The hotel was a charming lodge-type place with a big swimming pool (very rare for Ecuador) and a volleyball net. We had a little wooden room with a small deck where a hammock hung in the corner. Exotic birds make weird noises from the trees and the fauna was distinctly jungle-esque. It was very ideal for a jungle get-away. Unfortunately, not a few hours into our stay James got a phone call from his mother mentioning the Haitian earthquake (this was January 12th). Suddenly our lives were turned upside-down. We had limited internet access and a TV which played CNN en Espanol. Unfortunately, Ecuador suffers from power outages because they lack sufficient plants to channel the power sources. This meant that once a day at least the power systematically was turned off in every section of town. Wherever the TV was broadcasting from was turned off, so we could turn the TV on but not get any signal.
We frantically scoured the internet for news about the earthquake, trying to determine how bad it was (James works in Haiti, and I am involved with an orphanage outside Port-au-Prince). We canceled our plans for a jungle –tour the next day, knowing that James would have to be around to help out as soon as he could get in contact with his boss and co-workers in Haiti.
Suddenly our power went off as well, along with the rest of the section of Puyo. Now we were in the complete pitch black (it was around 8 pm by this point) with nothing but cell phone light to see by. Fortunately I had packed a head-light (think the groundhog from Winnie the Pooh) because we’re used to being stranded in the dark at random times. With us still frantically trying to get news of Haiti, this was very bad timing. With this small head light we managed to get out onto the main roads and hail a cab. We thought maybe the lights would be on in another part of town or at least a restaurant with candlelight so we could eat some dinner, seeing as how it was almost 9 pm. No such luck, everything was basically closed and the lights were out everywhere. The town looked very creepy and surreal in the dark. A small town store which had a generator for the refrigerated foods was the only place open. We took a small dinner of Pringles, Gatorade, and apples back to our little hammock deck area at the lodge and ate by candelight, listening to the dark sounds of the jungle around us. We had no idea when the power was going to come back on, so we just hoped for the best.
The next morning we decided since we weren’t going to do the jungle tour we would at least do a short hike at a place called the “Monkey Trail” close to the lodge. We were hoping to maybe see some monkeys hanging from trees or hear the howlers as we walked. When we arrived, however, we saw a house and a few monkeys scattered around outside. A man wished us a hearty welcome and asked if we were going to be afraid of the monkeys, to which I stammered, “Uh, I guess not…” unsure of what he really meant. As soon as we walked in the gate, these monkeys came over to us and started crawling up our legs, pulling my hair and grabbing at my sunglasses. I felt like I was a mother coming home to my little toddlers after being away for a while, the way they tugged at your clothes for attention and wanted to climb all over you! They were so human-like it was amazing. My sunglasses, I guess being shiny, warranted significant attention and had to be yanked away more than once.
We realized that we had ended up at a non-profit sanctuary for animals who had been kept as pets. All of the monkeys and other animals had been rescued from homes in the city where they were illegally kept, in the hopes of teaching them to live on their own and eventually re-releasing them into the Amazon. They had over 50 monkeys, some weird kind of armadillo-esque creatures, boa constrictors, turtles, and birds. And among all of these animals a few dogs hung out as well, seemingly unphased by the mixing of creatures. We talked with the animal-keepers a while and then one of them took us on a little walk through the jungle (I had a monkey who had “adopted” me as her mother on my shoulders the whole time). Our guide pointed out plants that could be used as food, sources of water from roots in the jungle, and plants used for different medicinal and cultural ceremonies by the Amazonian tribes. It was a fascinating tour, made complete by the clamor of monkeys who had followed us on our walk and now jumped from limb to limb above our heads, occasionally crashing along the underbrush as well. It was definitely an experience.
Finally, smelling like monkeys and all, we said goodbye to Puyo so we could return to Quito, ready to be in communication with the outside world again and specifically hoping to contact our friends in Haiti to make sure they were allright.
Note: As it turned out, the children at the orphanage are all OK, they lost the two-room shack they shared but are all alive. Soon we are hoping to have a conduit to send them the money raised from selling the Christmas cards they made. Our friends Yves and Godson are alive, although homeless and scared. 5 people from James’ work were killed, and countless other family members of staff. The other Americans he befriended while in Haiti were evacuated and are now home.
No comments:
Post a Comment