Like this:

So every town in Ecuador has their “Fiesta” to celebrate their existence with a parade, a beauty pageant, a little carnival, food, dancing, drunken debauchery etc…  Cosanga, the closest town to Yanayacu, had their fiestas a while back and Yanayacu was asked to put on an exposition where we show and talk about the things we do at the station.  It was amazing to see that after so many years of existence, most people don’t really have an idea of what we do.  They think it is some sort of rich gringo club and those adults who actually stopped at the booth were impressed and excited that something like this exists in their community.   Of course, the kids were the ones who were really excited as we had collections of giant beetles, flashy butterflies and moths, binoculars they could use, tadpoles, computers with frog and bird calls playing etc…  The kids asked every single question imaginable and would go play and come back repeatedly.  Hopefully this generation of kids keeps their interest and doesnt end up like their parents (most of the adults didn’t even bother to come over and check it out and likely dont know or care that they live in the most diverse region in the world by many accounts).   However, the exposition was a success overall, cause the kids were who we were mostly targeting and they had loads of fun and learned a lot.

Our booth (the only booth, we were the expo) with kids checking out bugs, Jose showing a huge bird nest, and Esther showing kids tadpoles and frog calls.

This kid was the best!  He asked a question (typically the same question) about every single bug.  And note the insect painted on his face (we did not have a face painting booth).

Your standard carnival attractions with a few games that cost money and are impossible to win and a carousel with Shrek for seats.

So, on the brochure advertising the “Fiestas de Cosanga” right next to the space for the Yanayacu Exposition was “La Trucha Mas Grande en Todo el Mundo” (The biggest trout in the world).  So, I figured it would be a “biggest fish” competition or something (trout have been introduced into the streams and there are lots of trout farms around) where folks would bring in their biggest fish to be judged.  Nope, the biggest trout in the world is this metal contraption used to cook the trout wrapped in banana-like leaves.  Notice the head on the close end (filled with trout heads, if you look close) and the tail on the far end.  Another thing to note is the extreme sanitation of some of the workers.  This is extremely rare in Ecuador and as not to freak out people too much they had a couple bare-handed, maskless  and hatless folks touching all the food.

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