Jungle Boogie

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My third week has been spent studying Spanish at a remote jungle lodge. It was a ten-hour bus ride from Quito, plus an hour by motorised canoe. I was accompanied by another student called Sarah (from Southampton) and a teacher called Carlos, who is the husband of Edith, my teacher back in Quito.

Our accomodation was rustic but comfortable, and we had three hot meals a day, cooked by a master chef whom all the other lodges were trying to poach (I mean poach as in acquiring the services of, not poach as in gently simmering in lightly salted water. The pan alone would need to be enormous. It just wouldn´t be practical)

My day would be as follows:

1. Breakfast at 6:30am
2. Spanish lessons from 7:30 until 12:30 (five hours!!)
3. Lunch, then swinging gently in the hammock to work off the food
4. Get muddy in the jungle on an afternoon excursion
5. Apply a liberal spraying of repellant, to ward off the evening's mosquito swarms (We English seem to be the most tasty of all nations. The Filet Mignon of the insect world)
6. Dinner
7. Swatting and running around, with cries of "you
Rio Napa
The river outside our lodge, and our route to the outside worldlittle ****!"
8. Nightime jungle walk, with more swatting and cursing
9. Cheeky bedtime beer, whilst looking out for the slow but steady approach of tarantulas. Big hairy buggers about the size of my hand. We'd see at least one a night creeping along slowly
10. Head to bed before 10pm, when the generator gets switched off.
11. Check for tarantulas in bed
12. Scratch the latest bites
13. Sleep

We did some cool stuff on the jungle tours, such as eating Lemon Ants. The guide put some tiny ants onto our palms and told us to lick them off. I did, and they tasted of lemon!

Some people went to visit a Shaman one afternoon, but we didn´t get chance. He is a respected mystical figure whom all the local people visit for their ailments. However, Sarah spotted him one afternoon playing football in an orange shirt. This dispelled the mystery somewhat!

I have to mention "The Amazing Adventures of David". The lodge has a few animals in rehabilitation, in spacious cages. Some were found injured in the jungle, whereas others were intercepted and bought off unscrupulous hunters before they could be shipped overseas to zoos or private collectors. One such animal was a spider-monkey called David. He was quite a character and figured out how to open the door of his cage. David has great lanky limbs, and was such a comical character, swinging around the lodge, stealing fruit, sitting on people's laps, weeing on peoples heads, eating flowers and generally running amok. They put David back in the cage, but the next day he'd be out again causing mayhem. Go David!!

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Photos

The Lodge
Our jungle home for five days

Rio Napa
The river outside our lodge, and our route to the outside world

Plane Sailing
We spotted this plane-boat monstrosity in the port town of Coca. Apparently it´s been converted into a bar and sails along the river at weekends!

cute little pussy cat
Aw, kitty. Actually an Ocelot. Fancy stroking it? Have a look at the next photo and think again!

cute little pussy cat revisited
"bet I can open my mouth wider than you"

the infamous David
My teacher, Carlos, with David on his shoulder

Jungle Gym
the staff at the jungle created this gym using buckets of concrete!

fierce jungle warriors
myself and Sarah from Southampton

things that bite in the night
A caiman spotted from a canoe at night

Comments

[IainC]

Jungle warriors
Jungle warriors hey? It all looks quite familiar for some reason. (www.dontstayin.com/uk/london/a-secret-location/2005/may/14/photo-387521) As always your writing never fails to entertain and educate - keep up the good work, and good luck my little fillet mignon.