Part 2 of Huaorani Happenings: More Amazonian Activities

Gathering chonta with Eloy´s little sister so Ciara and Anita (volunteers/students from the States working on their Fulbright fellowships) can make chicha. Chicha is a fermented beverage that is traditionally made from maize, however,  it is often made from manioc (yucca) in addition to other regional/seasonal fruits.  

After putting the chonta in a huge pot over a fire for a few hours we peeled the skins off

 one by one and put the tasty seeds in a separate bowl to snack on later. 

The final step in making chicha de chonta is to chew, or masticate, the pieces of chonta and spit

 the juice into a communal bucket. It ferments overnight and vuala, you have a tipsy treat. 

I, quite frankly, have always had a sensitive gag reflex and such quantities of spit threatens to press certain buttons....however, if it were offered to me, for example, by any sort of indigenous person....I would have no choice but to gladly accept for it would be an exceptionally profound

 insult if I were to refuse.  

In this case I happened to have to catch a canoe ride back down the Napo and head back 

to civilization....so I guess you could say I was spared for the moment....

-jungle paths to fruit trees-

A new friend that I met along my journey. The wonderful and lovely Kristina from Sacramento, demonstrating an indigenous technique of sorts...how to carry heavy packs of jungle treats. :)

Kristina and Ciara tearing open another kind of tasty jungle treat....

-waba-

-the sweet and fleshy inside that covers every single seed-

-an extraordinarily delicious and refreshing surprise on a hot day in the rainforest-

-naturally skilled climbers with inward-curving feet to prove it-

-carefully harvesting waba for everyone below- 

-heading back to the volunteer buildings to put the chonta on the fire-

-a runway for tiny little airplanes-

-self explanatory- 

-the volunteer and elementary school buildings-

-always on a nature hike-

-just to look at...not to eat-

Hello big, wise tree in the Amazon.....

Teach me what you have to know, 

Let me absorb and feel me grow..... 

See me grow brighter as I sink down my roots,

Pass on to me those secret life truths. 

Ajo Pachamama!

<3

-sweet little gecko hanging out on the tree not 5 feet above where I rested my hand in the above photo- 

-oh how I want to know....

sapo = rana = frog = toad 

one in the same.

-rockin camouflage- 

;) 

- close-up -

- another wee little frog friend -

-as golden as the fallen leaves-

-some other breakfast reading material- 

-for the curious folk....some helpful pronunciations....-

..... 

¨His journey had begun deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the homeland of his people, the Huaorani, a small but fearsome nation of hunter-gatherers who have lived in isolation for so long that they speak a language unrelated to any other on earth.¨

.....

¨Savages¨ by Joe Kane

Read it.

-another river ride-

Eloy clearing yet another fallen tree from the river between the lodge and the community.

-steady and sure, hacking away with the machete- 

All in all I saw and learned some pretty spectacular things with the Huao. Or perhaps certain lessons were simply reinforced and further established within me....either way it was an indescribably and intensely real set of experiences that I won´t soon forget. I hope you give a minute to quietly study my pictures and let them do the majority of the talking for me. And don´t hesitate to ask questions!! Enjoy and Namaste! <3