Plastic Bottle Uses
Here we ways we have seen plastic bottles used:
Christmas trees
Christmas ornaments
lamp shades
made into a barrel to discard other plastic bottles
filled with who knows what for sale on the street
collected by children probably to get $$
Cost of Drinks
16 oz water usually 50 cents
12 oz Coke usually 80 cents
30 oz Pilsener beer usually $1
So why don't we see more drunks??
Coca - Gateway to the Jungle
After a couple hours of horizontal sleep in our hotel (no way could we sleep on that overnight bus)...we got direction to the church. It was Catholic and suppose to start in five minutes after we arrived. The church was full ...but as it seems is normal...we all just sat there patiently for almost 30 minutes. Later we walked around taking in more of the Flora Carnival celebration. Lots of foamy spray and water being dumped. Our hotel has a pool so that and some bridge filled the day.
Amazon Rainforest
Strange...I only connected extinction with the Ice Age. How wrong. It was also the miraculous birth of the amazing Amazon Rainforest as the ice and cold on the poles squeezed multitudes of plants and animals toward the equator. Surrounded by gigantic flora that towered above us, an array of birds flying over us while huge spiders and insects crawled near me and howling monkeys and a chorus of creatures creating a musical masterpiece...I could on thank God, the master creator....and also wonder if I was on the movie set of Honey I Shrunk the Kids! At Coca we loaded a long speed boat alone with Ann Curry, and a NBC film crew and headed down the wide and muddy Napo River toward the Sani Lodge. For 3 hours we passed lush landscape with tiny openings for homes and large gashed out holes in the jungle dug out by an oil company (originally Texaco...not sure who bought them out) where we slowed down so the film crew could get good footage. So not only were we enormously blessed to spend time in the jungle, but also in the middle of a mounting war between the oil company and the indigenous Kichwa and Huarani tribes...previously not friendly but now united for strength in this war. A cold lemonade and many of the Kichwa staff welcomed us and after a 3 course meal, we joined up with two young couples and took our first of many canoe rides in the black lagoon and its tributaries near the lodge. Our native guide (Humberto) and our English speaking & also native guide (Fredy) skillfully pointed out, identified and filled us with facts about the flora and fauna we passed. The vast depth of their knowledge and respect & love of their jungle seemed to have no end. This rainforest is unique because it relies on only the nearby abundant Andes mountains streams and the intense heat of the sun here on the equator which causes much evaporation thus creating an amazing water cycle. This allows millions of species...many found only here...to flourish. One 700 year old tree alone housed over a million insects. Its root system was about 500 m and it is surrounded by walking trees all competing for the nutrients in the meager 30 cm of soil. The clay sub soil is another reason for the huge evaporation rate and the high Andres trap the clouds causing much rain. We sat quietly and very still as our canoes glided over the lagoon where we spotted black caiman and were told hid anacondas, electric eels and piranha. There seemed always another bird to spot...over 500 species...and it was especially fun watching the parakeets chat at their community center at the salt lick and thou we had to wait a long time, the site of vividly colored macaws and toucans awed us. The noisy and slow stinky turkeys gave us lots of laughs. We never tired of watching the antics of the monkeys...we saw 4 species…as the frolicked in the tree canopies, jumped across the streams right in front of us and shook branches to try to scare us away. We tracked a tapir and peccary (wild pig) but only got a glimpse of the peccary. Rog got coaxed into letting a huge, black tarantula walk up his arm and munched on lemon ants. We learned how to tickle a frog and multiple uses of the many plants. After hours on the trail in tall rubber boots, in canoes and in the viewing tower, we too could spot and even name some species! The conch shell called us to extravagant meals and around 9 p.m., we took a quick cold shower and crawled into our tent plopping down on the rather hard mattress and fell asleep quickly in the pitch black to the sounds of the jungle. At 5:15 a.m. we were walking the plank dock (think of Peter Pan...tick tock) at the edge of the lagoon ready to catch our canoe ride to breakfast. One after noon we visited the Kichwa Sani community center where about 500 gather for events and 125 kids go to school bussed via canoe. We got a tour of a typical home completely built of material found in the jungle. We participated in their traditional dance and some of us ate heartily the fish, green bananas, coca beans and big fat roasted grubs (Yup, Rog did & Jane didn't) that they had prepared for us ...all found locally. Fredy (our guide) had not been feeling well and so a few of the woman performed a cleansing ritual that included smacking him with leaves that left large welts on him and then rubbed him with a strong smelling (like Ben Gay) ointment. It occurred to us that if some world disaster happened...the indigenous tribes would probably be far better off than the rest of us.
All I can say is ...twenty six alphabet letters and a ream of paper would not be enough to even begin to justly describe the rainforest and how I felt there. (The 200 plus photos we took might help.) What a glorious world God gave us!!
Oil Co. vs the Rainforest
As I said earlier, the same time we were experiences the wonders of the rainforest, we found ourselves at the epicenter of a boiling fight. Though we knew a bit, we learned much more in the few days we were there talking to Ann Curry, the NBC crew, an UK freelance writer, the spokesperson for the Kichwa and many of the natives themselves. The fight is obvious. Big money against a rare and unspoiled rainforest and the people who live there and love it. Malaria kept the Spaniards out...but how will they keep the oil company out? Here are a few facts we learned:
1. the oil they could get would last the world a mere 7 days
2. Ecuadorian indigenous tribes have few rights & the gov't can take the land &/or oil "for the good of the people"
3. many of the species in the rainforest have not been ID let alone tested for possible benefits
4. much of the profit made at several of the lodges is being used to fund the fight
We felt privileged to have An spend time talking with Rog and I about this battle that was obviously dear to her. She spoke of a God who created so many species that we have not even discovered them yet and talked of the importance of all of us to connect the dots...we drive the cars. She said our stay at the lodge was helping the fight and the spread of support hopefully. She hoped we were not experiencing "The Last Days". Finally, she shared a statement by the Kichwa spokesperson: We have never lost a battle and we are prepared to do whatever we need to win. We are sharpening our spears. Ann purchased a spears to give to her 18 year old son and as she stood on the dock...dressed in her jungle gear and holding that spear...it struck me how symbolic...there stood a warrior ready for the battle.
Our Rainforest Groupies
My writing about our Sani Lodge days would not be complete without including the two couples we spent much of our time with. Rhory and Katie are from Vancouver and both are archaeologists who work for an oil company doing field research. They were between assignments so had till May to travel. They were excited about everything and willing to do anything! Rajiv and Caitlin are both New York lawyers. Rajiv (born in India) was specializing in the ecology field and Caitlin was in private practice. Rajiv was enthusiastic and had traveled a lot. He loved the bugs. Caitlin was quiet and pleasant. Everyone was agreeable and we never heard a complaint and never had to wait for anyone. We all agreed the Danish and English birding people were way too serious and much more patient. We had several discussions about the oil fight. Since Rhory & Katie worked for one, they shared much background information. Katie said she heard an oil guy telling someone, "We have more money than God and we get what we want." Rajiv hopes he can someday have the prestige and experience to help. At the end, we exchanged emails and warm hugs. What a bonus!!!
Papallacta Hot Springs
We made a dash to the bus station when we got off the boat and caught the next bus to Papallacta...unfortunately the wrong one as it stopped often, passed close to the Columbia border so had a border check and we waited almost an hour at another bus station...and it was two hours late in arrived in Papallacta. Oh well, luckily the first hotel had a room and by 9:30 pm we were in a steamy thermal bath pool relaxing! We spent the next day in and out of the various pools, Rog went hiking in the mountains discovering waterfalls and seeing lots of cows & the first milk truck...while I got caught up with my writing. Our hotel room had a thermal hot tub and a fireplace. Luxury!!
Failed Attempt
We took the bus to Quito and then followed a lead I had found on the internet to locate the Missionaries of Charity. After several stops and asking many locals, none was found. Guess God had other plans for us.
