This was the most action-packed and memorable day of the trip. On the morning of day 6, we met some of the people in the Waorani tribe which we would be visiting later and were all given Waorani names. Mine was “O-nai” which means flower. After that, we headed out on the canoes to I think what was described as the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest. It was very muddy and I was very sweaty but, once again, the nature around us really made up for it. The most exciting part was when we all got to swing across a (small) area of water on an actual vine! That was super cool. After that, we headed back to our lodging place for lunch and talked with Todd (the owner of Iyarina lodge) about the ramifications of conducting business in Ecuador. It also started raining at this time which was peaceful.
Then, we went back on the canoe to visit the Waorani tribe. We were greeted by colorful parrots and got to hold them up close. We also met the Waorani people and got to try blowing darts onto a target (not to brag, I hit the target). To further welcome us, one of the woman from the tribe gave us all face paint similar to what they wear which was heartwarming. After that, we got to go swimming in the river. It was very nice and refreshing after feeling muddy. I think those were catfish-infested waters but they didn’t bother us luckily. The Waorani people also had some bracelets, bags, and necklaces for sale which were handmade. Then, it was back to the lodging place.
We had dinner there and hopped on those canoes one last time that day to go back to the tribe. It was pitch black outside because there’s no electricity anywhere. But the lack of light pollution provided the most beautiful night sky I had ever seen. As we were sailing down the river, it felt like I was in a ginormous planetarium. The stars were so bright. When we arrived to the tribe once again, they performed one of their traditional dances and songs for us. They asked us to sing and dance for them as well and we had to do the most Pitt song possible: Sweet Caroline. It was a sweet moment as we all did the actions and sang together. The Waorani also put on music afterwards and we all got to dance with each other. When we headed back, my heart was full and my body was tired. Our shower wasn’t working so we took a quick outdoor one and went right to sleep.
