Following is a link to the show that aired on Dia a Dia on Sunday, February 13. The crew joined me on a ride down the Devil’s Nose and then we traveled to Huigra to talk about the cemetery. The show also covers the history of the construction, as well as the impact of the rehabilitation effort on Nizag, the local indigenous community.

See the show!

Tomorrow morning I will depart New York City en route to Quito. It’s been a whirlwind couple weeks trying to get everything ready, but my film bag is packed, my cameras are cleaned and I just picked up the last round of test slides (no more light leaks!).

Here is a picture that I return to a lot as I try to imagine what life will be like in Quito. I took this on our last day there in September, from the top of Basílica del Voto Nacional. We had to climb all the way up on stairs and then ladders, but the unobstructed view in all directions was worth it.

I’ll be updating this blog more frequently now, as I pick up where we left off on our projects. See you in Ecuador!

El Panecillo from the top of Basílica del Voto Nacional.

In less than two weeks, I will be returning to Ecuador for six months to continue work on our projects. I’ll be arriving just in time to catch the premier of El Tren de los Sueños in Quito on the 26th. From there I will head directly to Huigra to continue on the search for The Major.

Along our trip in September, we were very lucky to meet a lot of kind and interesting people. I count myself as extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to photograph many of them. I’m looking forward to meeting many more people in the months to come.

Here are a few scans I’ve been working on recently and reviewing as I prepare to return to Ecuador.

Set on the slopes of the colossal Chimborazo Mountain – King of the Andes – Urbina Station is the highest point of the old G&Q Railway, at 11,800 ft. (3,640 m). Urbina, which is also used as an acclimatization station for mountain climbers, is under the management and care of our team member, Rodrigo Donoso.

When we arrived, Rodrigo’s llamas and alpacas were hanging out along the old railroad tracks in front, munching on a late-afternoon snack of grass. Maximilliano Donoso the Dog leapt off the front porch to greet us with a frenzied welcome. Rodrigo’s adorable daughter, Ariana, showed us how she rides a fuzzy alpaca; the most important part is to hold on tight and have a good time.

Rodrigo also raises guinea pigs (cuy), of which he currently has about a dozen. The boy cuy have it the worst – they get eaten – while the girls stay alive to have babies. Cuy are peppy little furry balls of speed that make squeaky noises that sound like “Cuy! Cuy! Cuy!” Katie fell in love with a baby cuy.

The main room of Urbina is warm and friendly, with a fire going in the wood stove. The seats are padded with colorful hand-woven cushions. The wooden walls are adorned with artwork of Ecuador’s mountains, Edward Whymper illustrations, Simon Bolivar’s lover – Manuela Zaens, and Che Guevara portraits. The floors are all wooden; Rodrigo’s workers have an interesting technique for scrubbing the floors – they move steel wool about with their boots to scrub the wood.

The food served at Urbina Station is incredible, starting out with what Araby called “Frog Butter” – squashed avocadoes – on bread. The soups – quinoa, cauliflower, and potato with fava beans – were awesome. Sliced bread to accompany the soups is toasted on a black slice of volcanic rock on top of the wood stove. We ate mellocos – which look like little baby potatoes, but are not – as well as lupin beans, plantains, babako and melons.

Chimborazo is a mountain of many moods, and the source of many legends. For example, if a thunderstorm arrives and a woman doesn’t hurry from the field and into the house, rumor is that she gets pregnant from Chimborazo. The resulting baby – Chimborazo’s child – is an albino. The nickname for the albino babies is “Chimborazo.” In fact, a number of albinos do live on the slopes of Chimborazo. Sandy and Rodrigo ventured out early in the cold mornings for photo shoots, and managed to get two excellent days of Chimborazo shots. The snow-topped mountain is usually obscured by clouds and fog, and sometimes the mountain doesn’t appear for 10-12 days.

While at Ubrina, 17 new FEEP railroad guides-in-training arrived for a presentation on the construction of the G&Q Railway, now called FEEP. You’d think a two-hour talk/PowerPoint would put them all to sleep, but they seemed very interested in the history, and glad to be there. Here is a photo of us with the guides, in front of the Urbina Station.

Want to visit Urbina Station? Click these links for more information on hiring Rodrigo Donoso as your guide, or staying at Urbina Station. We hope you have as much fun as we did!

Sandy and Rodrigo scout a location to recreate one of John Horgan’s photographs.