Just Your Average Field Trip

I think I'll entitle this little essay, "What We Did in School This Week!" We took a week off from the classroom setting and moved it outdoors to the Oriente, which is the Amazonian Basin region of Ecuador east of the Andes. It's a pretty vast area, so we only caught a few glimpses of this incredible region that's so important to the sustainability of life on our planet. Here's some of what we experienced.

* Rode an open cable car over a vast canyon, high enough to be over a sizeable waterfall.
* Hiked to a powerful, pounding waterfall, this one over 200' in height. Got wet just from the spray.
* Served as "playground" equipment for a variety of monkeys ( I think there were more than 50 there at this reserve.) You can check out some photos on Darlene's Facebook page.
* 2 mile educational hike in the heat and heart of the jungle. We learned about various plants' medicinal value and saw the type of palm trees from which blow guns are made.
* Swam with my beautiful bride under a waterfall, just like you see on those ads for exotic vacations. Only thing was, we were with a dozen students. So, what else is new? Most every anniversary has been celebrated in the midst of students of some variety these 33 years.
*Fresh cooked fish (whole tilapia) and rice dinner among the palm trees....think it cost about $2 per person.
* 13 mile raft trip on a river that eventually feeds into the Amazon. Class III and IV whitewater on this section. Sorry, no piranha stories to report. Guess we needed to be further in the jungle region for that level of excitement.
*Also, wanted to see an anaconda (at a safe distance) but had to settle for a photo of several pastors holding a 36' anaconda with a entire pig in the middle of its belly. The photo was from the same region we visited. The snake goes to sleep for quite a while (as in days or weeks) after consuming such a sizable snack, so that's how they were able to hoist Mr. A for a photo. Took about 15 guys to lift it. We did see a 5' boa constrictor that had recently ventured too close to the hostel where we stayed. His new home was in a large pickle jar on a table outside our cabin. Doubt that it was necessary to go to that extreme measure.
* Jungle flight into the rainforest via an MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) Cessna. Deja vu for Darlene from PNG days. Landed on grass airstrip in the jungle.
*Visited 2 indigenous (Indian) villages. Learned interesting customs. Learned how to shoot a blowgun. MB actually hit the target....a piece of fruit hanging from a branch 15' away. Such a tribesman.
* Drank a potion/drink especially prepared to welcome guests. The plants are cooked down then chewed and actually spat back into the pot....then the "juice" is passed around. Offensive (to your host) if you refuse. Can also be offensive, in another sense, to the one who consumes the beverage, if one thinks too long on what one drinketh.
* 2 rides in a dugout canoe. Fun, but not the most comfy excursion, but you gotta get in the game if you're gonna play.
* Highlight: we were welcomed by a pastor to his Huorani village. The surprise was that he himself was one of the group of Huorani warriors that killed 5 missionaries in the mid 50s in the jungles of Ecuador. What a moving experience to watch and listen as he put his arm around the mission aviator that brought us in to his village, and prayed for him and for our group. Having read the stories and seen the movie, End of the Spear, this was an incredible moment for us.
* Tropical downpours on our jungle bungalow at night.
* Sightings of colorful birds of the tropics.
* Saw world's largest freshwater fish, but can't recall their name....they said they grow to about 20' and 500 lbs. These were in the 7', 120 lb range, I'd estimate.
* Darlene got to munch on sugar cane again to her heart's desire, and we enjoyed some freshly made- in- our- presence taffy made from the cane...with a raspberry type flavor. MB was offered a beverage he thought to be pure juice from the sugar cane....turned out to be a bit stronger brew than that. He turned himself in to the trip sponsors, but they decided not to send him home, because of good behavior (he refrained from asking for seconds) and innocent consumption.