Hola ¿Como estas?
So we drove into the jungle from Tena and found the rio napo the largest river in Ecuador. The flow was stronger than the big northern australian rivers when in flood so was quite impressive. The river was about 100m wide with large round river rocks showing. Sounds like the start of a cheesy novel so we better move on...
Anyway after a 20min long boat ride we arrive at a very rustic (tired) jungle lodge on anaconda island. There was an overwhelming silence in the air as there were no bird or animal sounds around. At least there was a river! The lodge had nice views of a town and resort across the river which tended to detract from the already poor jungle feeling. Later that day we went down stream to an amazonian animal rescue shelter which had lots of animals and lots of velumptuos international volunteers. Not exactly the amazon experience we expected. Could have just gone to the zoo in Australia - well not quite as Anna the german guide wouldn´t have been there :-)
So back to the lodge. Well at least they had a pet snake which they tried to flog off as an anaconda. Too bad the marking were incorrect and it was in fact a boa constrictor. Not a very active snake. The staff tried to feed it a guinea pig and a bird. It didn´t go well. The bird sat on the top of the cage and the guinea pig either ran along the snakes back or sat in front of it. Amused us for a while. Vegetarian snake?
Other than that there was a bar which got a fair workout from some of the others.
For a little amusement we were taken upstream and sent back downstream on a raft of balsa wood after a taste of the local firewater chicha. It is made of yucca, a yam type of root, tastes quite sour, and had about 2% alcohol content. Apparently the locals live on it only. We suspect there is a little more to their diet.
Anyway back to the raft. Got stuck in a large whirlpool and almost flipped. Was quite good fun and a few of us jumped out later in the trip as swam along with the current. Steve, a pom, showed us why they should never get in the water and had a lot of trouble swiming, using the term liberally, back to the raft. We also got back onto the raft in the rapids as our feet were getting wacked on the boulders on the riverbed. The water was freezing!
Went for a wander around the island and you guessed it. Got lost again with a couple of others. We found a wooden boat being constructed, a stinky turkey, very rare according to Kumuka, and a couple of small monkeys. A search party was sent out for us but we already had found our way back. Gary who was walking by himself was 1.5 hrs late and found by another search party.
Vanessa and I are still resisting the drinking culture of the trip. You can buy a 1lt of vodka for US$5.80 and 750ml rum for $7.50. Not that we don´t mind a drink but thought this was supposed to be an adventure tour.
Had fun spotting glow bugs in the evenings. Beatles that glow brightly when they get excited. Sometimes holding their light on for a couple of seconds.
Oh yes. The shaman. Must have been a surprise visit as he just had gum boot, nike tracksuit pants, a t-shirt and his traditional feather headpiece. Two of the party were nominated for a spiritual cleansing. Not us :-) The shaman proceeded to spit, 70% proof homemade sugercane alcohol, blow smoke in their hair and eyes and beat their heads with a brush of small dried leaves while chanting, on the chosen ones. I guess it was a little disrepective of the group but there was plenty of giggling and commentry in the background. Tough crowd.
The highlight. We has decided that the trip was just going to be disappointing until the final trip. A canoe ride for an hour into the jungle and then a 2hr walk into primary forest with our guide Wan who introduced us to native jungle tucker. We tasted a leave that tasted like cinnamon, some berries that tasted sweet and smelt a leaf that didn´t smell too good at all. Then took us to a clear running stream in a 10m gorge surrounded by jungle. We waded along the creek for a couple of hours in gumboots sometimes up to our hips. Plenty of gumboot ballet with people emptying their boots without taking them off. It was stunningly beautiful but no pictures and Wan took the cameras off us to prevent them getting wet. Lucky as two people fell in. There was a calender of images in that walk.
Adios Amigos,
David & Vanessa
