Amazon Adventures January 2012

After Christmas I left the lodge to explore the amazon jungle as that was my intention of going to Peru in the first place. Sad to be leaving my new friends in the Andes, I left Huaraz for an 8 hour bus journey to Lima.  Then caught a flight to Iquitos which is in the heart of the Amazon Jungle.  It was a fairly straightforward flight and I arrived in Iquitos about 2.5 hours later. On the way we done a small detour to Pucallpa.  One passenger almost got off the plane thinking we had arrived in Iquitos but the flight attendant mentioned that we were in Pucallpa.  This is how things are done here in Peru, communication isn't great, flights will take small detours to get the most efficiency for their money and stop at places along the way.  It's a good idea because it cuts down on the number of flights going to places and the amount of petrol being consumed.  It's even better when the attendants make it clear that we are doing a detour though otherwise like that woman other people may get off thinking their at the final destination! How I Love Peru and the funny little idiosyncrasies that occur hear sometimes make me laugh out loud!

Flying over the amazon jungle brought tears to my eyes, after all these years of dreaming about it I'm finally here.  The amount of lush green canopy, trees, winding rivers and tributaries made my heart expand to the size of a balloon full of love and joy to be looking down on one of the biggest ecosystems in the world.  Arriving in Iquitos I caught a funny looking motor-taxi to the city from the airport.  They are part motorcycle and part car, much like a rickshaw in India but different… noisy, crazy, as unstable as a motorbike but efficient on petrol.  On my way through the city of Iquitos some people waved at me like I was the prodigal daughter returning after being away for some years, it felt nice to know how open and friendly the people are.  Iquitos is the most densely populated city in Peru without any road access, the only way in is to fly or get a boat.  Soon the taxi driver found the hostel that one of my volunteer friends recommended and I settled in right away.  Casa Samantha is a nice, simple little hostel in Iquitos with a kitchen to cook your own food.  The owner is a very kind, loving and open hearted man who runs the hostel with his young son/grandson…not sure but the little boy is a real cutie and very professional in running the show :)  

Motor taxi

During my visit to Iquitos I read in a local paper that the Amazon Rainforest has just been added as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of The World (The Amazon spreads across South America; Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana).  That's twice Peru have been given the opportunity to share their wonders with the world; Machu Pichu being one of the older wonders (voted in 2007).

Iquitos is a crazy place, the amount of noise from the motor taxis zipping around like madmen beeping, hustle and bustle of jungle city life.  Due to these intense sensory experiences in my short time in there, I decided it was a bit too manic to spend New Years.  I decided to make an escape route and head up river to a small village where the other retreat center is called Janero Herrera. Catching the slow boat from Iquitos to Janero Herrera the following day which took 10 hours (fast boat only takes 4-5 hours).  I wanted to the experience of going along the amazon river, slinging my hammock on the deck along with many more peruvians and doing it the rustic way.  The slow boat is a cargo boat that brings supplies and passengers to each of the towns along the amazon river.  Known to be the cheapest way to travel in the jungle, it's not the safest of options but a real authentic experience and how most of the locals travel from place to place.  Some other travelers avoid this mode of transport for safety reasons and I can understand why, but my experience was filled with goodness.  What you put out comes back; generate love and trust and it returns 10 fold! I found a nice safe spot between a couple of families and they looked out for me during the 10 hours journey.  In exchange for my gratitude I taught two of them, one on each side of me, to play Sudoku.  It was really funny laying there in my hammock with both students either side asking questions with my broken spanish answering them and guiding through their first Sudoku experiences.  I would chuckle inside when I would observe each one thinking hard and concentrating on the puzzle I gave them.  This was a good move because not only did I make a difference in their lives by teaching them something new, they accepted me right away and I felt safe throughout the journey and as though they were my family. 

My hammock is the one with the carabiner and sling

During the night I stood on the deck and had a conversation in spanglish with a friendly lady from a town 3 hours past where I was going.  I offered her some dietary advice for her husband who suffers with ulcers.  She was very thankful and I promised myself I would learn spanish to be able to help more people with their health and nutritional problems here.  We looked at the moon and stars together conversing in a strange dialect that we both could kinda understand but with the help of the trusted dictionary I could expand the conversation in small ways.  At about 2.30am the boat was getting closer to Janero Herrera and my adopted family woke me up and were getting anxious for my arrival.  Walking me to the front of the boat, waiting until it moored at the pier.  Hugs and kisses to say farewell and off I went into the unknown not even knowing if there is a hostel there waiting for me to sleep in.  I caught a motor taxi and we drove for about 1 minute and we reached a hostel, being so late I had concerns that I would not be able to get a room but a sleepy old man met me at the door and led me to a room in the back.  I couldn't believe how straight forward it was to get a room at that ungodly hour but I was grateful to have a bed to sleep in.  Around 6-7am a loud generator behind my room went on and that was the end of my brief but restful sleep. It was New years eve and probably just the beginning of a long and restless day/night ahead.  This is Latin America where celebration, noise and disco music are their fortes - the louder the better! I  met with a German traveler who had just got back after being in the jungle with his guide for 2 months.  I met the guide: Jorge: AKA George of the Jungle...seriously that was his name LOL.  We'd go to the jungle for 1 week, my intension to learn some things about medicinal plants, trees, barks and vines in the jungle and giving me a little taster of what it's like to live in the Amazon.  We would go by canoe for 1 day into the jungle to stay in a very rustic camp there.  Meeting up later that day to get food supplies for the week, rubber boots because of the rainy season and made arrangements for a time to meet the following day to set off into the jungle.

Setting off by canoe into the Amazon

Jorge's teenage son & boat with supplies

Meeting very early the next morning Jorge and his son Jose Carlos got everything ready and we packed the canoe full of our supplies.  Filled with excitement and wonder off we went.  The canoe was powered with a motor (outboard engine, like the long tail boats in Thailand) attached and we went for about 5-6 hours along the river into the jungle, leaving behind all attachments to community life and venturing into the wild Amazon.   

Camu Camu fruit

As we were traveling down river to the place we would camp we passed some bushes with fruit on them.  Camu Camu having the second highest concentration of vitamin C of any known fruit in the world.  Its known for its healing properties from the common cold to arthritis.  Sour by taste but people here make a juice out of it by mixing a little sugar and water making it very delicious. 

Source: http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=89848

My hammock with plastic tarp for rain protection Day 1 The camp was made up of two wooden frames that was the base for the plastic cover that was thrown over the top for shelter from the rain. Underneath the plastic cover was where my hammock hung and that was where I slept or rested in when wanting cover from the hoards of mosquitos. My guide looked at me strangely when I hung the hammock and he asked in spanglish if it was enough for me? I said "sure, this hammock is called Amazona and has a mosquito net already attached", how naive I was to the amazon jungle I thought I could sleep comfortably in that contraption.  Jorge must of been thinking "yeah right, you'll need more but it's up to you!" The first night I didn't get much sleep because the mosquitos were bussing around outside and biting me through the material underneath.  I bought the hammock in Rei in the U.S and the brand name is Amazona hammock but I can tell you that was the real test to see if it's Amazon fit and it wasn't enough.  It would be fine for small bugs and a little protection from mosquitos but definitely not enough for the Amazon jungle! Also during the same night I had a party, with ants being the guests of honor walking along the top of my hammock.  When I got up to go to go to the toilet, and got back into the hammock I had an invasion of the little buggers in my lovely cozy abode. It was a very long night indeed! The next day was extermination day, Jorge and his son rolled up some cloth and attached it to the top of a long stick and then poured gasoline on it and setting it on fire.  Putting it into the tree that my hammock was attached - smoking out the ants nest.  That wasn't all, he actually cut the small tree down to ensure the ants were gone and would not come back later in the evening.  It done the job for a while but being that we were in the jungle, the ants found a way back but there weren't as many as before.  Additional supplies were needed and we strung my hammock up inside a full fledged amazon mosquitos net and I felt like I was in a cocoon protected from any wildlife I wasn't comfortable sharing my hammock with. My camp armored with a proper mosquito net Day 2  A trees sap that is good for ulcers Each day after breakfast Jorge and I would walk in the jungle together. He would point out trees, plants and vines that were medicinal telling me their healing properties.  It was great to explore the jungle with an experienced guide and seeing the lush forest in its full splendor.  We drank water from a vine and it tasted really good.  There were so many butterflies, many of different sizes and colors; my favorite being the "Blue Morpho" (sadly too fast for me to get a picture of).  The tones of exotic birds and the full symphony of sounds in the jungle filled my senses with love and I felt right at home there - except for the stinking mosquitos! Always being on the lookout for other wildlife, the cougars, snakes, monkeys and poisonous spiders.  I didn't get to see most of those critters but I did get to see some monkeys which was cool.   Bark of the tree is good for infections Tree with medicinal properties Vine that has drinking water - yummy Exotic flower in the Amazon One of many butterflies I seen  Beautiful mushroom growing wild in the jungle One of the nights we took the canoe out to see if we could spot any nocturnal animals but we weren't fortunate enough, due to the height of the river it was impossible to see any alligators.  It was cool going out at night rowing the canoe, the peacefulness of the nighttime noises of the jungle, delicious night air filled the atmosphere with mystery and awe.  Even better because there were no mosquitos out on the water at night! Little butterfly friend visiting as Jorge fishes Jorge fishing for dinner Each day we would take the canoe down river and fish for dinner.  The first day we only caught piraña but instead of eating it for dinner we used it as bait.  The fishing tool was just a hook and line which is very primitive but effective most of the time.  Due to the rainy season and the river being higher it was harder to catch fish. On the fist day we only caught a piranha but instead of eating it for dinner we used it as bait.  The days we didn't catch anything we would eat just rice, yucca (a jungle vegetable) and eggs.  When we caught a fish it was a real delicious treat to have something different for dinner.  Simple food but tasty all the same, it's amazing how garlic, onion and cumin can make the most basic ingredients yummy.  On day 3 Jorge caught a big fish and we enjoyed a feast that evening.  The fish was cut into segments marinated in garlic, salt and some pepper and wrapped in banana leaves.  Placed on the homemade grill and cooked over the fire.  It was a really tasty meal, mealtime magic in the camp and made a super change from plain rice, yucca and the simplest of ingredients we'd been eating on days prior to the big catch! The Big Catch Making the grill to cook the fish over the fire Fish wrapped in banana leaf to cook Boiling water over the fire for rice, the canopy to shelter from the rain A Poem I wrote after I arrived in the jungle.... Mysterious Amazon Calls Me Mysteries of the jungle are calling me, adventurous life with a mission.  As I flew over the luscious amazon tears filled my eyes as my heart overflowed with love and joy.  I'm here, I'm home… Exactly as its supposed to be! This connection is old, many lives and stories told.  Waiting for the boat to take me deep into the jungle I go, to learn, share and grow.  As the seeds that were planted long ago are now ready to sew.  Stay present - free - courageously living the truth I was born to Be.  Butterfly friend I made while fishing one day Life in the jungle is primitive and hard work because you always have to be aware of your surroundings in case of wild animals, snakes, poisonous spiders or plants.  I really enjoyed my time there fishing for dinner, cooking on an open fire and living so simply.  It felt great to be in the jungle but the mosquitos were the most unpleasant thing for me to deal with and I'd been eaten alive in just the 4 days of being there and I was getting quite irritated.  Being it was the rainy season didn't help because the river is higher and there are many more mosquitos than normal. Which is A Lot already, so you can only just imagine how much more of a pain they were. I've lived in tropical places before with mosquitos but nothing like this! Apparently there are places in the amazon that don't have mosquitos at all and that is where I would like to visit some time. I still prefer the mountains, although I love the humidity of the jungle, the wildlife and the magical buzz with all the sounds.  The mountains have stolen my heart, peaceful, bug free and tranquil setting in the Andes. I decided it was time to return to the hill tribe I met and to do a retreat there in Andes without the unpleasant and distracting bugs of the amazon.