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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.
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