December 27 – Charlie

Y’all are going to read this blog and conclude Kathleen and I shouldn’t try to sleep at all. Perhaps something we had for dinner just did not set well with Kathleen at all. Around about 3am onward Kathleen struggled to keep even water down. We shared a bathroom with another cabin at Cabañas Rio Yambala hostel east of Vilcabamba, Ecuador, so, every 15-20 minutes Kathleen made the journey. By mid-morning, Kathleen was finally getting some sleep. I spent the day writing for our blog as I looked off our balcony at the countryside.During the low activity day, I learned a little about Charlie Wyatt. Twenty-some-odd years ago, Charlie had graduated High School in New Hampshire and was working at a co-operative grocery store. Over time he built-up about 30-days of vacation time that the co-operative wanted him to take. He didn’t know what to do with that amount of time off until someone gave him a tour guide to South America. He read the guide cover-to-cover, and a few more books about SoAm at which point he quit his job and came to Ecuador. He was barely in his twenties.

Several years into living in Ecuador, Charlie had a one-man business crafting wooden flutes for sale in tourist traps. He was making good steady income and soon began to buy land along the Rio Yambala. He bought a small house with a few out buildings he converted into guest rooms. Capitalizing on Ecuador’s penchant for ecotourism, and the lack of a place for people to stay while exploring the highlands region of southern Ecuador, Cabañas Rio Yambala became the first eco-hostel in the region. Charlie and his British wife, Sarah, now run the hostel as a maintenance and management team. Sarah ensures the finances are well managed and cleans the four cabañas. Charlie meticulously constructed the cabañas, dining area, and accompanying facilities. Maintenance is low. Charlie is particularly proud of his bridge crossing the Rio Yambala, and his sauna. The bridge has with-stood many a flood, and the sauna, well, nary a day went by that Kathleen and I should take a sauna according to Charlie.Now, both in their forties with a daughter attending university (the way they say ‘college’ in these here parts), and a son nearing that life-stage, Sarah and Charlie seem pretty content. Kathleen and I suspect they have a pretty good establishment going, and even with the down turn in the world economy, will continue to provide a pleasant place to spend some days.

By evening, Kathleen was enjoying a bowl of chicken noodle soup. During chats with Charlie, he was concerned that Kathleen may have caught some bug from something prepared at Cabañas Rio Yambala. He told of a time where he used to get water bottled in Vilcabamba and that everyone was getting sick. Family and guests included. He then just went to boiling tap water for 20-minutes. Sickness incidents went away. That night, Kathleen was looking the label of a jug of bottled water we bought in Vilcabamba. The water was simply from a spring in town somewhere. The hills surrounding Vilcabamba are covered with pastures littered with cows. As far as I’m concerned, the dots shouldn’t be hard to connect to render a picture of how Kathleen came down with a gastro-intestinal ailment. She began drinking the boiled water and began to recover. Me, I grew up drinking out of creeks all over the western U.S., a well in the Mojave Desert, and the occasional horse trough. I’ve had some conditioning.

By evening, Kathleen was feeling better.