Blogs from Pucallpa, Ucayali, Peru, South America - page 4

Hello World The past few weeks have been relatively tranquil. I would like to get more relaxation in but there is always work to do on the farm...and I now have 3 dogs, 1 cat, and 2 parrots....and I'm sorry to report, my tortoise just escaped. I have planted seeds for mandarins, oranges, grapefruit, guava, lemon, camu-camu, cucumber, and a bunch of other lovely fruits and veggies. The seeds are waiting for the rain to come. They say that it rains very hard for all of October, November and December here in the jungle. When the rains start, the dirt road to San Francisco closes and everyone that wishes to go to Pucallpa must take a slow motor boat (peke-peke) to and from the city. Weeds grow very fast here and there is a never ending ... read more

After my friends went back home to Switzerland I decided to stay in the world of the Shipibos and to explore a little more. Together with curandero Daniel Arevalo, who had been with us during the last 12 days in San Francisco, I took a 17 hours boatride to the community where he lives with his huge family - Hunin Pablo. Unlike San Francisco the community Hunin Pablo is a pure rivercommunity, only accessable per boat. His family welcomed me openly and soon I lived in midst of them. In a house without walls, only a wooden floor and palmtree-roof, I had my sleeping place in a hammock sourrounded by the family-members sleeping around me under their mosquito-nets... No fluent water, no electricity... Bathing everyday in the river... I continued the special diet without sugar, fat ... read more

Being fortunate to meet and connect with Laurance, Martin (alias LilMerlin) and son Tila from Switzerland during the conference, they invited me to come with them to Pucallpa after I returned from the jungle. Pucallpa is a jungle-city located about 1000km south of Iquitos and close to the area of the native indian tribe called the "Shipibos". For about 12 days we lived together in the "communidad San Francisco", a big Shipibo-community outside of Pucallpa (big means nearly 1000 people). Shipibo-curandero Daniel Arevalo (Sankunima) came from his far-away rivercommunity to work with us in San Francisco at the place of his cousin Mateo. The Shipbos are an amazing tribe, their culture deeply rooted in the world of the plants and their sacred Ayahuasca. One of the most stunning aspects was the ceremonial singing of the Shipibo-curandero ... read more

I guess its been about 2 weeks since I´ve been here in Pucallpa. The weather is mild, mostly cloudy...but when the sun is out it gets very hot. I guess I am getting use to the heat. I have been waiting for the past few days to visit the other lodges that Pablo is building...deeper in the jungle, farther away from civilization. Well, I finally got a chance, and half-way through the ride, I was regretting it. I was sitting in the backseat of a Nissan 4x4 pickup truck with 3 other people. My head was hitting the roof because I am so tall, and every time we hit a bump, I jammed my neck...and my leg started going to sleep, my arm was bashing into the door, and the "oh crap handle" was missing so ... read more

I wanted to drive during the coolest part of the day, so I decided to get a collectivo (car ride, s.45) from Tingo Maria to Pucallpa, a six hour ride by car or 11 hr ride by bus. I woke up at 3:30am to catch my ride at 4am which was ready and waiting for me ON TIME!! And we were off into the darkness of the thin morning air. With no street lights on the dark mountain roads we swerved several times just missing a dog, and children going to school in the early morning. Soon the sun came up and I witnessed the most beautiful jungle landscape, with waterfalls, and colorful birds everywhere. Then the heat began to set in, and we came to a road-block, then another, and another...There are a lot of ... read more