Amazon III

We started off early again and walked and rowed back to the first Yaguas village we stopped at. From there we were picked up in a small motorboat and headed across the river and into the Peruvian Amazon (though without the hassle of any official border crossings). We stopped at another tribal village and visited a local home where the kids were very curious about the “foreigner”. We continued down the river, spotting a solitary grey river dolphin on the way. The river is so large that from the middle it looks like it's a lake as you can see land in every direction. We pulled into a little cove where we saw the beautiful Queen Victoria Lilies, about a metre in diameter. We continued on and stopped in another tribal village, and went into a house which was to be home for the night. My hosts were very friendly and made up a Copa Asu juice, and we chatted while the kids looked on fascinated.

After lunch we headed out piranha fishing, though we only managed to catch one between us, though we did catch some catfish and a very sharp toothed dog fish jumped right into the boat. We came back to our new base for dinner, and Wilson and our hosts talked excitedly about animals supposedly seen, “a big cat”, “this big”, “with webbed feet”, “able to climb trees”. The Amazon is a place where myths take hold as easily as they are difficult to dispel.

After dinner we headed out in the dark on the water. Armed with our torches we were on the lookout for alligators and crocodiles. After about half an hour Domingo spotted a baby alligator and quickly scooped him up in his hand. He gave him to me to hold and despite being no more than a foot long I struggled to hold onto him as he squirmed with surprising strength. I looked around a little nervously for the mother but there was no sign. We headed back to base and set up my hammock and mosquito net, and had another great night's sleep. Those big hammocks are really comfortable to sleep in.

The following morning we headed back along the riverside, spotting Capachino monkeys, tortoises, parrots and a pod (apparently it's not a school!) of pink dolphins that popped up suddenly and then disappeared back under the water, making photography a game of chance, which I played for about half an hour with limited success. Every so often they would pop up right beside the boat, and frighten us, but be submerged again before I got my camera pointed the right way. I'm sure the little fellows were playing games with me! We arrived back at the Yaguas village, transferred to the fast boat and found ourselves back in Leticia. My three and a half days in the Amazon was thoroughly enjoyable and not another tourist in sight! Fantastic!

- David

Amazon II

Due to my lack of time we decided to combine what would be two days on the tour into one day so I could get a taste for all there was on offer in the Amazon. But it meant a long day. We started early and headed into the Amazon again. This time Abelardo's father, the tribe's shaman or herbal doctor, accompanied us as well. As we walked through he would stop and explain the uses of various plants, ranging from posion used to shoot monkeys, and plants to make the darts to shoot them. He also showed me rubber trees and a whole range of medicinal plants used for conditions as diverse as maleria, diabetes, hepatitis, prostrate problems, muscular pain, arthritis, asmtha, bronchitus, rashes, ulcers and scorpion bites. “We have our own pharmacy in the jungle”, Wilson beamed.

We stopped for lunch at a small waterfall (a rarity in the Amazon) where Domingo and Abelardo quickly set up a little platform to enable a very refreshing shower with surprisingly clean and clear water. We had lunch, relaxed for a bit and then it was time to start the journey back. Normally a group would stay here and there was a shelter for hanging hammocks and mosquito nets. We headed back a different route, via Butterfly Canyon, where beautiful butterflies flitted up and down. We came across some tiger tracks a couple of times and the usual quiet Domingo suddenly became more animated, issuing forth a couple of 'Hijo de puta's, a phrase I remember from my youth when playing football with Spanish students. We arrived back to the camp, sweaty and tired after abut8 hours of walking, but it was thoroughly exhilarating. After a shower and another fine meal I hit the bed and was asleep in seconds.

- David

Amazon I

I was picked up from my hotel at 7am, and brought on the back of a motorbike down to the port, where myself and Wilson took the fast boat for about an hour to a Yaguas village (Yaguas are one of the tribes that live in the Amazon). From there we got in a small boat for about 15 mins and then hiked through the jungle for about half an hour – through the mud and across rivers on strategically placed logs - to the lodge that was to be our base for the next couple of nights. A lunch of Piraruqu (a delicious Amazonian fish that grows up to 180cm) with chips and salad was served up, along with a very tasty juice of a fruit called Copa Asu. After lunch Wilson produced a plastic bag which contained a Tarantula that one of the locals had just caught, and casually put it on his arm. He persuaded meto have a go, insisting it was fine so I put my arm out. It moved onto mine but instead of sitting quietly as it had on his, it decided to run up my arm, across the back of my neck, and onto the opposite shoulder. I somehow managed not to panic and after a quick photo, Wilson removed it and I breathed easy again.

After all that excitement myself, Wilson and Abelardo, a local tracker headed off into the jungle. We walked for about 3 hours, the mosquitoes and humidity a constant, but I have to say I was very impressed with both Wilson and Abelardo and the wildlife we saw – an array of different butterflies, frogs, monkeys, and birds, including eagles and toucans. Back at the lodge I took a shower and removed some of the wet dog smell that had begun to cling to me and lay down on the bed for a while to read. Then something flew across my room. And again. Then I glimpsed what it was – some sort of bat, a little bigger than a hand. I headed out for dinner. After dinner Wilson came to have a look for the bat, which had since vanished, of course, but I was very happy to have a mosquito net.

- David

Leticia

After flying back to San Andres and spending one final day by the sea, I boarded the plane to Bogota and was back in the capital. After taking care of some admin – getting my sandals repaired and sorting out money – I was back on a plane to Leticia, a border town in the Amazon that skirts the borders of both Brazil and Peru. As we arrived I could see the dense jungle below stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. I had been in the Amazon before in Bolivia and had enjoyed it immensely, the huge diversity of life. The Amazon river holds an incredible two thirds of the world's freshwater and the rain forests are essentially the lungs of the planet. As I stepped off the plane a wave of heat hit me. I met Antonio, the local operator who had been recommended to me as someone who knew the jungle as well as anyone, spoke English and liked to do things a little differently. Instead of plying the same route as all the other operators we hashed out a plan that would take us deep into the Amazon, with guides who had more than twenty years of experience. Antonio was excited about the idea too which I thought was a very good sign.

Leticia is a lively little town that has undergone a major transformation, once the haunt of any number of narco-traffickers, the town now is a very safe place and quite a prosperous one, though this prosperity probably has quite a bit to do with its nefarious past. So the plan for me is to go deep into the jungle with one of Antonio's most experienced guides, Wilson and stay three and half days in a remote cabin deep in the jungle and experience the real Amazon, far away from the where the rest of the tourists stay. From that base we will be able to discover both the highland eco-systems and the those of the flatlands, traveling up the tributaries in a small boat, and possibly camping out one night in the jungle, weather permitting. I am really looking forward to it.

Tonight Colombia play Venezuela in a key football match so I have found out where the action is at and will be heading out to cheer on Colombia as they battle it out with their age-old rivals.

- David