This last week we were in the Amazon! We started off our journey in Tena- meeting our amazing Amazon guide Genovonny, we played life-sized chess and worked for a day at a cocoa processing facility. We were able to experience hands on the full process of chocolate making from the fruit, to seeds, to fermentation, to drying, and to the final product! After Tena, we had a morning of epic rafting before heading off to our first community in the Amazon. We stayed three nights in the Sorena Community. The first day we played soccer in the community center, tried tons of fruits, helped with moving rocks and logs for the construction of a community kitchen, and swam in the river. The next day we all went on a hike through the jungle up a river to an incredible waterfall for lunch and swim break. We learned to be wary of the Ortega plat (they are like stinging nettle)! That afternoon we went for another river swim. The community and our homestay families were amazing and none of us will forget our “hot sauce” medicine given to us to help with our congestion.

On Tuesday we traveled to our next community stay on boat up the river! Once we arrived and got all of our stuff up to where we were staying, some of the community members showed us how to thread string for jewelry as well as how to shoot blow darts at a fruit on a stick. We went on a night hike through the jungle and saw many neat insects, a few frogs, and a mouse. Thursday evening, our last night in the Mirador community partook in a cultural ceremony (we got facepaint for it) and had a super fun evening of dancing, music and cultural exchange. The food during our time in the Amazon was amazing and all straight from the jungle! Their way of life is incredible! The next day was another POURING rain travel day. We stopped in Tena to purchase lots of delicious chocolate bars! We are now in Banos and are so excited about the adventures that await us here!

Sending you all love,

SAM (written by Clarrisa)