Hola a todos!
I always am so excited to write and share our Ecuador experience with you. It’s always a pleasure.
These past few days have been very intense, physically especially, but also very wonderful. Leaving Herman’s house early in the morning, we headed in the back of trucks to Cayambe. Getting closer and closer it was exciting to catch more and more glimpses of the majestic snow covered mountain. We dropped Marcea off so that she could head back to Palugo for the weekend, and then continued on our way until we reached the spot where we left some group and personal gear behind. The last few miles we walked to get more acclimatized. For some, it was a challenging walk as we were hit strongly by the altitude. For others the walk was quite enjoyable and empowering. Each step brought us closer to that magnificent mountain and the glacier school.
Our base camp was placed in a large, open and silent valley with a river where we could get washed up. On our day of arrival, we had a nice solo time. The clouds moved in and out of the valley very rapidly and it was amazing to think that our base camp was actually in the clouds. The second day at Cayambe we got all of our mountaineering gear as high up as possible, so that the next day we could ascend with little on our backs. It was a slow paced and challenging hike at the altitude of around 5000m above sea level. Up sandy dunes and steep cliffs we went, even coming across ice, as we got higher. We left all of our gear under a boulder and had fun building a stone wall to protect our stuff from the weather. We practically flew down the mountain back to base camp in the sandy terrain. We bounced, leapt and hopped on down! Journal time and a delicious dinner waited for us at “home”. I forgot to mention that for some reason the spoon bag wasn’t packed so we were “spoon-less” until people started carving new ones. The next day we woke up at 3:30am. By 5 am we were climbing up the mountain, first with headlamps. The dawn with the rising sun and swirling clouds was spectacular.
We picked up the pace, now that everyone was stronger and more acclimatized. We headed through ravines filled with colorful rocks and boulders, until we got to the snow line. Michael was great in teaching us how to use our crampons on the ice, always with our ice picks. Our final task was to tie up in teams, sharing one rope that was attached to our harnesses.
Up, up we went, around blue ice structures and over crevasses. It was a whole new world to explore and learn about. Slowly but surely we got more confident with our crampons. That night we had a feast around a fire and under the Milky Way, a feeling of accomplishment in our hearts.
Leaving Cayambe behind and walking down the road with our gear we felt very light and excited because we were closer and closer to getting to the jungle. We rode on the backs of trucks to where we had left off some gear and finally hopped on a bus for about an hour to go to Cayambe City. There we were happy to reunite with Marcea. The city felt over stimulating and strange, with all of the people and the smells of exhaust. We bought caramel milk cream and biscuits for the long truck drive down the valley of Oyacachi. The trip was filled with singing and we enjoyed our intensely sweet snacks. Oyacachi is a sleepy village tucked away in lush and vibrantly green mountains. Some of the houses still have their traditional moss roofs. It felt very gnome like. We headed to the nearby hot springs, which were even hotter than the hot springs we had visited with April before she left. At a very cold river nearby we could take a quick dip to ‘cleanse’ ourselves before going back into the thermal springs. It was so nice! That night we had a delicious dinner cooked for us, and then we sleepily went to bed.
Our reason to stop in Oyacachi was to make the traditional Oyacachi wooden bowls, the main income for the village. So the next day was dedicated to making bowls. Six wood masters greeted us with pure excitement on their faces. We had lots of help with the carving of our bowls. The wood, called Aliso, is native and hard to work with for beginners. Nevertheless they all came out very beautiful in the end because we had help from the gentlemen. Unfortunately towards the end of the day, using the special tool that we used to carve out the bowls, the Azuela, Trina cut her leg. She ended up getting 6 stitches in the medical center that was conveniently located across the street from where we were. Because we had a lot of walking to do in difficult settings in the next few days, Trina wasn’t able to come with us and went back to Palugo with Ross at 4 am the next morning. The rest of us woke up shortly after, packed our bags, ate a hardy breakfast and colada with dumplings and headed off on our 18 km trek.
About half of the trek was on a road, heading down the valley past lush green mountains. It felt mystical to be in the cloud forest. One of the locals of Oyacachi walked with us until we almost came to where the trail began. We enjoyed his company. The rest of the walk to base camp was very, very muddy. We all arrived at camp looking like true bush walking adventurers. It felt good to set up camp, eat a wholesome dinner and fall asleep to the lullaby of the rushing river.
The next day we had a river reading lesson by Thomas and then after lunch a 3-hour solo time. Joey did not come back from his solo by the time dinner was already being served and it was getting dark out. We started to get worried about him, but then he came with a big grin on his face. He had caught a fish! A beautiful trout about 10 inches long. The next morning we all had a taste of his fish. It was delicious!
We left camp promptly after breakfast and used ropes to cross a sketchy bridge with large holes in it and covered in vines. Once we were all safely across, Marcea, Thomas and Lily left ahead of us. So there we were, alone as a group, exotic bird calls around us and the smell of fresh, dense and alive cloud forest. The trek was beautiful and always interesting because we had to squiggle beneath fallen logs, climb over them, climb over steep cliffs and bush walk. Everyone stayed together for the whole way, only occasionally having to wait for those who stayed in the back. We found a beautiful spot for lunch. Just imagine large mossy boulders right on the edge of the rushing river. It was perfect. Almost all of us went for a dip before eating our lunch of crackers, mustard, cheese and sausage. It felt so good to have a break and to refuel. We got back on the trail soon enough and stayed on it into the evening. Out came the headlamps, we were tired, dirty and oh so sore, but were determined to find Lily who was waiting for us. Joey, our navigator, would occasionally take off with his machete, looking for paths with footsteps, which could be Lily’s. Finally, Joey found Lily. Excitement filled the air, and everyone started to move faster and was yelling, “Lily, Lily we are here!” And there she was along with Marcea and Thomas. They had chocolate waiting for us. It was amazing and so good to see them. They sent us off with ropes to cross the Santa Maria River on another sketchy bridge, and to pitch our tents for the night. About half the group immediately fell asleep, and others stayed up until 1:30am, because it took so long to start a fire. It was impressisive how motivated some were to make soup, which apparently was a success.
The next morning, Marcea, Thomas and Lily joined us for breakfast and we packed up camp. What a pleasant surprise to right away see Ross and Trina who walked with us to where Michael and Marcela were waiting for us. Back to some sort of civilization we drove in trucks for about an hour to El Chaco. There we said good-bye to Marcea and Thomas who would rest for a couple of days. We ate a delicious fresh salad and sandwiches and excitedly read our letters, which Michael brought with him… thank you so much, parents and friends, for all your letters!!!!
From El Chaco we took a bus through lush mountainsides to Tena. We were shocked by the intense heat and sun when we got out of the bus and went to our hostel, called El Establo de Thomas. It was a seriously relaxing and beautiful environment. We had 3 cabins to ourselves, fluffy beds with mosquito netting, a bathroom with showers in each room…we felt like we were on vacation! A river flowed right by, where we could go for refreshing dips and wash our clothes. Imagine blue Macao’s, and parrots flying above, monkeys playing in the nearby trees, yes monkeys! They were so fun to watch. After we were all clean and refreshed, we agreed to spend our group money and eat out for dinner. Dinner was amazing. We went to a local hot spot and we each paid $3 for each dinner. What a feast: chicken soup, a choice of pork, beef or chicken for our main dish, a bunch of rice and beans, salad and delicious plantains. It was amazing, oh and there was refreshing juice as well. So falling into our fluffy beds when we got back was like a dream in itself.
Today we all woke up slowly to the sweet calls of tropical birds and the balmy morning breeze. Breakfast was at 8am, the latest we have had breakfast at Kroka yet! We ate delicious banana bread Trina had baked at Palugo, a rich fruit salad, granola and yogurt. We reflected on our solo hike, what the group did well and what we could improve, as well as what we personally could improve. Then we worked on our big jobs. Later three taxis arrived and we all left the wonderful hotel with all our gear. When Trina and Jackson saw some banana trees, the taxi driver pulled out his machete to take down the bunch of bananas. Now how often do our taxi drivers in the US do that!
After a short drive we arrived to the edge of the Jatunyacu River, where we will put in our rafts tomorrow. The shore here is rocky and delightful to walk on because of the big rocks. As we set up our tents, passing locals from the overhead bridge stared at us in amazement. After lunch we went straight to work to put together the rafts and kataraft. We still had time for swimming and kayaking. It is so hot and humid here. Even our dear Ecuadorian students are taking dips every so often to cool off. Bryson and Tobias found a cliff to jump off of into the river. A lot of activity is happening everywhere.
For the NHESP, this is MELODIA, the scribe.
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