A Jungle Vacation--Bameno (Day 24)

Where do you go on vacation when you are living in the wilds of the Amazon?--the nearest settlement of course. Which for us is the Huaoarani community of Bameno (population 100), located about 2 hours downriver from us. When I say downriver, I mean that they are further away from the Outside in the geographical sense although they are closer to civilization figuratively, because they possess a landing strip for light aircraft and thus receive news/visitors often. This is to be where we will eventually fly out at the end of our stay although word from the Peace Corp volunteer Susan is that there is no jet-fuel for the bush planes due to current government restrictions---meaning two disturbing things. One--no plane=we may have make the horrendous 20 hour canoe ride out in a couple weeks. Two--if something should happen to us during our stay (snakebite, unrelenting crying espisode, etc) the possibility of rescue by plane is not possible. We hope this dirty rumor of no fuel turns out to be a jungle myth.
We do a little work on the cabins in the morning before Otobo arrives. When he does we know he too is excited about our trip to Bameno because he is dressed up Huaorani-style--cut-off collared shirt and Converse All-Star type shoes. Like country folks heading into town, we excitedly load up the canoe and Otobo, Carmen with the newborn and 2 year-old, Conan, Joe and I set off towards Bameno. On the ride down Otobo points out the head of a crocodile in the water, whose length he estimates at about 6 ft.
We arrive to a quite happening Bameno. People are everywhere--the Huao Women's group has set up a crafts workshop under the supervision of the Susan, there is a couple Duke students who came in with that group to start an GPS mapping project and there is a couple of tourists that are visiting the settlement. Almost immediately Otobo, Joe, and I get involved in a heated Ecua-Volley game (volleyball with more lax rules). The game is slightly comical, besides the fact that we are playing on a dirt court in the jungle there is a young Huaorani boy who emerges during the game with a whistle and starts officiating. He's got some guts as he immediately starts calling foot faults and other minor infractions. Joe is so impressed with is officiating abilities he talks of bringing the boy back to the States and grooming him to be the first Ecuadorian Major League Umpire.
The plus side of all the gringos present is there is bound to have some meat and possibly fresh veggies and other non-rice options. At lunch Joe and I do our best to get invited to eat with the other groups by hanging around the mess area. Joe summed up our situation poignantly when he said "it is pretty bad when we are begging for monkey soup."