Ok friends, this was a BIG day. We visited the Waorani Nation, particularly one community within said nation that lives about a 6 hour canoe ride through the Amazon Rainforest. As per usual, breakfast was bright and early, nothing to see here except the amazing views from the lodge that I have gotten quite accustomed (spoiled) to. I hastily packed my bag and shoved it into a waterproof garbage bag, which showed itself to come quite in handy throughout the journey. 

To put into perspective how far this place is, we had to take an hour and a half bus ride just to get to the spot where we could start our 6 hour canoe journey. Every second of it was worthwhile however, as you will quickly realize later in this blog.

After the bus ride filled with no emotions but anticipation, we were ready to canoe down the rivers. There were two canoes that would be taken by me and my fellow Plus3 students, a bigger one and a smaller one. I was assigned to the smaller one, which I was notably disappointed in at first, as most of the students were on the bigger one. However, the word flexibility found my mind once again, and I ended up having a really good time with my friends on the smaller canoe. It just goes to show that you have to trust the process (Sixers reference maybe?!?!).

But onto the actual boat ride, the 6 hours flew by like that. The cool breeze on my sunburnt face reminded me of my St. Thomas days, and I could not be any more grateful for that. This was no St. Thomas however, it was its own unique journey and that I am still amazed that I got to go on. The lush green trees surrounding the roaring river waters was something that I might not ever get to experience again in my life. My favorite part was sticking my hand in the cool river water, it was a very fun sensory activity.

What was most amazing about this journey, however, was that the two people driving our canoe were a 16 year old and a 6 year old, both of whom I would later learn were members of the community that we would be visiting. I was really struck by how much respect the people in this community had for the land that they lived on, a type of respect I really think that people in the U.S. can hopefully adopt one day.

That’s about all I got for the canoe ride, I will save my experiences within the Waorani nation for the next blog, which is like… MUST SEE TV. You better read it… or else. Lol jk, but you definitely should read it. 🙂

Ok anyways, until next time!

-George