“Don’t go chasing waterfalls, please stick to the rivers and lakes your used to” – DO go chasing waterfalls and swim in the rivers, its the adventure of a lifetime.
Our first full day in Iyarina Lodge was eventful and busy but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We started with a yummy breakfast consisting of a sweet tamale, fresh fruit, and plantains, and then headed over to the fire pit to talk and listen to Eli (Ellie), the owners daughter, talk about Kichwa tradition and her experiences growing up between Ecuador and the United States. Eli’s mother is from the amazon in Ecuador and indigenous and her father is American but raised in Ecuador by missionary parents: this dynamic provided her with a really special upbringing between two distinct cultures. She told us about how she grew up here at the lodge, and how it had changed a lot since her childhood, electricity, expansion, etc.. Her family runs the lodge, ( a very large family at that, her mom has 12 siblings). She explained how a lot of indigenous people, and older, typically go to bed much earlier and wake up before sunrise – which is at 6 am – so that they are more aligned with the natural schedule provided by the consistent 6 am – 6 pm hours of daylight. As a child, her and her family would get together and drink guayusa tea, and then share their dreams with each other, using the dreams as interpretations for the day(s) ahead and things that they needed to reflect on.
After the conversation with Eli, we headed over to a different part of the lodge were we would learn how to make traditional clay bowls. We were guided by expert pottery maker, Miriam Bargas, who has been making pottery for over 40 years. She walked us through each step, often correcting our mistakes – and sometimes crushing our poorly shaped bowls to restart – until we got it right. We learned about how we need to use our fingers to sort through the clay to make sure there were no stones, too much water could damage the structure, and that we should start small first. Overall, I was really happy with how my bowl turned out so far in the process, thanks to Miriam. We left our bowls to dry and be painted with a base coat.
Following the bowls we all decided to head down to the river which runs along side the lodge, known as the Napo River or Rio Napo. To get down to the river we had to go down these steep steps, and midway down there was a massive spider, which we had to crawl under. To say I was terrified would be an understatement, I hate large spiders and will do anything in my power to stay away from them – which wasn’t an option if I wanted to get down to the river – anyways, a near fall and missed step later, I made it down to the river bed with the rest of the crew.
The boys immediately jumped in and started swimming. I walked around and observed all the different rocks along the shore, varying colors of green, red, pink, blue, etc.. We played with two of Eli’s younger cousins, Camila and Zoe, who loved to splash us and give us soaking wet hugs – think their goal was to get us soaked without us even getting in the river. After the river, we headed back up – thankfully the spider was gone – and we had lunch and then headed to a nearby cacao plantation.
The plantation was really cool to see in person and they cut down cacao pods for us to try fresh off the tree. We learned that they have to cut down shrubbery around the cacao plants for them to grow properly, and the specific type of cacao they were growing needed a good amount of shade to grow properly. As fun as it was, by the end I was absolutely drenched because it was blazing hot out. On our way back we got rained on and it was the BEST feeling.
Once we got back to the lodge, we got to swim in its brand new infinity pool, which had literally just opened that day. It was so much fun and Zoe and Camila joined us, ensuring that they snuck up on the boys to splash them. It was funny to see them plotting in the corner of the pool before acting on it.
The following day was the craziest by far, and the wildest thing I had ever done. Rick and Skip told us we would be going on a river hike after breakfast. They suggest shorts and the boots provided by the lodge. We went a bit up the road and followed one of the locals into the forest next to a smaller river. At first it seemed like it would be simple but we soon learned there would be a lot more too it. First, we got to a smaller waterfall and everyone took turns getting hoisted up into it where there was another waterfall behind it. Then we continued upstream and eventually got to a larger waterfall where we could swim and all took a group picture. They then gave us an option to either swim through or take the path. Embracing the true spirit of adventure, we kicked off our boots and swam through a grotto like structure in the river where we couldn’t touch the bottom, and saw bats flying overhead. Making it through, we put our boots back on and continued our hike where we would see another couple of waterfalls, and my favorite part, the swimming hole. Everyone took turns jumping into what had to have been at least a 15ft deep part of the river. It was exhilarating. Then we got towards the end of the hike where there was another swimming hole, waterfall and plenty of clay. Camilas mom showed me all the different colors of clay and told me that it was good for our skin. There was purple, blue, grey/white, orange, and red clay all over the area, so of course it was opportunity for us to paint ourselves and make sculptures. The boys took the opportunity to try and create a makeshift baseball and bat. After hanging out there for a while we went back through the forest and made our way back to the lodge for a well needed and deserved shower.
The rest of the day we spent relaxing and enjoying the lodge and everything it provided. I called my parents and told them how I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider movie.
In case, you were confused… DO GO CHASING WATERFALLS!