The Amazon Jungle

I think i left you just before my salsa class last time, and its no surprise for me to learn that i still can´t dance. i got the moves down eventually but with none of the style or elegance of the instructor. I also got very dirty blistered feet. After class we went to our favourite restuarant for dinner where claire and i shared a chicken lasagne and a fruit salad, both were delicious but i was sad to find out they had no brownies available that day cos i really wanted to try one.

The next day we were up at 6 to head to the Amazon. We opted for a priviate van rather than public bus because it meant we could stop at the hot springs on the way there. After 2 hours driving we arrived at the pools in the middle of the mountains. It was quite chilly in there so we rushed into the nearest pool to warm up but it was only luke warm. We were told the smaller the pool the hotter it is so we braved the cold and ran to a smaller pool. this one was much nicer and we chillaxed in there for some time. The pool next to it was 45deg which was ridiculous and the best any of us managed was one foot in that pool. It was far too hot. Apparently going from hot water to cold water is invigorating and good for the blood circulation so we all plunged into the cold pool for a split second before racing back into the hot pool and i could feel my legs tingling for some time after, it was quite a shock to the system. The clouds cleared for a moment and we could see a volcano in the distance covered in snow. Once our hands were well and truly pruney we got out, had lunch and carried on.
We got back in the bus and headed into the Amazon Basin. We were staying in the upper basin but apparently the lower basin has far more animals so we´re pretty sure we will squeeze in a trip to the lower basin when we get to Bolivia. We travelled down dirt roads for about 20mins before getting out and walking down to the river where we boarded a river canoe and rode down to our lodge. On our way we saw a family of monkies travelling through the trees which was awesome.
We arrived at the lodge and it was soo beautiful. I fell in love with the place instantly. the main dining room was all open so you were surrounding by jungle and the seats were all carved like animals, the surrounding fences were made from twisted wood, the roof was made of bamboo and flax and grass weaved together and heavily layered. There is no electricity but they did have hot showers. The rooms had candles in them and each twin room had its own ensuite. And the rooms had balconies with hammocks looking out to the jungle. It was perfect.

That evening we just settled in and had dinner which was delicious, we had a green banana soup with banana chips in it and david taught us to put chilli sauce and popcorn in it which was great, i know how weird it sounds but it was good. We also had chicken, lentils, salad and then chocolate moouse for dessert. Then we got our gumboots fitted and headed into the jungle for a night walk. This was a very unnerving but fun activity. We didn´t see any animals but saw plenty of massive bugs. Every time a branch would brush past I shivered because i had seen the bugs and i definately didn´t want them on me. We saw spiders bigger than my hand, of the scorpian, and jumping variety. One was a relation of the tarantula. Overall i handled myself quite well with the spiders, i didn´t mind seeing them on the trees and plants but David brough one right up to us to see and i freaked out cos he was getting way to close. we also saw grasshoppers, beetles, stick insects, massive wetas (althought they´re not called wetas)and a few tiny frogs.

The track was quite difficult especially as we were advised not to touch the trees as we could put our hand on a bug, there was deep mud the walk through, a lot of big steps and even a few little rivers to cross. Katrinas torch died half way through so i had to light the way for both of us which was tricky at times but we made it. We took the river canoe back to the lodge and they turned the motor off so we just silently floated down the river listening to the sounds of the jungle. It was a full moon so everything was illuminated and it was amazing. That evening we sat by the bar and talked to david for a while then headed to bed fairly early.

The next day was our only full day in the amazon so we wanted to make the most of it. In the morning we did a 1 hour jungle walk, as we went through David and our other guide (she was just a little ecuadorian woman with a very large machetti) showed us the plants the native people used for food and medicine. She showed us how they weave a flax plant and she turned it into a crown which she put on my head. I didn´t wear it for long because it would get caught on the branches. she also made a bracelet, she showed us the plant the make panama hats with, that only grows in the amazon (go figure) we saw a tree that has sap as red as blood with is used as an antiseptic and when rubbed on the skin it turns white. David demonstrated how termites are used as a natural insect repellant and rubbed some on his skin. He offered us ants to lick as they taste like lemon...and they really did. Then he got us to try an actual lemon and it was bigger than an orange and incredibly sour. We reached a view point where we could see the forest and river and then continued on. We saw a boa constrictor, (fairly small, about 1-2 metres long) it had just been released from the wildlife rehab centre. and then we reached the centre where we were shown around by an american guide. Here we saw a few different species of monkies, four capabarras, wild pigs, massive colourful parrots, toucans and maccaws as well as a anaconda, an ocelot (small leopard type cat) a cat that was a relation of the puma but looked a bit like a weasel, and turtles. The cutest animal was the pigmy monkey that was soooooooo gorgeous and tiny. It´s the smallest monkey in the world, smaller than guinea pig, it moved very slowly and cautiously then it would spring up incredily quickly. Also around the centre squirrel monkeys could run free and a wolley monkey went up to anthea, officially we´re not meant to touch them because they´re not supposed to get used to human contact but we couldn´t help it if they touched us

Right i´ll have to leave it at that because we´re heading out for a walk (i´m in Banos now) So i will continue this tomorrow, some time between paragliding and quadbiking (sorry i couldn´t resist throwing that in) Ciao!