conference and jungletrip

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After quitting my flat, selling everything of value that could bring me some money for my travels and being at work until the very last moment, I started my journey at the 26th of June '06.
My father drove me to the Munich Int. Airport from where I took my one-way flight to Lima and from there a national flight to Iquitos, a crazy jungle-city in the north-east of Peru...
My interest in shamanism brought me directly to the "2nd Amazonian Shamanism Conference" in Iquitos. I found out about it on the net before and together with the one-week jungletrip following the conference these were actually the only 2 things I had planned in advance - everything else was completly open...
The conference held about 150 people, curanderos (shamans/healers), int. scientists and speakers together with visitors from all over the world.
Lasting 10 days in total, every third day was a day off with ayahuasca-ceremonies being held in the night. A perfect opportunity to see and hear different healers/shamans/curanderos during their lectures and then participating in ceremonies of choice...
During the conference-time I used the great possibility to stay for free in a quiet jungle-hut outside of the city belonging to the conference organisation - the "malloca". Finally we were about 15 conference-people from different countries staying for 10 days out there - the "malloca-crew" as we called ourselves soon...
Whilst listening to interesting lectures and participating in intense journeys into the ayahuasca-world with powerful healers, many new connections were made and awesome experiences shared between the conference-people...
Special thanks and greetings to all those special people I met there and shared such a valueable time with!!!

Directly after the conference I went on a one-week trip into the jungle organised and led by journalist and naturalist Peter Gorman, knowing and exploring the peruvian amazon already for more than 2 decades...
The group of about 15 people consisted partially of conference-participants and people that came to Iquitos for this trip only. We took an amazon-fairy and traveled about 300 km south the amazon/ucayali-river into the area where the native indian tribe of the "matses" live.
Accompained by the more than 80 year old shaman Don Julio three ayahuasca-ceremonies were held during the week out there. We did various expeditions into the jungle getting into contact with the incredibly huge world of medicinal plants the jungle has to offer....
The "matses" are a hunter tribe and we were able to perceive their incredible fishing skills in the side-waters of the ucayali-river and trying their matse-medicines. A tabacco sort of snuff that you get blown into the nose called Nu-Nu and a very strongly cleansing but rather unpleasant medicine called Sapo, a secrete of a frog applied on tiny spots of burned skin. Both medicines being traditionally used to increase the hunting skills of the Matses...
Apart from horribly aggressive mosquitos we had a really really interesting experience out there...

A little more than 2 weeks in Peru this has been an intense time with many incredible experiences and a first insight into the amazing world of amazonian shamanism and their plantworld...


For interested people some links: (copy and paste them!)

General information on Ayahuasca:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayahuasca

Ayahuasca-forum:
www.ayahuasca.com

Conference-organisation (now already preparing for the 3rd one):
http://soga-del-alma.org/ConferenceSite/index.html

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Photos

impressions from iquitos
iquitos is only reachable by boat or by plane - no roads. it is completely surrounded by the amazon and other rivers...

exploring the plant-world
on an excursion with famous ethnobotanist dr. dennis mc kenna

amazing plants everywhere
not only with hidden qualities - but also interesting for the eyes to see...

the "malloca"
where I stayed with about 15 people during the conference a little outside of the city...

the river-taxi
bringing us daily from our "malloca" to the city and the conference...

the "malloca-crew"
together with conference-organiser alan shoemaker and his wife mariella

monkeys
you can buy them in the local market of iquitos if you want...

embarking on the amazon-ferry
for our jungle-trip... spending about 13 hours on the crowded ship.

arriving in the jungle
after coming down from the ferry and another 4 hours on small boats in the side-rivers...

sleeping in hammocks
well protected from the beasty mosquitos...

matse indian pepe
blowing nu-nu into my nose - a tabacco sort of snuff from the matse-indians (non-hallucinogenic)

pepe applying "sapo"
...on tiny spots of burned skin - a medicine only known by the matse-indians. acting very unpleasantly the first 10 minutes it cleans the body intensly and rapidly, mostly through enourmous sweating...

shaman don julio
with nearly 90-years... he conducted 3 ayahuasca ceremonies during the week in the jungle

julio doing cleansing
... blowing tabacco on the head and singing special "icaros" - shamanic healing-songs...