Experiencing the Amazon with Guayusa Runa 🌿🐍

We had a talk a few days ago while hiking in Baños that we weren’t enjoying our time in South America as much as we'd hoped. It felt like a mixture of not connecting with the people or the places we're traveling and our attitudes towards travel too. Things have started to feel less novel as the 9 months have gone on, and we haven't been the best at being present and appreciating places or experiences for what they are. 

Although it was a hard conversation, I'm so glad for our honesty and think it's only fair to share everything we're feeling throughout the year (the good and bad!). It took me a while to admit these feelings to Sam, and myself, because I feel guilty for "wasting" the opportunity to travel and see the world. I’m grateful for that conversation though, because it invigorated us to be intentional with our travel again. With that said...

I'm writing this in a hammock overlooking the outskirts of the Amazon jungle after spending the last 24 hours with the Guayusa Runa family in Puyo, Ecuador. Before coming here, we were unsure if it would be “worth it” (something I need to stop doing to "validate" experiences). I was wary because the community is not “deep” in the Amazon like we wanted to experience.

Puyo is only a 1.5-hour drive from Baños and is now considered, “ the gateway of the Amazon”. When the bus dropped us off, it was a full-blown city with highways, stores, banks, etc. and you’d have no idea you were even close to the Amazon. Guayusa Runa, the family’s home we were visiting, is only 15 minutes from the town, off a one-way road, which seemed too connected to the modern world for an “Amazonian experience”. 

As our taxi pulled up, we were greeted by a chipper German girl in red face paint and a woven headdress outside of her van and a man banging on a drum greeting us (our guide and one of the family's brothers, named Wanbi). Sam and I exchanged glances, and a quick laugh, wondering what we had gotten ourselves into for the next 3 days. But soon, we started learning about the Guayusa Runa family, and things quickly began making sense. 

After meeting the family (Wanbi's parents and nine siblings) we ate a hearty lunch of fresh fried fish, rice, lentils, and ají (salsa). We then relaxed around the property before trekking through the jungle (la selva). Before we entered the forest, Wanbi painted our faces using a narrow stick and red fruit (natural paint) to protect us in the forest from bad energies. The paint was used to alert animals and spirits that Sam and I were new to the jungle and for the ancestors and jungle to accept us. 

Wanbi showed us dozens of trees, plants, and seeds (semillas), and shared their Spanish names as well as their Kichiwa names, the native language Wanbi and his family speak to one another. Wanbi is a medicinal plant healer, like his parents, and can understand people’s energies, know whether they are sick, and how to cure each illness with specific plants. He pointed out plants that cure asthma, coughs, fevers, acne, sinuses, diarrhea, headaches, sunburns, dandruff, and even cancer. Each plant is different, and sometimes must be consumed, or used to bathe in. One tree's sap resembled red blood, but when rubbed in, it turned into a white lotion that is used to cure acne and sunspots. 

We learned stories about Wanbi’s ancestors, who planted Guayusa trees in the forest and where their spirits now live. We also learned that the ancestors owned all the land of Puyo and Baños decades before (the modern towns I referred to earlier), but were manipulated by the Spaniards over the years to sell their land in exchange for machetes, clothes, salt, etc. Puyo isn’t the “gateway” of the Amazon at all, but instead stolen and transformed land by colonizers. 

At night we ate chicken soup with plantains and a delicious warm banana smoothie. We also tried maggots (gusanos) that actually tasted like mushrooms! After dinner, we prepared the Guayusa tea and tobacco by the fire, which will be consumed during the morning ceremony (the tea is left to seep overnight). Wanbi shared many stories of his ancestors and the jungle while teaching us a few Kichiwa words. 

That night, we slept in a traditional wooden structure with a woven thatched roof under a mosquito net. It was super peaceful falling asleep to the sounds of the jungle. 

Wanbi started banging his drum at 5:30 am, prompting us to wake up and join the morning ceremony in the same small hut where we sat on tiny stools carved out of tree trunks. The family drinks Guayusa tea every day before 7 am, during a morning ceremony, to feel strong and connected/ protected by their ancestors. They also all share their dreams from the night before, which can be a warning for a good or bad omen. Guayusa is more caffeinated than green tea and coffee and sets the family up for the day. 

After a few cups of Guayusa (which we drank out of coconut shell bowls), we had a strong caffeine buzz as the sun rose. Wanbi’s dad, named Guayusa Runa, shared more stories about the jungle and the moon and later gave Sam and me Kichiwa names. Mine is Nina Warmi (fire sister) because I love connecting with people and fire symbolizes community in Kichiwa. Sam's name is Taruga Rona (Deer Brother) because deer run fast and love to explore the jungle. Once we got our names, it was 7 am so we stopped drinking Guayusa and moved on to the tobacco portion of the ceremony. 

Wanbi's dad mashed tobacco in a small bowl and mixed it with the Guayusa tea until it turned into a brown liquid. He then poured the liquid into the palms of our hands and instructed us to snort it through our nostrils and try to get it to our throats. It BURNS but clears your passageways and cleanses you of bad energies. The bad energy comes out in tears and spit, so you're constantly coughing trying to get it out. It only lasts for about 3 minutes and after, you feel very alert. It isn’t a “high”, but after the Guayusa tea and the tobacco, we were definitely feeling a bit of a buzz. 

At breakfast, Wanbi’s brother fed a tiny baby monkey that was abandoned by its mom in the jungle. The family is raising it until he grows big enough to return to the jungle. We ate hard-boiled eggs, plantain arepas with cheese, and lentils, which were super filling. But then Wanbi’s mom brought out this HUGE bowl (the same size as a basketball) of a fermented yuca drink called Chicha. Chicha is the basis of their diet when they have no food and sustains them when they are out in the jungle for multi-day excursions. The flavor was an acquired taste, and the fermentation definitely made it taste a bit rancid, but we politely sipped on the liquid. We tried offering it off to the other family members, but Wanbi informed us that when Chicha is offered to one person, you don’t share it with others (although Sam and I shared ours). Your bowl is your bowl. Sam and I looked at each other and took turns gulping it down while trying not to be rude. 

After breakfast, Wanbi helped me extract a gel-like substance from a tree bark we had cut and soaked in water the afternoon prior. Overnight, the bark and water turned into an aloe vera-like mixture that's used as a natural shampoo that's said to help dry scalps and damaged hair. I lathered my head and let it dry for a few hours until I could wash it out. A natural hair mask!!!! 

Wanbi then painted us again, this time with charcoal from the morning ceremony to prepare us to visit their family’s sacred waterfall for a cleansing ritual. We walked down to the river, jumped in a canoe with Alpa, one of the family’s dogs, and ventured down until we reached the start of our hike. We walked through the jungle for about 20 minutes and ended at the most serene waterfall that was surrounded by lush ferns and moss. It truly felt like it was out of a movie. Immediately, the energy felt special. 

Wanbi prepared another tobacco for us as a spiritual cleansing and shared that the waterfall was a very sacred spot for his ancestors to connect with the family and the energies around them. The family often goes to meditate and connect with the waterfall when they need clarity. After we took the tobacco, Wanbi told us to focus on the sound of the waterfall while thinking of things we wanted to bring forward with us in our lives and travels. He also told us to think of things we want to leave behind. I began meditating and thinking about what I wanted to take and let go of while focusing my energy on the waterfall when my lower chin started vibrating slightly. Wanbi then chanted and cleansed our energy with leaves by hitting them on our heads and shoulders. 

After the ceremony, Wanbi mentioned that he felt his grandfather’s energy across the waterfall and that he was going to take more tobacco to connect with him more. He offered us more, and we agreed, so continued to meditate. This time, the waterfall sound got so loud, similar to surround sound TV, and my hands, fingers, chin, and underbelly started vibrating so strongly. The vibrations were so strong that I couldn’t move or bend my fingers, but the feeling was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I remained calm, accepting it was the energy of the jungle communicating with me, and the feeling grew for a few minutes. When Wanbi called us out of the meditation, my body was still vibrating and I was in shock at what I just experienced. When Sam and I agreed to come to visit the family, we had ZERO idea we would be participating in any ceremonies, let alone snorting tobacco multiple times a day, but the energy was undeniable.

I know this sounds crazy, and explaining it even feels crazy as I write this. But it was an experience that I will never forget. As for Sam, he has a very strong connection as well and felt that he was negotiating with the waterfall about what it was forcing him to leave behind if he was to take forward what he wanted beyond that moment in life (classic salesman!!).

The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring more of the river, learning about the anacondas that live in the water (they are believed to be a bad omen if you encounter one and lock eyes with it), and more ancestral stories. When we came back to their home, we ate a delicious traditional Amazonian lunch: steamed fish, yuca potatoes, and a tomato salad with ají. We then learned how to make fish traps out of palm leaves by folding and tying them together in a cone-like shape (for the Catholics reading this, Palm Sunday prepared me for this one!!!). We then learned how to hunt with their traditional spear that is shot by blowing air. 

The next morning, we again participated in the morning Guayusa ceremony (and more tobacco) and spent the rest of the day learning about the cultural artwork/ jewelry that the sisters sell to the town. The tobacco ceremony and cleaning are rituals used to prepare for Ayuasca, which Sam and I could do had we stayed a few days longer. After spending time with the family, and learning that they start participating in ayahuasca ceremonies at 10 years old (and do them nearly every two weeks), it left us confident it would be a positive experience had we chosen to do it. Unfortunately, we had already booked accommodation and made plans after the Amazon so we couldn't extend our trip. 

Leaving the family left us feeling so grateful for the experience. It was amazing being in touch with nature in a way we’ve never experienced. It was also great, but a bit sad, learning about this dying culture and how the modern world is inevitably changing the way the family lives. Their land and community have been encroached on over the past generations. As they strive to maintain their culture and language, it's undeniable the impact technology (phones, computers, music, etc) and outsider influence is having on their lives. Wanbi is the first to marry a “normal” girl from England in a few months (She came as a tourist to visit Guayusa Runa and fell in love with him!!! Crazy!!) and wants to build a beach house in Ecuador and will be traveling to England next year. Decades before, Guayusa family members only married other Kichiwa members. It later broadened to allowing to marry other Amazonian cultures. Now, mixing with “Westerners”, will inevitably change the family’s traditions. 

The family definitely has adapted to the modern world, by wearing "normal" clothing, having cell phones and social media, as well as attending high school and university. Access to education is not a given for Amazonian families, and as children, they learn Spanish to gain an education (and in turn lose their mother tongue). There's no doubt integration has benefitted them in many ways, but you got the feeling they are integrating now more than ever because there isn't another option. It's amazing to see that each of the siblings participates in the tourism project in different capacities while focusing on other projects as well. One sister, Sisha, runs an organization educating the town of Puyo about water pollution in the rivers and how to better preserve the jungle. 

The Guayusa Runa family is so open to teaching and sharing their traditions with outsiders, it's admirable to see what they are building. I only stumbled across their Instagram page a few months prior, but hope they are able to inspire and host people for the years to come, while also maintaining their land and culture for generations to come. 

We left feeling pretty amazed at the way the family chose to live and support each other. It's an experience we won't forget in a hurry. From one extreme to the other.. we spent the day traveling from the Amazon to the Andes Mountains. Next up, Cotopaxi National Park!

P.S. The family only speaks Kichiwa and Spanish. I was forced to translate everything to Sam for the three days there. It was so hard to understand the abstract traditional stories and translate them to English… But I’m proud of myself for trying !!! (Probs missed out on half of the information and butchered the meanings LOLLL).