February 6, 2001 Quito, Ecuador

Mad Max was very excited about a photo opportunity for me at the local university! Indigenous people from all over Ecuador were in the middle of an organized strike that had closed major highways country-wide. The headquarters and main focal point of the demonstrations was close by with a myriad of different tribes and cultures camping out on the campus.

An opportunity to photograph many different tribes in one place! And experience teargas firsthand! I didn’t get to see any actual cannisters launched until that night on the tv news, but I sure felt the residual effects.

We spent a couple of hours wandering among the various groups and camps. Although most sects had different styles of dress and their own language, they all seemed to speak at least some Spanish. Max was not shy about asking about their villages and lifestyles. He was recruiting interested villages in participating with his eco-tour foundation.

As we walked away from the campus we encountered a pick-up full of foodstuffs for the protesters that had been stopped by a police roadblock. Max intervened on behalf of the nuns driving the truck and said that there were plenty of people to carry the cargo into the camps. The police said, “No, you can’t do that either!” Finally the police gave in to Max’s insistence and let the truck pass through to the hungry protesters.

February 1, 2001 - Quito, Ecuador 

My host in Quito is a wonderfully wild-eyed, energetic director of an authentic eco-tour and volunteer program in Ecuador. Maximiliano is a bit crazy in a very positive way, hence my name for him, Mad Max. Max and his family have made me feel quite at home in the apartment that they rent out to volunteers of the eco-program. He also set me up with a private office that will be my basecamp for a few trips around the country.

One evening I came home at about 12:30 to find Max and two volunteers in the living room. “Let’s go take pictures of the church! The lights are beautiful at night. It’s just a few minutes away!” So began our two-hour trek through the streets of Quito! A guided tour including a 566 step staircase down to the church, colonial architecture and a cool little cafe.

I came home even later on another night to be enlisted in yet another adventure! The office manager Dave, a long term volunteer from England was departing in the wee hours of the morning for his homeland. Max and some other volunteers figured, “Why go to bed?” Over wine and rum and cokes, a lengthy cross-cultural exchange continued until we woke up the departing guest of honor for his ride to the airport.

The lively goodbye at the airport was followed by a sunrise hike through Ecuadors’ equivalent of New Yorks Central Park. Max insisted we remove our shoes as we walked and he talked.

He told us about the medicinal properties of many of the plants and guided us to a variety sculptures as the day broke. To our amazement, Max went directly to the office for the day.

You can read about a third MadMax adventure in a subsequent entry entitled “Teargas, a New Experience!”

Max is a rare individual. He is just crazy enough to believe that his work with indigenous people and the environment can actually make a difference. The world could use a few more Mad Maxes.