The bee day

Today was bee day - we learned a lot about bees, their behaviours and functions. And then we went to the bee hives. We didn't have enough protective suits to go around so half the group dressed up whilst the other half kept their distance. We were taught about how these bees are normally fairly placid so long as you don't scare them. So move calmly, be calm, and don't, whatever you do, bang on their hive. This is where it all went a little bit pear shaped: our bee teacher tripped over a log and crashed straight in to one of the hives. Within moments the bees flew out of their hives and aggressively surrounded all of the people close by. These people later reported that they could see the bees trying to sting them through the wire mesh in front of their faces. Scary. 

I wasn't wearing protection, and I was fairly close when the first shouts came that the bees were in a very foul mood. So I started to move away with the others. One bee did land in my hair which caused me to do some erratic rain dance to try to get rid of it with out annoying it any further. We legged it away from the hive and back to the farm. The people in the suits had to get away from the hives and then wait - they couldn't come back to the farm in case they brought all of the bees with them. The total injury count was light. One guy got 5 stings on his hands and another got one on his neck and on one hand. The bee keeper, who wasn't even wearing gloves, was completely unaffected - clearly he's got the right pheromones going on.

Rio Muchacho organic farm and school of the environment

The second main stage of my travels is a stay at the Rio Muchacho organic farm in Ecuador. I’m studying a “Permaculture” course for four weeks. Both the course itself and life on the farm are having a profound effect on me. I originally thought that permaculture was just an agricultural method of living in harmony with the land. But it’s much more than that. It’s about architecture of your house and gardens, of a town or city, of getting the balance of life right, of being part of a community. I’ve had many of these concepts floating around in my head for the last few years, and now I find myself on this course which concurs with many of my own thoughts and conclusions. I find it very inspiring.

We have a healthy lifestyle here. The day begins at 6:30 with sweeping out the animal pens and then feeding them. It’s about half an hour’s exercise before breakfast which will be a bowl of fruit with granola and some bread. We’ll take it in turns to wash up for everyone, and then the classes (which can be quite physical) go until 4:30 with a stop for lunch at 12. This is the big meal of the day, with soup before the main course of rice, salad and some vegetarian sauce, occasionally with fish. We’re then free till 6pm dinner – I’ll fill that time with some exercise on my balcony and then some further reading.

The vegetables are organic, the bread is home baked, the teas are brewed from cardamom, pineapple, camomile or something else grown in the garden here. We’ll try to chat Spanish around the dinner table (the classes are taught in English). In the evening we will watch a video related to permaculture.

On Wednesdays we have a cultural day, where we are taught about local customs, beliefs and institutions. This is taught to us in nice slow clear Spanish by Dario, the co-owner of the farm – I always surprise myself with how much I can understand. This is in sharp contrast to the locals who work on the farm – they have very colloquial Spanish which is so hard to comprehend.

In our free time, we have fished for shrimp on the river, swam in the river, climbed up the waterfall and jumped back in, walked bare foot down the road, feeling the mud squelching between my toes, shared my living space with a beast of a spider (we’ve set down some rules – she doesn’t come within 6 inches of the bed, and I’ll try not to kick her whilst I’m sleeping – she hasn’t broken the rules yet, but she walks a fine line), climbed an awesome tree and, last but not least, visited the environmental primary school (more on that later). We've visited the local paper recycling "factory". This is essentially one room with lots of paper, a shredder, some water, and some biodegradable glue. I turned some trash paper into usable paper - and we all had a go at turning this paper into bookmarks or greetings cards. It is an amazingly simple process - I often think about how we over complicate so many things that really don't need to be complicated at all.
We spend the weekends in the beach resort village of Canoa where we surf in the day and dance on the beach at night – some kind of Salsa fusion dancing.

Every day I'm exercising my mind and body, feeling inspiration all around me and feeling excitement for the future, as well as appreciating the now.

School of the Environment

Government school

The local primary schools around here are few and far between - some kids don't even go to school. The  government schools  that do exist are ugly and basic - they  have four concrete walls and bars over the  doors and windows. That’s about the extent  of the school. Dario and Nicola, the owners of the  permaculture farm, have set up an alternative school. This is made out of  bamboo, like most buildings  around here. It doesn't have walls to keep the kids in, just a roof to keep the rain off. 

Environmental school

There are only four teachers for seven age groups, so several age groups are taught the same subject at  the same time, but at  different levels within one class. They all do physical exercise before classes start  every day, they cover the same syllabus as  the government school, but they also have a heavy focus on the environment. They are taught permaculture methods of  farming, how to recognise trees and plants, what is good for eating and where their food comes from. They have fruit trees  and veg gardens in the school, and they get to visit the farm once a week and other farms or schools once a month. Most of  this  is paid for by the contribution of volunteers on the farm.

This has been going for about 15 years now, and the kids who graduate from this school compare  favourably with those at  the government school, they are also generally fitter and have knowledge of and respect for Mother Earth - Pachamama or  Madre Tierra as it is known around here. Some former kids now work at the farm whilst others go  to college in a town 20km from here.

It's so good to see that two people have spotted a problem with their society and have gone about making it better (and  doing it very successfully in my opinion). I think about the Conservative's notion of  Big Society in Britain and wonder if  something like this will ever happen back home. I truly hope so. 

Climbing ends, salsa begins

The HotRock climbing tour has come to an end for me. I´m now spending a few days in Quito to sort myself out before starting the next leg of my travels which is an organic agriculture and sustainability course on the coast of Ecuador. Meanwhile I´m intensively learning salsa in Quito - let´s see how that pans out.

So it´s time to reflect on what I have enjoyed, disliked and learned over the last 5 months.

I love the great outdoors - mother nature´s finest. I went for another walk by myself the other day - this time up a volcano, though I didn´t get anywhere near the top. I loved the beauty of the place and the physical nature of the walk. But there was something else that made me enjoy this walk - I had my MP3 on shuffle and I listened to good track after good track throughout the whole of the walk - it just made me feel so good. I was walking down a canyon and just as I approached the top of a waterfall a Faithless track which I love came on. So I stood on the top of a boulder at the top of this waterfall and danced to the whole track - it was awesome. I like this saying - "dance like nobody´s watching". Well, there was noboy else for miles around so I really was dancing just for me and I loved it.

Another thing I love is bivvying out. Literally just a sleeping bag outside - no tent. It feels so nice. The stars are hanging over your head throughout the night. You wake up to the pre dawn light. It´s a beautiful feeling that lasts with you throughout the day. Closely connected to this is an early morning swim. I love swimming outside at anytime, but waking up and dropping straight in to the ocean is so special and infinitely better than a morning shower. I have really vivid memories of similar experiences with a swimming pool at a friend´s house in Spain and a fresh water lake in Portugal.

At this beach spot there were some Australians living in the house next door. The location was beautiful but so remote. They talked to us for hours - I guess that they get to enjoy their ocean views every day, but don´t get much in the way of company. Much as I´m an outdoors person, and much as I appreicate my own time and space - I know that I couldn´t live in such isolation.

Dancing for me is a big part of my life, and it is very natural - just letting your body flow with the rhythym of the music. Going to bed just after dusk and getting up at dawn also feels very natural to me. Yet these don´t go together. Dancing is predominantly a nighttime activity - it just feels better that way. I guess I´ll have to find the balance between these two things.

A final thing that made me laugh the other day. I walked by a funeral home and it advertised a "permanent service". Perhaps death is only a temporary concept over here.