Spanish, Monkeys and the Jungle Tour

Many colorful parrots of Ecuador

A surprise last minute 2 night jungle tour to Puyo offered more than just one challenge for me. The Spanish speaking tour agency offered me a free trip for the weekend,  if I´d be willing to be the English interpreter for the tour group, who did not understand or speak Spanish. Although my Spanish is limited at best, perhaps the agency thought that having me was better than no interpretation at all. Admittedly, I was feeling some trepidation and feelings of  inadequacy.

The next morning arrived quickly after a poor night of sleep, and I was excited to get started.
To my relief, the tour group was a fun, friendly group and I surprised myself that I was able to understand enough Spanish to be helpful in the interpretation.  My years of Spanish lessons
were starting to pay off.

The trail was a little more slippery and muddy than I expected,  although our mid calf rubber boots came in handy.   At one point, we also needed to balance on an elevated log, in crossing a canyon over a rushing river. It began to pour and occasionally my boots sunk 5 or 6 inches into the mud, with my needing some help to break the suction and to be pulled out.  I thought about how awful it would be if it was real "quick sand", the kind I've seen in the movies.

These people in the tour group were European, in good shape, long legged and strong. We hiked through a monkey reserve area, with several monkeys following us and joyfully swinging from tree to tree.  Being somewhat used to people, they didn't seem to have any fear of us and wanted to continuously play and climb on us. I didn't like the part where they jumped on us.   But, it was fun to be followed by the monkeys and also viewed some animals that I had never seen before.   One monkey was hilarious when he rode on the back of the tour guide's dog.




One of the playful monkeys.

However, I was very nervous around them, ever since a few years ago, when a monkey jumped on
me and ran off with my necessary prescription glasses.  So, on this trip,  I felt safer when I pulled my rain jacket hood clear over my head and walked around with my glasses tucked into my bra. Yes.... basically I was walking around blind. 

There was an attractive 21 y-o Swiss girl named Marina, who felt overly confident when trying to play with the monkeys.  Unfortunately, that was a big mistake, as she took a nasty bite on her finger from a frisky, baby monkey.   Suddenly, I had a  flood of thoughts and fears about a deadly infection, weird parasites, unusual monkey diseases and life threatening rabies.   All I could do to help the girl was to squeeze the heck out of her finger, causing it to bleed and to expel the saliva that was injected into her from the monkey bite. We were too far out in the jungle to do anything else and no one in the tour agency thought of bringing a first aid kit. (only in Ecuador)

The first bungalow facility had no showers, but I could handle one night without a shower. Plus, I forgot to pack another pair of socks and this was a big mistake. Wet socks in the jungle do not dry out.....and they end up stinking.   Plus, irritating mosquito and spider (?) bites were added to the collection I already had, over my arms, legs, neck and back.
The second bungalow was near a river, a tributary of the Amazon, had a great view and fresh air.

That night we ate a hearty bowl of Armadillo soup (complete with a shell) and then a bonus dish of Rodent Stew. (no kidding) And as long as I didn't think about it or visualize the rodents,  it had a deliciously flavored sauce.  My motto was to try everything!

Armadillo - provided meat for our dinner soup.

A Day Trip with Mama Kinua in the Andes

Leaving chaotic, Cuenca, over gutted muddy roads, two American university students and myself were well received at a primitive, indigenous ¨Tarqui¨ home in the Andes highlands.

The elevation was near 10,000 ft, cold and damp, however with a spectactular view. The puffed up clouds were low enough to walk through...or was it just that we were high into the clouds? Upon arrival, the family served us hot sugar cane alcoholic drinks, we were told to keep us warm, which made perfect sense to me. Inside the smokey kitchen, the mujeres (women) were busy preparing our lunch, which highlighted the Ecuadorian specialty, "cuy" which
rhymes with "Roy". Cuy is their guiney pig,
with little beady eyes, usually served whole, with little
pointed ears and sharp claws.


Medicinal plants were proudly pointed out to us by Mama and we were given an explanation of their uses.



After some walking on the hill in the cow pasture, of course I managed to step into a ¨pie¨, while we were all trying to catch our breath due to the elevation.

Soon it was time for more sugar cane alcohol and then Almuerzo (lunchtime) A straw mat was spread out onto the ground, topped with a table cloth and then finally the lunch was poured onto the top. My guess was that the utensils were used for our benefit only. Several different kinds of beans, shreds of carrots, strips of salty beef, rice, curried pototoes and ¨Cuy¨were served.
To be honest, I was not crazy about the ¨cuy¨which was fatty, with a thick skin left on, as well as having a strong animal flavor.






We were entertained with what sounded like off -tune music of a flute and drum. (reminded me of when I first listened to Balinese dissanant music. I hated it, but years later grew on me)

Later, the women took pride in showing us how to spin wool into yarn, grind wheat into flower, and with smoking herbs, gave us each a healing or cleansing in the indigenous manner.



Heating up and stirring the cheese....small money making project after being given a donation from Europe.


Finally we were encouraged to try on their clothes, while they laughed and giggled. Previously to this event, I thought that the indigenous women were chubby from their high starch diet, but I found out it was the heaviness, the pleats and thickness of the wool skirt.

Just as it was starting to feel cold again, it was time for more shots of alcohol.

Of course, they were happy to have us contribute to their foundation for the health and education of their children. The living environment was very basic, for me it would be harsh, considering the cold weather, the high altitude and isolation from services of the city. There certainly weren´t any toys, or comfortable furniture, or nice appliances....just the bare basics.

Cuenca - Cathedrals, Corsages, Caps and Candies.

Although not as large as the capital city Quito, Cuenca has a population of 417,000 and was a little busier than I expected.
It is their winter now, so the days are about 65 degrees F and nights about 50 degrees F. After a couple of days, when I requested an extra alpaca blanket, the hotel gal surprised me with their only electric blanket....I was in heaven.


Cuenca is known for it´s beautiful architecture and for being a quaint, exotic city, where many expatriates live and have bought property for their retirement. This Cathedral is an example of the kind of architecture one might see. It truly was a beautiful city in many ways.


On one day, which I thought was Mothers Day, it seemed everyone had a bouquet of flowers in their hand, whether it be for their Mother or for themselves. I'm told Dia de Madre actually lasts an entire month in Ecuador.

One small sized, elderly lady wearing the typical, indigenous clothing walked on the sidewalk towards me, holding a bouquet of flowers and had a wide toothless grin. I smiled also because I thought ¨how beautiful¨ she is. Then a lovely surprise happened. Glowing and looking up to me, she spread open both of her arms for an embrace. I bent down to give her a hug, and then she kissed me on the cheek and said something sweet in Spanish. It was like receiving an Ecuador blessing, something warm and endearing, that I held close in my heart. This was the second time something like this happened in the last week.


Panama Hats are originally from Ecuador, not Panama. They became well known during the building of the Panama Canal, when workers wore thm to protect from the sun. And even now, there is a big market in Ecuador for these fine hats, that take several days in the making.


¨Day of the Dulce¨
(Day of Sweets) lasts 7 days and I´m not sure if it just Cuenca. I saw at least 20 such booths of brightly colored assorted candies. This is when everyone, men, women and children, indulge in filling up a basket of candy and chocolates. They love to indulge and here there is no such thing as feeling "guilty".