Misualli 3-7th Dec

Our car did well on the journey up over the Andes and down to the amazon region of Ecuador, to Misahualli. We stopped quite a few times on our way out of Quito to check that we were on the right route (and we were) because there were virtually no signs that meant anything to us. The journey took us about 5 hours (better than the 9 hours by bus), on the newly paved road which suprised me by how well it had been done. There was only one, about 1 mile long, section of unpaved road, and several tiny 50m stretches, a couple of dodgy bridges and not as many potholes as I expected! The last bit of road into Misahualli from Tena, which used to take over 1.25 hours to cover, is now a lovely bit of smooth tarmac (the best we have seen) and it takes about 20 minutes. There were some fabulous views as we went through the mountains, completely different from the rocky type mountains in the US, these are lush and green. Up on the sides of the mountain you can see the little terraced fields that the idigenous people work. However, we didn't stop to take photos as we wanted to get to Misahualli before dark and we didn't start until about 2pm.

Celso's mum Carmen was down in the centre of the town, but we met Filemon, Celso's oldest brother at the house and we drove down and ate some supper in Carmen's friend Rosa's restaurant on the corner of the square whilst monkeys played in the street. After supper, Carmen enjoyed the novelty of being able to drive around the town square waving regally at all her friends.
The house that we have in Misahualli is looking really good. When the roof was redone some ceiling fans were put in which is bliss compared to when we lived here 10 years ago. The garden is absolutely amazing, in some of the photos it looks like jungle, there are some amazingly tall cactuses (that I wouldn't have imagined would grow well in these humid and wet conditions), also lots of flowering trees and lots of different fruit trees. Carmen has 2 chickens and a cockeral. One of the hens has 10 chicks that hatched just a few days ago, the other hen lays but has not been sitting on the eggs. The chicks are so beautiful but a couple are limping because the cockeral keeps rushing in to have his way with poor old mum and he steps on them in his eagerness! The cockeral also crows most of the night so he was a bit of a nuisance and on our third day there we had managed to persuade Carmen that he needed to be 'got rid of', so we ate him!
The 4 days we were there flew by. Poor Tristan got really badly bitten by the little black flies (Aranillas) that always irritate foreiners to these parts. I remember how they used to bother me 10 years ago, but strangely, this time, although they still bit me, I did not react to them and get the same huge red lumps that Tristan got. On Saturday we went into Tena to go to the market where the indigenous people are meant to sell loads of wild meet, like Armadillo, but there wasn't much available, however we did manage to buy a really good mosquito net, like fine nylon stockings, that did not allow the Aranillas through (the one we had bought from England was useless against them).

Disappointed with not having been able to find meat at the market we went in search of Chonta Curos. These are large beatle larvae that live in the Chonta palm. We found an indigeous couple who had been out collecting them and we bought a couple for 25c each. They were gutted and then fried in their own juices! Tristan managed to take a taste but couldn't find anything really agreeable about the whole experience. So Celso ate the tow of them with glee!

There have been some really big changes in Misahualli since we were here. For one, with the road there is more tourism from Ecuadorians who come down to spend some time on the beach by the river bringing some well needed cash to the restaurants, boat drivers and shops. There is even an internet cafe which a guy called Eduardo has set up with his wife (from Germany I think). They are housed in a new building that has been made possible because of a new wall that has been built at the marina, so now instead of a rocky path from the square down to the beach there is a large paved area that prevents any floods coming up into the square, and then there is a slope and some steps down onto the beach. The monkeys are a great tourist attraction and they have left a boat up at the back of the beach which collects water and the monkeys all go there to have a wash, they are so human like, they scoop up the water and wash their legs and arms, I haven't managed to catch it on film yet but I shall be trying again. There is also a new bridge over one of the 2 rivers that meet at Misahualli so that you can get to the other side without taking a boat, a real novelty!

We used the new bridge to go on a search for Guavas. This is a long (about 50cm), broad bean like fruit that you open up and take out the 2cm long beans with their covering of pith, and then you eat the pith and chuck away the bean. It is very difficult to describe what the Guava is like, it is just juicy, sweet and very nice. We found some kids who agreed to go up into a tree for us that hung out over the river and throw some of the fruits down. They climbed up like they belonged there, and weren't at all concerned about the river below. We ended up taking 10 for $1.

We went for a night walk along a path in the jungle at the back of the beach and saw huge bats flying around. There was also an enormous spider and a millipede, but then we got a little lost (things have changed in 10 years) so we decided to turn back. We were visited by plenty of bugs in the house though, including a medium sized (about 10cm across) tarantula that appeared on the bedroom wall.

All this stuff is out of order. I have found it difficult to find time to write with so much going on. I might remember more later and add it in!