Tzanka wildlie refuge in Zamora

This weekend we made a trip to Zamora (about 45 minutes away) to shop for school supplies for the kids.  Much like they do in Tacoma Public Schools, the kids' school handed us a list of school supplies to bring for the year (notebooks, colored pencils, folders, etc).  We were successful in getting all of that -- and we also decided to do something fun while in Zamora.

There is this funny little wildlife refuge tucked away on a steep hill in the middle of town called Tzanka.  They apparently rehabilitate injured animals and try to release them into the wild again. Like many facilities in Ecuador, it seems kind of run down and halfway finished -- but it is a fun and funky little place.  There are tortoises walking around free, and you have to watch your step to make sure you don't stomp on them.  Here is a sample of what we saw:

An old busted-out speaker that is clearly now a bee hive (though you can't really see the bees in the photo)

Parrots climb up the pillars

"Nocturnal monkey" with huge eyes

Free-range tortoises

This guy was following us around

This beautiful and noisy guy was in a tree -- I'm assuming his wings were clipped