Saraguro craft stop

A traditional two sided mask from the Saraguro area, one face modeled here by the excited new owner. The beautiful Quechua woman behind him was the artist herself!

Street mural in Saraguro.

The church in Saraguro town square.

Coo coo for coconuts!

On the way back North, headed from Vilcabamba to Cuenca. We made a stop for the bus to refuel, and we all hopped off to stretch and seek some refreshments. These coconuts were being sold bya fruit vendor on the edge of the gas station. They came with just the tops lopped off and a straw stuck in the hole, so you could drink the fresh, chilled coconut water. After you had finished he would then split the coconut open so you could dig out and eat the raw meat. Perfectly pure white juicy coconut! Hardly anything in this world is better on a hot day! Rocio and Cascade, returning to the bus with their prizes!

Vilcabamba

Vilcabamba town square.

La Hosteria Vilcabamba! A lovely place to stay here in the so called valley of longevity, where it is said people regularly live to be over 100 years old.

Exploring the mountains above Vilcabamba

View of the town of Vilcabamba and the surrounding valley, as they spread out below our trail.

The peaks at the top of the trail!

The final portion of the trail to the top ridge! It was an epic hike!!

Back on the boat

Don Juan Parrot, enjoying the ride!

Don Juan's home... as we say goodbye

 When we returned home from our walk in the jungle, the women had opened shop in the house, displaying an impressive variety of  beautiful hand crafted items. Lots of jewelry and other smaller items, made mostly from seeds, feathers and various woods. There were some very interesting animal carvings that the men had made. Very simply carved with not much adornment or decoration, yet quite realistic. Fish decided he wanted this 2 1/2 ft. tall  life size macaw, carved out of balsa wood by Don Juan himself. We had a new friend to travel with for the rest of our trip! As I write this, I sit in my living room at home, more then 2 years later, looking at our macaw, who we named Don Juan. He is a piece of the jungle, a presence in our home. Created by and containing the energy of this man, one of the few remaining traditional shaman of the Shuar tribe.

 The outside of and front entrance to Don Juan's home. Up the ladder steps and beyond that doorway is a large open room, which was used as the dining area by day. By night all the tables and benches were pushed to the edges of the room and the room was used, first for a healing ceremony, and then as a sleeping room. The house was very open to the environment, and to live like this is to truly live WITH the jungle. Their homes were the last of the traditional style homes left in the village of Shaimi. The thatched roof and hand hewn beams have been replaced with buildings of cinderblock and metal roofs.

HIs son's home, directly next door.

Don Juans wife and some of his children and grandchildren on their front step.

We thank Don Juan for his generous hospitality, for sharing with us his traditions and knowledge and for keeping the flame of goodness burning in this world gone mad. We only spent 2 days and one night here, but the exchanges we had with this family brought us all to a deep deep level of awareness; of the constant crisis of progress, especially in relation to indigenous peoples, and people who live so in such close relations with the natural world. There are so few of these traditional indigenous people left in our world, that by the time someone like me finds my way to them, they are already on their way out... truly disappearing before my very eyes. It is an honor, a beautiful  part of my life and a great joy to me that I have been witness to so much, but it always humbles me and fills me with a deep sorrow to understand that I am witnessing the last of what was. Possibly some of the last connections that humanity has with living in balance on our planet. A whole universe of understanding and perspective, so different  from mine, and so profound in it's ways, a universe that I am witnessing as it is snuffed out like the flame of a candle. I think everyone in our group experienced this understanding wash over them at some point on this morning. It was an emotional goodbye and it was our greatest desire to make sure Don Juan understood our gratitude to him on every level. Meeting him was life changing.

Sacred teachers, sacred vines

On a stroll through the jungle...

Jungle neighbor.

 Don Juan led us through the jungle to his yucca garden. The tuber of the yucca plant is a daily staple for folks who live in the Amazon, and here he is surrounded by a hillside of this nurturing green life giver.

 Don Juan's wife was co-leader of this jungle tour. The machete, of course, has infinite uses and is a tool that everyone carries at all times in the jungle. She had just finished using it to demonstrate how they replant the yucca. She wacked off an arm from the bottom of a plant, then used the machete to dig a whole just big enough to stick the freshly cut arm down into a few inches, recovered the hole and spit on it. Job done, she assured us within a few months that would be a full sized yucca plant. I believe it. Life is in overdrive in this jungle!!

A little shelter.

The next morning, at Don Juan's ...

Good Morning! Getting packed up in the main room.

Warming up in the morning sunshine.

Don Juan pulling down some achiote pods to paint our faces with. Achiote seeds give off a smooth red paste when rubbed, and the people who live in this jungle use the seeds to paint designs on their faces when entering the forest. The designs offer protection, in the more ethereal sense, and also the paste itself is a sunscreen and mild insect repellant. I've found it quite soothing to irritated skin, as well.

Inside Don Juan's house... a great shot of the interior of the roof!

First night in Shaimi... dinner n slumber party at the shamans house

Shaman's shelf.

Dinner time!

Getting tucked in!

'Night, John Boy...

We were all told to pack mosquito nets and sleeping gear for this portion of the trip. The plan was for us all to sleep in the large cinder block school house down in the central part of the village. Don Juan and his family lived in the only remaining traditional structures left in Shaimi, up on a hill at the farthest edge of the village clearing, somewhat removed from the rest of the village. When we arrived they told us that they had changed the plans and we were all to be overnight guests in Don Juan's home. Let's just say it was a COZY night for all of us. The kind of night that brings you closer as a group... in SO many ways! We were about 25 people and our mosquito nets, which were strung up, rigged and utilized in a variety of ways, plus our luggage and gear, as well as sleeping mats/sleeping bags/ blankets and such! It was highly amusing watching us all rig up our nets and get ourselves situated for the night! This situation was not what we expected and I know it pushed everyones comfort envelope, but it was truly impressive to see everyone, of ALL different ages,  deal so positively with the moment at hand! Fun, fun, fun!!! We totally had a "Night, John Boy!" moment after we were all nestled down and drifting in to sleep. Our little mosquito net teepee we strung up made me feel safe n cozy! It's not JUST mosquitos that the net is for when you are on the floor in a shamans house in the middle of the Amazon rainforest! (Insert your own jungle-creepy-critter visual HERE) This tops my list as one of the most interesting nights sleep ever! And yes, I actually slept very well and had very vivid dreams. Something tribally comforting about sleeping in a space with that many trusted and loved folks. (Thanks to Rosemary n Robert for some of these photos!)

Back on the boat...

The river wound us ever deeper into Shuar territory. The handsome man in the front of the boat was Khet, who was the eldest son of Don Juan, the shaman we were headed to meet.

(Thanks to Heath Hilary for these last two photos!)

Saying hello to Arutam

 Look closely at the cliff face. This was our first sight of this tall and beautiful waterfall. Little did we know when we first saw it that we would stop there and hike up to the pool at the base of this waterfall. AND little did we know, though we might have guessed it, that this waterfall is highly revered and sacred to the Achuar Shuar tribe we were being hosted by. (Thank you Heath Hilary for the first two photos here.)

Nangaritza is known to the Shuar as the waterfall valley, because they believe that the spirit of the Arutam (waterfall deity) roams to protect both nature and the people. And we were told that this waterfall is considered to be the home of the Arutam. It had an indescribable effect on each person with us. Some strong energy and presence that you couldn't deny. Some sang, some swam n bathed under the fall, some prayed or meditated, but everyone stood in a state of reverence here. Interacting with the waterfall shifted our energy as a group and alerted us to the reality that from this point in the river on, we were entering another realm, moving through the veil between our everyday reality and another, more wild and untamed, with many lessons it urgently wanted to give.