Blogs from Misahualli, East, Ecuador, South America

We started the New Year off right, with a ladies' brunch to celebrate our dear seamstress friend, Zahra. She has done so much for our group of gringa friends and refuses to charge us very much if anything at all! Julie hosted the brunch on a sunny morning. Her living room/dining room/kitchen area has a glass roof so it's a bright, joyful space (where we also practice yoga together 3x/wk). She set a beautiful table and the gathering of friends was filled with laughter and affection. I enjoyed a three-day getaway to the jungle with three of my yoga buddies. CiCi came along as well. We went to Misahuallí, a place famous for a large troupe of resident capuchin monkeys who rule the town square. They can be very agressive, grabbing water bottles, cameras...even hats and ... read more

As I write this blog entry I'm recovering from cataract surgery (right eye), staying with friends near Quito. I am trying to limit my screen time to rest my eye which is my way of telling you that this entry is likely to be more photos than text so be sure to scroll all the way to the end for a more in-depth pictoral tour. Fortunately, I had chosen, edited and uploaded the photos for this entry before the operation. If you are on facebook you will likely have seen many of these pics already, but now you'll get the full scoop! Today is day six sans cataract but I still have some inflammation -- the effect is like watching a 3D movie without the special glasses...hyper-real! I'm hoping to be given the all-clear to drive ... read more

Day 28. After a delicious breakfast of omelette & a plantain banana starch pancake cooked & wrapped in a palm leaf we took a 45 min motorised canoe ride up the Napo River which is a shallow but fast running river with many large islands of smooth rounded rocks of all sizes & colours. The Napo is fed from Cotopaxi a beautiful cone shaped volcano (nearly 6000 mtrs) the peak of which is snow covered the whole year round. The Napo merges with Araujo river at almost right angles forming an enormous rapid before continuing on its relentless path to join the mighty Amazon. After turning up the Araujo River we slowly entered a small sand & rock tributary until the canoe was grounded and was the start of our 3-4 hr hike. The stream was ... read more

Diane and I set off for Archidona, a jungle village just slightly further into the Amazon Basin than I’d driven before. She has old friends, a kind of adopted family she met 30 yrs ago. Casimiro Mamallacta is a shaman who performs rituals and ayahuasca ceremonies. I agreed to go along with her, told her I wasn’t interested in doing ayahuasca (a hallucinogenic drug extracted from a vine) but that I’d enjoy meeting the family and learning about their culture. Diane said she was not planning to take part in a ceremony either. Our plan was to stay a few nights in some rustic cabanas that Casimiro’s sons have built. Diane was last there just over a year ago, and she told me that although I might want to bring my own sheets and pillow, they ... read more

Day 24 : The jungles of Tena Day 6: Today was our off/fun day. After another good breakfast, we all went down to the boats and headed to the Amazon Rescue Center. After hearing the rulles and grabbing a nice cold Coke, we were escorted around the center. We saw several different varities of birds, including macaws, parrots, and tucans. We also saw a caiman (a sort of alligator), turtles, an oscelot, two jaguars, and several types of monkeys. At the end of the tour, just when we were ready to head to the gift shop, one of the local wild troops of monkeys made their presence known. They were swinging thru the trees above us, occasionally dropping down close to check us out. Pretty cool. After visiting the gift shop, and getting another cold Coke, ... read more