Waking up in this beautiful lodge was a wonderful start to my day. The walls in my room are all screen, so I could hear all of the wildlife awakening to the sun. I was still freaked out by the concept of a jaguar jumping out at me or a bullet ant crawling up my pants after breakfast, but Todd – the owner of the lodge – gave a lecture that kept my mind off of it about the history of this land and his own history. I enjoyed how he gave context and multiple opinions to a subjective topic regarding the Waorani tribe and the Americans shortly after the WWII era. Ceramics proved to be a good activity to let these thoughts marinate.

I’ve always been a sucker for crafts, so making our own ceramic creations with the clay from this property was just what I needed on this trip. I was able to create a plate bowl, and went to make an espresso shot glass next, but I fear there was a loss of communication because once the local woman helped me fix my glass, it turned into a miniature bowl and she insisted I hold off on a handle. It still looks super cool though! I can’t wait to paint them when we get back from the Waorani tribe on Wednesday!

After the ceramics, a group of us went on a nature walk around the property under the guidance of Skip who identified every butterfly and bug we caught in our nets. I hit my max at this point. A mix of hunger, exhaustion, and constantly adjusting to new places left me completely wiped and missing home. Thankfully, we had an hour to rest before driving to the lodge’s cocoa plantation.

I have so much respect for the woman that paved us a path with her machete and introduced us to the fresh cocoa pods. We harvested the pods and ate the white mucilage surrounding the seed which was delicious! Everyone agreed it resembled a mango flavor, and we held contests to see who could spit the cocoa seed the farthest. While I gave an honorable effort, Rick and Mark showed us all up.

Afterwards, we finally had more than an hour to blog or do our laundry in the sinks with shampoo (a Rick life hack I desperately partook in), and, later on, we all walked to a restaurant where Shirley and I absolutely DOMINATED the pool table. We won 4/4!!!! Tomorrow we study more chocolate and go on the infamous river hike!!