Never thought I would sleep in a guinea pig house

Yes, you read that correctly. Now that I have you hooked, enjoy my latest installment of my crazy Peace Corps life.

I have two friends that I like traveling with and we try to make the most of our time here. We essentially had 6 days free plan a trip during the holiday season of Carnival here in Ecuador. We decided to point our noses south. Equipped with our backpacks, tents, and spirit of adventure we hopped the 12 hour bus to Loja, the first of many butt-numbing bus rides.

Loja is a city in the mountains of the extreme south of Ecuador. I really liked the city. The historic district is beautiful and the climate was very agreeable. I will explore the city more fully when I have more time. For this trip however, it was just a stopover as we journeyed into the jungle. In Loja we met up with the 3^rd amigo. We stayed in a flop house of a hostel but when you are volunteer 6 bucks for a bed is not bad.

The next morning we hopped a bus to go into the Amazon Rainforest. We arrived in Zamora, a small city in the jungle at midday. They are famous for having the largest clock in Ecuador. Fittingly, this Ecua-timepiece is 30 minutes behind. Zamora is a jungle city which equates to heat and humidity. It was HOT. I am talking like Louisiana summer on steroids. We met up with a volunteer that lives around there and he took us to the national park to hike.

Zamora

Quick aside: before we made it to the national park we were bombarded with balloons and a shaving cream type spray as people young and old were “playing” Carnival. It is apparently hilarious to hit unsuspecting people with water balloons from 3^rd floor balconies and throw flour after they are wet. Two weeks ago I was running in Latacunga when out of nowhere I got shot in the face with this shaving cream stuff. Getting the Gringo must be worth extra points. Throughout our trip Carnival was “played” on us more times than I would like to recall…

Back to Zamora. We hiked around in the park and eventually arrived at a large waterfall. The cool moist air coming of the falls was invigorating. We spent 15 minutes or so admiring the beautiful waterfall. Then for some reason we started throwing rocks at the waterfall and seeing who could make it the highest and talking trash about each other’s girly throws. Poster boys of maturity.

We hiked back out of the park and decided to take a dip in a fast running river. The water was not that cold but the difference in temperature from the air to the water was extreme. I watched as one Ecuadorian man jumped from a rock into the fast running river and swam downstream in the rapids for about 100 yards. I asked him to teach me and he was happy to give me a lesson. After some hesitation I launched out and swam as hard as I could in order to get to the middle of the river before I was swept down into the rapids. It was a little sketch but so much fun! Things like that make you feel alive! After our swim we hopped the bus back to Loja where we arrived late that evening.

The next morning we caught a bus even further south. We went to Vilcabamba which is a city of expats mainly from the US. We spent the day looking for a place to camp. We hiked out to different places only to find they were full or too exposed. Finally we gave up and pitched our tents in the city park. City officials told us it was completely legal and backpackers camp there on a regular basis. Not 10 minutes after we erected our tents a man with dollars signs in his eyes came to us and instructed us that we could not camp there if we did not pay him 10 dollars. We were exhausted and didn’t feel like arguing so we paid the impromptu fee and the man left satisfied with his efforts. 

Some high school aged boys came to the park with a basketball so we asked to play with them. We divided up and played. I need to take this chance to trash on my good friend. To protect his identity I will call him Devino. He is very competitive and gives 110% in everything. Unfortunately 110% of zero basketball skills still equates to zero. Devin probably took 30 shots and made one. On the play following his one victorious shot he proceeded to launch the ball over the backboard from about 6 feet out. Downright impressive.

The next morning we broke camp and lumbered toward the bus terminal. We caught a bus headed north to Devino’s site that is essentially in the middle of nowhere. He lives very high in the páramo, basically in the grassy highlands. The last bus we took that day was one of the wildest buses I have ever been on. We caught the bus further south and thus we had seats, others were not that lucky. The bus stopped on the Panamerican highway before turning onto a dirt road that would lead us high into the rural Andes.

The stop was well known and there was an enormous crowd of people waiting to jam onto the bus. The bus probably had 50 seats and I can conservatively guess that there were 120 people crammed into every open space. Whole families would share two seats. For a period of time Justino had a woman sitting in his lap. I called to my other friend across the aisle to ask how he was doing. I could not see him due to the three people squeezed in the aisle between us but he informed me, in English, that rather large woman’s bosom was inches from his face. Oh Ecuadorian transportation, you are a cruel mother.

The bus slowly crawled up the windy dirt road and later that afternoon we hopped off in Devino’s site. It is a chilly site but had the indigenous residents were very warm and welcoming. All the houses are made of mud and the government has been building small concrete houses next to each one and is asking everyone to move. In consequence, Devino lives in the concrete house and his host family continues to live in the mud house. Can’t rush progress I suppose.

We planned on going backpacking that afternoon but the rain would not stop. We waited and waited for the rain to subside but finally we just hoisted our backpacks and headed towards the family farm where we intended on camping. We trudged through newly created streams and through muddy fields as the rain continued to pour. My boots are waterproof but only to a point. My shoes would be wet until the end of the trip. When we made it to the farm we were completely soaked through. Pitching tents in the downpour was not a possibility. The only option we had was to make camp in the only available shelter on the farm, a guinea pig house.

View from Devino's site

Luckily there was a small fire to keep the guinea pigs from dying of cold. We used the available dry wood to cook our hobo dinners and to partially dry our clothing. Animal lovers don’t worry, we didn’t eat the guinea pigs… this time. The fire was nice but the mud house was not well ventilated and quickly filled with smoke. We sat low on the floor to stay out of the worst of it. The 30 or so guinea pigs didn’t mind our company one bit as they quietly squealed throughout the night.

I had to play with the chanchitos

Sleeping in the smoky house was not comfortable or peaceful but at least the roof didn’t leak. We got up at 5 am in order to be clean up camp and get ready to help the family milk the cows at 6. They had no idea that the crazy Gringos were going to sleep in the guinea pig house and we preferred to keep it that way. We stood at the door of the house and watch the rain continue to fall. The family was late that day so we used that as an excuse to hike back through the rain and duck out of milking duty.

Before the "playing" began

Back at Devino’s house we put on dry clothing and I put on every pair of socks I brought. We were served Devino’s typical breakfast, a bowl of rice and potatoes. For that matter, it is his typical lunch and dinner. Meat is rarely eaten there. In the afternoon the rain stopped and the host family suddenly realized that it was Carnival so the “playing” commenced. We reluctantly came out and played with them. I do not know the appeal of continually soaking one another after you are drenched but Ecuadorians derive such pleasure from it. The kids had the shaving cream stuff and through active participation, I observed that getting shot in the orifices of the head is the main objective. I called it quits when the kids started throwing each other into Devino’s bio-digester that converts manure into methane gas. Even though it is a weird way to celebrate a holiday it was actually a lot of fun.

That night there was a fiesta that started at 8 pm. We physically couldn’t do it so we politely declined. The fiesta was very close to the house so we were lucky enough to hear the obnoxiously loud music all night. I do mean all night. We got up at 3:45 in the morning to catch the early bus and the party was still going strong.

Playing spoons

Another very long day of bus rides and we arrived in Latacunga. All told we rode nearly 40 hours on buses during our trip. We slept on the ground most nights. Everything I took with me still wreaks of campfire. We hiked with our full backpacks most of the trip and we did not have ideal weather conditions for most part. There are not many people in this world that would consider that a fun vacation but luckily I found two dudes that feel the same as I do. Devino and Justino, I am happy to call you guys my friends even if you both suck at basketball. 



The 3 Amigos