Amazon Adventure!

So this weekend was freakin' supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. In laymen's terms it was sicky sicky gnar gnar. A wonderfully exciting and awesome weekend indeed! So we had our IPSL trip and we went to the Huasquila area which is a little over an hour away from Tena; 5 hours on the same Cliffside Amazonian "roads." We stayed at this hacienda turned hostel that was beautiful! Surrounded by selva, or jungle on all sides it was hard to believe what we were seeing every morning when we woke up. Zac and I stayed in our own cabin; thatched roof, hammok, and complete with a lot of huge ass spiders. The first day after our horibly uncomfortable yet amazing drive we went our our first hike. *Authors note; never travel on Ecuadorian mountain roads if you have a week stomach, 1 lane is indefinitely under construction and there is no one to direct traffic so many times you come face to face with a large truck or bus while rounding a corner that lacks any sort of guard rail. It makes for an exciting trip. So right after we arrive we threw on our much needed rain boots and headed down the road a mile or so learning about a few medicinal and artisanical plants to a small group of houses where our guide, Jose's daughter lived for a small lesson on the life and work of an Amazonian Quichua artisan. We all made our very own bracelets, some looking better than others, mine looking not so nice, though im quite fond of it. After walking back we dined and promptly retired because day two was no walk in the park... it was in the jungle. What a walk it was! We walked through the former hacienda across a field all the while Jose and his fellow guides were instructing on us on the proper application and harvest of all the medicinal plants whose purposed range from snakebites, machete wounds, diabetes, tumors, mosquito bites, fatigue, and an unhealthy spirit. We entered the jungle not knowing what to expect and immediately we were in the thick of it. Fo real dog I mean the thick of the Amazonian Jungle. No joke. Vines all up in your face, bugs, mud, and insects galore. The leaves bigger than people and what they called the path was no more than the only area that we could get through without crawling on our hands and knees! We took a short break to swim in a huge waterfall and proceeded down the river tasting and trying all sorts of plants and vines that Jose and his Lowland Quichua relatives have been using for thousands of years instead of hospitals and continue to choose local medicine and religion to heal themselves instead of modern medicine. After a little of ceremonial war paint we hopped into a cave that in some places was no bigger than an entrance to a doghouse, not to mention filled with bats and cave spiders, some bigger than my hand! After the cave we poured the water out of our boots and found our way out of the jungle to walk back to the hostel. The 3rd day was no less exciting because we headed off to the AmazOOnica which is an island between two rivers that houses rescued animals and gives them a safe home as well as teaches hunters who survive on the animals how to conserve and domesticate some species. They had everything and more! Parrots, macaws, all sorts of monkeys, an anaconda, jungle cats, turtles, caimans, ect ect. We walked all over the island observing the animals that were in and out of cages depending on their status. Some can be released back into the wild but others; because of their dependence on human sin their early life will remain at the sanctuary. We took an amazing long Amazonian canoe there and to our next destination and the trip made me miss being home and on the water during the summer. They looked like really long Dories. I was inspired, it was a sign, so mom, this summer im going to fix up the dory and find a motor for it and get it out of the back yard! Yeay! We crossed over into the Napo river which is a major vein that runs into to the Amazon, then landed opposite from where we shoved off and got back in the van which was waiting for us. Since it was carnival, known to you gringos back home as Martigras or Fat Tuesday, there were celebrations all over Latin America but here they do it a bit different. In Ecuador there are huge battles, water, fruit, flour, foam, eggs, flowers; they throw everything at you. No matter where we drove there were kids waiting for us with home made pvc water cannons and buckets full of ammo. Being that its 80 degrees here we would travel with the windows open and out of the bushes would jump little boys and girls nailing us through the windows with water soaking us and our driver, it was awesome and a good way to cool off! We stopped at a locally and independently run Quichua museum full of great stuff but mostly animals and medicinal plants, some hallucinogenic, some for healing, some for killing others and yourself. Monkeys and little boys ran wild chasing each other jumping out of trees onto each other, it was something out of jungle book and I was jealous that they had such a free and awesome childhood, who doesnt want their own monkey!? I also got to try a little of the fabled Coca plant which is illegal in Ecuador but is well known for its production into cocaine in Columbia. You need pounds and pounds of the leaves to make 1 oz of cocaine, so what they had there was for medicinal purposes. Chewing the leaf give you energy and has been used by slaves and miners in S America for hundreds of years where food is short and 18 hr work days are mandatory. Next we drove to Piedra del Oro for a huge carnival party in the middle of the woods. Let me tell you.. the Ecuadorians know how to party! We drove up on this random road, parked and started walking; we had no idea what was in store for us. We crossed a bridge and were greeted by a dirt bike race, lots of mud, music, mud, foam, hundreds of Ecuadorians parting, mud, more mud, and some beer. By the time it was time to go we had been covered by foam and mud, it was like the pictures of woodstock. Mud monsters. We jumped into the river to wash off and we were on our way again. A great time. The last day was aother cavern and swiming day and luckely we found some water slides fed by water sucked out of the cavern, it was awesome! All in all, go tot he amazon, it kicks ass. Next week, im off to Huaorani Territory! Saludos!