After our school visit we stopped along the Napo River to visit with one of the 40 Kichwa families. Our hosts showed us their garden where they grow many fruits and vegetables. I learned how to plant yucca once the grown ones are collected for a meal. (Put the yucca stalk into the ground at a 45 degree angle, then cover the stalk with soil.) Some of the plants grown here are for medicinal purposes.  The children, in the family we had lunch with, walk a half hour to school each day.

The women showed us how catfish is folded into gigantic green leaves of the bijao plant and put on the fire to cook. We also tried some beetle larvae … head squished off … the insides of the body can be eaten raw, but we chose to let the rest of the body to be grilled first. The first person eating the grilled beetle larvae announced it tastes like bacon. Yes in some ways it did! Our lunch included plantains, yucca and catfish… all eaten with our fingers. A delicious meal with tea.

We had a chance to use a traditional blowgun. The poisoned dart, only lethal to small animals, was more difficult to use than it looked. A couple of people hit the target! We had some discussion about the oil and timber companies deforesting the Amazon. We saw the  natural gas flames across the river from where we are staying at an eco-lodge. The Kichwa families are raising chickens and turned to ecotourism as a way to supplement their subsistence economy.

Here are some photos from that family visit: