4 dias en la selva

Back yesterday early evening all sweaty and minging (even more than usual). Had been on a 4 day jungle trip where I was thinking I´d see shitloads of animals. I think the guides were making all the monkey noises we were supposed to hear. Our guide would wait until the cook and the other guy had gone on ahead and then make a monkey call and we´d hear the reply but it sounded so similar that I couldn´t help but have my suspicions. The most exciting thing we saw was an (apparent) footprint of an ocelet or something. I reckon they just went on ahead with a dead animal´s paw and made impressions in the sand to impress us. Especially as it was just after we´d been complaining about not having seen any animals on our trip...
At least I´d bargained the admin person down to a measly $12.50US per day for our trip. It was supposed to have been $15. For a while I felt guilty about being so hard and unfeeling. But then when I twisted my ankle yesterday and had to sit on the ground and put on my bandage and the guide just watched from afar and didn´t even come to see if I was ok I´m glad I didn´t pay anymore and that I didn´t leave a tip. Our cook was great- she had so much energy and cooked up wonderful dinners. Chips in the jungle, and popcorn and hot chocolate.
What we did see was flora. Our first day we went on a tour to see trees. It was called a jungle trek and I presumed we´d be seeing all the ocelets, anteaters, 3-toed sloths, monkeys and jaguars that we´d been told about. Disappointedly I translated tree info into English to an English couple. Lots of different names to forget and a million medicinal uses for each tree. Like our guide who told us that some guy in Peru had told him the secret of cutting down a particular tree and then waiting about a month for maggots to grow in the trunk and then making them into some sort of milkshake which helps kidney failure or something. Can´t quite remember all the ailments it cures cos there were so many and so many cures from different trees.

So hot and humid. All my clothes and things were damp. Big nasty biting ants and nasty insects. Some sort of spider crab thing that sticks to your flesh and looks like a freckle or a little bump. I´ve never had Crabs (the STD) but maybe some of you have and can let me know if these little beasts are the same thing. They hook onto your skin and it really hurts to pull them off cos they´re attached. I found a few this morning, not nice. But they were on my arms and legs, not the groinal area. And they´re hard to kill too.

So JUngle isn´t that great really. 4 days of being uncomfortable. Apparently it´s all the same further north, so not sure about my previous idea of going there. Will have to invest in some linen clothes. Awfully hard to iron though!
Yeah so going on the pampas trip tomorrow for 3 days. Boat rides and viewing of aligators and monkeys, pirranha fishing etc. Less messy and more luxurious. No more sweaty-smelling tents and mattresses covered in red dye from my sandals. Beds and showers. Will keep you updated (if there are any computers further up north- remember that song "It´s Grim Up North"?

Ciao ciao

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