January 19th, Kichwa culture day

Pygmy Marmoset

We started bright and early with a bird outing and a small mammal stole the show. The bird activity was a little slow, seems like many already head for cover by the time first light comes around. One exciting find was a Kite, who we found tucked into the forest. As we continued our trek to some promising patches near the river, Robert spotted a Pygmy Marmoset. He whistled to bring it closer and we watched as a group of 5 marmosets chased each other around the tree in front of us. This obviously thrilled the students, and we were all amazed by our good fortune of spotting one of the smallest primate species in the world, which was about the size of a small squirrel.

After breakfast, we loaded up into the boat again and headed across the river to visit a medicine man.

Along the way, we crossed a bamboo footbridge, sampled some fresh cacao seeds, and had a seed spitting contest. I got to go last, and after some good boasting, and a running start, I managed to lose the seed before reaching the starting line. Luckily, Robert gave me a second shot, which still paled in comparison to Zach’s winning effort.

The medicine man lived with his family in a small house on stilts, which is common among the locals because of rising floodwater and to avoid snakes. The medicine man, named Acevedo Chimbo, was the original founder of the community here. Medicine men differ from shamans, as medicine men are healers and the shamans deal more with sorcery. He performed a cleansing ritual on each of us, which involved removing the bad energy from our bodies and replenishing the good energy.

Keith and Monique, cleansing ceremony

Pablo and Jay

To perform the ritual, he brushed around us with a handful of malalipanga, or energy leaves, and blew pure tobacco smoke around our bodies. It is actually kind of difficult to explain in writing, but each of us will agree that it was an incredibly relaxing and unique experience. After performing the ceremony on most of us, he took Max into the house for some individual healing on his ankle, which he had sprained pretty badly a few days ago. Robert then showed us the finer points of how to use a blow gun and throw a spear made of iron wood.

Jeff taking aim

Monique and Zach, champions

He presented the winners of the blow gun contest (Monique) and seed spitting contest (Zach) with some hand made head bands, which he wove while we were undergoing the cleansing ceremonies.

On the way back, we visited a Ceibo tree, which Robert explained is a sacred tree to the Kichwa people as it provides a link to the spiritual world above. The tree we visited, we estimated to be about 100 feet around, which was a little guy, according to Robert.

After lunch we visited a breeding colony of Hoatzin birds, which are unique in a few ways, including being the only member of their family, having clawed elbows with which to climb with as juveniles, and having a methane induced stink to their bodies, which make them inedible. On our next stop, we toured the high school associated with the Yachana lodge. All profits from the lodge go towards running the school, in an effort to bring some badly needed education and vocational training to the locals. Part of the experience includes agricultural training and we saw some citrus grafting and aquaculture (a native fish, as tilapia are invasive to these parts). At the school, we met some of the students, teachers, and the principal and we are currently working out a lesson plan, which we will be teaching to the students in a couple of days. Part of the visit included a gift of some new soccer balls and a volleyball net for the students. We were able to see a local game in action, and we may get a chance to play a match or two with the students in the near future.

Katydid

At dinner tonight, we met with the founder of Yachana, Douglas, who talked with us about his latest endeavor to conserve the rain forest. His new program involves a system of carbon credits, where donations go directly towards conserving privately owned plots of forest. In essence, it would pay a farmer about twice their normal annual salary to not cut down and sell the trees on their property. Payments would be good for 5 year increments, allowing for flexibility if a farmer needs to bow out of the program for some reason. After listening to the rationale and logistics of the project, I will say it is an intriguing conservation option. In my other travels to the Dominican Republic, I have been tempted to purchase tracts of land in order to try to ensure their conservation. The problem with that idea, is that without a full time presence on the land, there isn't a way to stop people from coming in and hunting, or cutting trees.. For further information about Yachana and their ecotourism programs, check out yachanalodge.com