Relaxing weekend in the Jungle
Let me tell you about my Jungle journey. Yes, I finally made it out to see the Shuar Indians that I worked with 2 years ago, helping them build a church. I had planned 2wice this year to visit them, and both times circumstances prevented me. The missionaries I was going to stay with told me that this past weekend would be the best time, so I decided to go for it. I had to catch a bus down to Shell, which is about a 5 hour drive.
Now, understand, buses here are a little different than in North America. There are bus lines, but most buses are independently owned and operated. A driver and another guy work as a team. The driver drives (duh) and the other guy, well, advertises the bus. As they drive down the street he shouts out destinations on the bus's route, and tries to convince people to take his bus. If you flag the bus, it stops for you, and you just hop on, and it continues on its way. Later the 'other guy' comes and asks your destination, and charges you accordingly. For my five hour bus ride, I paid $5 each way. You can get off the bus at any time, just go to the door and tell the bus driver “Gracius” (thank you), and he will stop, or at least slow down enough for you to get off. That's what I did, since I was getting off at the Mission Aviation Fellowship hanger instead of the main bus stop. People are constantly getting on and off the bus, and at one point there were so many people on that the aisle was full of people standing (thankfully they have rails to hold on to up there)
At the hanger I weighed in (they need to know how much weight is going on), and then sat on a bench, reading, watching the mechanics work on other planes, and chatted with another passenger that was heading out to Makuma to work on a water project. Our flight ended up being a little early, so we loaded into the Cessna 206 and took off. Its only about a 25-30 minute flight to Makuma, so we were there quick.
It was nice and warm in the jungle, and soon I was enjoying the lack of traffic sounds and other noise so ubiquitous in Quito. I was staying with Dwain and Lois Holmes, who have been missionaries out there for 18 years. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed their house, which included a large bookshelf full of westerns (among other fine literature). My days were spent reading FarSide comics, playing darts with Dwain on an electronic dartboard (it makes score keeping easier for the Indian church leaders that enjoy playing), and photographing some of the snakes he keeps in one room. 44 snakes at one point (then I think another one was brought in). Dwain enjoys them as a hobby, and he also stays in contact with a naturalist in Quito, and has sent up a few previously unobserved subspecies.
On Saturday morning we hiked down to the hydro plant on the river. It was neat for me to see, because I missed the tour the last time I was down there. On Sunday we went to church in Amazonas, a town about ½ an hour down the trail. This is the church I had helped work on 2 years ago when I was down. It was neat to see the finished product, and the people that were there to worship. They seemed thankful that I was able to come back for a visit. That evening I was able to work on one of the translator's computers, fixing some minor problems, and helping him figure out how to use macros. That was fun.
Monday morning dawned fairly clear, to my disappointment. I would have been happy to be rained out there a couple of days, but it was not to be. I got on the plane (I got to be co-pilot this time), and we flew a short hop to another town to pick up a small gas generator. Then we flew almost to the Peruvian border to pick up a snake bite victim and her husband and bring them back to Shell. It was a nice long flight, taking almost an hour to get back from that village.
Back in Shell, I got my stuff and went out to the side of the road. I flagged the first bus that said “Quito” on it, and was on my way. I probably waited about 40 minutes, but it was nice to be in the warm sunshine. That is probably the closest to hitch hiking that I've been. Everything worked out fine, and I had an uneventful ride up into the mountains. At the bus depot I got off and got a cab to take me home.
Now, understand, buses here are a little different than in North America. There are bus lines, but most buses are independently owned and operated. A driver and another guy work as a team. The driver drives (duh) and the other guy, well, advertises the bus. As they drive down the street he shouts out destinations on the bus's route, and tries to convince people to take his bus. If you flag the bus, it stops for you, and you just hop on, and it continues on its way. Later the 'other guy' comes and asks your destination, and charges you accordingly. For my five hour bus ride, I paid $5 each way. You can get off the bus at any time, just go to the door and tell the bus driver “Gracius” (thank you), and he will stop, or at least slow down enough for you to get off. That's what I did, since I was getting off at the Mission Aviation Fellowship hanger instead of the main bus stop. People are constantly getting on and off the bus, and at one point there were so many people on that the aisle was full of people standing (thankfully they have rails to hold on to up there)
At the hanger I weighed in (they need to know how much weight is going on), and then sat on a bench, reading, watching the mechanics work on other planes, and chatted with another passenger that was heading out to Makuma to work on a water project. Our flight ended up being a little early, so we loaded into the Cessna 206 and took off. Its only about a 25-30 minute flight to Makuma, so we were there quick.
It was nice and warm in the jungle, and soon I was enjoying the lack of traffic sounds and other noise so ubiquitous in Quito. I was staying with Dwain and Lois Holmes, who have been missionaries out there for 18 years. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed their house, which included a large bookshelf full of westerns (among other fine literature). My days were spent reading FarSide comics, playing darts with Dwain on an electronic dartboard (it makes score keeping easier for the Indian church leaders that enjoy playing), and photographing some of the snakes he keeps in one room. 44 snakes at one point (then I think another one was brought in). Dwain enjoys them as a hobby, and he also stays in contact with a naturalist in Quito, and has sent up a few previously unobserved subspecies.
On Saturday morning we hiked down to the hydro plant on the river. It was neat for me to see, because I missed the tour the last time I was down there. On Sunday we went to church in Amazonas, a town about ½ an hour down the trail. This is the church I had helped work on 2 years ago when I was down. It was neat to see the finished product, and the people that were there to worship. They seemed thankful that I was able to come back for a visit. That evening I was able to work on one of the translator's computers, fixing some minor problems, and helping him figure out how to use macros. That was fun.
Monday morning dawned fairly clear, to my disappointment. I would have been happy to be rained out there a couple of days, but it was not to be. I got on the plane (I got to be co-pilot this time), and we flew a short hop to another town to pick up a small gas generator. Then we flew almost to the Peruvian border to pick up a snake bite victim and her husband and bring them back to Shell. It was a nice long flight, taking almost an hour to get back from that village.
Back in Shell, I got my stuff and went out to the side of the road. I flagged the first bus that said “Quito” on it, and was on my way. I probably waited about 40 minutes, but it was nice to be in the warm sunshine. That is probably the closest to hitch hiking that I've been. Everything worked out fine, and I had an uneventful ride up into the mountains. At the bus depot I got off and got a cab to take me home.
posted by David Stauffer at 7:06 p.m.
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