not all who wander are lost.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Ecuador Day 4 and 5

Our last night at Limoncocha Hostal I went to sleep at 730pm. I woke up at 6am the next morning, totally rested...did some yoga, and had a breakfast of fresh fruit with yogurt, bread with butter and jam, juice and hot tea. then we were on our merry way into the jungle. we got boots from Cesar and we were off. our trek into the jungle was a freaking adventure. First, we took a taxi for about an hour, then a long ride in a very thin, very long motorized boat that dropped us on the side of the Rio Napo, then we hiked through the amazon jungle for several hours before arriving to our destination. It was intense and I realized that Im not as in shape as Id like to be. By the way, did I mention that our guide for the village and this trip doesnt speak any english? acutally, there isnt really anyone in ecuador who speaks english. its been a smidge difficult, but we are managing.ányways, todo en espanol we are in this so called village. it is definitely for tourists, but still...there is no electricity and this place IS a few hours away from any sort of town. they did some ceremonies and little demonstrations that were all kinda cheesey, but it was cool to learn what we did. the highlight was swimming in the rio blanco which was just chilly enough to be comfortable and refreshing. 3 sqaure meals a day left me fat and happy, and the only real painful part was their cultural demonstration later that evening which was all sorts of awful...violin, grassskirts, drunken men, and lots of really awful dancing. ill just leave it at that. i slept under a mosquito net and prayed to god that i wouldnt have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night...because even though i had my headlamp there was no f¨ing way that i was going to walk downstairs in the pitch black without some lights on. well dontcha friggin know it, at 5 am i wake up and i gotta go...i mean i really GOTTA GO. so, headlamp strapped on, i cruise through our hut, downstairs to the very dark bathrooms, and use the potty. in complete blackness. holy christ. it was the scariest poo id ever taken. anyways, when i ran back upstairs to crawl under my mosquito net, i started to think about all of the things my dad would be proud of that id done so far...i ate chicken that was ON the bone, i swam in a river and wasnt super paranoid about getting eaten alive by the lochness monster, i hiked for hours through thick terrain without complaining, and i walked around, in the dark, in the jungle. wow. these arent baby steps people...these are huge steps. huge. anyways, when i woke up this morning, day 5, i still wasnt any better and pat took a stand and said that we needed to get out of the jungle and back to a doctor, ASAP. i was bummed to miss out on the shaman and the waterfalls, but i agreed that leaving and getting some medicial attention was pretty essential. there was only one other group that was at the Quichia village with us, a group of 4 very serious people from France, and we were to leave with them right after lunch. So, on their agenda for the morning was to go into the village to the school. I didnt think that i would care that much, but the kids were ammmmmmmaaazing, and we had the best time. i laughed harder than i have in a long time. actually, despite the many roadbumps we have hit thus far, i have laughed more each day than i have in a long time .. and let me tell you, i laugh alot on a regular basis. anyways...the kids sang some songs for us and stuff like that, then we had to get up and sing...pat and i san row row row your boat and the itsy bitsy spider. hahaha. i got up solo and sang a song in english that they sing in spanish. we played games simliar to duck duck goose and some other funny ones. the kids were just awesome. there were two who took a liking to me and held my hand throughout the morning. it was definitely very special for all of us there...lou, the serious frenchmen, and pat. after we were forced to say our goodbyes we quickly had lunch, left lou all alone at the village, and then were off. well goddamn...these frenchmen were no joke. we hiked the intense trail in half the time it took us to come in...literally HALF the time. i almost died. DIED. twice. and the whole reason that i was LEAVING the jungle was so that i WOULDNT die. i sweat out about 15 pounds and then we hopped a ride in the back of a truck to Tena, and the guy drove so fast that my clothes air dried in seconds. back in tena, we checked back into the fabulous limoncocha hostal, which is 6 bucks a night and serves up a fab breakfast, and then met up with cesar at the tour place to return our boots. he was surprised to see us back early, and when i told him about my awful ear infection, he insisted to take me to the local clinic. he said that it was the best, but a little expensive. cesar was a godsend. my spanish is not so great, and his english is nonexistent, but the 20 minute walk to the clinic gave us time to go over what all my ailments were...how i treated them and what was getting worse. so, once i got to the doctor we stayed for over an hour, at my side. he talked to the nurse, the receptionist and the doctor...making my visit MUCH easier. turns out that i have an infection in my jaw, which would explain why the ear drops were not fixing me. hahaha. anyways, i got a shot in my butt, which pat documented with her camera, and then 2 perscriptions to take for the next week. all in all...38 bucks. afterwards, pat and i celebrated at cafe tortuga...i had their house speciality...a beer floated with vanilla ice cream and fresh pinepple...it sounds crazy, but hit the spot. i also had a crepe stuffed with shredded chicken, pineapple, tomatoes, onions adn curry. mmm. all for 5 bucks. i love ecuador.
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off early tomorrow am for some more long busrides, en route to latacunga for LA MAMA NEGRA festival. will report with all the goods later this week....

2 comments:

  1. Ha, headlamp! whose got ya covered?

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  2. yo, you got mastoiditis from your ear infection...ouch!! (i wonder if a doctor wrote this :)

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