Cultural Notes
Un paseo por la selva de los Shuaras – short version
A Jungle Hike Through Shuar Country
- Remember, expect this to be challenging.
- First, read the English version.
- Next, read the Spanish version.
- Click the control to hear the audio.
- Listen several times, following along on the transcript.
- Finally, listen without looking at the transcript.
- See how many words and phrases you can pick out.
- Then try the long version.
Short Version
A Jungle Hike Through Shuar Country
One time when we were living in Ecuador, my wife and I took a 5 day jungle hike in the Amazonian stronghold of the indigenous Shuar. We were guided by a young Shuar, who showed us a few of the many uses of the native plants. He told us they could be used as dyes, salves for skin rashes, poisons to put on the tip of blowgun darts, or even as hallucinogenic drugs used in sacred ceremonies. We tried an alcoholic beverage made by chewing and spitting yuca into a pot to ferment. We fed a semi-wild tapir. We swung on thick vines like Tarzan. We cooked, ate and slept under simple shelters, lulled to sleep by singing insects. It was a beautiful jungle dream. We were sorry when it ended.
Un paseo por la selva de los Shuaras
Una vez, cuando vivíamos en el Ecuador, mi esposa y yo hicimos una caminata de 5 días por la selva amazónica de los Shuaras. Nuestro guía, un joven Shuara, nos enseñó varios de los muchos usos de las plantas nativas. Nos dijo que se pueden utilizar como tintes, pomadas para erupciones de la piel, como venenos para untar en las puntas de dardos, y hasta como alucinógenos para ceremonias religiosas. Probamos una bebida alcohólica que se hace masticando y escupiendo yuca en una vasija, donde se fermenta. Alimentamos a un tapir semisalvaje. Nos colgamos de gruesas lianas, como Tarzán. Cocinamos, comimos y dormimos bajo albergues sencillos, arrullados por el canto de los insectos. Soñamos un hermoso sueño de la selva. Fue una lástima que haya terminado.
