You haven't really lived until you've
been lost in the midnight fog of an Ecuadorian jungle! Ok, so, we
weren't REALLY lost and it wasn't a jungle like you picture when I
drop the word jungle. We just made a few wrong turns in the maze of
well-worn dirt roads that took us out to the tropical Ecuadorian
countryside where Petato's family has built a little weekend house.
We got there fine, though, and after parking, it was maybe a five
minute uphill climb to the small building that carried the
overwhelming scent of the musty (untreated, unpainted) wood it was
made from. Petato's aunt and grandmother greeted us at the door, and
we could hear more voices-- an uncle and young niece, I later
learned-- from inside one of the little sleeping rooms. Petato took
us out to the little back patio and promised that during the day, the view
was incredible. His aunt soon called us back in to eat a dish of
plantain and fish, cooked in large folded-up leaves that had probably
been hand-picked by the family. Though I'm not the biggest fan of
fish and the food was a little dry for my taste, I appreciated the experience.
Andrea and I went to bed in the second little room, where a thin but
comfy fullish-sized mattress had been laid out. In the morning, I was
the first up, so I quickly got dressed and went out to the patio to
enjoy the view. It was pretty fantastic-- we overlooked a valley and
watched the green mountain tops fall away from us, filled with banana
plants and other greenery, and speckled with houses and small
buildings. The river in the near-distance was not the one we'd be
visiting that day, but it was still lovely. Content with my glimpse
at the view, I went to lay down for a few more minutes until everyone started waking up, and Petato and Andrea and I set out for
an early morning trip to the nearby river. When the river came into
sight, I saw a beautiful girl sitting on the river rocks on the
shore-- when we got closer, I saw that it was Petato's four-year-old
niece, whose parents (aunt and uncle? Not sure how everyone is
connected!) were sitting at a place in the river where the water
cascades over some rocks, a natural jacuzzi massage type of thing.
The water was so beautiful and clear, and I was excited to go
swimming. When I dipped my toes in, I found the water quite cold-- I
knew I could adjust, but I was worried about the walk back, as the
sun hadn't peeked its head out from the clouds yet. Petato and Andrea
were already jumping into the deep part from a high rock, and I
eventually got over it and let them help me walk into the water, and
we got our own free massages on the river rocks. We went back for
breakfast-- fishy stuff part II-- before Andrea and I took a quick
nap. Then we sat on the front porch and sucked on fresh-picked sugar
cane, which was a quintessential beautiful moment. Soon, we had tea and fried
potato-shaped cheesy plantain creations that were delicious beyond
description. It was around 11, and we decided to walk to a river that
was not quite as close, but apparently very beautiful. While some of
the locals said it was an hour walk to that little town, we were
still on the road at the hour and a half mark and well past worn out (my hip was being cranky, too!) when we passed a sign
that said the village and the river were 2 km (over a mile) away. We
flagged down a pickup for a ride and hopped in the back. They were
apparently going to the river too, so they dropped us quite close. It
was a beautiful little spot under a high bridge-- a slightly wider
version of the bridge Shrek took to the dragon's castle, which was
kind of exciting. The entry point was a gently-sloping beach that was
great for kids and therefore pretty crowded with families, but on the
other, deeper side of the slow-moving river, there was a little rock
about 12 feet out of the water that we began jumping off of. Petato
even followed the example of a couple brave gentlemen and jumped from
the bridge, which was about 30 feet above the water. Of course, I
took video. Then we headed back into town and broke my 20 on waters
and ice creams at a little store, where the same guy who picked us up
sat and chatted with us. He
said he'd give us a ride back to the house for $8, and my cranky hip was killing me, so there's no way I could've walked the
3 or 4 miles back to the house. When we got back, the house was empty and locked. I'd been waiting for the bathroom, and had to pee outside, thus rendering the day an official adventure. We went to meet the family at the river where Petato knew they'd be; they were
just getting back to the cars to get ready to leave when we got
there. The ride back was long, but much more enjoyable because we
could see the view, and while we got slightly lost, we didn't mind.
We were playing games and practicing English, me translating English
pop songs that played on the radio, etc. I eventually joined Andrea
into a cozy state of half sleep until we arrived home, where I cleaned the river off of me and then went directly
to bed.
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