I saw an Ecuadorian man with Nail Patella Syndrome.
It made me miss my family.
I hope everyone is doing well. I’m doing wonderful, although a little bogged down with homework. So of course, I’m updating my blog. I’m creating an illusion of progress without actually making any headway on the mountain of “deberes” that await me. But I’m a little behind on the blog entries, too. I’m writing about last weekend’s adventures instead of this weekend’s.
Last weekend (Saturday through Tuesday) was Carnaval. While there are some celebrations in the city, a lot of people head out to do some traveling. We took advantage of the time off of classes to go to the Amazon. Our study abroad program hosted the trip so almost everyone went.
The first day we went caving and hiked to a waterfall. Encounters with wildlife: bats, tarantulas, giant beetles. That night we explored the little town and had deep talks about religion. Definitely fascinating to hear so many different points of view and I think I learned some things about myself. Self discovery in the Amazon.
The second day we moved to another hostel, deeper in the Amazon. The only way to get there was via canoa (giant motorized canoes) by way of Rio Napo (while not the Amazon River, it is a river in the Amazon) and from that point on we went everywhere via canoa. There aren’t many cars in the Amazon, if you can believe that. We visited an animal rescue center, visited an indigenous family, and saw a spiritual cleansing by a Quichuan shaman. The indigenous family trip was interesting. We started by walking through their “farm,” although it wasn’t really a farm. It seemed much more naturally occurring. They had coffee, cacao, bananas, guaba (not guava), papaya, mango, oranges, yucca, avocado, peppers, ginger, and all sorts of other plants and trees native to Ecuador. They fish in the river and they sell whatever extra they have to buy what they do not produce themselves.
The family had an agreement with our guides, I think, because our guide led us into their home. They were expecting us but were not very receptive. But if 15 foreigners walked into my kitchen gawking and holding cameras, how receptive would I be? Hernan, our guide, showed us around their kitchen and methods of cooking. They smoke most of their food, including meats, because they do not have a refrigerator. The mother of the home prepared us some foods to try: yucca with salt, fried bananas, fish from the river, oranges, guaba. Except for the fish, which I didn’t try, it was delicious.
The third day we went on a three hour hike through the jungle. I saw all sorts of scary creatures. And plants. Our guide was telling us about a plant used for natural healing that works into the muscles and relieves pain. Then he asked if we wanted to try it. Thinking it was going to be pleasant, of course I said yes. We all rolled up our sleeves and Hernan whacked our arms with a huge chunk of leaves. It was an instant burning sensation like having a bunch of thorns in your arm. That lasted for about fifteen minutes and when it went away a bunch of red bumps took its place. Not cool, Hernan, not cool. And I ate an ant, not very vegetarian of me but it tasted like lemon.
After lunch we made raft out of balsa logs and rope and went rafting down Rio Napo. It was relaxing. We sang. And some of the children in the indigenous family we met the day before canoed/swam over to our raft and joined us. It was nice. When we finished, we stopped at a little patch of land the middle of the river and took the rafts apart. We had to take canoes back to the hostel but we couldn’t all fit with the raft logs in the canoes. Five other people and I stayed on the little “island” until the canoes could go back, unload, and turn around. At first I was worried about mosquitos since it was getting late but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. The water was warm. The sun was setting. The sand felt great. All in all, it was a very pleasant half hour.
The last day we visited an Ethnic Indigenous museum. It really didn’t share too much information on the indigenous way of living, except for a demonstration on different types of traps used to catch animals in the jungle. Mainly, it just had a whole bunch of animals. Monkeys running around everywhere. And I held an ocelot. After visiting the museum, we headed back to Quito with a stop to see one last zoo. Although, observing caged animals was not my favorite thing from the Amazon trip, this last museum was cool because we saw the world’s largest rodent, a capybara. It was huge!
But anyways, I know this is kind of short for how amazing my trip was but most of the fun was experiencing nature. I think my favorite day was hiking through the jungle and then cooling off, rafting in the river. It was AMAZonING (Get it?! Amazon, amazing!). Such beauty everywhere you look. But I couldn’t help but think that I don’t have to travel to the Amazon to see natural beauty. Brown County, Indiana is beautiful, too. And it’s a lot closer. I guess it’s a matter of appreciating and taking care of what you have.
But. Now for a couple…
FACTOIDS!
· Ayahuasca, a plant found in the Amazon region, can cause month-long hallucinations if too much is taken.
· There is a type of ant in the Amazon that can, with a bite, put you into a coma. It’s a pretty giant ant.
· A lot of trees in the Amazon have “superficial” roots, or roots very close to the surface, because the forest floor doesn’t have many nutrients. Because of this, many trees have immense bases with above-ground roots that are 4-5 feet tall. Back when groups of indigenous people inhabited the forest, they would pound on the roots to communicate long distances. The sound is a low, resonating boom that can easily be heard across the forest.
Well, until next time! I should be chronicling this weekend’s adventures soon! Hope you all are doing well!
the banana tree reminds me of the movie The Jungle Book.
ReplyDeletealso, that blood plant looks sweet.