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Published: June 12th 2006
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Amazon animal sanctuary
The Sloth- what a chilled out guy! Reluctantly, we left the laziness of beach life and headed for our rumble in the jungle.
To be honest, I had considered just buying postcards of exotic animals and reading about them on the net so i could get back to surfing and avoid the battle of eagle-sized mosquitos, but that would have been a traversty considering the spectacle of nature we were to experience.
We flew into Iquitos in Peru which lacks land access but only has early morning or late evening flights as a result of the rubbish heap located next to the airport. During day-light hours, this area is swarmed by vultures who feed on the communities waste and threaten to be sucked into the engines of aircraft. The Peruvian Tourist authorities, in their infinite wisdom, have thus reduced flights into the area rather than just move the garbage!
Time constraints and Brett´s infalliable planning expertise led us to experience the majority of our adventure in Brazil. We thus did a day excursion to an animal sanctuary and Indigenous dwelling in Peru.
The sanctuary is not goverment sponsored and is merely sustained by the generosity of tourists and a Peruvian families love for their
fauna. It was a remarcable experience to hold and observe macaws, jaguars, sloths, capibaras, caymen and boas. They had a 6 metre long BABY anaconda which can eat a baby human but prefers to dine on 5 chickens or a pig in one sitting!
Our trek into the jungle was led by a Columbian refugee who had fled the Shining Light guerillas with his 9 children 6 years earlier. He and his family lived on the muddy banks of the rio in a small wooden shack on stilts farming bananas and fish.
We weaved and twisted our way through the undergrowth and i began to suspect that we might just be walking in circles as we would be none the wiser, however we were met at a tributary by a lonesome boatsman who navigated us down the stream in the downpour to a settlement of native indians. Brett and I covered in insect repelent and hiding under our plastic rain covers, our guide and the indigenous family dressed in traditional bead and grass skirts sat together silently under the thatch awning mesmerised by the ferocity of the driving rain. I contemplated how different we all were but how
our search and appreciation of life in essence is very similar
The first thing that hits you when you step into the rainforest is the air. It's so heavy with oxygen and humidity that it is almost tangible. There is a heavy, rich stillness to it... because in the heart of the rainforest little wind really reaches below the unbroken green canopy of trees above you. The oxygen-filled air and the sheer magnitude of living things all around you sort of energizes you somehow.
It's an amazing display of nature in her most flamboyant expression of life. Literally everything around you is in flux - in some state of living, breathing, growing, decaying. The vibrancy of life you feel flowing around you and through you resonates with every fibre of your being.
Everything imaginable can be found in the forest. We were shown jungle loo paper, cooking foil, fuel for light, medicines for upset stomachs, parasites, fever, sore troat, coughs and a potential cure for diabetes! They even prepare a concotion for fishing which makes the fish drunk and disorientated. Brett was keen to know about the effects of this concoction on humans which surprisingly was lethal!
Amazon animal sanctuary
Baby cupubarra suckling The skill with which the guide distinguished the poisonous flora from the pallative was impressive and we ruminated on the many lives which must have been lost in the eons of trial and error.
I was astonished by the immensity of colours, shapes and shadows. We stood beneath trees the size of skyscrapers, leaves like umbrellas and vines creating staircases to the sky strong enough to withstand the weight of a man. Flowers and butterflies painted in acryllic colours interrupt the sea of green and the few moments of silence punctuate the roar of insects, calls of monkeys and songs of fabulously coloured birds.
It's really hard to describe... and photos cannot depict the majesty of it but its as though all of the earth's core elements are present in such abundance that you've never experienced before that it can overwhelm and energise all at once!
Life in the jungle is not as perilous to mankind as the bush is. Most of the animals are small and need to be able to live in trees or swim as a result of the huge seasonal variations in river volume. Thus animal spotting can be quite tricky and somewhat
Amazon animal sanctuary
Ninja turtles! Check out the archaic one on the left dissapointing if you´re expecting predators like we do on safari. What is more intrigiung though is the bio-diversity, tastes of unusual fruit, sounds and unique adaptations. An example of this is the ¨walking palm ¨; Poor soil quality and struggle for sunlight allows this tree to send down new roots to regions rich in nutrients and severing the old ones, thereby actually 'walking' to the food rich locations.
We left Peru on an ironically labelled ¨rapido ¨boat to head toward the confluence of the 3 river borders of Columbia, Peru and Brazil. The 14 hour, muscle aching trip left us eager to say our farewells to Peru.
As with all goverment bureaus, the immigration office was closed to tourists on our arrival so we had to spend a night on the muddy banks of a Columbian village. I was thrilled to spend at least a few illegal hours in this country which was banned to me as a result of my Irish heritage. Even though these settlements are a few hundred metres across the river from one another, the phenotypes and attitudes of the people in each country are strikingly different.
This irritating delay played in our
favour, as it always does, and allowed Brett to be introduced to the owner of newly built jungle lodge which would be the base for our Amazon expedition.
Heliconia Jungle Lodge is situated off the Javari Tributary and is nestled in the brazillian protected amazon reserve, deep in the jungle and a few hours away from communities that have never seen white man (lucky chaps). It is named after the rich-red weeping rainforest flower. It is a rustic getaway that we shared with a hospitable indigenous family. They had no idea we were arriving and were more than happy to accomaodate our every desire.
Our sleeping quarter was in my mind, like a jungle honey-moon suite It was secluded from all the other huts by thick vegetation and the shower and loo allowed you the novelty of watching the jungle as it watched you, given that it was completely open!
We spent 3 glorious days here..night canoeing to search for caymen, hiking through the forest, swimming in natural pools and having amazon mud facials, spear fishing for piranhas and lazing in the hammock with the lodges pet monkey, Maria. Watching the sun set on the river, whilst
pink dolphins played and chased fish arouns us, and listening to cacophany of sounds emanating from the jungle, we felt truly privileged to have enjoyed this experience.
Flying out of Tabatinga the next day, over an endless sea of green that stretches to both horizons, our hearts were heavy. We were going to miss the Amazon and hoped that the deforestation and destruction of this great and amazing natural wonder would somehow slow, or abate. You don´t even have to look for the evidence of ignorant destruction, for the effects of man´s blind greed are apparent almost everywhere and you wonder whether that new set of wooden drawers are worth the death of a 300 year old amazonian tree. There is always hope, but one gets the impression a lot has to change about the way we use and disrespect the earth.
We were excited to get to the next leg of our adventure however, and the paradise of Brazils beaches..
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Tom
non-member comment
wow
guys, looks like you've found your garden of Eden!!! Adam and Eve, so you've got the wisdom now Brett? you're both looking pretty wild, great!