This Omnivore´s Dilemma

Well, we made it back from our 10-day tech trip to the Oriente...and it was awesome. Wow, where do I even start. First, I guess I will explain a little about the tech trip, as I have fielded some inquiries as to what exactly that means. No, it is not the silicon valley kind of tech...rather, we are learning about technical skills that will likely be of use to us in our service in the Oriente region...like propagating certain species of tropical plants and trees, agroforestry, piscicultura, ecotourism, etc. We first stopped at an experimental integrated farm in Balleza, which was super interesting. They were raising cuyes (guinea pigs), goats, and African sheep, peccaries, guatusas (a native rainforest mammal) and some other native animals. Jer got to vaccinate one of the goats which was cool. The farm has big worm beds that create humus which they use to supplement the poor, mostly sandy soils in order to grow all sorts of vegetables. They also manage a really beautiful forested area with cool trails and information on rare tree species and medicinal uses of certain plants. We spent the first night at the Magic Roundabout...which was almost like a treehouse and reminded me a lot of Denison´s Homestead for some reason...maybe because it is run by some hippy British ex-pats. It had a great view, cold beer and a soft bed, so we were happy. The next day, we headed from there into Tena (one of the important cities of the Oriente) caught a ride to a bridge over the Rio Arajuno, then piled in a long, skinny canoe which took us to the Arajuno Jungle Lodge, www.arajuno.com which is owned by a former Peace Corps Volunteer and former Peace Corps Ecuador Director of Training. It was awesome and a definite must-see place for those planning to visit Ecuador. The lodge is only accessible by canoe, has cute cabins, a swing that you can swing out over the river and jump in (which most of our group did, and only two almost died) and the lodge has a great open air dining room overlooking the river. We used the Lodge as home base for the next week, and took lots of day trips from there. The staff and faciltators stayed in the cabins and the volunteers slept in tents (although, it was hardly primitive because the tents were on a platform with a separate roof...and we had a nice matress in our tent!). The sounds of the rainforest around us were quite amazing (not unlike the rainforest CD that Hannah McDermott had in her bedroom) and was punctuated by some crazy bird screetches in the mornings. The noices were both soothing and sometimes deafening! We had a lot of hands-on learning activities during the week, which were really educational and fun. The first full day we went in motorized canoe up to an extremely poor Kitchwa community that lived along the banks of the Arajuno River. Until a Peace Corps volunteer helped set up a basic water distribution system, the community used the river for drinking, washing...and shitting... Now, they have clean water and each family has better food security, too, as they now each have a big fish pond where they are able to harvest fish to eat (which is a better alternative to dynamiting the already polluted river to get food). The kids were still very malnourished, as evidenced by their distended bellies. We were working to install a plastic liner in one of the ponds that was leaking (the compacted clay liner was not sufficient in holding the water). The family whose pond we were helping with had 7 kids under the age of 10...and a couple of them were wearing only shirts and no pants. We are talking super, super, super poor families. The leaders of the communities helped us install the liner and learn how to do it so they could replicate it in other areas of the community. While it was not physically demanding work, the heat and humidity (and bugs) made it tough at times....and helped make the beer back at the lodge that much more delicious. Other activities included constructing a new trail through the property---which I think was my favorite activity. We had to map it out and put in a lot of switchbacks (it was super steep) before we started hacking away to blaze the trail. We joked that as habitat conservation volunteers we destroyed a nice patch of rainforest putting in the trail and clearing a path for a new fish pond on the Lodge property. Who knew using a machete could be so much fun!!! We also learned a lot about how to propagate and prune cacao trees. We built a nursery for bamboo gigante---the fastest growing plant in the world---some say you can actually see it growing. We visited an animal rescue center and a botanical garden, hiked in some primary rainforests with some crazy big trees. Jeremy climbed a tower that was him above the canopy. Lots of really beautiful hikes in the rainforest. The only not-so-fun activity was butchering rabbits. Even though I did eat chicken (yes, you read it right, I ate chicken for the first time in probably 15 years) I was not about to jump straight to killing animals. Yes, life is a little different in the jungle. Anyway, my friend Sadie was first to try the knock-the-rabbit-over-the-head-with-a-hammer method to put it out of its misery. She was not successful. In fact, she only caused more pain and suffering...and it took her several swings... and well, one of the other compañeros stepped in to finish the job. Jer helped to skin and gut it and two of its friends...and then he and the others dined on rabbit stew that night...I passed on that one. I have to go slow on this omnivore diet thing. Rabbit just wasn´t in the plan. But, speaking of food...the meals at the Lodge were absolutely fab. The chefs did it up for every meal...all homemade...lots of fresh fruit and veggies...yummy pesto... burritos...and best of all dessert for lunch AND dinner. We would get really excited for meals...because every last thing we ate was fantastic!!! I know I put on some kilos during this trip, because the owner soon learned of my sweet tooth and even offered me extra helpings of dessert, which I could not turn down.

Well, I am going to work on uploading photos to Shutterfly, but the internet is EXREMELY slow. It has taken almost two hours to upload 50 photos, and I imagine I have another 150 yet to upload. It may be next week at this rate... but will continue to try. Hasta pronto.