Siona Lodge: Day 2

Today we left Siona Lodge by boat and headed to the indigenous Siona community. On the way there, Luis spotted two juvenile river dolphins. They had not yet turned the pinkish color that these animals are generally known for because they were not yet establishing their own territories. Despite the pouring rain, the ride was nothing short of spectacular. 

Upon arriving at the Siona community, we sat under a large thatched roof building with a large traditional stove on one end. The indigenous woman named Gladys who would be our teacher for the day was preparing a fire over the stove. We went around the room and introduced ourselves using her native language, vocioca. 

“Hello, my name is Bridget. I am from the United States.”

“Vicious, jeë mami Bridget. Jeë kato los Estados Unidos.” 

We then walked outside to Gladys’s garden and harvested yuca with her to make bread. The part of the yuca tree that is eaten is the root system, and it is a starch similar to potatoes. The yuca was peeled to reveal a white colored flesh, washed, then grated using metal graters in a large wooden boat. The grated yuca was then strained using a strainer made from palm branches woven tightly together to remove 80% of the water. Gladys spread the flour evenly on a hot wooden stone over the fire and cooked the bread. It tasted very similar to the Triscuits we eat in the United States. The bread was served with a salad and a chili sauce, a typical Siona meal. 

After lunch we went for a walk into the forest where Luis showed us the largest species of tree in the forest; the bamba. It is also known as the telephone of the forest because its large root system is very acoustic when struck with a hard object. We made our way to the shaman, or medicine man, of the community. His name was Rafael, and he was dressed in his traditional garb of a green tunic, a woven headdress with macaw feathers, and many necklaces around his neck, one of which had two jaguar teeth on it. Rafael treats the people of his community using plants and herbs that grow in the forest around him. He told us that it took him 12 years to become shaman, and that he now has 8 students he is teaching. We went outside and he showed us how he accurately shoots the poison dart gun that he made himself that is used for hunting. 

That night we went out for a night boat ride and saw three different types of boas, and two caymans. One was a small baby yellow bellied cayman, and the other was a larger black cayman.

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