Pastaza, Ecuador (The Amazon) - Day 1
Thursday, January 27
This morning, we said good-bye to the Papa Gayo hosteria just outside of Machachi, Ecuador where we’ve been staying for the past 5 days. We’ve really enjoyed our time in the Cotopaxi Region, but are also excited to move onto our next big adventure in the Amazon Rainforest. I have to admit, I’ve got a few butterflies about going into the Amazon and what we might experience there. We are staying with a local family and I have no idea what to expect. I’m also excited to learn about their culture and way of life.
It’s funny how the first day traveling somewhere new feels so foreign and five days later, it feels like home. Aden was really sad to leave all the animals at Papa Gayo, especially Inca the Dog. Inca was waiting for him outside our cabin door this morning as we carried our bags to the front gate.
Gustavo, the same driver that picked us up in Quito and in Mindo last week, picked us up once again at Papa Gayo. We like riding with Gustavo because he speaks great English, knows a lot about Ecuador and is so kind to our family. We had a four-hour drive ahead of us this morning to get to Puyo, Ecuador — an Amazonian border town where we’ve arranged to meet Henry, the guy we’ll be staying with this week in the Amazon Rainforest.
Before traveling here, Andi and I heard how terrible the roads are in Ecuador — and that driving in your own rental car is ill-advised. We were expecting bumpy, dirt roads like Costa Rica, but now we see the roads are a different kind of headache in Ecuador. For the most part, all the roads are paved and in a decent condition, but people drive wildly! There is no regard to the speed limit and people tailgate and pass one another without fear. There are also so many twists and turns through the Andes Mountains that we all feel carsick whenever we drive a longer distance.
We left Papa Gayo at 7:00am this morning without eating breakfast and decided not to take motion sickness pills beforehand because they make us sleepy. About an hour into our drive south, I wished we’d prepared differently. Tory and Aden’s faces were ghostly white sitting next to me in the backseat. Andi asked Gustavo if we could stop for breakfast and some fresh air, and he said we’d stop half-way in Baños. It was the longest two hours ever! The more times Andi asked Gustavo to stop somewhere, the faster he'd drive through the mountains. We are all nauseous.
About 15 minutes outside Baños, Aden looked like he was going to be sick. Andi asked Gustavo to please pull over somewhere so Aden could get out and get some fresh air. I don’t think Gustavo realized how badly we all needed to get out of the car. He reluctantly pulled over on a side access road and we all piled out of the van for relief. Andi dished out motion sickness pills for everyone so we’d make it through the last half of the drive to Puyo.
Back in the van, we drove for 15 minutes more into the popular city of Baños. Gustavo said he knew of a great place we could get breakfast and rest for a bit. He dropped us off at a cafe called Blah Blah downtown.
Blah Blah Cafe was a great spot to stop. We ordered breakfast plates with eggs, fruit, cheese, meat, bread, jam and juice. I inhaled three croissants in an effort to get my belly to stop doing summersaults. Aden was seven shades of green and refused to eat anything.
While in Baños, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few snacks for the Amazon. Andi and I had no idea what food would be like so we figured we’d at least have crackers and chocolate to get us through the next few days. I also picked up a pack of playing cards at the store to give us something to do during our downtime. There’s no internet or cell phone connectivity there.
Back in the van, we drove the final 90-minutes to Puyo where we’d agreed to meet Henry. From Puyo, we’d follow Henry to his family’s property within the Amazon Rainforest. I kept going over the logistics in my mind during the drive, wondering how we were going to get our bags into the jungle. Somewhere in my thoughts, I must have dozed off because all of a sudden I heard Andi yell, “Stop! Heather!” I jolted awake to see Aden throwing up in his hand & quickly grabbed the gallon-size Ziploc bag I always carry with me on travel days for this very purpose. Aden threw up into the baggie while Gustavo found a place to pull-over. Once he threw up, Aden said he felt much better. Ugh, travel days are rough!
In Puyo, we met up with Henry who explained to Gustavo in Spanish that he didn’t have a car & had groceries to take back with us. He wondered if he could hop into our van, but there didn’t seem to be enough room. Instead, he told Gustavo where to drive and said he’d take a taxi to meet us there. Back in the car, we drove to another 30 minutes to a dirt path leading into the jungle on the side of the road. Henry pulled up shortly after. We unloaded our luggage and followed Henry down the path into the jungle. I wasn’t sure how we’d get our luggage from Point A to Point B, but now I could see we’d be carrying it. Ready or not, our adventure begins now!
We walked about half a mile down the path to the Puyo River. Henry yelled across it and soon his father appeared at the shore on the other side of the river at a wooden canoe. He paddled the canoe over to us and the four of us loaded into it with our belongings. All kinds of thoughts were running through my mind — like, how much weight can this wooden canoe hold, how far would we have to travel down the river, were we going to lose all of our things in the water, and were their lifejackets? Fortunately, we only had to make it across to the other side of the river which we seemed to do without a problem.
One the other side of the river, we walked into a large open-air kitchen/dining area and Henry introduced us to his mother, father and siblings. He said he has 7 brothers and sister and many, many nieces and nephews who live here together. In addition, there were several dogs, cats and lots of chickens running around the house.
Henry showed us to our cabin — a one-room building with four beds and a wrap-around deck — and gave us time to get settled. The cabin was simple, but nice. It had a metal roof, but the cabin was not screened in so bug nets were provided around each bed. There were two toilets and a shower on the property located closer to the main house/kitchen.
Henry invited us to go for a walk to see the property, and we agreed. I was worried about insects, so I covered the kids and I in repellant and tucked our pants into our rain boots. Surprisingly, the bugs weren’t too bad though. The mud, on the other hand, was a different story.
Within five minutes of walking down the trail, Henry signaled for Andi to come over to him. Andi obliged, and Henry stuck Andi’s hand firmly into a termites nest. He held it there as hundreds of tiny termites began to crawl all over Andi’s hand and arm. I nearly had a heart attack right then & there. Yuck! “Good mosquito repellent,” Henry said.
We walked along further & Henry pointed out various plants in the jungle. He picked the pod of one and opened it to reveal red seeds inside. Henry smeared the seeds with his finger and then wiped the substance onto Tory and Aden’s cheeks. He said the indigenous Kichwa once used these seeds for war paint.
We continued walking throughout the property and saw many more cabins along the river, as well as a tilapia pond stocked with fresh fish.
Next, Henry led us back to the main kitchen and asked us to sit down at the table. His mother brought out full plates of food, juice and hot tea. Andi and I were a little surprised because it was 3:00pm and none us were the least bit hungry. Was this lunch? Or dinner? No one else in the family was eating. I think his mother felt the need to feed us after our arrival which was a very thoughtful gesture. How I wished we spoke Spanish so we could better communicate with Henry’s mother and the rest of his family! It would be as simple as asking the plan for the afternoon, but we didn’t know how. Henry does speak some English, but no one else in his family does.
Tory and Aden grumbled under their breaths about being served foods they weren’t interested in eating. I whispered back in my sternest motherly tone that they’d probably be served a lot of foods they didn’t like during this Amazonian adventure and they were expected to shut up and eat it all. Personally, I thought the lunch was very good — tuna, fried plantains, avocado, steamed vegetables and rice — I just wasn’t very hungry. I gobbled it down anyway as not to offend anyone.
After we ate, Henry said we were going to another indigenous Kichwa community called Wayusi to learn about their ancient cultural dancing and rituals. His family does not own a car, nor I do I think anyone uses them here. Each community is connected by foot path and they walk everywhere. Sadly, I was surprised to see quite a bit of trash littered along the trail. There weren’t any trash cans that I saw, so I assume they burn everything and what they don’t burn finds its way to the ground.
As we approached the Wayusi Community, I could tell we were walking into a tourist attraction. I was still trying to figure all this out, but gathered that this cluster of huts was designed to show tourists how the tribe lives. A large fire was burning in the center of the biggest hut and Henry said it burns 24/7 to keep the bugs at bay. They also use it for ceremonial dances and cooking.
A man, woman and child arrived dressed in traditional Kichwa costumes and began to draw on our faces with the red paint derived from seeds. They passed around a communal bowl of chichi de yucca, or yucca juice, for us to try. We each took a small sip. Henry was happy to polish off the rest! The chichi de yucca was slightly off-white in color without much taste.
Next, the woman dressed in a ceremonial costume motioned for Tory and I to put on straw skirts. Henry said only the men are allowed to beat on the ceremonial drums. Our family followed the others around the fire, dancing and beating the drums while the man chanted a tune.
After dancing, the man in ceremonial costume showed us how to use the blow gun. Aden, in particular, really liked this and asked to do it over and over. I tried not to think about how many people’s mouth had been on that pole.
We followed Henry to an artisanal hut where various families were selling their wares. There were beaded necklaces, earrings, keychains, ceramic bowls and blow guns for sale. Andi and I felt obligated to buy something. Tory picked out a beaded bracelet and Aden got a small blow gun. Andi purchased two small ceramic bowls for us to take home.
Afterwards, we followed Henry back to his family’s property. We were all exhausted from a day of travel, as well as acclimating to our new environment and the humidity. Still, we were excited to get settled and enjoy all that the Amazon had to offer during our next few days here.
When we returned, Henry’s mother had made us lemongrass tea to drink. Andi and Aden were so hot, they decided to take a quick dip to cool off in the Puyo River. I did my best to explain to Henry’s mother that we were still so full from our late lunch that we didn’t need dinner, but she insisted the kids needed to eat something. At least, I think that’s what she was saying. (Even more motivation to keep working on my Spanish!)
We brought out a deck of cards and played King’s Corner at the table while we waited for dinner.
Dinner was served at 7:00pm. Henry’s mother prepared soup, popcorn and fried bananas. It was perfect. Only Aden grumbled because he doesn’t like eating soup, but Andi and I forced him to eat it anyway.
After we ate, we told the family thank you and retired to our cabin. All four of us were exhausted and a little bit cranky adjusting to our new surroundings. Tomorrow would be a fresh, new day to practice our Spanish and be open to trying new things.
