More photos from Ecuador

In Zabalo:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036991&id=62600660&l=3aac17fae1

In Quito and AroundThere

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036847&id=62600660&l=0a9eea4a88

Adventures in the Cities and Jungles of Ecuador

Been back for a week or so in Lima and, I have to admit, its nice being back to the familiarity and comforts of the house in Tupac. It's always funny how you appreciate things so much more when you're away from it for awhile.

Ecuador was fun; we had our share of laughs and grimaces, incredible encounters with creatures, lost-in-translation and ridiculous moments and all the rest in between.

The whole trip seemed like we were always moving, going somewhere in car, train, taxi, boat. Felipe, a friend from college who is from Ecuador, came to pick us up at the airport. We made a short stop to his house in Quito, where we left some of our things. Then, we headed off to Papallacta, a place known for its thermal hot springs. Quito is the highest capital city in South America, 9,186 feet and Papallacta is even higher, at around 10,826 feet. We didn't end up getting there until it was dark, but were able to grab some dinner (the quimbolitos, a kind of type of sweet humita was yummy) and enjoy the hot springs all to ourselves (they said it was under construction so they even waived the fee for using it!) The water was lukewarm but then discovered another one that was enclosed and nice and toasty! What a nice way to relax after the drive. Unfortunately, my mom was feeling the altitude and so she only managed to eat soup in bed and go to sleep.

The next morning, we were off to Lago Agrio. This long drive was possible the worst I have ever been on; going up and down mountains and around dozens of curves. All of us girls in the car ended up really sick and lost our breakfasts! Imagine our relief when we finally got to the town. There, we bought our supplies to get prepared for the jungle: rain boots (that were probably the most valuable things we bought), ponchos for the rain and bug spray (other things we soon found out we couldn't have survived without.) We were all set and ready for the jungle! After staying a night in Dureno, which was only a 30-minute boat ride from Lago, we headed out to Zabalo, a six-hour boat ride on the Napo River.

My mom and I were "jungle girls" for a full week in Zabalo. The jungle turned out to be totally different from what my mom expected (I suppose I went in myself not knowing what to expect). Instead of sleeping outside, among all the nature, we got to stay with Felipe's family in their big, wooden cabin. There were faucets with running water that was collected from the rain, a stove in the kitchen and beds with mosquito nets. Talk about roughing it. Haha. Unfortunately, we'd be roughing it in other aspects. The morning that we had headed out to Zabalo, we were completely unprepared in terms of dealing with the bugs. We had got unarmed, without the lotion or spray bug repellent. As we took a "bathroom break" on one of the sandy islands, we literally got attacked by tons of gnats! I have never known about gnats before; but I can tell you they are the most vicious black bugs! In the perhaps 10 minutes we were on the island, I must've received at least 30 bites, and my moms double that (since she was even worse off and wore a dress!) As we got back in the boat and were preparing to leave, Felipe told us how there were plenty of gnats on this island and how you could tell their bites because they left a little blood spot mark in the center... Hmmm, good to know. But it was a bit too late. Haha. They had already made lunch out of us, and, we soon found out, would make many many more meals out of us.

By the time we got to Zabalo it was dinner. Amelia, Felipe's mom, served us up a hearty soup, consisting of rice, bananas (plantains, I think) and tapir (a type of boar kind of meat that tastes similar to). It was pretty tasty. And yes, while I was in Ecuador, or at least Zabalo, I did forgo my vegetarian-ness and tried a few different meats. I figured that 1. It would be hard on them if I didn't eat any (I think even more so in Peru, Ecuadorians don't understand why anyone would be vegetarian) 2. The way they survived out there was hunting/fishing for their food and it couldn't hurt me to try it out for a week. 3. They weren't being inhumane to the animals. So in all my time there I tried Paka (a large rodent type meat) and Tapir. We also ended up eating a lot of fish that they caught from the river. We even ate Piranha!! My mom liked to joke how "We are eating the piranha instead of it eating us. Haha.)

Since the next day was Christmas Eve, we set out with the family to do some/hunting and fishing to catch something to prepare for the Christmas potluck. They kept their eyes out for large turtles and caiman since it is legal on that day to hunt them for Christmas. Many times when they go on hunting trips for the day, they start out with a nice, hearty breakfast (something like rice, lentils, fried fish and fried bananas). Then they go out all day hunting/fishing and only bring along the banana drink. The popular drink there was one made from bananas which they boiled, mashed and then mixed with water. This drink was supposed to keep you hydrated since bananas have a lot of potassium. Somehow, this manages to sustain them until they come back at night. Unfortunately, my mom and I were not accustomed to this and so we a few of our own snacks on board.

As we were riding on the Zabalo River, we ended up seeing a caiman (a type of alligator-type thing that took us a whole 10 minutes to actually make out since it blended in so well to the dirt), a tarantula (hiding in its nest), and even an anaconda (which they told us we were really lucky to see because they hadn't seen it in a long time!) It gave me a fright when I was taking a video of it because Felipe's brother, Joshua, started splashing it with water to make it move or do something. It started slithering into the water right near the boat, about two feet from where I was taking the video. I jumped back so fast I almost fell out of the boat! Que susto! We saw man vibrantly colored butterflies and birds, some with beautiful songs and some with some awful squeaks. I found out that I was among friends when I heard about these birds that are purely vegetarians. Then, we saw a toucan, which my mom and I were both admiring, only to hear a "boom" and see a shape falling down through the trees. I guess they said toucans make good meals as well. Later, my mom told me how she was so devastated to see this lovely bird, with all its bright colors, shot and killed. At the end of the day, we came back with a load of fish and some small game.

The next day, we got to see how the Cofan community celebrated Christmas there. The morning started out with games such as finding the bean under the can, flyers up and egg toss (which lasted quite long, with many a time an egg falling on the ground without cracking one bit... Haha). For lunch there was the potluck; where every family had brought a dish to contribute (My mom and I ended up making banana bread). The long, wooden tables were covered end to end with metal pots. Felipe's dad, Randy, being chief, then began to go around to each pot, lift it up and explain what it was; arousing much laughter with his jokes and commentary. When he was finished explaining, everyone just kind of shoves their plate to the server (the person who made that pot of food) and you serve them. It's a bit chaotic but fun. Since I was serving the banana bread, my mom ended up only getting us three dishes to try (the most normal, she says): yucca, rice and beans and tapir.

After, there were piñatas games which turned out to be crazy. Even the adults went insane with rushing for the candy! Fun times! Later, they handed out bags of treats to each family (collected from different donations) and even to the visitors! There were soccer and "Ecua-Volley" games in the afternoon. Felipe explained to me how it was Ecuador's take on volleyball, rougher and more intense, with three players on each side, and (I think) with less rules. It was fun watching but, still getting attacked by the gnats, we decided to head home. It was definitely a unique Christmas and I really enjoyed just getting to see and spend time with the community. I thought it was great that the Christmas there wasn't anything about material gifts and consumption. In fact, the only gifts we received were those goody bags from the community. What a nice change!

Most of the rest of the week was spent on hunting/fishing trips, a caminata walk with Tio Mauricio (where we learned about lots of different medicinal plants of the jungle and saw him make a backpack out of reeds), playing with little Jeremiah, hanging out in the cabin, taking baths in the river (with currents so strong you had to be careful not to be swept away) and collecting fruits from the trees. It was fun but we were ready to go back to the city (where there'd be no more problems with bugs).

After a couple nights back in Quito, Amelia wanted to take us to Banos. We spent the night there, a place known for its thermal springs. We decided to go to the springs the next morning; enjoy the medicinal properties of the water. Just after we had taken our showers and were getting ready to dip into the springs, one of the guards stopped us, saying how my mom couldn't go in with all those things on her legs. I argued, saying they were only bug bites (originally they had asked her, and since we said it was really only bug bites from the jungle, they said that was fine). But the guard insisted she could not go in with the other customers. He was adamant, saying she could have her own "private" one downstairs if she liked. Sheesh, these bug bites must've looked pretty bad, poor mom!

Having learned a thing or two in my year in Peru, I said we would just leave instead, but would want a refund, of course. Going back down, they said they do not do refunds and pointed to the sign that stated it. It was the principle of the matter and so I kept insisting, saying everyone said originally it was okay for her to go in. Luck have it, they returned our money and it ended up being a beautiful, sunny day to spend around town.

We're not sure if it was an allergic reaction from the bug bites or what, but my mom's knee suddenly got inflamed a couple days back into Quito, after we had done some tourist sites there such as Mitad del Mundo.

She decided to rest in the house in Quito while we went up to the family's farm a few hours away. It was nice. We parked the car and made the 1 1/2 hike to the cabin, where it ensued to rain all weekend. Lucky for me, I only sunk in mud twice, where it came up to my knees (but at least I had my rain boots!) I still haven't mastered maneuvering walking up and down hills in the muck. I mostly "hung" at the farm, playing with Jeremiah. The guys mostly go there to do work on the farm and fix things up. There was a lovely room with an open fire which was nice because it was cold there! The day we left, in the wet morning, we went out to milk cows which I was not so successful at. I'm not cut out to be a farm girl either, I guess! Then we headed back to the city in the evening.

Ecuador treated us quite well, save for the hundreds of mosquito bites. My mom had quickly noted that it has a very different feel than Peru. It's really great how every place has its own unique things to offer. Now we have a couple more weeks to discover more unique things about Peru!