Arutam - volunteering in the jungle - week 2

On Saturday everyone headed into Puyo for the weekend. I ended up getting a room with Vicky and Susie which was cool. I spent most of the afternoon in internet cafes catching up with the world but it was a welcome change from the jungle. The girls and I watched a film and drunk rum then went for chinese food (!) and then out dancing in a discoteca! We spent the evening with Enrique who had been searching for us, it was really fun but quite knackering after the previous late night!

On Sunday we wasted the morning pottering round Puyo, eating, shopping, emailing and then headed back to Arutam. A new girl had arrived called Melanie from New York. We had a long chat before I crashed out for a few hours kip. We had presents and cake for Will when he returned because it was his birthday the next day and a nice relaxing evening playing cards.

On Monday we spent ages planning our weeks activities. We then all had to go and clear rubbish that had been chucked from the road, this was bollox because the rubbish was so far away from the road that it was the Shuar peoples rubbish. We collected loads that was all over the gardens and jungle and afterwards decided something had to be done about it. We decided to build a shelter for the people to put rubbish, instead of burning it, and then it can be taken into Puyo (somehow). It was a very active morning.

This is everyone after clearing an area for the bin shelter and making a path to it:

Vicky chopping wood for the shelter:
In the afternoon it rained again so we didn´t work but no one was fussed because it was Will´s birthday. We played drinking games all evening which was a laugh.
Beer ping-pong (Ben almost cheating!):

Simple dice and shots game:
Gayle, Vicky, me and Susie:

Ring of fire:

Introducing a bit of Durham culture to Arutam....the "mine" game! Carey would be proud.


On Tuesday everyone apart from me, Susie and Vicky went to Puyo to buy supplies. Us three weeded the medicine garden and then constructed more of the bin hut. It was hard work! In the afternoon Timatao and I cleared up the volunteers area and then walked to the mirador where we got good views of Sangay volcano:

Timatao and me:
In the evening we made a fire and made shmors (?) which is a sandwich made from biscuits with melted marshmallows and chocolate in between - lovely!

On Wednesday everyone was put to work in the medicine garden, it took all morning but was quite satisfying:
In the afternoon we were taught how to make Shuar jewelary by Timatao and Linda. I really enjoyed this and was able to make lots of nice braclets.

Lazy shmors in the evening...melting marshmallows on a candle!

On Thursday we walked to the house in the jungle and cut more bamboo. We only did about an hours work before Timatao took us all to the waterfall for a swim:




We then headed back to the community and practically ran the whole way because there was some serious thunder. Everyone was knackered and slept most of the afternoon.

On Friday we set off on a fishing trip. The idea was to walk to the river and camp there for the night and fish in the afternoon then hike back Saturday morning. We trekked along a really tough path for 2 hours. Actually it wasn´t necessarily a path, we were sliding down banks, walking along fallen trees and clambering over logs etc... Most of us fell at least once. Eventually we arrived at a massive clearing, apparently another vegetable garden. We stopped there and Timataos mother and a few of his younger siblings were there. They cooked us lunch which was a really nice soup with heart of palm tree in it. Unfortunately it started to tip with rain so Timatao said we couldn´t fish. We decided if we weren´t going to fish we didn´t want to stay over so instead we helped out by planting plantain roots and then hiked down to see the river.

The walk there:

Catapiller:
Walking along trees:
The clearing/vegetable garden:
Us enjoying the rain:
The kitchen:
Me delivering plantain roots in the traditional way to the diggers:
The girls digging with sticks!


The river!





The lagoon, which we only got glimpses of but it looked really pretty:
After seeing the river we hiked back a different way which was much easier going because it was a built path:






We finally got to the road and were able to hitch back to Arutam. I packed up my stuff and caught a bus to Macas and then onwards to Cuenca. I really enjoyed the overall Arutam experience and I´m glad I went but I definitely felt more like a tourist than a volunteer.