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My Ecuadorian Trip with Runa.org
As I just arrived home, I got several emails urging me to post thoughts and pictures of my trip to Ecuador. I figured I could do this whilst in Ecuador, but time flew by.
My trip started with many gringos (white dudes) by my side. I got to experience Quito for a few days, then the third morning we were off bright and early to the Napo Province.
The next 10 days were a blur of sorts. I learned every aspect of Runa, and met the people involved with the whole operation. I learned about the Ecuadorian sides of Runa in; Runatarpuna and Runa Fundacion that are other portions of Runa Tea Company, that many people may have never heard of. Putting faces to names that I have seen online or talked on the phone with was a nice change of pace as I usually sit in my own Runa Denver world. My main portion of time those first 10 days was either spent drinking Guayusa, helping tea extraordinaire Nigel Miltan in the processing of tea, or drinking Ecuador’s national beer, “Pilsner.” Not sure I have tried that many forms of any one drink in my life as I did with Guayusa those first 10 days. Nigel and I tested anything and everything Guayusa related, and also chatted about random things, such as crazy taxi cab drivers of the world, or my numerous questions on his experiences with Yerba Mate.
(Tyler Gage & Nigel Miltan)
Once the mass exodus of gringos left Ecuador, I found myself in a mansion of a house (with no key for the first two days, which is another story). I began learning more about the “Tecnico” side of Runa. I harvested Guayusa, which was an amazing experience. I also went out with a few “Tecnico’s,” which would receive updates on farmers on their Guayusa, show them different plucking styles, and arrange times in which to harvest in the future. The Tecnicos who work with Runa are indigenous individual’s part of the local communities, turned employees of Runa, which act as Liaisons for which they interact with the farmers directly, on a day to day basis.
While all of this was going on, I snuck in a rafting trip on the Upper Napo River that was super intense, and received a vicious sunburn for the next four days. I also ate a ton of ceviche, sweet bread, empanadas, avocados, fried plantains (crazy good), instant coffee, and of course Mexican Coca-Cola.
What I thought was amazing, was the friendliness of people in Ecuador. Always a hello, anytime of the day or night. An intern at Runa and I were speaking about this one night. He had gone back to the states for a few days while I was there, and he said he would be walking around telling people hello, with no response forgetting that saying hello to people in the States is not par for the course. This simple act of saying Hello on a daily basis is something I have been missing since I have been back. The Tecnicos that I mentioned earlier and their willingness to take me out to harvest, trainings, and general transportation was amazing. My Spanish was awful, and especially my knowledge of Kichwa dialect was even worse, but going out on a motorcycle with the Tecnicos was by far my favorite part of the trip, even if the only communication we ended up having was, “Mucho Guayusa,” “Si, Mucho Guayusa.”
Another highlight of the trip was the Guayusa Ceremony that I and a few other of the Runa took part in. The Guayusa ceremony was hosted by Silverio, one of the Tecnico’s for Runa. We arranged to start the Ceremony at about 5:30am, but Tim (Runatic1) and I got stuck walking around looking for a taxi in the wee hours of the night to take us to the neighboring town of Archidona. We ended up at the community at about 6:30am, to a very cool looking house in which the family lives in. The “backyard” consisted of Banana trees, Cocoa, coffee beans, and of course Guayusa. We drank Guayusa for about an hour, as Silverio’s father told us stories of his past, as well did Silverio(one story consisting of an enormous snake…I think, my Spanish as I said before is awful). Definitely the best 4:30am wakeup call I have ever had, Guayusa and awesome Kichwa stories.
Some other great things while I was in Ecuador with the Runa Team, as I am starting to make this kind of long:
-Planting Guayusa for a day on an experimental plot with Runa interns Evan, Welcome, and Helen.
-Seeing the ENTIRE supply chain, from harvest to retailer, which I will outline in picture form.
-Harvesting Guayusa for 6-7 hours, when you have run out of water, with an awesome group of ladies that keep shoving Chicha (fermented yucca root, with water that I probably do not want to consume but must because I’m so thirsty) in my face.
-Visiting Ibarra and La Esperanza. Getting a sweet Runa belt randomly made in La Esperanza, and meeting Brian Khronke from the Mindo Cloud Forest Foundation, and to proceed to watch belly dancers from Cuba at a Jazz Bar.
-Finishing my trip with Quito. Riding up the “La Teleferico” or gondola up the side of the Pinchicha Volcano, while drinking Yerba Mate de Coco. Then proceeding to use my last day in Quito to find Mate de Coco in the city and read the book “Three Cups of Tea,” which I soon find out 100 pages through is pretty much the authors attempt to ruin books for me forever. Thanks Eliot!
All in all, an amazing Runa experience. As I was sitting in a hammock at the volunteer house one day, I figured I would write out the long version of an elevator pitch for Runa now that I know a little more info on Runa. I wanted to see what would come out in writing since I had experienced a little more than I knew before coming here. Here is what I wrote down verbatim on November 10th:
Runa is a social enterprise based around an Indigenous Ecuadorian Tea: Guayusa. Runa works directly with indigenous Kichwa, Ashwar, and Shuar farmers in the Central/Eastern regions of Ecuador, building relationships, donating plants, teaching agroforestry principles, and reaching out to communities as they learn to plant and find Guayusa.
Runa runs a for-profit in Brooklyn, New York and non-profit branch in the Napo Province in Ecuador. The for- profits objective is to expand distribution of Guayusa, raise awareness for healthy products, as well as show consumers how their dollars can go towards helping these communities as well as the rainforest. The non-profit branch of Runa looks to reach out to as many communities as possible, while bridging the gap between helping communities while not overstepping boundaries, and ensuring long lasting relationships while working together on similar goals. The non-profit looks to harbor good relationships by paying Fair Trade prices, build a community of farmers so they have a stronger voice, as well as create “buffer zones” for communities, that would help bring crops/trees/etc that would help in the transition space between Amazonian communities and Industrial city. These buffer zones will help to conserve 10,000 hectares of rainforest that would normally be used for extractive activities.
By creating a commercial market for Guayusa in the states, as well as building good relationships and Viveros (experimental Guayusa plots) of Guayusa in the Amazon, not only can we exponentially raise the income of the farmers, we can also save thousands of hectares of forest that may have been chopped down in the future.
Guayusa in itself is an Amazonian Tree Leaf by definition. It has more caffeine than any tea (90mg), two times the antioxidants of Green Tea, and no tannins with a natural sweet finish.
Posted in Runa - Guayusa
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Guayusa Trip through Fundacion Runa
Check out this Guayusa themed trip through Fundacion Runa:
Day 1 – Arrival
Pm: Airport Pickup and Transfer to hotel in Quito
Accommodation: Hotel, Quito
Day 2 – Andes Mountains
Am: Drive through Andes Mountains and catch your own trout to eat for lunch!
Pm: Papallacta Hot Springs, Guayusa Reception at Archidona Office
Accommodation: Runa House (Casa Runa)
Day 3 – Guayusa Tour and Jungle Hike
Am: Presentation on Runa, Tour of Guayusa Factory and all Nurseries
Pm: Jungle Hike in Colonso protected forest to see Guayusa plantations
Accommodation: Camping in indigenous community
Day 4– Guayusa Ceremony and Harvest Guayusa
Am: Guayusa Ceremony with Shaman
Pm: Harvest Guayusa
Accommodation: Runa House (Casa Runa)
Day 5 –Plant Guayusa Trees
Am: Plant Guayusa trees with local farmers
Pm: Handicrafts workshop in indigenous community
Evening: Guayusa Cocktails and Salsa Class
Accommodation: Runa House (Casa Runa)
Day 6 – Cando
Am: Day at Cando waterfalls and lakes
Pm: Traditional Ecuadorian Dinner
Accommodation: Runa House (Casa Runa)
Day 7 – Quito
Am: Drive to Quito
Pm: Explore Historic Part of Quito, Dinner in La Ronda
Accommodation: Hotel, Quito
Day 8 – Fly Home
Posted in Runa - Guayusa
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Packaging South American Tea – By Charlie Rose
Amazing article that analyzes the branding and cover art of some International Mate Companies. I love this article. Read it in its entirety HERE.
Excerpts from Charlie Rose;
…While all this was the hook, what emerged was not just beverage culture but also a visual treasure that I never expected. So here are some gems from the trove of alternative South American teas. To many, mate seems a bit ridiculous, but aren’t dainty British colonial tea bags (as brilliant as they are) also a bit funny to the uninitiated? The product itself is, in the most part, a half kilo brick of milled, slightly charred and dried leaves wrapped in plastic. Visually they are a postmodern mash-up of depression era flour rations and 1970s cereal boxes. Also something to keep in mind is that mate is drunk by almost everyone in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay and the sight of a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk enjoying his mate is commonplace, as well as being awesome. This means that mate is cheap and needs to appeal to a broad socio-economic cross-section….
…The Romance packaging has always been ‘curious’ for me. A source of mirth for a good week though it was, it’s just not how I would approach the design. The old European world toasting action is something that you wouldn’t be caught dead doing drinking mate in Argentina, The brand certainly has its own personality. It’s well entrenched in the mate cultural psyche and its distinctive logotype is strong in isolation as well on the 2D front panel. Maybe this is why it works even with the weak white wrapper? Though the white might go against the grain of the multi-coloured mate shelf, it still doesn’t have the body it could.…
MateVeza to Open Restaurant & Small Brewery in SF’s Mission District
Cervecería de MateVeza Will Feature Argentinian Cuisine and a Collection of Craft Beer
SAN FRANCISCO, November 29 – MateVeza is pleased to announce its intention to open “Cervecería de MateVeza,” a restaurant and small brewery dedicated to providing locally-sourced, Argentinian-style cuisine paired with creative artisanal beers. Cervecería de MateVeza will be located at 3801 18th Street on the northwest corner of Dolores Park in the Mission District of San Francisco.
MateVeza, an independent, San Francisco-based company that markets and sells a line of organic craft beers brewed with yerba mate, will use Cervecería de MateVeza as a creative test kitchen to develop and refine recipes that further enhance the culinary experience of pairing craft beer with fine food. MateVeza founder and San Francisco native Jim Woods will be returning to his homebrewing roots, brewing at the restaurant on a small 20-gallon copper system.
“We are thrilled to be joining San Francisco’s rich culinary culture with our new restaurant and small brewery,” said MateVeza founder Jim Woods. “We look forward to welcoming the local community to Cervecería de MateVeza and supporting other small businesses such as San Francisco’s El Porteño, known for their locally sourced and produced empanadas.”
The highlight of Cervecería de MateVeza’s Argentinian cuisine will be El Porteño empanadas made in San Francisco with ingredients such as Prather Ranch organic, dry-aged, grass-fed beef, Fulton Valley all natural chicken, and organic cheese, herbs, and vegetables. El Porteño’s founder Joseph Ahearne learned the recipe for his buttery, flaky empanadas with premium ingredients from his Argentinian mother.
Woods will also be joined by prolific San Francisco beer-tender Matt Coelho. A Certified Cicerone™ like Woods, Coelho has honed his craft at such venerated San Francisco beer haunts as City Beer, Church Key, and the Black Horse. Woods and Coelho will serve a variety of MateVeza and guest beer selections on tap and in bottles. Growlers and select bottles of guest beer will also be available for purchase to go.
Pending approvals from the California Alcoholic Beverage Control and San Francisco Planning Department, Cervecería de MateVeza hopes to open its doors in the spring of 2012.
For more information, visit www.cerveceriasf.com.
Posted in Yerba History, Yerba Mate Celebration
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