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

Providencia

I arrived into Providencia on the first flight from San Andres. The tiny plane had barely taken off when we started to dip again towards the runway in Providencia, a tiny tropical Caribbean island and one that due to the only flights being from San Andres very much unspoilt by tourism. My taxi driver Dennis ferried me to my hotel, waving at almost everyone he passed along the way. With only about 5000 inhabitants, everyone knows everyone here.

I spent the day relaxing and catching up on the rest I needed. From beach to hammock to the sea and back again! The sun was shining and the temperature a beautiful 28 degrees Celsius. The next morning I ventured down to the next beach, Agua Dulce and met a couple from Glasgow on my way there. They had travelled nearly all of Central and South America over the years and this was their third time on Providencia and this time they had decided to spend their whole 3 week holiday there, despite having to make quite a mammouth journey to get here from Scotland. But the more the island grew on me and the slow slow pace of life and the very friendly and welcoming people here the more I understood their decision.
After another fantastic fish lunch in Agua Dulce I came back and arranged for a boat trip around the island the following day including some snorkeling with an Italian couple and a Danish girl that had just arrived from Bogota. We wandered up the beach after dinner and ended up in Richards Bar where we met Richard, the owner. A true rasta and a gentlemen with a dreadlock beard, we spent the evening chatting and listening to reggae, as he told us of his years working on ships around the Caribbean and how in the end he decided Providencia was the place where he most wanted to be and so he moved back. One thing that I found very unique about the place was that if the locals see you walking somewhere and they are going the same way they let you hop on the back of their motorbikes and bring you where you are going and there is no outstretched hand or expectation at the end. That is truly something you don't see very often anymore, and long may it last.

Today we did the boat tour around the island with Tank, our boat driver. The island is truly stunning and the colour of the sea was truly beautiful. The snorkeling is also excellent and there are coral reefs all around the island. Whenever I get the chance to come back I will definitely go diving, as its diving is rated as one of the best in the world. Tomorrow I leave, and I have to say I would have been happy to spend another few days, a week, hell maybe even a month here. The people, the pace (makes even San Andres seem rushed), the scenery and the food, Providencia is truly the nicest island I have ever visited and I hope I get the chance to come back again before too long.

- David

San Andres Caribbean island

San Andres is not somewhere I guess I would typically travel. It's not quite off-the-beaten-track and does attract quite a few package tourists. However it's not really that hard to see a different side, and that was my goal. So after I arrived and relaxed in the hotel, I went out to find the local's watering hole. It turned out to be a shop! So joined a couple of the natives and we chatted away fr the evening. Gabriel, a local guy was very excited when I told him that I wanted to get to know the real San Andres, the people from here, the food. He agreed to take me around the island the following day on bikes.

So we set off about 10 the following morning and took it quite slowly, cycling along the coast road line with palm trees and skirtig a sea of many hues of blue. The main language of the natives is English, albeit with a Caribbean accent an it was nice being able to chat to Gabriel in English. We stopped for lunch with some locals, a local fish dish with lime served up with coconut rice, fried plantain and salad. It had been a while since I'd eaten fish and it did not disappoint. In the afternoon I relaxed on the beach and went for a swim in the crystal clear sea. The pace of life certainly made for a change from the mad dash around of the last couple of weeks.

- David

Days 32, 33 and 34: Shillong and Tezpur

It's beginning to hot up here. I had to put the fan in the room on for the first time on the trip, and it's been on since. After a couple of lazy days in Shillong, enjoying the cafes, visiting the bustling Bara Bazaar market and relaxing by the picturesque Ward's Lake around which the city is built it was time to make a move again. So it was on to Tezpur, starting with a helicopter ride (my first) to Guwahati, which was quite fantastic, all the more so as I was the only passenger. It was quite remarkable watching the forested hills of Meghalaya suddenly give way to the flat plains of Assam. Then after a short taxi ride to the bus station and a seemingly never-ending bus journey I arrived in Tezpur, had some dinner and went to bed. This morning I went to check out the sights of Tezpur, mostly a series of parks, where I chilled out and read some of a book I picked up in Shillong, Strangers of the Mist, an account of War and Peace in the North East of India. It's quite an interesting and enlightening read.

Travelling alone in India can be an amusing experience. Today I was approached three times by Indians who wanted me to be in their photos with them. The first group stood behind me giggling for a while before one of the ladies finally came over and asked. My basic Hindi is certainly being put to the test here too, as there are very few people who can speak English in Assam. Time for a little study now. Tomorrow on to Jorhat, the heart of Assam tea, where I will visit the tea estates from the days of the Raj.

-Dave

Days 29, 30 and 31 - Meghalaya (Shillong and Cherrapunjee)

So I have fallen a couple of days behind on the blog. We arrived in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya on Wednesday. It's a very pleasant town, with a lot more amenities than anywhere else we have been so far on this trip - widely available internet, cafes, bars, restaurants and a wide selection of hotels. Despite this there are few Western tourists. The vibe is very relaxed and friendly. We spent a lazy half day, eating well, drinking real coffee and generally taking it easy. Then we hopped in a shared jeep and were on our way to Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on the planet - well a little lodge outside Cherrapunjee, where we met Dennis, the manager, who was very friendly and a mine of useful information about the region and things to do there. After dinner we sat around the fire outside the lodge and chatted.

Yesterday morning we got up early and set out for the living root bridges. After a gentle downhill walk for about an hour we hit the steps. The steps are very steep and there are about 2,500 in the main stretch of them. At the bottom ours legs felt like jelly. After a few more twists and turns we came across our first root bridge. The tree's roots have been teased and trained to cross the river and attach to the opposite side by the "War Khasis". The gaps are then filled in with stones and pieces of wood. It is estimated to take about 15 years for it to be of use, but they can last up to 600 years. These bridges are about 120 to 150 years old and are growing in strength by the day. It was an incredible feat of patience and ingenuity. We passed a couple more before seeing the supreme achievemenet, a double decker root bridge, with 2 bridges on top of each other, both made from the roots of the same tree. Tolkien couldn't have imagined anything better! The steps were quite a different propostion on the way back up, and with each turn we prayed for an end in sight that never seemed to come. It was a tough day's walking but easily worth it. The Khasi people we met en route were amongst the most friendly, inquisitive and helpful of any we have met.

Yesterday evening Rahul left for Shillong and after a helicopter ride to Guwahati this morning flew on to Delhi, so I will do the rest of the trip in the North East by myself. This morning I did an easier walk to another root bridge on the other side of the lodge. It was tough enough all the same as my legs were still suffering from the previous days walking. after lunch I got a taxi back to Shillong, stopping at various waterfalls and viewpoints along the way, allowing me to appreciate the variety and beauty of Meghalaya. The fantastic thing about this trip has been its variety and Meghalaya has been no disappointment, also being completey different from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. My friendly taxi driver spoke pretty good English (unlike AP and Assam, more people speak English in Meghalaya then do Hindi), and explained about the places we visited, and the election in the State whose results were announced today, as was evident by the numerous celebrations, people dancing in the streets and various party flags waving from most vehicles. We got stuck in a massive jam a few kilometres outside Shillong where a huge number of people and vehicles were gathered outside the house of the winning Congress candidate. Impressively the turnout in the election was over 89% but the full Statewide results will not be known until tomorrow morning, though it seems Congress have done well.

- Dave