Here's professor Valles showing me his secret bug repellent plant. While it worked okay for the mosquitos, it didn't phase the zancudos. Zancudos are a nasty biting bug that look like a large black gnat. They raise a big welt on the skin and itch for weeks. Living and farming the highland jungle is a hard life.
Houses are small simple affairs built with wood and thatch collected from the forest.
With his 6 family members and our traveling party of 6 people, it was a tight squeeze for his small hut and 12 people. They were wonderful hosts however and freely shared what they had, and slaughtered a pig for our arrival. Unfortunately, it was chechwa country. Chechwa is a traditional drink made with corn or yucca root. It is chewed up and spit into a large pot, then mixed with water and sugar cane and left to ferment.