Though I did not know what to expect from our first day at Iyarina, it ended up being far busier than I imagined. After a delicious breakfast of fruit, plantains, and a sweet tamale that reminded me of a Dutch baby pancake, we sat with Ellie as she explained the familial Kichwa tradition of drinking guayusa tea and sharing dreams each morning. After that, we all gathered to make clay bowls, guided by a woman named Miriam Bargas, who, having learned techniques from her family, has been making pottery for forty-five years! I am very happy with how mine turned out, but I admit I relied heavily on Miriam’s help to make it look as nice as it did. Once we had finished making pottery, we all walked down to the beach along the Napo River, though we had to carefully maneuver our way under a giant orb weaver spider to do so. I was so worried the spider would pounce on me, I almost turned back.
On the beach, I spent a lot of time playing with a couple of Ellie’s young cousins, Zoe and Camila, who significantly helped me practice my Spanish. They also enjoyed chasing us around the beach and giving us hugs while soaking wet from the river water, so I arrived at lunch much damper than I anticipated. Once we finished lunch, we all headed over to a nearby cacao plantation, where we got to see and harvest cacao pods straight from the tree! Our guides, Cynthia and Eddie, cracked the pods open, so we could pass them around and suck the sweet flesh from dozens of cacao beans. In the remaining daylight, we swam in the lodge’s brand-new infinity pool, which overlooks the Napo River.
The following day of our trip, Day 7, may have been my favorite so far. As usual, we started with breakfast at 8 before making our way over to the beginning of what was to become arguably the coolest hike I have ever done. In order to get to the river, we trudged single-file through many layers of dense vegetation. Initially, the hike seemed mild — thanks to the boots provided to us by Iyarina, wading through shin-deep water was no problem and I was able to stay mostly dry. However, this changed quickly when we reached a small waterfall about ten minutes into the trek. There, we discovered that we could climb on top of the waterfall, which contained a narrow, but deep cove. Over the course of half an hour, we each took turns helping each other climb in and out of the cove. Though I was soaked almost immediately and got a few scrapes on my elbow, I am so glad I had the chance to see it!
Further down the hike, we had many different opportunities to float and occasionally even jump into some deeper parts of the water. At one point, the river became so deep that Skip and Rick told us we could either swim through the section or simply walk to the other side. Embracing the air of adventure, everyone in the group opted to freestyle around the bend until our feet could steadily touch the ground again. We also observed some interesting (if not slightly terrifying) critters like the fisher spider. My first encounter with the spider was rather dramatic, as I yelped when I saw it scurrying right near my boot! The river also contained tons of clay of all sorts of colors, including orange, gray, purple, and white. Fascinated by its texture, many of us rubbed the clay on our bodies and even drew pictures with it. I spent a solid fifteen minutes molding the material in my hands, too. The rest of our day was quite relaxed. Many of us returned to the pool for an afternoon swim, but otherwise, we simply rested and reflected on the adventure of the day.
