Well, I´ve been trying to write the blog entry for my 5 day jungle trip for the last couple of weeks, having already written 6 or 7 pages in my diary. But there is so much to tell and its so hot sitting in internet cafes for hours on end that I kept having to save the draft halfway through, meaning to come back later to finish it. Today I decided to do just that, as I have 5 hours to kill... only to find there are no draft stories saved!! Aarrrgghh!
So I´m gonna have to condense it massively, sorry!
Five days in the jungle, very hot, saw lots of plants and animals, got bitten by millions of mosquitos, saw some beautiful scenery. Ok?
Alright thats a bit light on the description side. I´ll try again. The group consisted of 2 tour guides, Moises and Jorge, who were both Peruvians who spoke good English and were cool guys, I hung out with them a bit in Iquitos after the trip; and a family from Switzerland consisting of the dad, his girlfriend (younger than me!) and his 3 kids who were 22, 20 and 17. They all spoke French, but the kids and girlfriend spoke a little bit of English so we could just about communicate.
The expedition was to the well-known Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, the entrance to which was from the river port at Nauta, which was 2 hours drive from Iquitos. Some more info on the reserve is here: http://www.pacaya-samiria.com/frame_eng.htm. Its over 7700sq. metres and we saw a tiny part of it in 5 days. We travelled in a small boat similar to this: http://www.isptr-pard.org/riverboat.jpg, which was pretty cramped by the time you added a Keeper from the reserve, a driver for the boat and food for all of us for 5 days.
The first night we stopped at a small village within the reserve; there are 4 different tribes that live in the reserve and each is charged with conservation and protecting their environment, by monitoring and controlling fishing and hunting of certain species at certain times of the year, planting and harvesting plants and fruits which form part of their diet, and additional projects such as harvesting turtle eggs to hatch them in a secure area to ensure more of the baby turtles survive.
The lodge we stayed at had no electricity, so we ate dinner by candlelight and slept on small mattresses on the floor in mosquito nets. Next morning we boarded the boat and set off again. We spent a lot of time on the river over 5 days, and I never got tired of seeing the beautiful scenery, so tranquil and wild, for the vast majority there was no sign of human intervention at all. We saw monkeys and sloths in the trees alongside the river, the driver quickly killing the engine of the boat so we could coast along in silence so as not to scare the animals. We saw green and yellow Macaws flying over the river in pairs, hawks and condors circling for prey, kingfishers and swallows swooping over the river surface, and pink and grey dolphins circled the boat on several occasions, leaping out of the water to show their presence, which was pretty amazing.
During the days we would spend a couple of hours on the river, then climb onshore at different points to spend a couple of hours walking through different types of jungle. Sometimes it was dry, with lots of trees and vines but little undergrowth because of the competition for light. Other places it was hot and lush, the ground covered in plants and rotting leaves, and pools of red-tinted murky water with god-knows-what lurking, lucky we had wellies on!
On Christmas Eve we arrived at another village, and after dinner by candlelight again, we went to join some of the locals with their traditional Christmas Eve celebrations. The Peruvians generally stay up and have a special meal at midnight on Christmas Eve, and this is when children open any presents they may have. The party then goes on most of the night, and then they sleep most of Christmas day! So we stayed up quite late in the local "bar", which was really just the front part of somebodys wooden lodge, with a generator rigged up to provide electricity for the terrible salsa and reggaeton music that they played, along with cheesy karaoke videos.
On Christmas Day morning, we woke up and jumped in the river from the canoe to bathe and wash our hair. By the time we´d finished, we found all the children from the village (total population of maybe 140 people) queuing up in front of a huge metal pot which was bubbling away on a fire by the river. The tradition is for the children (and later the adults if there was enough left) to get a cup of hot chocolate drink made that morning, along with a big slice of panetone sponge cake. This was the highlight of the day, and all the kids gathered together to enjoy their treat. Chickens and dogs rushed around trying their luck at stealing pieces of unattended cake, and it was generally good-natured chaos and happiness all round. Its amazing how these people are so happy and friendly, despite their poverty. They´re not starving and they have clothes, but they have no electricity, no water supply or sewerage system, most of them run around bare-footed and wear clothes that are old and tatty that have clearly been passed around several people already. They live on the fish in the river, fruit and vegetables grown in the village and whatever they trade with passing boats. It seems that most people didn´t have any money at all, they used a system of trading excess fish or fruit to get whatever else they needed. Yet despite these hardships, they were the most welcoming and happy people you could meet. When I think, by comparison, of the spoilt screaming kids back home, throwing a tantrum because they didn´t get the latest Nintendo game...
The Swiss family had an extra surprise; they had brought a big bag full of toys and clothes to hand out to the families. Everyone from the village stood in a circle as the oldest daughter, Jessica, took the items out one by one and held them up so everyone could see what was there. Then a woman allocated by all of the villagers sorted everything into piles; trousers, tops, toys etc. Then item by item, the group decided who should get what - each family got something. I saw some of the children clutching each other in excitement when they saw a teddy or a doll that they wanted, but they didn´t stamp their feet or get mardy if they didn´t get it. One little boy was given a toy horse, and I saw him motion across to his younger sister on the other side of the circle to say it was for her. A really nice Christmas Day all in all, and certainly put some things in perspective for me.
Later that day we left the village and got back on the river. We camped that night in a small clearing on the river shore. It was pretty exciting, the guides put up our tents (I had my own 2 man tent) and then made a fire to cook dinner. Unfortunately the wood was wet and it took an hour to boil a kettle of water for coffee. It was starting to look as though we were going to go hungry that night, but the Swiss family pulled out their emergency rations and we got by on peanuts, biscuits, crisps and bread with jam.
Later that night we went out in the canoe to try to spot caymen. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We paddled silently into what looked like the river bank, but was a kind of swampy area where the river was covered in reeds and grasses and floating plants. The sky was clear and pitch black, but in the distance the lightning from a faraway storm lit up the sky every few minutes, although there was no thunder. The sounds from the frogs and insects was DEAFENING, its impossible to describe how loud and alien they sounded. It was really like going into an alien world. We didn´t see any caymen, but it didn´t detract from the experience at all for me.
We headed back to camp late and went straight to bed, after a brief tussle with a cockroach and a spider that wanted to share my tent. Next morning we had another walk through some jungle but we were all knackered and ready to go home. It took us maybe 3-4 hours on the boat to get back to the port at Nauta, then another couple of hours to drive back into town.
It was a long trip and hard sometimes to do without luxuries such as toilets and showers, but it was well worth it and I had a great time.
