last jungle day

12/26/09
We ran with full steam as we came down the river 4 days ago. Now we’re wrapping up the excursion a little tired but much better than we came. I know I for one have a greater appreciation for the Amazonian people and other folks who live in similar cultures that must live off the land in such intimate ways. More than that, I appreciate even more the groups who find ways to maintain such cultural nuances while providing education and tools to make life even more sustainable in the ever-developing world. It’s a hard balance to find, but Yachana Lodge has done a good job meshing the two. There are still things that have to be dealt with such as plastic bottles or neighborhood dogs, but such issues can be handled after their thorough work with students at the ecotourism school, the fine lodging and touring experience for visitors and ever growing relationships with the surrounding people.

Today we went to the small market in the village. People bring all their wares in canoes including 50lbs. bags of coffee and cacao. These bags would probably go for $15-20 in Quito, but since only one man will come to purchase food in this remote community he only pays farmers $10 at best. I’ve never see the middleman in action, but I now understand the depth of the problem. These people have no other option except let their crops rot and family starve. As it is they will work extremely hard over the month to make just about $115 per month. Tourism and working for the oil companies makes lots of money. Oil makes up 60% of the GDP for Ecuador but even that work can be misleading since it’s temporary. A job with the oil companies might only be enough work for two weeks, and then a person is left to find another source of income.

We took the canoe to the other side of the river to walk to the Yachana high school and met a father and son who had ridden from the depths of the forest on a horse with three 50# bags of coffee. They would be lucky to leave with $20 that morning. The high school was very impressive with vast acres of land to produce crops for the students and Yachana Lodge, a fish farm, hydroelectric generator, HUGE pigs- I didn’t know they got so big- and a great system for the students including a full computer lab and library.

The evening closed with a new game- Cuarenta (40 in Spanish). It’s a great game but Avel kept making up, remembering, and forgetting rules so it was difficult to understand the game until it was over. He was funny with his trash talk and taunting. We played a tourney with the remaining guests. My dad and Avel dominated- Los Champions! He didn’t let us forget it and made sure it was part of the morning announcements at breakfast the next day. I can’t wait to teach this game though I printing out rules; they seem a little to fluid for my taste.