The Jungle

Greeting from la familia,
I´m going to begin this blog with an apology for my spelling. I have no spellcheck, and it shows throughout the blog. After our "2" hour bus ride through the Cloud Forest, we spent the night in a comfortable hostel in the jungle town of Pilcotambo. As we stepped off the bus we could immediatly feel the difference in the air and temperature. In the mountains, the air was dry and thin, and we had become accustomed to breating deeply to satisfy our body´s need for air. The air in this jungle village however was warm and heavy with moisture. This was our first sign that our jungle adventure had begun. The next morning, we woke up and crammed back into the bus for a short 45 minute ride to a Atalaya. Atalaya is the final town on the dirt road we had been traveling for 2 days, and the last town to be identified on my Peruvian map I brought along with me. Atalaya rests on the Rio del Madre, a main tributary of the Amazon river. The Rio del Madre was the next unconvential highway we would travel on. We unpacked all of our supplies from the bus and threw them into a boat. The village we were heading to, Shepitiari, was a 5 hour boat ride down the river. Along the way we saw our first monkey in a tree, and many many exotic birds. When we arrived at the banks of Shepitiari, we were met by a group of men and women who helped us shlep all of our gear across the half mile path to where we were staying. The village belongs to the Machegenga tribe, a native tribe that boasts of never being conquered by the Incans or the Spanish armies. Our house was a two story wooden cabin on stilts with a thatched roof that, we would later find out, leaked slightly when it rained. Also on our compound was a seperate cabin for cooking, a latrine, and a newly installed satellite dish (which we found very suprising). Over our beds hung mosquito nets, and every night we had to make sure that the nets were tucked in tightly.
During our first day, we were given a tour of the surrounding area by our guide, Andres. Andres is from a another village, also of the Machegenga tribem, and gives tours in the jungle 10 months out of the year, though he has a family in Cuzco. Andres always carried his telescope and would stop the group often and give everyone a turn to look at a special bird or animal he had spotted. During our first tour, we saw our first giant Amazon trees, easily the largest life forms I had ever seen. We also went through the compound of a local tribesman, and got our first chance to shoot arrows at a piece of fruit. To my eyes, the compound was essentially a small farm in the middle of a rainforest. The surround area had been cut back, and the family had chickens, ducks, dogs, and a young pet monkey (they had eaten the mother.) That night we fell asleep to the sound of the animals screaming and shouting us a jungle lullaby.
The following day was our first day of interaction with the villagers. In order to earn our keep to stay in their village, we had volunteered to paint the local school. Helping us in this task were the school children themselves. We began by intruducing ourselves to the group, and then started sanding and painting the outside of the school. Our time that morning was split between working on the school and playing with the young highly energetic children. By noon we had made great progress and set off back to our compound for lunch. Andres in the mean time had set up a soccer game between us (team gringo) and the local players. After lunch and a quick nap, we had our first soccer game. It was extremely fun and extremely hot. Soccer games became an afternoon tradition while we were in the jungle. Hot and sweaty from the game, we walked to the Rio del Madre and splashed around in the water for a while. It was supprisingly refreshing. That night we slept very well, despite the sounds of the surrounding animals.
The next day we woke up early, strapped on our gaint rainboots, and headed out behind Andres to explore the deep rainforest before we finished our work on the school. On our 3 hour walk through the forest we learned and saw so many new things. Andres taught us little tricks that the natives used to survive when lost in the Amazon. He showed us what to eat, what plants provide water, and what not to touch. Along the way we say a flock of tuccans, an intimidating line of army ants, more giant trees, colorful exotic birds and massive termite nests. I personally loved the deep rain forest. One of the reasons I had come on this trip was to experience the mysterious Amazon. I was not dissapointed. Later in the day (9:30ish) we went back and finished up the school. BY the time we were finished, all the chairs were painted a new green, and the exterior had a new, crisp, yellow and blue scheme that looked great. We went home, took cold showers, ate, slept a little, and then went and had our second soccer game. We were very tired but still managed to perform really well. Once again, it was very easy to fall asleep that night.
The next morning was very exciting. It was Saturday, and on Sunday the village was going to have their annual celebration of spring, to which we were graciously invited. All of Saturday was spent preparing for the celebration, and in the morning the men went out fishing together in order to provide enough food for everyone in the village. Luckily, our group was invited to the fishing. This was not your ordinary fishing we soon found out. We climbed in our boat, went down river, and found a section of water that was not connected to the main river. Because it was the dry season, the water level was greatly decreased and many pools and lakes of water had been seperated from the Rio del Madre. We walked up on the group of men that had beat us out there by a few hours, and they were busily crushing a roots with rocks. The roots of this certian tree contain a juice that acts as an drug to fish. When the fish breathe in enough of the juice, they become disorriented and swim belly up on the tòp of the water. The men were crushing to root so the juice would flow easily into the water. After all the roots were crushed, 2 men swam out in the river floating on logs, spreading the white juice throughout the whole lake. The members of our group sat back and watched the odd spectical unfold. After about 5 minutes, very little fish started throwing themselves on the bank. After about 20 minutes, large, edible fish began surfacing all over the lake. The men of the village swam out to a fish with a machete or a club, beat the fish into submission, and brought it back to shore. This went on for about 3 and a half hours. I had a great time. I caught two, baracuda looking fish. By the time we were heading out to leave, giant 5 and 6 foot cat fish were begining to surface, and the villagers were getting out their bows and arrows. Before we left, we saw one giant cat fish be taken out by a few machette swings. Weirdest way of fishing I have ever seen. Later that day when we were back in our compound, it started to rain, a heavy Rainforest rain, and I took a shower outside. The roofed leaked a little bit on some of our stuff, the corner of my bed was hit a little bit, but the roof soon expanded and we were dry and warm inside. That night for dinner we ate the fish prepared in the native way, wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled. Delicious. Slept well again.
During the night, a group of 3 Italian hikers had become lost in the jungle. They didn´t sleep, became soaking wet, and had a misserable time as they stumbled blindly through the Amazon. In the morning, as we were waking up and eating our breakfast, the 3 Italians wondered into our compound. We fed, warmed, and welcomed the strangers into our temporary home. Also, Sunday was Britt´s birthday, so our breakfast was a chocolate cake. The celebration for us was essentially a string of different competitive games. We had a very competitive soccer match against the villages bests, we played volley ball, and then ended the day with another soccer game. Also, the girls ended up dancing with the local village guys. It was funny to watch. That night we sadly packed all of our belongings because the next day we were leaving.
Throughout the jungle stay, I had ben trying to exchange a pair of water shoes that had been giving me horrible blisters for a bow and arrow. The final morning, Andres came up huge and managed to find a person that not only had a bow and arrow set, but also fit in my shoes. The end trade was a native bow and 4 arrows (3 fishing arrows and 1 hunting arrow) for a pair of water shoes and the rainboots we had gotten for the jungle. I don´t think i´ve ever made a better trade. The ride back up the river took a lot longer because we were going against the tide. At certain points along the river, the water was so shallow the men had to jump out and push the boat through the rapids. It was awesome/cold. During our trip upstream Andres also took us to the natural hot springs beside the river. The natives had created pools, and our group enjoyed a natural spa/hot tub treatment. it was great. It was one of the most relaxing places I have ever been. At the end of the day we completed our boat ride, packed all of our stuff back into the bus, and sadly said goodbye to the boat crew we had gotten to know during our time in the Amazon. That night we again stayed at the comfortable hostel in Pilcotambo, and our jungle adventure came to a close. Love and miss everyone back in the states.
Sincerely,
Will Kimmell