2022-8 Planting Fruit Trees, Hardwoods and Food Crops. Wild Animals Seen.
Work has been done to the house/reception area on Tierra Negra. We are building a stone containment wall against the embankment. The terraces around the house and kitchen are planted with hayo, culinary and medicinal herbs, and flowers. The coconut palms that were one of the first things the Foundation planted on the newly acquired land are fruiting now, with nutritious cocos. The kitchen has a practical new alberca, an above ground water tank, made of stone.
For a while no indigenous friends had visited, as they are still taking covid precautions, by order of the mamas, but recently a few came to help on Tierra Negra, clearing and preparing the land for planting in exchange for cotton cloth and tools requested from the Coop.
A variety of fruit trees from our on-site nursery have been planted including papayas, lemons, sour sop, mamey, avocado and cacao, also trees useful for their wood - oak, guayacan. Swathes of sugar cane are growing and the spot is picked out where a wooden trapiche to squeeze the sweet juice from the canes is to be built.
Many thanks to the patience of el jate, his family, and volunteers who have helped plant and tend the newly planted trees and food crops, hauling water to keep them alive during the very driest times in recent years. And then, contrasting with the unusual drought, Tropical Storm Bonnie passed over the area in June with diluvial rain, causing rivers to overflow and landslides. Food crops such as corn, plantains, pineapples, yuca, malanga, are now recuperating from the storm or have been replanted.
The forest has been recovering over the years and many animals have been seen on Tierra Negra - ocelots, deer and peccaries. Also a family of howler monkeys! An adult male that was kicked out of the group to find a mate and his own feeding territory had been hanging around the new house built up on the mountainside. Then the monkey disappeared, to return weeks later, with a wife and baby. The simians are still friendly with el jate and la jaba who share mangos and bananas with them.
Another important task is keeping the trail along the Buritaca River clean and cleared of overgrowth. Members of the Foundation, as part of the regional Junta Comunal, help to maintain this age-old path, which ultimately leads to Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City.
Kogi have been coming to Ugaeichi, at the mouth of the Buritaca River, to do their rituals with the water, and to pick up shells for their poporos. We are happy to be able to facilitate them.
With travel restrictions loosening, we hope to welcome more volunteers now. We appreciate their support and that of all those who have collaborated over the years! And a special thanks to social activist Bill Hamilton and friends at Southern Horticulture for their continuing support.
Work has been done to the house/reception area on Tierra Negra. We are building a stone containment wall against the embankment. The terraces around the house and kitchen are planted with hayo, culinary and medicinal herbs, and flowers. The coconut palms that were one of the first things the Foundation planted on the newly acquired land are fruiting now, with nutritious cocos. The kitchen has a practical new alberca, an above ground water tank, made of stone.
For a while no indigenous friends had visited, as they are still taking covid precautions, by order of the mamas, but recently a few came to help on Tierra Negra, clearing and preparing the land for planting in exchange for cotton cloth and tools requested from the Coop.
A variety of fruit trees from our on-site nursery have been planted including papayas, lemons, sour sop, mamey, avocado and cacao, also trees useful for their wood - oak, guayacan. Swathes of sugar cane are growing and the spot is picked out where a wooden trapiche to squeeze the sweet juice from the canes is to be built.
Many thanks to the patience of el jate, his family, and volunteers who have helped plant and tend the newly planted trees and food crops, hauling water to keep them alive during the very driest times in recent years. And then, contrasting with the unusual drought, Tropical Storm Bonnie passed over the area in June with diluvial rain, causing rivers to overflow and landslides. Food crops such as corn, plantains, pineapples, yuca, malanga, are now recuperating from the storm or have been replanted.
The forest has been recovering over the years and many animals have been seen on Tierra Negra - ocelots, deer and peccaries. Also a family of howler monkeys! An adult male that was kicked out of the group to find a mate and his own feeding territory had been hanging around the new house built up on the mountainside. Then the monkey disappeared, to return weeks later, with a wife and baby. The simians are still friendly with el jate and la jaba who share mangos and bananas with them.
Another important task is keeping the trail along the Buritaca River clean and cleared of overgrowth. Members of the Foundation, as part of the regional Junta Comunal, help to maintain this age-old path, which ultimately leads to Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City.
Kogi have been coming to Ugaeichi, at the mouth of the Buritaca River, to do their rituals with the water, and to pick up shells for their poporos. We are happy to be able to facilitate them.
With travel restrictions loosening, we hope to welcome more volunteers now. We appreciate their support and that of all those who have collaborated over the years! And a special thanks to social activist Bill Hamilton and friends at Southern Horticulture for their continuing support.