Sacred waters
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Prayer
The Shuar consider waterfalls in their community a source power and respect them deeply. Here, Sebastian, one of the volunteer guides, has a moment of quiet with a waterfall deep in the jungle, after the volunteers finished goofing off.
Tags: arutam, cascada, ecuador, en la selva, environment, oriente, photography, shuar, volunteering, waterfall
Plantas de la selva: Vol. 2
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Almost waxen
Our series of interesting and/or weird plants continues. Any botanist out there can feel free to identify.
Tags: arutam, ecuador, en la selva, environment, oriente, photography, plants
Primary forest, sustainable life cycle
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Old growth
At Arutam, the Shuar community where I worked, the villagers are responsible for a couple thousand hectares of Amazon, allotted to them by the government. Their model, with the hands and dollars of ecotourists and paying volunteers (me), is to develop a small portion of the forest — cutting for banana plantations and fish ponds and whatnot — while keeping pressure off the remaining primary forest.
The above photo shows a tree reaching into the upper jungle canopy. The tree, by the estimates of our guides, could be 200 years old. In the present model, it’s protected because of, not in spite of, the community clearing land nearer the road and their homes for agriculture and aquaculture. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: arutam, ecuador, emerging nations, en la selva, environment, oriente, photography, plants, shuar, trees, volunteering
Plantas de la selva: Vol. 1
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Necesito un libre bontanico
There will be lots of these pictures, of flowers from the jungle, whose name Spanish or English name the local community doesn’t know. Hell, some of them don’t even have Shuar names.
But I’ve photographed them and will wait for word from a botanist, if one is reading.
Tags: ecuador, en la selva, environment, oriente, photography, plants, shuar, volunteering
Leopard skins and dancing shoes
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Shuar dance party
Well, maybe a lack of dancing shoes.
Every Wednesday en la selva is family dinner night. The community cooks a traditional meal of fish, palm hearts and yucca. And then we dance the night away to Shuar music.
Admittedly, there’s only a couple songs on repeat, and the steps — particularly for women who really only do a modified bunny hop — get old quick. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: arutam, culture, dancing, ecuador, en la selva, party, shuar, volunteering
Vulcan Sangay
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Fire
The view from the bluff, where I stayed en la selva. This was the only day in almost four weeks that the horizon was this clear. To the left is Vulcan Sangay, in Sangay National Park. The park, home to two of Ecuador’s active volcanoes, is an endangered UNESCO World Heritage site.
Tags: arutam, ecuador, en la selva, environment, landscape, oriente, photography, sangay national park, vulcan sangay
Shuar warriors
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Warrior pose
During the three weeks I volunteered in the Ecuadorian Amazon, or “en la selva,” I lived in a Shuar community caught between traditional practices and modernization. Meet our volunteer director, Enrique Vargas, a 23-year-old who is studied in traditional ways, drips machismo and wants, in male Shuar fashion, multiple wives. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: arutam, culture, ecuador, en la selva, enrique, photography, poverty, shenanigans, shuar, volunteering
