The Pachamama Journey, Ecuador

Although there were obviously many things that drew me to come to South America, this part of the trip was something I had been looking forward to doing for a few years and we essentially planned our trip around. Close and longtime family friends of the Binders started an organization called The Pachamama Alliance over a decade ago and I have seen it grow from small gatherings to a worldwide organization with thousands of members. Initially, the goal of the Pachamama (meaning "Mother Earth") Alliance was to assist a group of idiginous people in Ecuador, the Achuar, to maintain their territory of prestine rainforest as well as their culture. Where it sets itself apart from many of the old Save-The-Rainforest-type causes is that the founders realized early on that just trying to save these people was a fruitless task unless we were also able to understand and change the root casues of the things threatening the Achaur territory and lifestyle: In short, the consumption and lifestyle of The People of The North (us). So, this trip with the Pachamama Alliance is designed to have People of The North like me and Zack see the Achaur Territory and traditions, see why its worth saving, and most importantly begin to think about what needs to change in order to do so.


Our group was about as diverse as they come, with ages ranging from 11 to 60. We had a family of 5 from Boulder, CO, a monk, a mother son duo, a German engineer who recently left the auto industry in Detroit, and of couse the "twenty somethings" as we became known. We met up in Quito and boarded our bus for a town in the Andes to see a market, hike a lake, and of course visit some Shamans. I don't think I can do the Shaman meetings justice through a blog, but they were quite the experience. His comments about each individual (while translated from Quichua, to Spanish, to English) were amazingly right-on about almost everyone. Impressive. We were then all "cleansed" and prepared for out trip into the rainforest though a ceremony that involved 95% alcohol, fire, and plants... performed by the Shamans whole family. Again, can't quite do it justice in words but certainly brought the group together and prepared us for the main part of our trip.


We then took two plane flights, on progressively smaller planes from Quito into the rainforest. You quickly realize the vast and untouched nature of the territory you are entering, only to be reminded that this is of the last such terrain in Ecuador. Its nothing but green in every direction, with the occasional brown cuts of river and small landing strips of the villages (there are no roads, so plane and canoe are the only means of transportation). After landing on the dirt runway, we took a motorized canoe (that immediately reminded me of that ride at Disneyland) to Kapawi Lodge, an ecolodge set on a small lake. We spent the next two nights in the villages of the Achuar, seeing their culture and learning more about how they have able to live for hundreds of years with little to no influence from the outside world. We spent two more nights in the lodge, explored the river and the jungle, and experienced some great rain storms (No, that's not Zack on the left in the picture, its my homey Quin - the youngest of the family from Boulder). I could probably write a book (there are already quite a few) on the profound nature of being exposed to such an environment but I will just say that it was certainly an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.



Ok, for those of you just here for stupid pictures... onto what you all have been waiting for and missing: THE BEARD WATCH. It had been relatively non-newsworthy since Zack decided to shave and I decided to do nothing but let it flow for 2 months. As you can see from the first picture, the beard (as well as me in general) had become completely untamed and primal after over two months away from society. That meat you see is Cuy... aka Guinea Pig... and is quite delicious. I decided it was time to reconnect with civilization and clean up my appearence once back in Quito. I figured there was no better way to show that I was ready for the real world again than with the Handlebar Mustache. I have quickly learned that no one can take me seriously, not even Zack. Oh well, no one really took me seriously before so its actually not that much of a dropoff.

Next Stop: A short little plane flight to Santiago, Chile and then further south to the wilderness of Patagonia.

Also, Here are a ton of really great pictures from our trip, taken by a member of our group... the great Antoine Bonsorte.