On the Rio Nangaritza. Entering Shuar territory.

The Rio Nangaritza flows past the beautiful and lush Cordillera del Condor, a region of intense biodiversity and home to indigenous Shuar communities. We canoed down the Nangaritza Valley, to the border with Peru, on our way to visit a Achuar Shuar shaman, Don Juan, and spend the night as his guests in his village, called Shaimi.

On our way to Shaimi village in the Nangaritza Valley of southern Ecuador.

Fish on the bus to Nangaritza, holding an orchid that only blooms one day a year! Don't worry... there were thousands of them throughout the mountains here. Thanks to this one sacrifice.

Just after you descend past the transition between Andean forest and Amazon rainforest, you reach the frontier town of Zamora. Where there is this giant clock.

In the small town of Nangaritza, waiting for our boats to arrive. Chilling with the locals and eating some homemade icecream!!

Parque Recreacional Jipiro ~ Loja

 Traditional local styles.

 Reina del Cisne. The protective patroness of Loja. She must be a badass! Looks like she has, ummm... let's say, FULL control over that Pope.

 Mmmm hmmm.

Skate R Die!! Fish, wishing he could shred this tunnel right now!

Look no furthur! This park has it all! You want a mini-Kremlin with a built in concrete slide? How about a miniature China town complete with rideable dragon? No problem! Top it off with an adult size version of the little self-proppeled metal carousels that used to be a staple of school playgrounds when I was little... and that spells FUN folks!

Loja flower market

Cascade outside of the Loja market. So beautiful! Such an honor to have spent this time with this dear woman! (Thanks to Patrick for this lovely photo!)

Making friends and having fun in Loja.

Hangin at the veggie market. Chillin with the homies.

Notice the hat and sunglasses! Fish is always making friends!
The top photo below is us in the Loja Botanical Gardens.
In the middle, we circle around as Rocio explains the uses, essence and importance of all the plants to us.
Us in the garden, later that day.
This was his friend Paul. He's a beatle. They met in the garden. (thanks to Patrick for taking this shot!)

Plant medicine in the market...

Rocio and her friend Maria explain the plants to us in the Loja produce market.

Later that afternoon we put our newly acquired plant bundles to use in a limpia ceremony with a local shaman. He chose Fish to be the model for the group. He really IS always making friends! (Thanks to Janet for this photo!)

Alamor

Rocio and a condor. On the rooftops of Alamor, Ecuador.

 View over the town of Alamor, and beyond.
Below is the restaurant where we ate la cena y un desayuno, tambien. We did not have hot dogs or hamburgers.

Mercadillo, Ecuador and the Restaurante Carmita

Fish in Carmita's kitchen. Delicious dinner!! Above is Carmita receiving thanks from Rosemary and Cascade. She cooked A LOT of food for A LOT of us that day, and from her small space and with her humble kitchen supplies! She worked very hard and the food was all fresh, cooked in local style and the type of delicious that only a Granny can dish up!

The family below lived across the street from Carmita's and for some reason took an extreme liking to Fish. They  had us come over and meet their whole family, and then gave Fish the poster he's proudly holding in the top photo. It's a memento from their church, which they were very proud of, especially of the crucifix image they had inside the church. That image is what is on the poster. Neon Bible! And by the number of clocks on that bell tower, clearly they are as timely as they are friendly in this village!

Rocio introduces us to Carmita, who is known throughout the Loja region for her specialty of dried beef. She cooked an amazing feast for our whole group and fed us all family style from her perfect and humble kitchen. She was a treat as well! Sweet Granny! (Thank you Ellen and Heath Hilary for some of these photos!)

I apologize. The order of these photos got all fouled up, and I could not fix this. I've tried to explain the photos and the short story of this town in a way that makes some sense, despite my dadgum editing errors. 

 Scenery on our drive from Alamor to Mercadillo.

 Before we got to Mercadillo we stopped for a hike to some mud baths. The hike, while much longer than Rocio had thought, led through some beautiful lush and vivid green landscape! The farming that is done up on steep ridges and mountains always amazes me! Look at that handsome man below!!

Southern Ecuador rainforest

 El Patrino tree.

 Petrified wood in the rivers and in the ground.

Celebrity herbalists Rosemary and Rocio can't escape their adoring paparazzi!