After breakfast we began a three hour hike to the first Huaorani community. We still didn’t see any mammals but lots of birds and insects and really amazing foliage. I will say that the jungle is much less scary in the daylight, thank goodness. During our hike, Uweme would explain the Huaorani use of plants and trees and insects. One of the trees in the jungle is called a lemon aunt tree. It has a symbiotic relationship with ants. And apparently they’re full of protein and taste like lemon. So why not try them  right? So I did. And they do taste like lemon!

Uweme would also stop to share legends of their community.  For example they have a legend about how the Amazon river and its tributaries were created. Roberto would translate while he told the story of his land. Uweme and other elders in the tribe are very important for maintaining their history because they have their own language and the stories are not written down, just passed from generation to generation. I’m developing a profound respect for the people here. They are kind and strong and hard-working and generous and absolutely fearless! Amazing!

We arrived to the first community. Here we met a few more Huaorani women and children. Every one that we’ve met is related to everyone else. It does make sense as they rarely marry into another tried and there are only so many of them. We were able to visit one family’s house – Bacha and Eloy. They have four children and they are both under the age of 25. They live in a one room house near the river. Some of them have beds and some sleep and hammocks. They have a separate room without walls that serves as a kitchen.  They did have a generator for electricity but apparently that is unusual. They have a very simple life filled with family and hard work. No electronics or in some cases even light. But they look so happy! And welcomed us with open arms. They had some other family visiting as well. One of the girls was 15 and already married. And that’s the norm for them. They typically get married as soon as they’re able to bear children. So different from the way we live.

We helped Bacha plant some yucca and learn how to braid fibers that came from the trees and were used to make jewelry. And we tried chicha, which is their alcoholic drink. Yes even the simplest ways of life include a strong drink! This drink is made from the yucca plant and is fermented with the use of saliva. In order to make the chicha, they will cook the yucca, then chew it, then spit it out and wait for it to ferment. Yeah, it wasn’t my thing! But at least I tried it.

We spent a couple of hours just hanging out with his family. It was awesome! It seems like the people know and appreciate the important things in life. Although they’re slowly adopting some modern practices. They still believe in and want to retain their way of life.

I’m absolutely whipped! And I’m loving this and I’m also very afraid at the same time. I’m just hoping I can relax enough to sleep tonight…

This seems to be the month of my life for bringing all of my irrational fears to the surface. The night hike completely fell in line with that. We started out at dusk but almost as soon as we went into the jungle, the fading light mixed with the canopy put us in darkness. And of course I know this, but this land is ALIVE. There are different sounds in every direction. Different movements from all directions. It is wicked and unknown and scary. But on I went. We were looking for nocturnal animals but also insects and monkeys and bats. Well, what you see more than anything else in the jungle are insects. Of course that’s true but I guess I didn’t realize just how true it was! And insects you see the most of our spiders. And I’m not talking about the little baby spiders I find in my house in North Carolina, I’m talking about massive, hairy spiders with spikes! I’m talking about scorpions and tarantulas. They were incredibly cool but seriously got me riled up. My heart rate definitely went way up and I felt claustrophobic.

We spent a couple of hours in the jungle before returning for a nice dinner and bed. As I went to wash up for dinner, I was greeted with a giant cockroach as well as a giant spider in my room. It’s official now, I’m like a little girl around these huge bugs! I managed to kill the spider but left for dinner with the roach in my room. After returning from dinner, he’d brought friends in the form of large ants. Now, I’m embarrassed about this but I have to tell it. I ran for my cabin to Roberto’s to see if this was normal. I swear I sounded like a small whiny child. He acted like it was nothing but I knew I couldn’t sleep like that. So I asked my new friend Jen to bunk in her cabin. Yes, I was too afraid of the dark to sleep alone. And although embarrassed, I think I’m going to crash in her cabin for the rest of the week. Completely irrational, but there it is. I’ve vowed to try to reduce this fear a bit this week. Honestly I don’t think I have a choice. Needless to say, when I actually got to sleep around 3 AM, I dreamed of creepy crawlers! We’ll see how tomorrow goes.