Jungle trek

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Tue 3rd july

After a surprisingly good sleep, we all get up 7.30 for breakfast (Scrambled egg, bread rolls, sponge cake, sliced pineapple, coffee and guava juice. )After short canoe trip we set off on a 2hr trek through the rainforest. We learn about how to survive by eating jelly coconuts, found when you slice open a small rugby-ball-shaped nut. These have loads of important vitamins necessary to survive without food. However when offered to Graeme he is convinced it moved! I told him don't be silly and he duly ate it. Only to be told by our guide that he had just eaten the firefly larvae. The reason it looked like a caterpiller was because it was a caterpillar. After some tarzan like swinging we continue to learn Plant and tree info- quinine, menthol, milky sap good for indigestion, "walking" tree, hollow tree, termite nests etcOur guide then uses long palm like leaves to weave some crafts- a locust, bow and arrow and crown. And best natural repellant against Mosquitos? Place your hand on the tree covered in ants- when the ants cover your hand, rub your hands together killing all the ants and rubbing them over your skin borh boys go for it but Graeme miscalculates and ends up with ants all up his sleeves and panics!!After lunch back at lodge we set out on our canoe to catch piranha. On route we watch a family of wild monkeys in the trees. Beautiful clear blue sky quickly turns into monsoon rain but more worryingly a storm appears out of nowhere and the canoe quickly starts filling up with water and we have no life jackets. "Shit" says me and our guide quickly attempts to get to the nearest shore. We manage to moor up at a nearby house and take shelter from the wind. I had always wanted to be in a tropical monsoon but hadn't intended on drowning at the same time. The storm disappears as quickly as it came however we then manage to lose the propellor into the lake and are now up the creek with only a paddle. We paddle to a local house at the waterside who not only have a spare propellor that fits, they also sell Pringles! Sorted. After these two near misses we decide to put fishing off till tomorrow and head back. In lodge, more backpackers arrive: 2 from Hawaii, 1 from Spain, 1 brazil, 1 Finland. Meal then relax playing cards.

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