Living in Watchimak

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Living in Watchimak

 South America » Ecuador » Tena By tonyandkerensa
February 15th 2007
Tony Allison We first heard of Watchimak when we were in Quito and thought it might be a good community for Kerensa´s research. We decided to visit the community in a Community Volunteer capacity for a month to learn more before making any decisions.

We left Tena on a three hour bus ride to Comuna Los Rios where we caught a river taxi a half-hour down river where we met members of the community at the beach. They helped us carry our things on the hour-long hike into Watchimak.

We met three other volunteers: Jessica, Ken, and Susanne and learned a lot about the community from them before they left. Since then, several other eco-tourists and volunteers have come through the community as well.

After our first month, we decided that this will be a great community for Kerensa´s research and will now be living here until the end of July (possibly longer) while Kerensa works at compiling all of her dissertation information about Quichwa subsistence gardening practices, gender relations, and changes with increased development in the community.

In the mean time, Tony is helping where he can with research, community projects, favors for community members, etc...

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Photos

Entering Watchimak
3.7 Kilometers from the Napo River.

Napo River
We went down river from Comuna Los Rios to get to Watchimak

River Taxi
Valerio runs a river taxi on the Napo River. We rode 30 minutes to get to the Watchimak beach. He lives in Watchimak and has six daughters and one son - his newest daughter was born three days after we arrived.

At the beach
From the Napo, we walk an hour to Watchimak

Magic lessons
Tony teaching his ¨magic¨ finger trick to Nelson. (The illusion is that I can remove my finger tip)

Watchimak Community
The community is a collection of houses around a large open square. There are several other families that live in the community but not in the central square.

Community Trail
The trail connecting the volunteer housing area to the community square. (About a 5 minute walk.)

Inside Our House
Our house is pretty rustic and small. It took some getting used to in the first week.

Our House
Our ceiling had a leak, so Franklin climbed up and put sheet metal on to help.

The Kitchen
This is the kitchen where the women from the community make our meals. The women rotate cooking duties so they don´t neglect their own families and can all earn a little extra money.

Baby Caiman
A Caiman is a fresh water crocadile. Rosa showed us this caiman on our initial walk into Watchimak. They told us that when they are larger, caimen are good eating.

Butterfly
There are a lot of cool butterflies and other insects here. It´s hard not to take pictures of abselutely everything.

Comments

[pauline]

super chevere
hasta yagama!!