The Old Forest

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Again, the link to new pictures that Sue posted:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGf8

My brother, Bryan informed me today the ¨Eternal Flame¨was sung by the Bangles and not Debbie Gibson, so it looks like my manhood is still in tact, I couldn´t ID the artist. Thank god for that!!!

So, I had the opportunity to go out and do some field work with the German intern at CODEAMA. She is collecting GPS data on the farms within a group of three watersheds. My counterpart agency, along with the municipal government, and a couple other agency is beginning a campaign to raise money to try to conserve the watersheds that are their source of drinking water. There are 13 farms in the area and the idea is to create buffer zones of forest/plants along the streams and rivers.

Katherina and I went out to one of the farms yesterday to collect geographic data on the location and size of the farm, as well as the location and size of pastures and fields. Wow, it was an amazing day. The farmer (a guy of about 50), was small in stature, huge in heart, and had the energy and strength of a 20 year-old. It was all I could do to keep pace with him. The terrain was some of the hardest I have ever traversed. The pastures were laden with thick grass and small trees, pockets of mud so deep and soft they could, and at times, often would swallow your whole leg if you were not careful, and finally, there were many fallen logs obscured by undergrowth. The forests were thick and the floor was covered with round, wet, and slippery rocks. By mid day, I was spent, and still had 5 more hours of work. Seriously, it was slow going, but the adventure was well worth it. By the end of the day, my grey pants were an unmistakable muddy brown, my rubber boots were covered and filled with mud, and my strength gone. I so wanted to return to my apartment, grab a shower, and lay down with a beer at my side.

Backtracking a little, I packed some bread and a banana to eat for lunch. However, the farmer, Miguel, prepared Katherina and I a wonderful and unexpected lunch. We had soup with pasta and potatoes - we got the water from the stream. That was enough to fill me up, then he handed us some fresh fruit juice (again with water from the stream) and a huge plate of rice, pasta, potatoes, onions, and tuna fish. I was obliged to accept his hospitality and I ate every last bite. I was leery drinking the fruit juice, since that water had not been boiled, so I drank a few sips and gave the rest to Katherina - she was less worried than I of the water and its potential parasites. At times, during the day, she even stooped down and drank straight from the streams - I admire her sense of adventure, however, being the biologist that I am and having a true gringo stomach, I was leery to do the same - I brought my own water. Yes, I may be a chicken, but I´d rather not spend the next week crapping my pants at will.

The farm that we visited today would hardly be called that in the states. It was 50 hectares in all. From the nearest town (Mera) we took a rocky dirt road for about 30 minutes. We then parked the truck - this was the truck of another farmer in the area who had agreed to give us all a ride and was going to take us back at 5:30 (important for later in this tale). We then hiked on a muddy rocky trail across countless streams for 30 minutes to the guy´s farm. He lives in Mera with his wife and 4 kids, but has a small shack on the farm were he stays if he has a lot of work to do on the farm. We were greeted by his two friendly dogs and about 30 chickens and chicks. I can´t imagine harvesting anything and having to carry it back on the path we took - but alas, that is exactly what he does. He grows tomate de árbol (tomatoes that grow on trees), yucca, naranjas (like oranges), some papaya, and a few species of trees for wood. He also has 3 cattle. He´s been at it for 30 years, so he must be doing something right. It just seemed like an awful lot of work to haul $10 worth of product (all that one could carry at a time), back down the trail and then on the road back to Mera to be taken to market.

I have recently been re-reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and I have to say that the hike today made me think of the Hobbits in the Old Forest - I have expected Old Man Willow to grab me and pull me in. Never before have I experienced forest so thick - and this was only secondary forest - there is no primary forest in this area. The pastures were a disheartening sight - they looked like a ravaged land denude of value and beauty. I wanted to say something about it, but realized that coming from me, a U.S. gringo, my words would be hollow and hypocritial. The guy was making a living for his family the best way that he knew. I admired him - he was not trying to destroy the rainforest, he was trying to make a living within it.

We finished collecting our data a little early and headed back to the road. In all, we probably only hiked 6 miles, but it felt more like 30. Up and down mountains, across streams, through mud, over barbed wire fences, and through brush. My toes were covered with blisters and I was ready to rest. We got back to the road and another vehicle was parked next to ours - more farmers in the area. They all had built a small concrete shelter to use while they waited for respective rides back to town, we used it while we waited for our driver to return from his farm. At about 4:30 the other vehicle was returning to town and we opted to ride back with him. I told Miguel that we should leave a note so the other farmer would know that we got a ride back. Katherina was getting out some paper and Miguel said ¨no¨ and that we would make the note. He disappeared into the woods and came out with two tree branches that he laid next to the road by the shelter some 20 meters from the truck. I asked him what they were and he said ¨my note¨. Apparently, that type of tree is his symbol, his mark, and that by seeing it, the other farmer would know that he got a ride. It didn´t make sense to me, again, a reference to Lord of the Rings - this was like leaving an elven jewel in the mud for Aragorn to find as a symbol. The guy were were now riding back with asked Miguel if he left a note, Miguel told him of the branches and the guy nodded in understanding and said, ¨good, that will do.¨

So I guess that in the next two years, I need to decide which plant will be my mark or symbol. I was really wowed by this - yeah it doesn´t take much I guess, but none-the-less, it is another one of those moments that makes you aware of different perspectives and different cultures.

The day ended with a camioneta (pick-up truck) ride back to Puyo from Mera - about 20 minutes. I was riding in the covered back with Katherina and a number of Ecuadorians. There were a couple of babies who took a fancy to me. I didn´t disappoint and played some peek-a-boo and made silly faces to keep them entertained. I got out of the camioneta and walked back to my apartment in a stiff rain. I stipped down and took my clothes outside to the concrete wash basin at our apartment and worked on scrubbing the mud away (I was still wearing some clothes in case you were worried). I went back inside - it was getting dark now - only to find that the electricity was out. We don´t have any candles so I took my flashlight, layed it on the toilet seat pointed towards the shower, and then took a long shower. Sue returned and the power came back on. We made dinner, I did my push-ups and crunches, then went to bed and read more Lord of the Rings. A perfect day in Ecuador!!!

Jeremy

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Comments

[Gregory King]

Working on a symbol for you
Jeremy, I am going to have Elisa work on a symbol for you. The other day I was doodling some runes and she asked me about them. I showed her some of the ROTK appendices and she wanted to make her own rune like Gandalf's. (You know the one he left on a rock on Weathertop?) It is great to read about you enjoying your work so much.