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Published: March 25th 2007
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We had to get up extra early (0400hr) so that we could get to a nearby lake in time to see the wildlife, including the resident river otters.
Our wooden catamaran went along the edge of the lake. Despite the fact that it was still early morning and not very hot, mosquitos were already everywhere and feasting on us. I wore a long-sleeved shirt most of the time in the jungle and applied 30% DEET everywhere else that is exposed except my face, but still got bitten all over my neck and hands. We saw a number of birds, including herons, kingfisher, parakeets and some I couldn´t name, as well as bats and pirranas. The river otters didn´t show themselves, probably fishing on the other side of the lake, explained our guides, as they each eat up to 4kg of fish everyday. Before we left we stopped for some pirrana fishing. Our navigator, Allan, took out some raw beef as bait and went fishing. Pirranas take chunks out of the bait so you really have snap the fishing line quickly once you feel a tug. I gave it a go and actually caught one, but it escaped in mid
air. Some people caught pirranas, and Allan demonstrated how sharp their teeth are. Apparently they will leave you along as long as you don´t bother them, but I don´t think I´ll go swimming here.
One the way back to our canoe, Sally was showing us a local fruit when she all of a sudden froze and told us not to move. I thought perhaps she spotted a puma. To the contrary, a small boar without tusks came out from nowhere and started rubbing itself between everyone´s legs, sometimes releasing a rather nasty scent, ? marking its territory? It did this literally to everyone in the group and then disappeared into the jungle, but it kept following us down to the canoe, and even jumped in the water to try to follow us back to the lodge. It was cute; hopfully it will do just fine in the jungle and won´t become puma meal.
This lodge has a clay lick frequented by macaws and parakeets nearby. According to the guides they generally appear between 1000-1200hr. We went around 1100hr to a hut looking towards the clay lick. It was essential that we maintain near silence so as not to
scare them away. With about 20 people in the hut and the already hot jungle weather, it was almost unbearable to stay in the hut. We could hear macaws in the trees overhead but they wouldn´t come down to the clay lick. I suppose it was some consolation when some parakeets showed up. We finally gave up after about 1.5 hours to go back for lunch. Once we head up the hill we could see the little buggers high up in the trees, chattering away, most likely laughing at us. We saw some howler monkeys on the way back. These are the red variety, different from the black ones I saw in Costa Rica.
After lunch we went to visit a local shaman. As we went past the clay lick we saw many macaws on it. They probably knew that we had left the observation hut and were happily enjoying the clay lick.
The shaman treats the local natives and we went around his medicinal garden as he showed us many different plants. The first is called ¨Para Para¨ with properties of sildenafil, or Viagra, meant to be consumed by impotent male over the age of 60. It
para para
amazon's viagra wasn´t clear if women could take this. He went on to show us love potion, cat´s claw with anti-cancer properties, natural anesthetic and insect repellent, and many others. The last one was ayahuasca, a hallucinogen, which apparently can make you remember the past. Before we left we sampled some of his concotions, inlcuding Para Para. I guess some of us will be feeling amourous tonight
Throughout the day after each activity I would be soaking wet in sweat and since we had short breaks in between I took 4 showers in total, perhaps to make up for the lack of shower in my upcoming Inca Trail hike. I would only remain refreshed briefly, as soon as I walked back to the lodge I was already sweating again.
Only 3 of us decided to go for the night walk after supper. It was a short loop around the back side of the lodge. We didn´t really see anything other than a tree frog, some spiders and beetles.
We started drinking cocoa tea today in prepartion for the high elevation of Cusco. Many people didn´t like the taste. I didn´t mind it so much because it was fairly
bland and really just a very mild tea. This would be one of many cups of cooca tea for me this trip. I did bring acetazolamide (Diamox) for altitude sickness but I figured that I would use it for treatment if I did get into trouble because I didn´t want to start urinating more and get some of the potential side effects from it. Apparently it works by increasing the amount of alkali excreted in the urine, making the blood more acidic. Acidifying the blood drives ventilation, which is the cornerstone of acclimatisation.
Lights out by 2100hr again, except the lodge which remained open until 2200hr. With some laughter coming from the lodge, the jungle was again quiet except for crickets and frogs.
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