Welcome to the Jungle

For the next leg of the tour, Brent flew in and joined me for a trip into the Amazon Rainforest. Another check off the bucket list:)

We took a two hour boat ride down the Tambopata River to our lodge. Our lodge was beautiful, but rustic – no electricity (we got ready at night by candlelight), and the water coming out of our sink had a brownish color. We also found a baby tarantula in our room one day, which was interesting to try and usher outside our room! Brent and I were ok with all of this, the only downside to our bungalow was that it was set up like a duplex- two couples sharing one bungalow with a separating wall. This would normally not be a problem, but the walls and ceilings did not meet, which is great for air circulation in the heat and humidity, but not so great when you have to use the toilet or when the young couple next door feels amorous at 3 in the afternoon when you are napping.

We spent our days hiking in the rainforest and saw many animals: birds (including toucans and macaws), snakes, tarantulas, monkeys, and capybaras ( a giant rodent). We canoed in a couple lakes and saw an electric eel and fed piranhas! We also learned about a fish the locals call the “pee pee fish”. Apparently it is attracted to the ammonia in human urine and if you pee while in the lake it will swim up your urethra and the only way to get it out is surgery!!! Despite eels, piranhas, and pee pee fish our guide told us he and his friends swim in the lake all the time- they just don’t pee in it!

We also went looking for anacondas. We paddled through some very shallow parts of the lake that were overrun with thick grass. There were paths around 2 feet in width inside the grass that we paddled though. I assumed that these paths had been made from canoes over time, but our guide informed us they were paths made by anacondas- their bodies are just that big and heavy!!!

At night we took boat rides down the river and searched for (and found) caiman. We also took a nighttime hike through the forest and encountered 3 spiders that are more poisonous than the black widow.

Our guide, “Joe”, was really interesting. He had studied for 8 months to become a shaman, but decided the lifestyle was to stifling for him. Because of his training, he had a wealth of knowledge about the jungle and taught us a lot about the plants and their many uses as medicines, dyes, and aphrodisiacs. He also had taught himself English, and started by listening to music in English to learn words and phrases and would write them in a journal. What music did he think was the best for learning English- Bob Marley! He said he sang slower than most artists and was easier to understand.

Joe and I also talked a bit about my choice to be vegetarian. He was curious to learn my reasons, because he was primarily vegetarian himself because of the rainforest land that was being taken up for ranching. He also had concerns about poaching in the rainforest. Unfortunately, we experienced some of Joe’s concerns first hand. On our last hike in the rainforest, we heard gunshots, and the saw shotgun shells in our path on the way out. We were in a protected preservation area, and this is still happening. Really, really scary and sad.

Brent and I really enjoyed our time in the Amazon Basin. The animals, our guide, and the beauty of the nature there is something we will never forget. And all that hiking was good practice for what laid ahead…..