The MIGHTY Jungle

When Timon and Pumba sing about Simba in the jungle, they aren't kidding when they say "the mighty jungle." It is hard to believe all of the things I saw, all the stories I heard, and all the things I didn't see and hear in the 5 days in the jungle! 

From Feb. 3 to 7, we stayed on a small island in the middle of the Amazon River called Libertad. We flew in to Iquitos, where we were promptly met by our guides from the Libertad Jungle Lodge. And so the journey began... 

I am going to break this blog into sections, rather than a play by play of the week.. 

Weather

As per typical, small-talk, lets start with the weather. It's the jungle. Humidity and rain are to be expected. However, because it is winter right now, it was only in the 80/90s rather than the 100/110s. It only rained during 2 of the nights, but man did it rain! It probably started sprinkling around 8 and continued into the wee hours of the morning. There was usually a breeze too, or we were on a moving boat creating a breeze, which kept things comfortable. 

Jungle Creatures

Just chatting with my sloth. She is very polite and looks
you in the eye, regardless of which way her body is facing.

The jungle is full of an incredible array of animals and insects. Scary and quite dangerous, at times, but still awesome. Within the first hour of arriving in Libertad we were introduced to the three-fingered sloth. I didn't realize how sharp their claws would be or that they can turn their heads so far around. Other creatures I got to hold were a pink-toed tarantula, a piranha, a baby alligator, and a capuchin monkey (which really came and just sat in my lap). In addition to these guys, we saw pink and grey dolphins, an anaconda, viper snake, iguanas, banana spider, Goliath tarantula, leaf frog, colorful grasshoppers and spiders, bullet ants, normal ants, white termites, and tons and tons of mosquitos. At a nature reserve (on our way to the airport), I also got to touch some manatees. The capuchin eating its banana in my lap was my favorite! The ridiculous number of mosquitos (and bites) was the worst part. 

Food

Piranhas are served.

I love food. I love trying new foods. I love traveling to try new foods. :) Every single meal we had was accompanied by fresh jungle fruit juice. We drank cocona, camu camu, maracuya, and more. All delicious and if you have the chance to try them, do it. The main meat there is catfish, which I wasn't expecting. There are various types, the most popular is called doncella. I had it fried in 2 different ways, both delicious. We also ate the piranhas that we caught when we went fishing. Not delicious, but not bad. All of the food was great, but I hadn't had those ones before.  

Jungle Medicine

Not to drink, but the Amazon River is full of water.

The tribes that live in the jungle have a resident shaman and sometimes even a witch. I guess you go to the shaman for healing and the witch for more negative desires. At any rate, they know all about the crazy plants you can find in the jungle and what their purposes are. Victor, our tour guide, taught us about a few that we passed. There is a bark of one tree that has this red moisture that looks like blood, called Dragon's Blood, that is used for clotting. Another bark is steeped in tea and is used to get rid of the cold/flu. As it turns out when you put it in the crook of your elbow and hold it there, it burns, so I can only imagine what it does to your insides to heal you. Also, Victor showed us a tree that you can get water from if you are lost in the jungle and are dehydrated. Water, the medicine of all medicines.

Transportation

Headed to Libertad!

Being winter and the water levels are on the rise, the main mode of transportation in Libertad is by boat. You could see the line on the trees where the water will rise up to, which seemed like a good 10 feet higher than it currently is. We passed by this house that is the marker for where the water normally stops during the summer, but is currently about 25-30 ft deep. To get from Iquitos to Libertad, we drove for 2 hours, then boated for 2 hrs. Thankfully, the boat had a motor, so we didn't have to switch off rowing. Haha. In the city of Belen, there are floating houses, so they probably boat year round. 

Lodging

We had cabins to sleep in at Libertad. We had running water in the shower, toilet, and sink, but not heated. There was electricity supplied by a generator between 6-9pm. Our beds has mosquito nets on them, which are amazing. I never want to sleep in a place with mosquitoes without one again. The people there came in and made our beds everyday and also put down petroleum on the wood floors. The petroleum either keeps the ants from eating the wood or straight up kills them, so then they can't eat the wood. I could be wrong though. The dining room was right across the walkway from our room. There was also a hammock room, by far the best place to be to relax. I love me some hammock time. 

Jungle Stories

My climbing feat!

The jungle is an incredibly interesting place. Having grown up in the jungle and doing tours for a decade, Victor had an abundance of crazy stories to share with us. For instance, he told us about his encounter with not one, but 2 jaguars. Also, he went on a tour with a snake-lover that wore perfume that attracted snakes. (That makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.) Then there are the legends that dolphins are demons and if a man touches a sloth while his wife is pregnant, their child will have the face of a sloth. By far the most outrageous and interesting is the mystery of the demon of the jungle that has one leg longer than the other. Victor told us that a year ago, his grandma went out with his grandpa to check on their crops in the jungle and they got separated. She continued on in search of him, and at one point the road forked 4 ways. The way she picked ended her up along the river, where she found someone fishing. The fisherman asked her to help fish some more then they would both go look for her husband. The grandma thought she was there for maybe 3 hours, but lo and behold, she had been lost in the jungle for 15 days! Apparently, the jungle demon creates these visions in your mind that confuse you. It also has a whistle pattern, that if you repeat it, you will die. *woogie woogie* 

I had an incredible time in the jungle. It is so interesting how different of a place it is and how different the people think. A completely different way of life from any I have experienced before, for sure. I could write for days about the things we experienced, but I will stop at this. Let me know what questions you have. 

Victor, Erica, Melissa, Dave, and Me .. departing from Libertad.

~nos vemos~