Welcome to the Jungle Part 2

The next post is second installment into my adventures in the Amazon. The first part of the story is covered in my previous post, Welcome to the Jungle Part 1.

After visiting the Jungle Farm with all of the diverse plant life and gnarly grubs, we had a chance to meet with a local Kichwa family living in the area, about a 10 minute boat ride up the river. We continue our adventure there.

Kichwa Family Visit

Kichwa is the name used to describe the indigenous people in the region. These families often live along the river with several generations living together on a small plot of land. The Ecuadorian government has made several new initiatives to bring electricity to these families through the donation of solar panels. It's enough to provide electricity for lights and small appliances, however it is not enough to power a large appliance like a refrigerator. The family we visited seemed relatively modern for being so remote (a teenage girl had a cellphone), however they maintain their traditional ways and are essentially subsistence farmers.

Kichwa family home.

Upon arrival, we met Jose and Rosa, the patriarch and matriarch of the family. Jose was considered a healer in his community and Alfonso made a special point to distinguish the difference between a "healer" and a "shaman." A healer uses their powers for good, while a shaman was more like a witch in their eyes. 

Jose and Rosa, our hosts for the afternoon.

In any case, Jose invited the group to be a part of a traditional cleansing ritual. Jose would use tobacco and a bushel of leaves to help rid your spirit of toxic energy. He wore beads made from local plants that sounded like a waterfall during the ceremony. I'm not sure if my "aura" was cleansed, however it was an interesting experience nonetheless.

Taking part in the cleansing ceremony.

The next part of the visit was to learn about the traditional weapons that the Kichwa used to hunt in the jungle: the blowgun and the spear. Of course, with learning comes doing and soon we were all lined up and ready to test our mettle at the weapons. 

Alfonso got us started by showing us the proper technique for each tool, and made it look relatively easy when he hit the targets (a papaya and piece of wood) on the first go. 

Alfonso and the spear. He's done it once or twice.

Alan, the Australian man from our group, turned out to be an Amazonian in disguise. He mastered the blowgun and came pretty damn close with the spear on his turns. 

I would not survive in the jungle. My spear throwing was laughable (literally, there were laughs) and I came no where near hitting the papaya with the blowgun. I almost hit one of the roving chickens that decided to wander within 10ft of the papaya when I was wielding the blowgun. Maybe I would survive in the Amazon after all. 

Armed and dangerous.

Don't mess with a mama.

A mother chicken and her 6 chicks decided to peck around the line of fire when the other Ecuadorians were having their turns. 

Alfonso and I tried to shoo them away and the mama chicken flat out attacked Alfonso when he got a bit too close to one of the chicks. It was a pretty funny thing to witness. 

Fortunately, mama decided to lead her little ones elsewhere for the rest of the afternoon.

Rosa and her daughters showed us the art of making chicha which is an alcoholic drink made the yucca plant. I drank a whole glass of chicha in Peru while on the Inca Trail. Let's just say it's an acquired taste.

Sue dove into the chicha making. I love the woman's expression in this photo.

Additional photos of the surrounding area... I can't take enough.

Top: Another day on the river. Bottom: The trees and plants surrounding the Kichwa family home.

Sunset over the Amazon.

Full moon rising.

Jungle Treks: Primary and Secondary Forests

I soon understood the reason for mud boots.

While staying in the Amazon, exploring the local forests goes without question. When people think of the Amazon, they think of large anacondas, jaguars, and other large predators laying in wait high above the trees. 

While these animals do exist, we did not see them. I would say that we saw a ton of very tiny animals and a lot of very large trees. While this seems rather anti-climatic, I really enjoyed hiking through the jungle during the day and simply soaking in the different plants and trees. 

Here are some photos from the two jungle treks through the forest. The first four photos are from the secondary forest (new growth) and the second set is from the primary forest (old growth):

I loved the different colors and textures of the forest.

Taking in all of the different plants and trees that literally surrounded us.

We mostly saw a variety of frogs and spiders on our first trek. No jaguars this time. Alfonso loved the little frogs and seemed to pluck them out of the ground every few feet. They have official names, but alas, I do not remember them. From L to R: Frog #1, The Devil Spider (he looks like he has horns), the "don't mess with that spider," and Frog #2.

A massive Kapot tree, or one of the largest tree species in the world. It was enormous - the roots are above ground due to the shallow soil of the forest. They can stretch out a great distance on the forest floor in order to support the massive tree. Photos simply do not do it justice.

L to R: Alfonso with earthworm poop, a super poisonous mushroom, leaf that has red markings for protection, jungle band-aid made from a type of mushroom, the coca leaf which makes tea for altitude sickness and in a different form, cocaine and finally curare in raw form. Curare causes paralysis and was used in historical anesthesia.

In the jungle, once again.

There were more frogs and spiders in the primary forest, too.

Cooking Class

We had a chance to earn our keep and cook our lunch for a day. We had tilapia steamed in a large stone leaf, stinging needle salad, fried yucca, and bananas fritters. Here are some photos of the experience.

We get to work in the kitchen.

The end result was very tasty!

La Paz Waterfall

On the last day, we spent the afternoon at La Paz waterfall, about an hour away from Yachana. Simply put, it was beautiful and the scenery was straight out of a fantasy novel. We had an opportunity to swim in the pond and lounge on the banks for a few hours.

It was a great way to top off the trip!

I had a wonderful time in my short stay in the Amazon, and I feel fortunate to have had such an excellent guide and a nice group of people to share the experience with. Thank you for coming along as well!

Goodbye Amazon... Hello Quito!