Deep in the ecuadorian Amazon

Many people can get surprised about the things that the Amazon can hide. And  our Amazon is not the exception the last time that I was there I had to take a 45 minutes flight above the amazing green Ecuadorian Amazon with the huge rivers that look like snakes going through the forest until I arrive to one of the most interesting indigenous communities the “Achuar” these people still live from the nature and they do not care about the money indeed they do not know what the money is but ironically within their territory there is one of the most beautiful Touristic lodges “kapawi” which some years ago was in private hands and now after 10 years the project passed to Achuar hands and it is interesting to see how they have learned  to manage and lead a company while helping their own families and communities to be direct part of this developmental and community company.

Achuars has some traditions that anyone might think that they are crazy but it is part of their normal life one of these crazy things is when a Achuar Man wakes up at 4am. to get a drink called “GUAYUSA” which tastes like water with a lot of coffee and the plant that they use to get this drink prepared could probably have some caffeine tough, well, the point of drinking this every morning is cleaning their bodies and souls and you would wonder how?? And after 2 hours of drinking and drinking in the darkness while this person  whistles can end up only in one way; vomiting all this water and it is that effective that one can feel that you stomach is about to be out of your body, somehow I thought that it was crazy to do this but actually if there was any kind of problem in my stomach after this therapy was gone.

Achuars still live in a society where Man are more important that women and it is easy to notice it since when one tries to talk to one girl they seems to be that they can not speak and in social meeting the Achuar women have an area in the bungalow behind the Man and they are allowed to leave this place only to distribute the Traditional drink for social event which is called “Chicha” , drink prepared in base of Yuca (big kind of potato) which was previously chewed by the women in the community and left underground for at least one month to get an alcoholic level which is like Achuar wine since you can taste different kinds and this is one of the ways how women try to stand out.

Taking out your phone or camera could be the most fascinating things for the kids since they can see how they look since they do not have mirrors either.

Certainly this experience can open anyone´s eyes and show that the world where we live is that huge that there are isolated places that live in another world but the only way to get them to know is living it.