Advertisement
Published: March 29th 2006
jun1
Miner Birds nests on the edge of the flooded forestThere are a few possible threats in the Amazon Jungle; diseases like Malaria, Onchocercias, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis and Schistoniasis aside, you still have to be careful of the many potentially deadly snakes and spiders, possibly volatile jaguars and pumas (that’s if you are LUCKY enough to see them) as well as lesser irritants like leeches and insects....
..... so Noel and I decided to do a four day jungle trip in an isolated rustic camp where we slept in hammocks and bathed in the river.
To get to our base camp deep in the jungle we left our hotel and were taken by car to the bus station; from here we took a 2.5hour bus journey to a village where we met our guide Robinson. At only 19 years old Robinson, a native Amazonian was relaxed and friendly and demonstrated his vast knowledge of the area as we took the final leg of our journey by boat.
We arrived about an hour later and lunch was served immediately: rice, beans, eggs, salad and fruit. Lots of it and very nice it was too. There was only 1 other tourist at the camp an Aussie called Nick, who had
jun14
Our accommodation at base camp his own guide Leeandro. After lunch we went to view our 'accommodation´ which was a wooden open frame with a roof made from branches. It didn’t even have mesh covering the walls to stop creepy crawlies getting in. It didn’t even have walls! And we didn’t even have mosquito nets around our hammocks; we were completely in the open. On the positive side as there were only three tourists in camp and Nick had his own hut, we didn’t have to string our hammocks jammed close to other people as we had in the Pantenal. Next we checked out the latrine, it wasn’t the nicest smelling hole in the ground but it didn’t seem too bad. After getting our bearings Robinson called us to go on our afternoon excursion - piranha fishing.
We took the canoe through the outskirts of the flooded forest, which was in itself absolutely beautiful. The trees reflected perfectly in the water and looked stunning. After paddling for half an hour we stopped to fish. We used a reel of line each (which at one point I managed to throw in) with a hook and piece of chicken on the end. I wasn’t sure how
jun2
Our guide Robinson with a baby alligator Noel felt about fishing, but learnt later that Noels philosophy which I wholeheartedly agree with was that in this neck of the jungle fishing is integral to provide sustenance and therefore who was he to impose his western vegetarian beliefs on them. So the three of us sat in the canoe with our lines in the water chatting away; it wasn’t long before Robinson caught a fish. However he threw it back into the river because in his opinion it was too small and hadn’t died from the trauma of being caught. It wasn’t long before he caught a bigger one which he took of his line and put it out of its misery quickly by cutting its spine. Not long later it began to rain, and in mean RAIN. It was virtually a storm and I was convinced that at any moment Robinson was going to suggest we go back, but he didn’t bat an eyelid. So we continued to fish in the pouring rain in our shorts and t-shirts. I began to get goose bumps all over and shiver, Robinson looked at me strangely and said “but it is warm rain?” We carried on fishing then Noel caught
jun3
The colours of the Amazon Jungle - Toucan Flower a big fish, Robinson did the necessary kill and showed us the piranha’s sharp teeth and demonstrated how it used its razor-sharp tail to cut open its prey before using its teeth to eat. Next I caught a fish, the first have ever caught in my life - I was very proud. Even better - as it was quite small and had survived the ordeal we threw it back. By the time we left to return to camp we had a fair number for our dinner. On the return journey we saw the tail end of a pink dolphin in the water which we were hoping would come our way but unfortunately it didn’t.
After having our freshly caught fish for tea, Robinson announced that we were going to go out in the canoe looking for alligators. As it was dark (and I am a scaredy-cat) I asked Noel to accompany me to the Latrine to check for spiders/snakes before I used it. Much to my dismay when I shone my torchlight on the latrine seat I could see it was covered with cockroaches crawling all over it. They were everywhere, and I got really creeped out. I wasn’t
jun10
Yellow Mushrooms providing a splash of colour in the jungle looking forward to sleeping out in the open and wasn’t really that up for going out in the canoe in the pitch dark either. I told myself to get a grip and got into the canoe. This time we went right into the beautiful flooded forest, lit only by the light form our torches. Robinson paddled while we sat in silence ducking the many branches in our way and watching in awe. It was truly stunning. I had just forgotten my previous anxieties when Robinson said “be careful not to touch any of the branches as there are poisonous spiders on the wood”.
Before he had said this we had been ducking branches, but seeing as we were travelling through the tree tops of a forest in a boat totally avoiding them wasn’t that easy. I then made the mistake of pointing the torch at the trees and saw the yellow eyes of lots of spiders staring back at me. I was freaking out internally but not wanting to appear like a girl I decide the best option was to get off my seat and crouch down on the floor in the canoe (not caring that there were 5cm
jun4
Massive spiders wed of water in the bottom of the boat). Bollocks to looking at my beautiful surroundings. Noel turned around and gave me an amused look at my new seating position. After a while we entered a section where the branches were less dense and I could return to my seat. We stopped at a big tree where Robinson stuck his machete into a whole in the tree trunk trying to tease something out. Much to my delight (not!) it was a tarantula bigger than my hand. Not content with Noel and I being three feet away from it, Robinson manoeuvred our boat side on so it was a few centimetres from our face. (I closed my eyes). Robinson paddled on in search of alligators and finally came across a baby one that we both had a turn in holding.
It was bed time when we got back and I was convinced I would never sleep. After checking my hammock for creepy crawlies, I got in and closed my eyes and fell asleep within seconds. I think my stressed out brain just shut down.
After the best nights sleep I’d had in a long time we woke for breakfast at
jun6
Tas in the base camp with leaf plate 7am. We had an early start because we were all (Noel, me, Robinson, Nick and his guide) going to spend the day and night deep in the jungle a few hours from base camp. We packed our sleeping bags, hammocks, toothbrushes and a change of clothes into a bag and all jammed into one canoe. After a 30minute paddle we got out and began a trek through the jungle in search of our sleeping spot. Despite the temperature only being about 30 degrees (we are used to much higher) we were pouring with sweat. The humidity was nearly 90%. As we walked Robinson pointed out flora and fauna of interest. We passed a Sapupama tree which has a massive trunk and roots that when hit echoes for miles around. These he explained had been used for many years by natives who encountered any trouble in the jungle or had got lost.
The jungle is a very beautiful place. Amongst all the green there are some splashes of intense colour: the red toucan flower (so called because before its petals fully open they look like a toucan’s beak) is an example of this, as were the bright yellow mushrooms we
jun5
Noel finds a frog in the jungle saw. After 2 hours of walking and without spotting any animals (though we saw a tapirs tracks) we arrived at a spot that Robinson informed us would be our 'hotel room´ - a stream with a few trees and a small shelter. The shelter made from, leaves and branches had been made a few days earlier by other tourists who had stayed in that spot. Robinson had decided to return to it because of its handy location near a stream and because of the fact that a group of monkeys were living in the trees nearby.
We put up our hammocks while the guides started to make lunch. We were pretty tired having carried our stuff through the jungle in the heat and humidity. Within a minute Robinson had built a roaring fire over which he was heating water in a saucepan. When I asked him how he got the fire so big so quickly he told me he had used the sap from a Breu tree which is highly flammable. Very handy. Within no time lunch was ready, a feast of chicken, eggs, rice and vegetables. After lunch we all lay in our hammocks for a little siesta.
jun7
Drinking water from a vine We were awoken by Robinson calling us, he was excitedly pointing at some squirrel monkeys who were jumping extraordinary long distances from tree to tree. Evan our two guides were surprised at how far the little bat faced monkeys were jumping - about 15 metres. After watching them until they moved on we went for an afternoon walk to see some more wildlife. Other than the back end of a wild pig we didn’t see any animals but we saw a massive spider’s web a good square meter that was full of crickets and large beetles. Luckily no spiders. The guide showed us more interesting plants and described their uses; we cut some wood from a Preciousa tree to make tea for our breakfast. On the way back to camp we stopped to swing on some vines. Noel was my real life Tarzan. As Noel and I had a small supply of water to last us until the following day we were pleased when our guides showed us some vines that filtered water from deep under the ground. They cut us some to drink and we were surprised to find how much water they held.
After dinner another feast
jun8
My Tarzan of rice, eggs and vegetables we lay on our hammocks while our guides cracked feeble jokes until we fell asleep. Considering we were in the middle of the jungle miles away from civilisation, I fell asleep pretty easily and quickly again. However, I wasn’t asleep for long as the jungle is such a noisy place at night with lots of indecipherable noises, and I was aware that I had been bitten on the face several times. I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and slept little for the rest of the night. After my final nap I woke at 6am conscious that I couldn’t open my right eye fully. It felt very swollen and the other bites on my face were sore. No one else was awake so I couldn’t ask how much like Frankenstein I looked and I had no mirror. It wasn’t until 8am that our guides woke up, made breakfast and woke Noel and Nick. Noel assured me that my bites didn’t look too bad (but he lied). Before we packed up to return to base camp we stopped to watch two monkeys, this time Spider Monkeys in the trees. They seemed to be studying us
jun9
Hotel Room in the jungle as much as we were studying them. Robinson told us to be careful as these particular could be quite aggressive to humans. Sure enough they started breaking branches off the tree and throwing them at us, so we backed off and began our 3 hour walk back to the canoe.
On the way back there was a strong smell of pig poo and our guides were convinced there was group of wild pigs very near. As wild pigs can be quite dangerous we were advised to keep an eye out for a suitable tree to climb in the event of an attack. This was the second time on this trip that we had been given this advice (the first being in the Pantenal) and the second time that as soon as it was said there seemed to be no suitable trees around to climb. However thanks to a successful detour we managed to avoid the pigs and eventually we were back at our canoe. This came as quite a relief to us because we were very low on water and very thirsty after the walk.
After the short paddle back to base camp we guzzled lots of water
jun11
If you look carefully you can see the snake in our bedroom ceiling down before jumping into the river for a wash. We were so hot and sticky that the river was total bliss and I was too pre occupied to worry about leeches.
After lunch and a rest, during which we saw a snake crawling through the ceiling of our hut (not poisonous), the guides showed us how to weave the bark of the Larajayana tree to make string to use for jewellery. We made necklaces and bracelets using rubber tree seeds and Fear of Mary seeds. Later Noel Robinson and I went out in the canoe to look at the Igarapes, the small channels in the flooded forest. We were in silence for the majority of the next hour as Robinson steered us through the treetops. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Sadly our photos fail to capture the beauty of the trees reflections and shadows. Coming to South America was worth doing just for this one experience alone.
As we paddled back to camp we saw Nick and is guide (who had a motor on their boat) coming towards us. By holding onto the side of their boat we hitched a lift back. On the way we saw
jun12
Noel polishing his ring the most amazing sunset and took lots of photos.
After dinner we sat chatting with Robinson and Nick, listening to some of Robinsons dodgy 80´s CDs (to help improve his already perfect English). We were gob smacked to learn that despite having heard of Dire Straits, Robinson had never heard of the Beatles! Robinson told us about some of the evil 'spirits´ the Amazonian natives were scared of: from the pink dolphin who turns into a man at night to tempt the local ladies into the water forever, to the old lady in the jungle who casts a spell on you to make you lose your way. He also talked about his dislike of missionaries who come to the native people to try to 'educate´ them about god and force their way of life and systems on tribal culture. He said he had seen so many tribes destroyed by so called 'progress´. Whilst he believed the progress offered was well intended and understood the benefits of schooling for some, he said that many tribes had existed for years without schools and modern medicine - they have everything that they need in the jungle after all. It was all food
jun13
The flooded forest for thought for us. In our chats we also found out that Robinson had caught Malaria three times in his life, but thought little of it.
The last night of our jungle trip passed almost incident free, apart from the fact that Noel had a Malaria tablet induced dream. (We have experienced some strange dreams, a common side effect of Larium). In the middle of the night we had the following conversation
Noel: Tas, Tas wake up.
Tas: (previously asleep) What’s up?
Noel: Have you got your trousers on?
Tas: Err no, I am in bed in my sleeping bag. Don’t have my trousers on.
Noel: (standing up) Well I’m putting mine on!
Tas: Ok
Noel:…. For the cyclone. In case the cyclone comes!
Tas: (having decided Noel is off his rocker) No I am alright thank you. Goodnight!
On our final morning we went for our last trek in the jungle. We saw a tree that Robinson told us his father uses for a tea and since discovering it has stopped taking Insulin for his diabetes. We smelled the bark of the tree with natural quinine in it (used of course for anti malarial), as well as
jun15
Sunset from our canoe rosewood and a tree used as decongestant for use in Vicks and Deep Heat. Robinson showed us how to construct roofing for huts and the various plants that can be used. He also made animals out of reeds and whistles for in case you were lost.
There is a particular type of ant that natives have long used to disguise human scent to prevent scaring wildlife away. Robinson demonstrated its use by touching a tree covered with the ants and rubbing them all over his hands, (we didn’t give it a go!) This ant isn’t to be confused with the 24 hour ant which he pointed out gives you a nasty flu like bug for 24 hours if it bites you.
After a quick lunch it was time for us to leave. We were genuinely sad to be leaving our new friend and would have liked to have stayed longer. On the other hand the bites o my face were itchy and uncomfortable and I really didn’t want any more. We have had a truly amazing time. The cost of our jungle tour was quite reasonable and was an experience that I would thoroughly recommend.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.0577s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
DAD
non-member comment
OH My God!
Holy Mackerelfish! What on earth are you doing surrounded by venomous spiders and piranha? This from the kid who'd scream at a small spider that was DOWNSTAIRS when she was upstairs? From now on you can throw out your own creepy-crawlies!