Inside the candle-lit cabin
Jenny, Shannon, and I at the freezing waterfall at Carlos'
Lounging in the sun at Carlos' farmNovember 16, 2009
Location: Carlos Zorilla's farm, the Intag Cloud Forest
Weather: Warm, sunny, beautiful
Carlos' farm is like something out of a documentary. Well, it is, actually. They made a documentary about him and his efforts to save this beautiful land. I'll explain in a bit.
After our bus ride, we loaded up our bags onto mules and horses and began the couple mile hike to Carlos' farm. Yes, it was so far off the beaten trail, we had to use pack horses. Isn't that awesome? A few of us (including Nance's friend Suki) got lost because we were walking ahead of the group but that was part of the adventure. We eventually broke into the clearing to find several houses spaced out in a clearing and an open-sided shelter where refreshments were waiting for us.
I can tell already that this is going to be a wonderful, wonderful time to eat good food. All of the food is vegetarian, which I can't say I'm too pleased about but what the heck, it's worth a shot. It has all been glorious so far!
A little bit of background on Carlos...
Copper and precious metal mining in Ecuador has been an enormous concern in the last few decades. Foreign companies come in and create huge pit mines to do hard rock mining. This process decimates the land. 250 tons of solid wast material is produced per ounce of gold, it creates acid drainage, it uses a LOT of water, and damage could last for 1000 years! There is a lot of mining in the Azuay province, near Cuenca, which creates environmental and social impacts as a result A lot of violence and dirty dealings are started by reckless mining companies. Canada especially has very lax regulations for mining and everyone and their brother can start a company.
Correa, the president of Ecuador, platformed on anti-mining campaigns but is changing his tune. He thinks Ecuador will be helped by mining but there is no evidence, according to Carlos, and it's all wishful thinking. Correa sees the money brought in by the mining and thinks it will create social help, "development," and "prosperity." Carlos says that development and prosperity is more than just money, it's about sustainability and healthy growth.
Research says that countries like Bolivia and Nigeria, who depend on mining are in worse shape. The more rich in metals and mining, the poorer the country. There is a link between mineral export and an economic dependency on it, which creates poverty in a boom-bust cycle. When the resources are gone, there is no agriculture or tourism to keep the monetary cycle going and the country is impoverished. There is a four times greater chance for a country to have a civil war if the country depends on mining. On top of that, only the elite see benefits of it. In Ecuador, only 5% of the money stays in the country. While the new constitution says that Ecuador must see a 50% rate of monetary retention in the benefits, companies are becoming creative. The World Bank and the IMF have laws and mining legislation to complicate it.
Carlos has begun a coffee co-op and a woman's co-op to create a new way to provide work and income, especially for those who wouldn't traditionally have the opportunity. In this way, he has successfully kept out the mining companies from the Intag area--so far.
He was visited by 19 hired paramilitary officers from a mining company who accused him of false crimes. Finding nothing in his house and property, they planted a gun and drugs on his property to complicate things. He then had to go into hiding for over a month to stay safe. "The Curse of Copper" documentary highlights his personal struggle and how other communities like Junin have fought the foreign companies to keep their land.
What Carlos has started in his own community is a movement that tries to be as sustainable as possible, using little to no electricity, little running water, and sustainable farming practices, as well as eco-tourism and awareness.
His farm is amazing. There are shade grown coffee trees (which help the Rio Intag coffee co-op, which we will see later), vegetables, fruits, and outhouses that provide fertilizer in an ingenious way...
The outhouse next to our cabin stood unobtrusively by our cabin in Carlos Zorilla's back field behind a flush of rose blooms, as if it was attempting to hide itself and be as inoffensive as possible under my scrutinizing gaze. I do not object to freezing showers, a shortage of water, throwing my toilet paper in a receptacle, or going for hours (or days) without electricity. But an outhouse? My experiences with those had been less than pleasant. My father's Amish friends had one when I was little in which I always had to plug my nose to block out the stench, and only used when I was about to pee myself and had no other option. Therefore, I did not use it until Carlos spoke with us later.
“Please put a cup-full of humus in the hole when you're finished using it to prevent the smell,” Carlos instructed us. “You know, I fertilize with that.” Fantastic, I thought. Not only did I need to use an outhouse, but I just ate a meal comprised entirely of vegetables fertilized with previous waste of Seminar in Ecuador students. I was starting to bristle at the idea of that.
“After three years, when the outhouse is filled, I move the building a few feet over, dig up the decomposed waste from the old pit, and leave the first pit to decompose again. Don't worry. I only put that fertilizer on the trees—not in the garden. It's completely safe, but you never want to risk it. So,” Carlos said in a completely dry tone, looking around at all of us, “thank you for your shit.”
That is the moment when I realized I could deal with using an outhouse: its owner had just thanked me for my bodily fluids. That example of recycling is telling of his attitude toward farming. His unhurried attitude purposefully reflects nature's slow pace. His goal is to mimic the forest in sustainable agriculture in the hopes of leaving the land as natural as possible, even while he uses it to his advantage. Carlos Zorilla's model for sustainable agriculture in the Intag Cloud Forest should be emulated elsewhere because it is beneficial for our environment because it eliminates chemical drainage, biodiversity loss, and the decimation of land, and our own future to make the most out of the land by protecting it and being good stewards of it.
He was turned a primitive series of cabins into a beautiful, simplistic life to share with us. We're split into three small cabins, but I'm in the biggest one. There is a loft area, a small kitchen area, and two large rooms with bunk beds. It's lit only by candles and night and has an outhouse and a freezing cold shower house. I love it.
We took a hike all over his beautiful land today--one of the most difficult I've made, but I'm getting into shape in this mountain air! There are so many unusual plant species and bird types and so much green newness it is hard to take in all at once. But I'm really loving it here. We hiked to a waterfall where we all dipped our heads into the icy water. It's not hot here by any means, especially compared to the Amazon, but we worked up quite a sweat getting there. On the way back, Jenny, Shannon, and I stopped at the large waterfall closer to the cabin. We were told we wouldn't need our bikinis on this part of the trip so we didn't bring them. FALSE. We stripped down to our sports bras and underwear and let the icy water pound down on our heads as we splashed and squealed like little children.
Cold water is a recurring motif on this trip and if I were home, I'd be appalled by it. Shower, bathe, and swim in water cold enough to numb my skin? No thanks. But here, it is refreshing, yes, even numbing, but it makes you feel alive. The little needles of ice are piercing your skin and making it glow red but you know that this is the essence of being human. You aren't pampered by hot water, you are facing nature and not shying away from it or trying to tame it. This is really living.
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