'Crashing' into an Amazonian town

I ended up in Arayuno (this Amazonic village) after an unfortunate night-time bus crash. With the road now closed for 3 days, the conditions were perfect for initiating a new journey to another unknown culture within my country. It began by meeting Oscar Champaki, an Amazonian witch-doctor who feasts on hallucinogenic plants various times per week, and claims to have been alive for 100 years (nobody keeps track of age here, so I choose to believe his own particular take on ‘magical realism’). With his broken Spanish, he became my guide of Arayuno.
By 2010, the indigenous customs of the town have become sparkled with the inevitable glitter of globalisation. The tradition of cooking local fish (wrapped in leaves and over a fire), is being replaced quickly by the much cheaper alternative of deep-frying chicken. Traditional clothing has, for the most part, been eaten up by cheap chinese imports, and you may be surprised to find how many people have used their limited incomes to purchase enormous speakers. Much of the awesome (in the original sense of the word) energy of this town stems from the Cumbia and Reggaeton music blasting out the windows! Going to church is still a social requirement, an especially fashionable one if you make friends with the Arayuno’s witty Mayor! Teach Mr. Chimbo some English words and he’ll reciprocate by taking you to say your prayers on sunday in his 1950’s GMC truck (His comical haircut and choice of car will make you believe you are in a surrealist jungle remake of the musical ‘Grease’).
If history or politics are your thing, you will be able to read this sheltered settlement like a vivid, short history of Latin America. The town hall was built by Spanish conquerers in 1732, and its North face is still riddled with bullet holes from the war of independence of 1810. The statue of General Eustaquio is a reminder of the country’s authoritarian past, and the importance of logging in the everyday economy is a sad reminder of the current global depletion of natural resources. At $150 a tree, logging is far more profitable for the youth than any other sustainable activity. If you ever wanted to feel like you were in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, then visiting Arayuno is your chance.
At the same time, this village is unlike any other region of Ecuador you may visit. The predominant language is the indigenous Shuar tongue, and the geography, atmosphere, and culture are astoundingly different that in the towns and villages one hour up the road towards the Andes mountains. Women still give birth standing up, and despite immersion into the XXI century, the Arayuno people have held on to their local herbs and medicines as a bastion of their beliefs and identity.
There is no tourist office in Arayuno, but Maria del Carmen, who runs the two-flavour ice-cream parlour, says she will be delighted for her business to act as one!