Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2008
Edit Blog Post
Hey all!!!
Day two involved boarding Jack (the truck and home for the next two months) and heading on a six hour journey to Misahualli, in the Ecuadorian jungle. The scenery as we travelled was absolutely stunning; rolling mountains covered in lush forests, and waterfalls everywhere. We got split into our groups for cleaning and cooking, and stopped for lunch at the side of the road. A lot more bumps and a beer later we arrived at the Pink Elephant, our accommodation in Misahualli. We had a short tour around town, introducing ourselves to the local monkey population, and returned for a swim in our murky swimming pool followed by kareoke night!! The next day we headed for a 7km hike through the jungle, but it wasn't anywhere near as humid as in Peru!! Wilfred, our guide, made us eat lots of different plants and inspect every spider on way past. He also explained the medicinal properties and other uses of a wide variety of plants which was interesting. We hiked through secondary and densely packed primary jungle, where the natives still hunt and fish. Wilfred showed us the large roots of one particular tree, between which the natives make
camp if they are out hunting overnight. They sleep with the meat beside them and the fire in front of them. We also saw a hunters perch high up in the trees.
We stayed in jungle lodge cabins, cold beers and lunch awaited us when we arrived. There were lots of hammocks spaced everywhere but we didn't have much time to relax, before we were whisked off by motocanoe to visit a family of Quechua Indians. Clever and his wife Marisol both work at the lodge but they allowed us to come to their home and show us their way of living. Marisol was cooking yuca (potatoe family) in a pot which she then mashed down with the juice of a grated sweet potatoe. This mixture is left to ferment and makes an alcoholic drink called Manioche. We tried some it tastes awful!! Clever showed us us how he makes a fish trap and baskets, and then we all had a go at shooting a target with a blowpipe. Clever uses it to shoot birds and monkeys out of trees. The family have solar panels provided by the Ecuadorian government. All jungle families have enough power to run five
lightbulbs and a TV, for free!!
It rained all night deterring the insects from invading our room. On monday we went for another hike eating more plants and visiting the local school where we sang twinkle twinkle little star!! Wilfred showed us the bread fruit tree which as well as providing a potatoe like fruit, also produces a glue from its sap. He also showed us a termite nest and demonstrated how mashed up termites produce a chemical that acts as an insect repellant. After our sweaty hike we went on rubber tubes down the river back to the lodge, and after lunch we journeyed back to Misahualli.
Yesterday we travelled to Banos which is a beautiful town offering a full range of adventure sports. After meeting our guide for the next few days, we went out for a steak dinner which along with a glass of wine only cost $8.
Today I'm going bridge swinging and canyoning, and tomorrow in the afternoon I'm going rock climbing, so will have lots of news tomorrow!!
Orla
Advertisement
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0354s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Mammy
non-member comment
Spiders
HI Pet, How you must have enjoyed inspecting spiders in the jungle. When I think of you insisting I remove our tiny little Irish spiders from your room because you are afraid to get rid of them yourself.......!! You seem to have a very busy schedule - you'll need a holiday when you come home. All are well here with little news to report. Evin is due home from Freshers Week tomorrow. When we last heard from him he had joined three clubs and had gone on a pub crawl with one of them - the Surf Club. Keep safe. Lots of love from your Mammy