More Misahualli stuff

We are now in Guayaquil and I'm still trying to catch up with all the blog - which is well behind the time and probably out of order but I have been writing the blog in a word document so hopefully I haven't missed anything major!

Happy New Year

Trip to the Cascadas with Karina, Juan Carlos and Darwin (some of Celso's cousins who had come to stay with their granny (Carmen) for Christmas.

We took the bus about 3 miles down the road to Tena and got off to start our walk to the Cascadas (which simply translates as waterfalls). It had been raining and so the track was very slippery. The owners of the land are making an effort to make the walk accessible so that they can charge, but they have pathed the first part of the path with stones that are so slippery when wet that the going was incredibly slow!
The river below the falls has cut through the rock in a thin gorge (only about a metre deep) through which the river rushes. When there is less water it looks a bit like a bobsleigh run with incredibly smooth sides.
It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the waterfalls which fall into a large pool surrounded by rock covered in the most gorgeous ferns. Of course we had seen more amazing creepy crawlies on the way, including numerous colourful fungi, milipedes and butterflies.
Celso and Juan Carlos made us an excellent lunch on the rocks below the pool from ingredients that they had carried in and then some of the guys who were working on the path came passed and we were able to climb an incredibly slippery ladder and walk through ankle deep mud back to the road. This path was closed off by a locked gate usually (I don't know why, perhaps because the owners of the land do not want to have to monitor 2 entrances to charge the $1 entrance fee). Mum was completely exhausted by the tramp through the mud but very happy to have experienced it!

We sat on the edge of the road waiting for a bus back to Misahualli and then had a game of baseball in the road with a stick and some fallen lemons!

The next day Rebeca (another of Celso's neices) and Pablo (a nephew) arrived and so we were 11 in the house (and O'mara the dog) with people camping on matresses on the floor in various places... and Filemon decided to move out of his room to sleep under the house in the shed!

Christmas day
Christmas day was hot, hot and humid. Mum and I had made a huge pass the parcel with a present for every one inside such as silly glasses, a Kazoo, or puzzle games. We got everyone together at around 11am to sit in a big circle, they were a little confused by the instructions but they got the hang of it after Celso and I had ripped off the first two layers of paper and found our 'gifts' inside! We then spent the next hour or so playing around with all the goodies... it is incredible how these little things are so adored by them as they normally don't get any presents at Christmas at all.
At around 1pm we all set off to go to a hotel down the road that had a swimming pool. We had an enormous beach ball and played volley ball and 'keepy uppy'. It was fabulously refreshing in the water (if a little slimey on the bottom!) and we continued our swim through a really heavy downpour with lightning cracking the sky in the distance.
On our return to the house we started to cook our Christmas meal of turkey, roast potatoes, carrots and brocolli. Celso and I nearly ruined the potatoes as, while we were par boiling them I suddenly remembered about Isangos!!! Isangos are tiny little red mites that catch on your clothes as you walk through grasses and then make their way up your body to anywhere with soft delicate skin, like round your groin or your boobs! Once they have found their ideal home they dig in and cause huge irritation. I was wondering why mosquitoes or aranillas had been managing to cause me such irritation when I was being so careful to keep myself covered..... but it was the wretched Isangos. Anyway... when I remembered about them I asked Celso to check out some of my itchy spots. He treated them with pure alcohol and then opulled out the little Bu......s with tweezers... and so that is how we nearly managed to ruin the potatoes!
We managed to fit all 11 of us round the table to eat. Mum had bought crackers which caused great confusion as, when we opened them in a huge continuous ring around the table, the contents flew out in all directions. The most prized items were mini magnetic chess sets, pens, nail clippers and one of those infuriating puzzle games made of two loops of metal that you have to connect together. Incredibly someone had managed to buy a decent bottle of wine (before the wine that we have managed to buy has been foul) and we also had a bottle of rum. A great meal was followed by some gifts which mum had brought from the UK for everyone. For Filemon a wind up radio (you've never seen anyone so pleased), for Carmen a wind up lantern and a bag, for Rebecca and Karina bags and little games, for Juan Carlos a pair of binoculars, for Darwin a pack of cards and an electronic reactions tester, for Pablo a potato clock and a kit to make an aeroplane and for Tristan a whole load of books and a clock that works on lemon juice! We had also bought Tshirts for everyone from California. They were all pleased as punch.
We played cards and puzzle games well into the night whilst Filamon sat out the front getting the hang of tuning his new radio!
Boxing Day.
Mum, Rebecca, Karina, Darwin and I headed into Tena to go to the market. We found some Chontas, in plastic bags rather than still on the branch, and bought both bags (all that there was!) Karina bought some fish and then we wandered the streets just looking at the comings and goings. Mum and I then went to an Internet cafe for about an hour but again the photo loading time of about 4 mins per photo was too slow to bear so eventually we gave up and returned to Misahualli.
Mum and I then did a load of washing... we are not very expert at the old handwashing bit but we do our best!
Tris and I went down into town to try and use the internet, Eduardo's was closed so we had to use the other place, but after an hour of sitting there waiting for things to load we gave up!
It was a lazy day

Sunday 27th
Mum and I decided to go for a walk along the beach in Misahualli to see what we could see. Again we found loads to look at, bugs and plants etc. The approx 2 mile walk along the river to where we had got into the inner tubes to float down the river in about 10 mins took us over 2 hours. We returned home hot and sticky but satisfied with our findings.
We then spent over 5 hours in Eduardo's Internet cafe loading on about 100 photos. We just had to sit and bear the wait otherwise we wer going to get so behind that it would be impossible to ever catch up. I am sure the load time is going to be pretty similar anywhere we go in Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia. Perhaps Chile will be better!