Monday, February 28, 2011
Our first full day in the jungle was extremely busy. Breakfast was served at 8am and we met our local guide Livio at 9am to start our hike in the jungle. After the downpour last night, the trails were pretty muddy, so the rain boots came in handy. We started by walking along the Rio Napo in the secondary forest. A good portion of the area has been cut down by locals and we noticed the remains of a concrete house which had been partially destroyed when the water level rose in the rainy season.
Eventually we headed inland towards the primary forest. Livio, who was raised in the area, pointed out various plants used for food and medicine. On one tree, he cut part of the bark, made a cup out of a leaf and caught the milky substance which slowly flowed out. I think the leaf masked the flavor of the milk as all I tasted was a slightly wet leafy flavor. Marie-Ann took a few sips enjoying the wet substance. Livio used the stem of one plant to create arrows which would be poisoned on the tip and put in the blow pipe to hunt animals and birds. It was amazing how sharply he formed the arrows.
A couple hours into our excursion we reached a part in the jungle with numerous wax palm trees. The leaves can be woven together like a braid, and then the stem split in half, to create tents or raingear. Livio explained that the palm provided excellent camouflage as well as cover from the rain. At this point I needed to use a bathroom and had to find a covered spot in the leaves to take care of my unfortunately timed female business (tmi, I know). Back with the group, I found out I’d missed some haircutting. Apparently there is a sharp leaf stem which can be used to cut hair and Livio insisted on leaving a small piece of my hair on the leaves next to Miriam’s and Marie-Ann’s. So many resources in the forest!
Our day was full of demonstrations, since animal life in these parts is limited due to the villages in the area, and the next one involved tree climbing. Livio wrapped a piece of rope around his shoes and started jumping up the tree, using his arms to pull himself up and his feet to hold him in place. I wasn’t going to try it but after David’s endeavor I wanted to test its difficulty. Well, let me just say that it is much harder than it looks. I wasn’t able to grasp tightly enough to the tree with my feet and kept slipping down. Not wanting to get hurt, I gave up after a few feeble attempts. Marie-Ann even gave it a try.
Post tree-jumping, Livio set out to make two baskets, as promised, for me and Marie-Ann to carry our water. He used the wax palm leaf again and braided the sides together to create baskets. For the strap he used a strong thin vine and next thing we knew, we each had mini carrier bags. As I’ve already said, incredible the resources which can be found in the forest. Having shown us a number of tools of the trade, it was time to head back to the lodge for lunch. We’d spent more time getting to that point than expected. It was already 12:30pm.
We walked back on a route along a river, following it into the water than up into the plants and back in the water. Up and down, up and down. Livio was making quick progress but it was hard to keep up with him, watch your step, and try to snap nature photos at the same time. Soon into our walk, Miriam realized she didn’t have her camera, so she and Livio back-tracked her steps to try and find it. The rest of us waited in the shallow water hoping for the best. Marie-Ann eventually went out to help the other two but 45 minutes later there was still no sign of her camera. Livio decided to walk the rest of us back to the lodge while Miriam continued looking.
Turned out we had more than an hour walk to get back. The day had turned very sunny and warm and by the time we returned we were all tired and hungry. Livio went back out to find Miriam while we sat down for lunch just before 3pm. Adonis and Israel had prepared an excellent lunch of pasta with tomato sauce along with a potato with onions topped with chili sauce and ketchup and radish salad. The food was excellent.
With Miriam and Livio not back at 4pm, we weren’t sure whether we’d be going out for our afternoon activity. But they arrived at 5pm, and the group, sin Miriam, headed down to the “dock” for a short boat ride across the Rio Napo. We visited a small village (I don’t know its name) where Livio’s godmother lives with the rest of her family. David and Lyle had an opportunity to pull yucca out of the ground before we all planted yucca stems. Apparently planting a small piece of the stem of the yucca tree yields yucca in the ground. Chickens were clucking around below the raised wooden house while a couple dogs and cats lazed around. We went inside to see both the old and new kitchens, the new containing a refrigerator and stove while the old was more what you’d expect to find in the jungle. The old kitchen had a typical roof made of leaves and branches which the locals prefer to the tin roofs which produce loud noise when it rains. Livio’s godmother offered us yucca chichi, an alcoholic drink with yucca as a base, before giving us a chance to mash the yucca ourselves. I can’t say I took more than one sip – not my taste.
By this point it was coming on 6:30pm: we’d asked some questions about life in the village and seen the chickens take their places on a raised outdoor coup and needed to head back to the lodge before it got dark. The sunset was a subtle mix of yellow, pink and blue as we walked back to the boat. I had a chance to shower, trying to take advantage of the fact that I was slightly hot as a way to enjoy the cold water, but it was still too cold for me.
At 8pm we sat down for dinner carrot soup followed by meatballs with rice and salad. I have to say, I preferred lunch and dinner the night before, but it was still good. As always, we remained at the table past dinner deep in conversation. We have a very interesting group and as a result have some fascinating discussions from medical to education to economic issues and more and Marie-Ann always has a story or five to add to the dialog. I fell asleep with my earplugs blocking the noise of the night creatures.
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