Maya Traditional Healing At Chaa Creek’s 2019 Eco Kids Summer Camp
We’ve made it to the middle of the week, getting over hump day feels bitter-sweet as the days at camp are shortening.
The themes covered so far were the Importance of Biodiversity and History of the Ancient Maya. If you’ve notice all the activities have taken place inside Chaa Creek’s nature reserve. Well today was no different. The day’s theme was Learning Traditional Healing, meaning healing with natural medicines obtained in the jungle.
By now I’m sure you’re aware of the daily schedule. Waking up early, briefing of the day’s activities at the morning muster, gathering at the dining hall for breakfast (today special was pancakes), playing some games and getting creative doing arts and craft. The little troopers decorated bottle corks with markers and made key chains out of them.
Around 10:00 a.m. our guest Mr Selwin Bol arrived to teach Traditional Healing. He made sure to bring along Lemon Grass, Oregano Leaves, Ginger, Jackass Bitters and Ixcanan. Mr Bol explained the medicinal properties of the different plants and brewed some warm tea for the kids to try. Mr Bol explained that to have kids taste his teas is one of his favorite things to see. If you are wondering why? Well it’s because his teas are not good treats to our taste buds, some of his teas are earthy in flavor while others are bitter.
Many of the campers cringed their faces when they tasted the infamous Jackass Bitters. There after everyone was divided into two groups for a tour in the medicine trails with Mr David and Mr Kevlin, Naturalist Guides at Chaa Creek.
At lunch the eco kids were blessed by Ms Debbs’ the wonderful food as she served them some delicious Sloppy Joes.
After lunch the campers were divided into two groups for similar routine as the day before, horseback riding and swimming in the Eco pool. Everyone had a blast! Especially the kids that were riding for the first time. Up and down marched horses with the gleeful eco kids on top.
Around 3:30 p.m. everyone got back to camp to start working on their songs and skits for the last day of camp. I can’t write too much about the songs or skits since they are secrets until they are performed.
That evening the campers had some crispy fried chicken for supper and ended the night with skits and a game of silent assassin. Whereby everyone gathered around in a big circle and stared at each other in search of two assassins. The assassins are among them staring back and winking at whoever stares at them. Everyone was suppose to find the assassins before they got killed. This game is one of the favorites among the kids because it’s funny to see how they play dead in a very dramatic fashion.
After a long day of learning and fun adventuring, it was time to call it a night. Each camper walked to their cabins, turning off the lights at around 9:00 p.m. Shortly after the cabins were completely silent, only the sound of the crickets was heard. The happy campers all passed out, in short it was full day.
More photos of day 4:
Photos courtesy of Nadir Price Photography