To be shuar to be shuar

To the last project it was!




Working with a Shuar community in the rainforest in ecuador where absolutely everything is done using machetes- from chopping down trees to opening warm beers.





Here is Enrique, our affable host and the Shuar´s version of the Fonz, doing the daily machete sharpening.



Sophie also tried her best to teach english in the local school, to children whose sex wasn´t all that easy to determine- maybe thats just what happens when a village of 40 people all have the same father. A little like Burnley.






Dont let this photo fool you, they were this quiet for precisely 10 minutes a day, then the normal behaviour of shouting ´boobs´and farting in each others lunchboxes would resume.





Look at all the respect I command...



Most of the rest of the time was spent with the other volunteers, who were all great. It was much easier than Ambue Ari due to the lack of mosquitoes, intense heat and fungus and the presence of beer. And Australians in lilac vest tops.



We also had the pleasure to meet Fadzai, who is there slogging away for 3 months, beating everyone at Monopoly and saving the local wildlife. With mouth to mouth, if needs be.



We went to a little spa town on our weekend off and floated about in lukewarm water for a whole day. It was best if you didnt think about how many children were there and the distance to the nearest toilets!



A power Shuar

On the way back to the jungle it was necessary to stock up on protein as every meal there was either white or yellow, and always involved bananas (apart from one meal of roast monkey). Luckily one can purchase the finest unidentified-meat kebabs in Puyo. Can´t believe I only got two.



We went on a jungle trek to visit the waterfall that the community worship, and boy did we have a hoot! From swinging in trees,



to finding plants that look like massive penises,



and learning how to make blow pipes- which may actually come in useful in manchester!



Enrique feeling vine.



A vine old trip through the undergrowth.



And to top it all off, a dance! This was a little strange- Enrique refused to admit that they did this for the volunteers/tourists and pointedly called it a ´community integration evening´. He dressed up in traditional clothes and danced about a bit before forcing us to drink Chicha, the local homebrew made from yucca. All of his many many brothers would sit around the side of the hut looking sheepish and not ´integrating´, thats when they weren´t in the back room watching soap operas. This was followed by the disco, which involved Enrique sellotaping a flashing torch to the ceiling and playing europop, and making us dance. We had to do this on a weekly basis. very very odd.



But all good things must finally come to an end, so we said goodbye to the rainforest, all 40 family members and went to play on the beach for the last week.





Sitting still on a beach for a whole week however isn´t as easy as we thought and we just couldn´t resist the tempation to kidnap a child on a bike.



This was, in fact a favour to the local teacher, but we were accused by some passing locals of childnapping, and had to explain to a destraught mum that we´re really quite nice, really.

So we continued on our bike trip and had egg sandwiches,



met a ridulous cow,



and seeing as it was a whole 10 miles there and back, had a few drinks.



Just the 3 cocktails for Sophie.



So thats the end of it! It´s been a brilliant 4 months but we´re ready to come home now. Flying back on tuesday so will see you all very soon! xxxxx

After a good month at high altitudes and in stinking jungles we´d had enough of Bolivia, so we got the hell out of there and waved goodbye to all its oddities a mere 3 days after leaving Ambue Ari. Boy we´ll miss that yoghurt in a bag. mmm warm bag yoghurt.



We then hotfooted back into Peru to meet Sophie´s sister for her birthday in Cuzco, the home of Incas and cheese and fruit pizza, (a nice waiter in a restaurant thought this would be a great birthday suprise. it had this effect...)



We spent 2 weeks with Fran and Rhod ( soon to be mr and mrs frod!) and their mega pap machine which unsuprisingly takes better photos than our Sony ´my first camera´, so here´s a link to their blog for some HD fun.

As the Inca Trail was closed due to the floods in January we had to entertain ourselves with the many, many small walls of The Sacred Valley, which were still Incaredibly pretty (boom boom) and allowed us to escape the constant offerings of massages, weed, fossilised Inca feet and ponchos of Cusco´s plaza.







The lack of tourists due to the lack of Machu Picchu meant that Sophie had the choice of all the small woven bags a girl could ever want. or not want. A bag, a massage and a small fury llama for only $20, now there´s a bargain!



Throw in some dye and you´ve got yourself a deal.....



Instead of moaning about Macchu Picchu we decided to take on a trejk to its less glamorous but far sexier sister, Choquequirau, which is only reached by a 4 day hike there and back climbing to 4000 metres from 1500, pretty damn hard. Nevertheless, Fran, Sophie and her baggy leggings were up for the challenge.



However actually carrying our own gear was asking a bit much so we persuaded this mule to help out.



Along the way we made friends with some animals,



we became quite close to Hyacinth Bouquet here, though we have a feeling she´s probably now in some kind of bizarre soup. A predicament that doesn´t require such an accomplished hairstyle.



but we had to focus and get to the top!





where we were rewarded with spectacular views,






amazing Inca ruins,



and new levels of style in the hair department for Dave.



We were also treated to the national dish as a reward, Cuy. Or roast guinea pig, which had it not come whole with brain, hands and wide open mouth included, could have easily passed for chicken.



But we couldn´t have had this much fun with a chicken. Hell No.



After a good 2 weks of Inca fun, we sadly said goodbye to Fran and Rhod but hello to the, erm, Beatles! Its uncanny.



We headed up the coast in a mammoth 2 day bus expedition and crossed over into Ecuador just in time for Quito´s distinctive Semana Santa celebrations on good friday. This is supposed to be a really sombre, formal parade symbolising penitence and sacrifice, but here they added their own twist by including reggaeton and ice cream...



and Cher.



Everyone was so excited...



Anyway, we spent the last weekend before starting our second jungle project looking around Cuenca and Quito, two beautiful cities;



eating strawberries,



shopping for Panama hats, which they make here in Ecuador. madness,



and cutting Dave´s hair in the style of one Vanilla Ice.



Last day before the off we thought would be best spent at the equator seeing which way round the water drains and throwing some crazy shapes over that there line.




Now its off to the jungle again, so goodbye from Dave and Donald Trump!