Happy Thanksgiving

 We were pleased to be invited to have Thanksgiving with a couple new to the area. The Porters moved here with their five boys to help at a nature preserve in the Amazon rainforest. It is about 2 hours south of our new apartment in Coca. We picked up the Loreto missionaries who had just been transferred. 


The drive was uneventful, but many miles on gravel roads in pouring rain. We were happy that the sun came out when we arrived at Yachana.


Yachana partners with universities to bring students here to teach them about the rainforest. They will soon be hosting more teaching classes to locals to help them with self-sufficiency.


The Porters cooked a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner. Every bit was delicious, including blackberry pie and lemon meringue pie. I was able to talk with the founder who came here to Ecuador 36 years ago from Kentucky.


We were so impressed with the Porters. I couldn't imagine bringing my five children to the Amazon and living off the land. The boys are so happy roaming the land with their machetes.


The sabo tree is so enormous that I had one of the boys hold his hands up so we could see him.


We enjoyed seeing monkeys, unique birds, cats, and lots of vegetation. The humidity had to be close to 100%.


We dropped off the missionaries in Loreto and then started losing tire pressure. After about 30 minutes, it was time to pull over and change it.


A few men walked by and asked us if we needed help and when we said no, they asked us for money. That's a first for us.

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