Advertisement
Published: June 23rd 2006
The night sky lit by the full moon before me, I gazed out my bus window at the outline of the Andes mountains. Soon that picture-like view turned to jungle as far as the eye could see. This is the part of travel that I truly love, getting back into raw nature. Witnessing the beauty of God’s creation, untouched and thriving on its own. We made our way ten hours down a road that changed from mountain to jungle, pavement to dirt, winter temperatures to summer. Rest stops were made few and far between, wherein the men lined one side of the bus and the women the other. Unable to sleep, I simply stared out my window, listened to my favorite tunes, and thought about the unknown which lied ahead.
Arriving in Coca early the next morning, I made my way over to the restaurant that my contact (Luis) supposedly worked. Lucky for me, Luis was there and took me over and introduced me to a local guide (Marcos). Marcos and I sat in his home and discussed options and prices. Of course, the prices were more than I had been led to believe. After much arguing and bartering, we
came to an agreement. We would be leaving together the following day via local transport (10 hours) to the town of Nuevo Rocafuerte, which sets on the banks of the Rió Napo. This river is one of the larger tributaries of the Amazon, and would be my home for the next week. In Rocafuerte, we would stay the night and head into the Yasuni National Park the following morning. We would spend the next two days in the park and camp over night in the jungle. The rest of the agreement was that he would provide all food and water for three days and boat me down river (1 hour) to the town of Pantoja (Peru/Ecuador border) on Wednesday. After settling our plans, I went straight to my hotel to get some well needed rest.
Thinking that I was the only gringo in town, I soon discovered that I was wrong. Marcos had hunted one down and talked him (Phillipe) into joining us. I guess he needed to make up for the cash I bartered him down on. Phillipe was from Switzerland and was in Ecuador for 8 months doing college research (environmental engineering). His English wasn’t great, but
at least it was better than that of Marcos, who spoke none. The three of us loaded onto the local transport and headed up the Rió Napo. The local transport was a gaint motor powered canoe that held 80-90 people (like sardines) and cargo. Packed in shoulder to shoulder, we traveled down stream for 10 hours. If you think a long car trip is bad, try being in a boat with 80 people, river water and rain hitting you, only one rest stop, and everyone around you rambling Spanish and Quichua (the native language along the Rió Napo). Now, I did get to witness some pretty peculiar eating habits. One of these was the consumption of giant grub worms cooked on a skewer. I couldn’t bring myself to try one. Not after watching the lady in town pull them from a bucket, stab the wiggly, little suckers, and toss them on the grill (Yuk!). The other odd eating habit that I saw was done by the 5 year old girl sitting across from me on the boat. When eating her chicken drumstick, she devoured all of the skin, meat and cartilage, then proceeded to break the bone and scrap out
and eat all of the marrow. I quickly offered the little one my chocolate cookie that I had recently purchased. I figured she needed it way more than I did if she was hungry enough to eat booone maaarrow. Well, it made for a long and interesting boat ride, but it sure was nice to set foot on land. In Rocafuerte, we got my passport squared away, ate dinner with a local family, and then got some shut eye in the back of the local police department (instead of the military compound). The next morning quickly came and this was when the fun began. We awoke at 5:30am, but didn’t actually get in the park until after 10:00am. We had to switch boats three times because of bad motors, and finally landed an old, leaky one that had a very weak engine. Then to beat all, Marcos sends us off with two young kids and stays behind to fix the other boat. He promised, as he shoved the boat from shore, that he would meet us shortly. Extremely ticked off, Phillipe and I could not wait to have a word with him later that day. Putting that behind us, we
took the boat past the military check point and on into the park. The Yasuni National Park (largest in Ecuador) is a World Biosphere Reserve and home to thousands of different species. We made our way back into the swampy jungle for an hour until the Yasuni River opened into a small lake. We set up camp along the shore and prepared a fire to cook lunch. We had skipped breakfast, so we were completely starved. Digging through his bags for food, all we found was rice, bread, platanos, and a few vegetables. Now we were piping hot. Our guide had sent us out it to the jungle with a couple of pre-pubescent kids and scraps for food. Trying not to let this ruin our day, we ate what we had and then headed out to explore our surroundings. We spent hours trolling around the lake and on into the rainforest. The landscape was made up of swamp and lush jungle vegetation. The waters beneath were dark and dirty, and it was unknown to us what lurked below. We cut off the engine and switched to paddles to avoid scaring away the wildlife. We eased our canoe down narrow channels
through the forest. Our eyes were constantly scanning for hidden creatures as we coasted our way, weary of making a sound. We could hear splashes as we neared and saw bubbles, but the wildlife stayed hid well during the day. Returning to camp, we were reunited with Marcos and three more high school kids. To make a long story short, we set Marcos straight on what we expected out of a guide, and even got back a little bit of our money. It is funny what two men welding machetes can accomplish - just kidding. Following the scolding, everything went great. The kids went off fishing for our dinner and Marcos took us in search of caiman (closely related to the alligator). The sun was setting by this time and the creatures of the jungle began coming out to hunt. Swarms of bats flew inches from the water to feed on insects, and the howler monkeys could be heard off in the distance. Soon, the only light that could be seen were the stars that covered the night sky. We quietly paddled the canoe near the swamp grass line, while Marcos shined his flashlight ahead. Marcos quickly motioned for us
to come close and observe. Off in the grass, the glowing red eyes of the caiman could be seen staring back at us. Finding a pair of eyes that were small and close together (cluing that it was a baby), we moved in closer. Freezing the baby caiman in place with the beam of light, Marcos suddenly lunged forward and snatched it out of the water with his opposite hand. The small caiman began making weird chirping noises, until Marcos tightened his grip. Within seconds, similar sounds echoed back from the marsh. He quickly turned and ordered the driver to start the motor and head to the center of the lake. Marcos informed us that the mother will have heard the sounds of distress and coming looking for her baby, so we had to hurry. We took turns passing the little reptile around, and got a closer look at him. He was so cute that I wanted to keep him, but I knew that wouldn't make his mama happy. I must say it was pretty freaky not being able to see through the pitch-black to know whether the mother gator was approaching. We made quick sweeps with our lights to
check around the boat. The alligators in this region get huuuge, and could easily have our canoe for dinner. After releasing our little friend, we continued our search for caiman from a distance. Later, we met up with the young locals who had been fishing with...get this, machetes. They caught five fish by wading along the shore, attracting them to the surface with their light, and then landing a deadly blow with their blade. I must say it was pretty impressive and quite tasty. Later that night, the kids returned home and we ate fish, rice and vegetables around the camp fire. As we ate, some nocturnal monkeys peered down from above, curious of what we were doing. Lying on the ground, we stared back at them with the same curiosity. Soon we retired to our tarp covered mosquito nets and drifted off to sleep to the soothing sounds of the jungle.
Rising early to the call of the howler monkey, we made our way across the lake as the sun rose behind us. Suddenly, off our starboard bough (that's the right-front side mom) appeared a fin and then it was gone. We killed the motor and stood motionless
as river dolphins swam out in front of our boat. They would disappear into the murky water, but soon resurface for air. You could hear their exhale as they skimmed the across the surface. We watched in silence and soaked in the moment, until they slowly left our sight. Now it was time to catch us some piranha! We found us a sweet spot near the waters edge and loaded our line with raw meat (we only used fishing line, bait and a hook). Within minutes I felt a bite on the line and gave her a yank. I pulled from the water my first piranha and he wasn’t happy. It thrashed around with its little chompers hoping to land a bite. We spent the next 30 minutes in that spot and pulled out eight more (my total was 3 piranha and 1 catfish). Back at camp, we boiled them up for lunch along with some rice and platanos. After eating and breaking down camp, we headed out of the Yasuni and back to Rocafuerte to retrieve my backpack. It took us an hour and a half to get out of the jungle and another two hours to get from
Rocafuerte to Pantoja. This is where I said my farewells to Marcos and Phillipe, and continued on solo to Iquitos.
Setting up transport from town to town along the river is not as easy as it sounds. Boats going from Coca to Rocafuerte only run on MWF and then you have to arrange private transport to get you to Pantoja (border). Then from Pantoja to Iquitos (4-5 days), you have to catch a cargo boat that only leaves once a week, usually on Wednesday. I had to factor all of this into my planning, which meant everything had to run smoothly or I was stuck in the middle of the jungle for a week. Lucky for me, I did make my deadline of Wednesday, but of course no schedules are ever set in stone around here. The cargo boat was late, which meant I had to spend two days in Pantoja, but that is better than a week. The riverside village had an air about it that made you feel welcome. Thatched roof huts were dispersed throughout the jungle, hand carved canoes lined the banks and every local greeted their only white stranger with a hospitible smile. I stayed
at the only hospedaje in town and ate dinner at the local comedor (a lady's house). The food was good and dirt cheap (only one dollar for chicken, rice, platanos, bread, and tea). I sat and talked to all the locals who had questions coming at me left and right. I even went over to one man's place and played with his daughter's baby leopard (no joke, a leopard!). They had found it alone in the jungle and were now raising it. Now, I really really want one (hint-30th B-Day). The cargo boat (The Victor) finally arrived, and I found myself a nice little spot for my hammock and bags. The boat took 4 days (5 nights) to get to Iquitos and stopped off at almost every village along the way (longest stop-8 hours). At each stop, the crew would load cargo (bundles of platanos, pigs, chickens, cows, etc.) onto the boat bound for Iquitos and bring on additional passengers including their livestock. Soon there were people hanging from the rafters (literally) and chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc. all around. It was like Noah's Ark and we even saw a rainbow appear daily (pretty freaky man!) It sure wasn't the most
sanitary of places, but it gave me a real taste of what life is like on the Amazon. I was the only foreigner on board, but I befriended a couple of the elders who took me under their wing. They would take me into some of the villages to round up chickens for dinner and explained to me some of the local customs. When ever the boat would come to shore, the children of the village would gather around in curiosity. Their villages were secluded from the rest of the world and the weekly boat was there one connection to the outside. Every young eye was glued on the weird, bald stranger waving back at them. Many returned a smile and others just stood frozen not moving a brow. Now, the boat did provide meals, but I understand now why I was told to bring my own. The food was much different than what I'm used to and the kitchen wasn't held to very strict health codes. Although, I wanted to fully immerse myself, so I dug in with the locals. We ate everything from wild boar (you know it is wild when the black hairs are still on the
back of the meat) to long green bean-like fruits pulled from the trees along the shore. I must say though, it sure was tough eating chicken after watching the chef snatch one up from beside me and snap his neck (never washing his hands). I made sure to dose up on plenty of Pepto each day (enough to clog a horse up for a month) to help my stomach and avoid using the boat's bathroom. Just picture for a second the most disgusting porta-potty you have ever encountered...OK, now flip it upside down and there you have it. Oh yeah, and the only way to flush the toilet was by pouring a bucket of water into it, which you had to carry in with you after filling it with river water. By the third day, the boat was so crowded and nasty (from animal waste and people spitting) that I rarely left my hammock, but I did have an excellent view of the river right out in front of me. The
Amazon Basin, known as "The Lungs of the World" (because of the amount of oxygen produced here), is truly a magnificent region with life flourishing throughout and I had it
surrounding me on all sides. Need I say more? Now, this time spent in my hammock did allow me to get plenty of reading in and do a lot of thinking. Mom had brought me a book ("The Journey" by Billy Graham) that I read and truly enjoyed. I highly recommend this book to you all (it is his final book, so you know it's inspired). It is simple and straight forward, and answers a lot of important questions about life. Now besides reading, I simply watched and interacted with the people around me. This is by far the deepest I have been immersed into this culture, and I can't find the words to describe it. All I can do is reiterate how lucky most people are and they don't even realize it.
On the afternoon of the third day, the Rió Napo opened up and fed into the Amazon River. It was too dark for pictures, so I just stood in awe of the great river. The Amazon is so wide that it is difficult to get a good view of wildlife or make out particular types of vegetation. So, I recommend to any travelers going to the
Amazon to definitely spend the extra money on daily excursions into the jungle, it is well worth it.
Well, I made it to Iquitos (the largest city in the world without road links) in one piece and with only a slight cold. Arranging a flight from Iquitos to Lima and then on to Cuzco was more difficult and expensive than planned. Just so happened, this is one of the busiest weeks of the year because of Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun). Yeah, I forgot to read ahead about that one. I finally booked myself two connecting flights to get me out of the jungle, but the craziest thing happened. The plane (LAN - 6:30am flight) was turned away last minute because of serious fog and the flight was cancelled (imagine that - fog! near a river! in the jungle! Wow!). Because it was a peak week and this is a third world country, they refused to bump everyone to the following flights (which were full) and said we would have to get on a waiting list (a few days) for a later date (no refund). The airport was in an uproar! One man (a local lawyer who knew
the mayor) stood up for everyone. Within minutes, there was a TV camera there, people chanting, and this one man (which we will call "The Dude") was raising cain and asking everyone to stand together in refusal. Some other foreigners and I, who all had connecting flights to catch, said what the heck and joined in the fun. The airport police looked frazzled and the LAN personnel were on the brink of tears. An hour and a half later, after many phone calls by "The Dude", LAN provided us with another plane that left at 11:15pm that night. Now, because a few of us (Marlon, Barbara, and I) had connecting flights and had warmed up to "The Dude" (not to mention signed a petition and formal complaint with the company - organized by "The Dude"), we were some how squeezed on to the 5:40pm flight to Lima. They were only able to get my second flight changed to the afternoon of the following day, but that was alright with me. It gave me a chance to take a look around the city of Lima (the capital of Peru).
Alright, I have to wrap this up even though I have
more stories popping into my head. Just ask me when I return to tell you about the conversation I had with two women on my flight who had a spiritual connection with God through the help of Shaman and the use a hallucinogenic drug called Ayahusca (derived from a plant only found in the Amazon Basin region). It is a story too long to write about, but I know you'll find it interesting. Now, I've tried my best to paint you a picture of what my surroundings were like, but you really just have to see it to fully understand its true beauty. The pictures I have just don't fully capture the depth and feel of the jungle, but what can you do. Well, I must say it was quite an adventure and a definite test to my stomach. It's good to be back in contact and I hope you are all doing well. I will write you all soon. Take care!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.091s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 11; qc: 33; dbt: 0.039s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Yimmy
non-member comment
!?!?!?
Dude your nuts and I love it. Wish I was there!