We recently had visitors from a folkloric dance group from Salasaca, a community between Baños and Ambato. There were 12 members in the group and they spent the night and entertained with their music and dances.

This picture was taken on the banks of the Pastaza River. It had been raining the night before creating severl waterfalls along the far banks.

The Main House and Restaurant are on the Highway Level.

Photo by J. Walker

Open for Business

Just 25 KM from Baños , on the Puyo highway is a wide spot in the road called San Francisco. There is not much there, outside of a few houses, and a general store.

Margajita River

Photo by J. Walker

A few hundred meters past the "City Center" is the Margajita River and a small resort consisting of three A-frame cabins, river fed swimming pool, main house on the highway and an outside restaurant.

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It is a beautiful day here in Margarita Ville, and it is sad that you are not here to enjoy it.

Last night it rained, today it rained and it looks like it may rain tonight and tomorrow as well. But you never know. By the calendar it is Spring and in another six weeks it will be Summer in this hemisphere but that is only by the calendar. This close to the equator you really only have summer and winter and they are really not that much different from one another.

When I walked with Blaze, the wonder dog, to the Pastaza River this morning it was running high and fast. The color was that of coffee with a lot of milk. Depending on how much water is being discharged from the Agoyan Dam a few Kilometers East of Bañoa proper, determines the color. The water behind the dam is a deep chocolate brown as it holds back the waters of the Chambo and the Patate Rivers which meet a few kilometers west of Baños to form the Pastaza. These rivers are always muddy. As the Pastaza leaves the dam it is fed by many rivers which normally run clear except in times of heavy rain…like today. Each river as it empties into the Pastaza changes the color a little, so each day the color changes from the color of bittersweet chocolate on its darkest days to a beautiful sea green when it is the clearest.

More news about La Farmacia.
Yesterday, while in Puyo I researched “Sangre de Grado” on the Internet, and I found an amazing amount of information. If you were to believe only a quarter, it would make the sap of this tree the best thing since penicillin. So today around midday, I went on a little hike with Lourdes and Andres to find more of this wonder drug. We found several trees close to the trail that had been milked many times by the locals who pass by, judging by the slash marks. I did collect a small amount but the rainwater was diluting it so we decided to go back tomorrow.

According to my research the sap has been used for hundreds of years here in the Amazon region by the indigenes Indians to help heal wounds in record time. You merely put the sap directly on the cut and it will disinfect, protect and heal, all in just a few days. If taken internally it can control internal bleeding and a score of other ailments from a sore throat to cancer. If you want to know more, browse the Internet.

On the way back we did find another plant that I was told was used to heal a variety of ills so we dug it up and I added it to La Farmacia. I am not sure of the uses of the plant or its exact name, however on my next trip to town I will check it out on the library in the sky.

Another plant that I had added a few days ago was “llanten”. When I looked it up I found that it grows also in North America. Its common name is “greater plantain”. It grows wild along the roadways I learned, and the young leaves are used in soups and salads, and dried they are used in teas good for various ailments and even makes a therapudic eye wash. I am now trying to find the best way to dry the leaves which is not an easy thing in this climate. Check it out on the Internet…you may just have this herb growing somewhere near you.

La Farmacia

Since I have been in Ecuador, many people have told me of different plants that are good for this or that ailment and are growing everywhere. I have always been interested in natural medicines especially those that will prevent you from getting sick in the first place, so I started clearing a small section which I call “La Farmacia”, the Spanish word for drugstore. Each time I learned of a plant that had a medicinal quality, I would look for it in the wild and transplant it in La Farmacia. I now have six.

After reading “Witch-Doctor’s Apprentice”, by Nicole Maxwell, (1905-1996), it gave me a whole lot more information. It was a fascinating story of this woman’s travel into the Amazon Region, mostly in Peru, from the early 50’s to the late 80’s. Her passion was finding and cataloging plants that had medicinal value and then trying to interest pharmaceutical companies in the United States to open their collective eyes and minds to a whole new plethora of life saving drugs that were ready for picking. As I read, I realized that I had many of the plants right here under my nose. All I needed to do was identify them, and to do this I needed help. The next time I go to town I will spend some time on the Internet. I am sure

Today I took a hike on the other side of the Pastaza River with our one employee Lourdes and her husband Andreas. They both know a lot about the plants in the region and as luck would have it, we found one of the Sangre de Grado trees a few feet off the trail. This was one that was described in Nicole Maxwell’s book. If you slash the trunk, the sap is the color and consistency of blood. This sap is good for a large number of ailments as I remembered. After slashing the trunk we collected a few drops on a leaf. Andreas rubbed the sap on the back of my hands. As he rubbed it in the color changed from red an almost white cream and then disappeared into the skin. Lourdes commented that if you did this two time a day, the dark spots that I and many other people my age are plagued with, would disappear. I am going to check this out.

On the way back home Andres spotted a small “Sangre de Drago seedling, less than a meter high . We dug it up, or to be more honest, he pulled it up by the roots and I brought it back to its new home in La Farmacia. I am not sure it will live but almost everything I have transplanted to date has lived. It seems that if you plant a stick it will start sprouting leaves.

We found one other plant, I don’t remember the name, which we also brought back. I will find more about it later. .

Swimming Pool in Service

The swimming pool although not completely renovated, it is in operation. There is some cement work that needs to be finished and it needs to be painted. When time and money permits it will be done. In the meantime it is being enjoyed by the local kids who started lining up once they found out that by talking nicely to the management they were welcome. It quickly got out of control, and in their exuberance they went over or under fences to get to the pool at any time of the day. To keep some degree of control, we posted a few rules and started charging an entrance fee of $0.15 for kids and $0.25 for adults. If they do not have the cash, a payment of one of the many fruits that are plentiful in the area is acceptable.

The Physical Education teacher from the local grammar school in San Francisco stopped by with 20 of his students who were on the way to the river for a swim. They had been making their weekly outing to a small pond we had created on the Margajita River. They had always ignored the “Private Property” sign and entered the property any way they could, except through the main entrance. On this particular morning he brought with him one of the administrators who stopped by to talk. Since many of the kids were familiar with the new rules, they wanted to know what we would charge for the class to use the pool. I was tempted to charge the regular rate but quickly decided to make my contribution to the local school and let them use the pool for free.

The pool is fed by the Margajita River and since the water is constantly flowing in it has an automatic skimmer which keeps the surface always looking clean. We empty it every night and fill it each morning. Yesterday when we had cleaned the pool and were starting to refill, we noticed several small fish sliding down to the deep end. In a few minutes here came some more. It appears that a small school of what looked like sardines got a little too close to the intake on the river. Lourdes, who is our one employee, told me that when we drained it she was going to put a net over the drain and net them for lunch. She tried but somehow they got away..

Although the water is a little cool for my comfort level the local children and a few mothers and fathers from San Francisco are finding it a great spot to hang out. My one concern is the safety of the children. Few of the young kids really know how to swim I worry sometimes when there are only young playing around in a pool that is more than two meters deep at one end. Because of this, I feel compelled to be close by, if I see there are no real swimmers in the group. I would love to be able to offer swimming lessons. Anyone care to volunteer?

English Classes Have Started

Although I have not had any luck recruiting an English teacher, I could not put off the classes any longer. I had committed myself so when my first two students showed up yesterday, I became the teacher. This is not exactly what I had envisioned, but I do have a basic understanding of the language so I thought, what the heck.

Let me tell you the story of how I became acquainted my first students, Richard and his brother Wilfredo.

It started on a rainy day about four months ago, when a young women of about 25 years of age, with a 12 month old baby strapped to her back, stopped by the entrance to Margarita Ville selling papers. I bought a copy of “Extra” for $0.50 and she continued on up the road to the center of town. The paper turned out to be Ecuador’s version of the “Star”. Although the paper was a rag I continued to buy it each day when she made her rounds. On weekends she would have a young boy with her whom she introduced as her brother. Soon she felt comfortable enough to take time to chat, change the diapers, have a water and since we almost always have a bunch of bananas hanging in the patio, we would give her some for the road. I told her I did not really like the “Extra” so she started to bring the El Comercio, which is a respectable newspaper out of Quito. Little by little I got to know her story and found she was one of a family of 12 and a single mother of two as well. She lived with her family in the small town of Fatima, on the highway to Tena. She would go to Puyo each day, pick up her papers and take the bus to San Francisco, walk to the next town of Rio Negro, bus to Mera and when she had finished her rounds there, head back home. Not an easy life but there was no complaints either.

When school was out her young brother of nine, and his seven year old brother took over the route. Each day they would pass and the papers started to stack up. Since we had talked briefly when he made the rounds with his sister about English he started to ask when I was going to start the classes. I kept putting him off and finally we agreed on a date.

Yesterday Richard and seven year old Wilfredo got off the bus in front of Margarita Ville at 15 minutes to eight. Since the trip from home is more then an hour on the road they had to leave home no later than 6:30AM. Two young boys, with, I am sure, no pressure from their parents, skipped the paper route for a day and came for their first lesson.

The lesson went well and I included our cook and housekeeper in the group. After the lesson, I went to Baños for a couple of hours and when I returned they were still their watching cartoons on Direct TV. I invited them to stay for lunch and then sent them on their way back to Fatima.

Today as I was sitting here in front of the computer I saw the two arrive with big smiles on their faces and the morning paper.

I am still looking for a teacher or two, so if there is anyone out there in never, never land who would like to make those golden years really golden, why not catch the next plane out and give me a hand. Room and board for $150.00 per month, and all the wonderful times are thrown in for free. Think about it.

When a Friend Leaves...

This is Linda. I first met this lady about a year ago, shortly after I arrived in Baños. She is a remarkable lady who has traveled a good portion of the world, but decided 10 years ago to put down roots, of a sort, here in Ecuador.


Photo by J. Walker

A few years ago she bought 180 acres across the Pastaza River from Margarita Ville and built her own little hermitage. I have visited her palace in the woods several times and in the next weeks, I will try to do a little picture story of her adventure. She has become our most frequent visitor, since she usually stops for a night or two on her frequent trips to the big city, and the cabin she stays in is referred by all here at Margarita Ville as "Linda's Cabin". I guess we need a plaque.

Today, she is on her way back to North America to spend some time with her children, but we expect to see her back sometime in July for another six months. She has added a little baggage that she did not have before however. A few months ago she bought a German Shepard pup. He is well behaved and she had no problem taking him with her on the bus. Now, however he has grown where the conductor is insisting that he be put on top of the bus or in the baggage compartment. So, for this last Linda is using her large backpack to get him inside.


Photo by J. Walker

The next part is a bit tricky. The dog is quite content to sit in the pack with his head out but goes a little crazy when you push his head in and closed the top. Once on the bus we doubt that they will stop and make him ride on top.

Where we are situated, the bus is in front Margarita Ville about one minute after you see it coming down the the hill. Need to keep a sharp eye on the approach.


Photo by J. Walker

The bus is coming and I have only a few seconds to push his head down and snap the cover shut. Linda was moving as I fumbled with the snap. I am not sure if I did the job or not.


Photo by J. Walker

If the five month German Shepard keeps his head down he has a seat inside. If not, maybe they both will have to ride on top.

Photo by J. Walker

Goodbye Linda. We look forward to your return in July.