At about 2pm on Friday 5/12, we left our lodge in the Amazon visit the Waorani tribe nearby. They came back with the boats for a quick 2 minute ride. Upon arriving, we were instantly greeted by a bunch of beautiful macaws in a tree that we got to hold and play with. They were pretty grumpy, understandably because they had their wings clipped. Upon first look around, the campus was pretty interesting: a large soccer field with goals with no nets, one satellite and a few solar panels, a communal hut with a straw roof, and a few raised houses in the back with metal roofs and clothes to dry hanging all over the railings. The people came over to come greet us, most of whom we had already met this morning. We met for the first time the leader of the tribe: an older man with no shirt and khaki pants, long hair and a crown made of straw. There were a few other women and children we hadn’t met as well.

We first started off with blow dart target practice. It wasn’t how it’s pictured in movies: it’s a very long hollow piece of bamboo, instead of the shorter tubes I was imagining. We each got to try to hit a target, I hit mine first try, and I got a video from my point of view on Skip’s specs too. Then. We tried to hit the target with a long wooden spear. I was close but didn’t get it, only a few people did. Then we all lined up to get our faces painted with the tribal paint maid from the same spiky red berries that we ate at the Jet Fresh Flowers lunch. Then, we played an awesome game of soccer with them. I’m not very good, but it was a lot of fun recording it on the specs. We played Ecuadorians vs Americans, and they kicked our butts. Skip apparently plays soccer and he was very into it. It’s awesome how soccer is truly a universal language, and we quickly bonded with the tribe even though we couldn’t speak the same language. We were all laughing and high-fiving, and it was a great moment that I’ll always remember. 

After soccer we were all sweating so much that we went straight to the river and jumped in. That was a lot of fun, even though the muddy water just made us dirtier. Then, they set up a little market in their communal hut for us to buy some of their homemade items. They had some colorful jewelry and bags that were hand-woven from harvested palm leaves, and wooden pots and bowls with paint on them. I didn’t bring any cash so I didn’t get anything, but it was fun to watch them sell. No one tried bartering because they definitely needed the money more than we did. 

We left the tribe at around 5pm for dinner, then went back around 7. It was dark by then, and the sky was perfectly clear so you could see all the stars. It was so amazing. Skip pointed out different galaxies and constellations, and we saw some shooting stars as well. The entire sky was filled with stars and clusters. The galaxies were so dense and bright, covering the sky like dust. It was clear of clouds overhead but there was a storm happening in the distance, so occasional lightning lit up the sky.

We got to the tribe at 7:30, and they were waiting for us in their communal hut. We all sat down on logs around the entrance, and waited for the dancing to begin. It started with the men standing in a line, chanting and playing wooden flutes while walking back and forth. Then the women and children lined up side-by-side and started their own chant, pacing back and forth. This happened for a while, and then the men started walking in circles around them. I’m not sure if it was a language or just random blissed, but it was pretty funny. They were all wearing more tribal-like clothing that I had imagined, very minimalist (the men pretty much just hair waistbands and headgear). They explained to us afterwards that it was their welcoming dance. 

After maybe 5 minutes of them just doing this nonstop, they invited us to join in. The guys lined up behind the men, as well as the girls behind the women and children. Since the chant slightly varied every 10 seconds, we had to stop and listen for a bit before we joined in. We also didn’t have flutes so we just made the sounds with our mouth. We were really bad at it so they were laughing at us but it was still a lot of fun.

They then thanked us for accompanying them and welcomed us to their tribe, calling us brothers and sisters. Then, they asked us to show us some of the music from our culture. Naturally, the first song we played on our phone was Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way.” We all sang it out loud and dances, and I led the “Tell me why!” call and response. They loved it. Next, we played them “You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift and sang it word for word. We decided to end it with Sweet Caroline, and chanted the Pitt version for them. It was the only one with a choreographed dance so I think they enjoyed that one the most. 

Afterwards, they invited us to all dance together. They played some Spanish music on a speaker and we all got into the middle of the hut and danced with each other in pairs. We salsa’d with the tribe members and each other, switching off between songs and having a blast. It was so hot and we were all drenched in sweat but we didn’t care. Sometimes I’d see a Waorani woman off to the side by herself and come over and invite her to dance. Even the little boys grabbed the girls in our group and danced with them. Skip had awesome dance moves and showed us all how it’s done. He keeps surprising us.

We thanked them for their hospitality and left the tribe at around 8:30. The ride back was just as beautiful. When we got back some of us hung out at the dinner table with Skip and Todd and talked for a while about the things we’ve seen and how awesome the dancing was. We stayed up for a while after they both went to bed and just enjoyed the sounds of nature. It’s so relaxing and I’m so happy to be here.