Hello from my last full day here in the Amazon.

After yesterday's post I went on an after-dinner, in-the-dark-jungle walk with Alfonso to see what we could find in an hour's wander out from the lodge area. While I was disappointed that the sky was not clear so that I could see some stars, it was not raining and we heard plant of animal noises and saw heaps of activity going on on or near the jungle floor. I didn't take my camera because I wanted to listen and to concentrate on using my torch to spot things, rather than getting caught up in the camera thing which can be very distracting. What we did see were things like an army of ants taking leaves into the nest, some beautiful small frogs including the poison dart frog (yes, the one whose poison is used on darts for killing), a small mammal called a kinkajou, lots of lovely spiders and a small lizard.

Overall it was a worthwhile and sensory stimulating experience and my guide continued to impress me with his knowledge of the lives of the plants and animals we saw, and those we didn't see.

This morning's proposed bird watching was not on the agenda due to thick mist (I actually thought it was raining because of the condensation from the trees above my cabin falling onto the roof and was surprised when I went to breakfast that in fact it hadn't been raining), but by way of compensation we did see many birds during today's outings including a not often seen king vulture and a toucan - both at a distance.

After a special, typical Ecuadorian breakfast I joined the larger group (of Norwegians) and we travelled via the Lodge's 'truck' - which is a sort of bus without a roof or windows and with 'natural' air conditioning (see pic) - to visit a local farm that provides a lot of produce to Yachana. The farmer, Nilo (I apologise in advance for possible misspelling and wrong names of people and things mentioned for today's entry and elsewhere in this blog, but hopefully if you know the correct spelling you will either let me know or forgive me) went with the large group of this and Alfonso used his expertise to show me the many things there were to see and learn here.

Nilo runs a (very) mixed produce farm with absolutely no risk of being criticised for decreasing diversity with monoculture. He faces the problem that many Australian farmers would love to have in that the high rainfall means that stuff grow very quickly, including natural plants as well as cultivated crops. As a result he has at his disposal the natural timbers and other useful construction type of plants as well as natural medicinal plants.

I won't go into a lot of detail here, but summary snapshot of what we saw in a two hour wander included - most are pictured:
*Cash crops of coffee and cocoa, including 2 types of cocoa, they hybrid (red when ripe) and the national (yellow when ripe and worth more).
*Herbal plants including lemon grass, ginger, basil and coriander (last 2 not like we grow).
*A 'dragons blood' tree, the sap of which is great for treating gastro complaints.
*A pinkish mushroom, the cap of which can be spit in 2 horizontally and one half looks and is used like we would use a bandaid.
*Not sure of the name of this one but it is a brown fruit that drops from the tree when ripe and has a fleshy.
*One of the supposedly super fruits called honi, which has a bit of a blue cheese smell.
*A cactus, pita jays, the fruit of which when ripe is very popular.
*Bush peanuts, which are fond in a largish pod - brown when ripe.
*The 'Panama hat' Palm, which is used to make the original Panama hat, but also for string, as a roofing material, the stem as a useful stick we used to dislodge a ripe papaya, grass skirts and the centre of the stem is edible makes a delicious salad with carrots.
*A root plant, yuca, eaten often and used to make an alcoholic drink, chincha (see later).
*Banana trees - both regular and hand bananas.
*Corn - for eating and sicken food.
*And not forgetting squash and lemons.

The farm also has a crop of stinging nettles which inflict a terrible reaction (see pic of Alfonso's arm after a very short tome to demonstrate to me it's effect) and is used in some villages as a terrible punishment when a community member has done something very bad (can tell you more) However, harvested with care and cooked correctly, it makes a delicious spinach type of dish (see below). We harvested a huge plastic bag full without mishap and the group enjoyed the results.

The farm also has many chooks / chickens and today's dog shot, a friendly but skinny dog whose picture I will print and put where my Knox is fed to remind him how lucky he is.

Overall it was an amazing insight into what can be produced here in a relatively small area (around 40 acres I think). The more I saw the more I realised how well this type of farm works. As I have mentioned before, Yachana sources as much as possible from local producers and also pays them too for their time to host tourists, which is a great win-win system.

From there we headed back to the lodge for the group to cook (see me with my cooking gear - I am not going for a career change into hospitality that's for sure) many of the farm's products for lunch, together with some ingredients from further afield and dishes prepared by kitchen staff.

Our menu included vegetable (all locally sourced of course), fish (tilapia) cooked in banana leaves, yuca French fries, stinging nettle salad, Palm tree-middle salad - followed by a sort of banana fritter. All delicious.

Our next excursion involved a short truck trip to a port on the river - Puerto Rica - and into a motorised 'canoe' for the 10 minute trip. The river does run very fast and I am looking forward to my 2 hour trip down river to Coca tomorrow - with the current.

We went to visit a local community who are also part of Yachana's local support network. I won't go into a lot of detail as the night is getting away, but a summary of our several hours there included (see pics):
*An introduction to the community's way of life, including recently having electricity connected. The fibreglass pole was incongruous among the other locally produced buildings. They will pay $5 pm for this service.
*A cleansing ceremony by the medicine man. I was lucky enough to be part of that - more to tell later.
*Hearing about and seeing a blow dart demo and a chance to try.
*Spear throwing.
*Demonstration of making chincha - an alcoholic drink made from yuca.
*A chance to buy some locally produced beads etc.
*Explanation of growing their root crops.

Then back into the canoe and back to the lodge via Puerto Rica and the aircond truck.

A bit of time before dinner (for me to start packing and picture uploading).

Yummy dinner and after dinner chocolate making from the cocoa beans picked today. Unfortunately I had to miss this session due to writing this and being a bit reflective thinking about being out of Australia for Australia Day I think, for the first ever in my life. Must say that it makes me feel a bit emotional and a tiny bit pleased to be heading home.

So I hope you are having a wonderful Australia Day as I bid farewell to the headwaters of the mighty Amazon during the early hours of tomorrow. Please raise a glass or two, or three or more for me - and know that I had beer tonight with dinner in keeping with the spirit.

JC
xx