Plantas de la selva: Vol. 3
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Succulent
Tags: arutam, ecuador, en la selva, environment, flowers, jungle, oriente, photography
Devil ants
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
Little bastards
One day, volunteers were put to work ripping down an old, traditional Shuar house. A round structure covered in palm fronds with a cooking fire in the center. Half the house had collapsed, so we salvaged the large timbers and burned the rotting roof.
This did not go well with a colony of biting ants who had since been living in the decomposing mess.
As we tackled the palm roof, they tackled us, biting and biting and biting. Devil ants in your rubber boots is not a pleasant sensation.
Tags: ants, arutam, ecuador, en la selva, insects, oriente, photography, shuar, volunteering
Sacred waters
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under photography
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 photography
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 photography
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 photography
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 photography
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
