winds and left Ambato and other cities to the west covered with up to three inches of the dense material, affecting many with breathing problems and causing damage to the crops and in many cases death to the livestock. A week after the giant eruption the people in Ambato are still wearing masks while the people in Baños are enjoying clear, clean air.

Although Baños is in almost perfect condition it is suffering. I would estimate 99% of its income comes from the tourist, and since there are very few tourists the town is hurting. I did see about 10 young people with backpacks yesterday, but they were the adventure seekers who did not listened to the dire predictions that Tungurahua is ready to blow again at any time. We will just have to wait and see.

The busses are running and even if you would be a little nervous about bedding down for the night....why not take a day trip? After all...the Virgin of the Holy Waters has a perfect record of keeping the town safe.

Back to Cotalo...

On Tuesday I took a trip with two of my frineds from Salasaca to see what was going on on the West side of the Tngurahua Volcano. We hiked from the town of Cotalo across the Chamba River and up to Bilboa. The town was mostly deserted but we did see a few children playing by the church and a few famlies working in the field. There had been some rain the night before so we had no problem with the ash that was everywhere.

From there we went North tword Baños across no-mans land where most of the pryoclatic flow had passed a few weeks ago and into the comunity of Casua. On the South side of the town there is a clear line where the fiery flow passed. On one side it is lush and green on the other is like a dry river bed that streathes more than a kilometer and still smells like a bonfire that had been doused with water. There were large rocks (2' x 2') that had been tossed out of the crater and looked looked like they had been turned to charcole.

The town of Casua was also deserted except for a few people we saw working in the fields. Except for a few minor rumblings the volcano seemed harmless enough even though it was obsured by clouds. We continued on to Baños, arriving late in the afternoon.

It was a great day and I was thinking that the danger was over and if I was one of the misplased persons camping out in the church in Cotalo I would return to my home.

However, on Wednesday there was an increase in the seismic activity and 38 evemts were registered and some 400 explosions....two were very large and windows rattled some 15 kilometers away...so once again in my life I was wrong.

Just In Case You Missed This.

Four villages on the skirts of Tungurahua had to leave their homes because of the risk of more eruptions and the rain of volcanic ash that is as deadly as the lava itself. Many of the people in Cusua lost their crops as well as their livestock. The community of Cosalo across the Chambo River is giving shelter and food to these families whose homes are still at risk. The food is coming from private donations as well as a little help from the government. I would like to do what I can to help provide help and maybe you would like to help as well. One thing that is different here than in many other parts of the world.... one dollar goes a long way. One dollar can feed a family for a day. I have added this "donation button" to make it easy to donate. You have my word that every dollar collected will go directly to the familes who need the help.

Anyone who would like to make a donation for the misplaced people who had to leave their homes on the side of the Tungurahua Volcano you can do so by clicking here.

Thanks for your help.

Trip To Cotalo

A few days ago I visited Cotalo, a small community on the western side of the Tungurahua volcano. This picturesque town sits on a platto with the Chamba River and a narrow valley between it and the volcano. On the Cotalo side of the river the land is lush and green and on the other is a wasteland left after the last serries of eruptions.

I went with a couple of friends from Salasaca and we hiked about two-thirds of the way down to the river but had to return because the ash was getting pretty thick and we did not have masks. Going down was easy but it took us a hour to get back to town. Cotalo is hosting the families who lived on the other side until it is safe to return to their homes. I am going back on Sunday and plan to explore the other side of the river to see first hand the amount of damage to Casua and Bilbao