The Amazon, part 1: Yachana

My post about the Amazon is long overdue, and for that I apologize. So let's get right into it, eh?

We spent a wonderful 4-day weekend in the north of the Oriente, which refers to the whole eastern portion of Ecuador that is the Amazon Rainforest. [Ecuador is divided into three major regions: la Costa, which is the whole western part of Ecuador that greets the Pacific ocean; la Sierra, the mountainous middle range, where Quito is located; and el Oriente, aka jungle, to the east. Ecuador is pretty small, but has an incredibly amount of biodiversity. This fact has lots to do with these three distinct environments located in a small area that makes up Ecuador. Cool, right?]

To get to the jungle, we took a 45-min. flight from Quito to Coca, one of the biggest/most developed areas in the Oriente. Then from Coca, we took a 3-hour motorized canoe ride up Rio Napo, one of the Amazon River's tributaries, to the place where we stayed, a little eco-tourism project called Yachana, which in Quichua, the indigenous language, means "to learn."

I had been pretty skeptical about the whole "eco-tourism" idea...I mean, isn't that an oxymoron? But Yachana was a super-interesting operation that helped me to see eco-tourism for what it should be. The fundamental idea of eco-tourism is this: sustainable tourism that doesn't pollute/degrade/hurt the environment, where a majority of proceeds go back to local communities and towards other responsible purchases. In the case of Yachana, the founders continue to buy areas of Amazon forest to conserve it, so it doesn't get chopped down or abused. They also started a chocolate business, where the chocolate beans are purchased at fair trade prices from over 5,000 cacao farmers in the Amazon region. Earnings from this go back into other Yachana projects, like the technical school they run for high schoolers, who graduate with a diploma in Eco-Tourism and Sustainable Development. They learn practical skills in artistry (jewelry making, weaving, silk-screening), agriculture (growing veggies; rearing chickens, pigs, etc.; cultivating fish), business (selling water filtration units), and other cool stuff. Part of our stay there was touring the high school and learning about what they're learning.

The bottom line belief Yachana is that the future health of the Amazon forest region and the well-being of its inhabitants are inextricably linked. And, the young generation represents the future of the region. So, the education and community-building initiatives are working simultaneously to protect the Amazon, too. Dynamic.

An interesting thing to note is that the owner of the Yachana Foundation is an American, who used to work for an oil company in the Amazon (I want to say Texaco, but I'm not positive). He saw the destruction his business was doing to the region and to the people, and essentially "saw the light." So he started the Yachana project. I really wanted it all to be the brainchild of a local Ecuadorian and was kinda bummed to know it wasn't. The whole thing really does have "American business plan" written all over it. But it's great to see it used for good. And, one of the long-time Ecuadorian tour guides at the Lodge has plans to start his own, similar foundation in his hometown in another part of the Amazon.

Oh, and I gotta mention the FOOD at this place. It was...Amazing. Every meal, we ate like it was our last, just because the food was so delicious... chicken curry, Tilapia, leafy green salads, fresh fruits, a traditional Ecuadorian breakfast, American pancakes, delicious desert - made as much as possible with local ingredients. Heaven on a plate, every meal. And, we were served the Yachana chocolate every day in one form or another - in a rich chocolate sauce we could put on fruit, bread, in milk, or in choconibs to munch on after a meal. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Okay. That's Yachana. Next posts will be about the stuff we did there, including treks through the jungle, a night hike, a visit to a local curandero (like a Shaman), floating with the current down Rio Napo, eating live weevil larvae, eating cooked weevil larvae, playing Ecuavolley with locals, seeing locals pan for gold...and more.