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I am pleased to report that I have survived a week in the jungle. Despite previous romantic notions of being the next female machete wielding Indiana Jones, I have reluctantly decided that I am probably more akin to a slightly more worldly wise and rebellious Elizabeth Bennet, and can safely say that whilst I have had an amazing week, life in the countryside (or by the coast) is much more my cup of tea. Hopefully Mr Darcy will be waiting in Puerto Lopez tomorrow with a hammock with my name on it and a cocktail in hand... Oh a girl can dream!
The week started with a beautiful (though very early and very long) bus journey from Quito down to Tena, which wound its way down from the Andes into the Amazon Jungle, passing through stunning landscapes filled with every shade of green, alongside flowing rivers and through little towns and villages, where dogs lay lazing on benches in the sunshine and cows and llamas grazed demurely in the fields. As we dropped down from the mountains, the views over the jungle, shrouded in mist, with solitary trees poking their heads above the canopy, were beautiful. The fact that Anaconda III was being played at full volume on the TV with blood curdling screams filling the bus did little to distract me from the views of the Ecuadorian countryside, as much as the film tried... Ipods are a wonderful invention (as are ear plugs, which came in mightily useful during the nights to follow)...
Arriving at Jatun Sacha, I was pointed in the direction of a path leading off through the jungle, and was told my cabin was that way, separate from where the volunteers normally sleep, as the usual cabins were full. A trek through the jungle followed, up slippery steps covered in fallen leaves frequented by leaf cutter ants, over stream with a bridge made from a fallen tree and up more steps cut into the hillside. There was a choice of three cabins: Tarantula, Anaconda or a third, whose name I forget, but it was another scary sounding bug or snake. Despite blood filled memories from the bus, I thought Anaconda might be the best bet, as I didn´t fancy my chances with the tarantulas...
The wooden cabin, with windows of chicken wire, had bunk beds, a wooden picnic table, and a host of wildlife for entertainment value. I awoke the one night to find a rather large lizard had taken up residence above my mosquito net (he probably wondered what I was doing in his bed). We had words, and I told him he could remain there in the daytime, as long as he left me in peace at night. I´m not sure he understood my Spanish, as he seemed to be a permanent fixture in the cabin, but I decided that might be a good thing, as he kept the mosquitoes and the spiders to a minimum. The noise at night and in the mornings was deafening, with things crashing through the trees, hissings, squarkings and chirpings of all manners. One night I heard something crash onto the roof, then proceed to walk about. I have no idea what it was, but decided ignorance was bliss, put the ear plugs in and put my head under the covers.
The bathroom was shared with scorpions, the dining room had a resident tarantula (which was actually less scary than I anticipated, being such slow clumsy creatures, I preferred them to the flying cockroaches and smaller spiders which scuttled quickly and had a habit of making me jump), and the organic garden was filled with conga ants whose bite is supposed to be worse than being shot. Thankfully I didn´t find out if this was true.
The days in the jungle began early, with breakfast at 6.30am and work starting at 7.30am. The organic garden is an experimental project, where different insecticides and fertilizers are tried out, and different plants are grown in the hope of finding out what works best. Unfortunately, nobody seemed completely sure what was growing in which bed, when it was planted, or what ingredients were being used in the different fertilizer mixes, so I'm not sure how successful the experiments will be. That said, I had fun weeding, mixing the compost, and watering the chilli's and tomatoes, whilst trying to avoid being bitten by bugs, and watching the vultures who were never far away, with their beady eyes on the compost heap, waiting for an opportunity to help themselves to lunch.
The other garden which Jatun Sacha manage was more natural and in keeping with the jungle, with local specimens growing amongst paths which wound around the site. I spotted frogs, walked into spider webs, saw strange bugs who wound themselves into cocoon like intricate hanging homes, and listened to the sounds of the jungle whilst raking the ever growing mounds of falling leaves.
On Wednesday I trekked the self guided trail through the jungle. slipping down muddy trails, passing huge, ancient native trees, and trying to avoid the webs and their owners which covered the path. I passed trees that had fallen and been caught by the numerous creepers which grow in abundance, and hung suspended in the air, and other trees with roots like legs, which look like they had just paused for a break before continuing on their way.
A narrow tower had been built for observation, and I braved the thirty metre climb, using a decidedly dodgy harness which I had to clip and unclip along the way, trying not to look down whilst avoiding the ants who obviously had more of a head for heights than me. Once above the canopy, I was rewarded with stunning views of the jungle laid out below me, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see. It was wonderful to see a land so green and pure, with little more than rivers and clouds breaking the view.
On Thursday I took the afternoon off "work" and caught a bus to Ayhuanu, where I jumped on a motorised canoe and headed down the river to Amazonica, an animal rescue centre filled with native birds, reptiles and mammals which had been either injured or brought in by members of the public after being bought as as pets which then became too unwieldy for their owners. The centre tries to rehabilitate the creatures back into the wild, and many have open cages where they can explore in the daytime, and return to the safety of the enclosure at night, before being fully reintroduced into the jungle when they are deemed ready. Black woolly monkeys crashed through the trees above my head, whilst toucans and parrots shouted and other monkeys did their best to demolish the wooden building which housed the shop selling local crafts. I saw turtles enjoying the slow pace of life at the edge of the lake, whilst osolts yawned in the sun. Brightly coloured parrots loved to mimic my whistle, which made me laugh, especially when I did a really bad whistle which they copied immediately.
The canoe ride home took us past women washing their clothes in the river, whilst children played and swam close to the rocky shores. After an ice-cream at a little riverside cafe, we hitched a ride in the back of a pickup truck back to the centre in time for tea.
The early bus back to Quito took me back via Tena, where a helpful local directed me to the wrong bus station, leading to a twenty minute walk through the torrential rain to the right bus station, followed by a soggy and steamy six hour bus journey back through the Andes to Quito, a blissfully hot shower and a mosquito and spider free bed.
On Friday night I met up with friends I met in the Cloud Forest and went for Dinner at El Maple, a delicious veggie restaurant with huge bright photos adorning the walls. Being the only English person in the group, the conversation was amusing, as I tried out my long forgotten german, they tried their much more efficient English, switching between languages and ending up with sentences beginning in German, peppered with English and ending up in Spanish! After going to watch an Ecuadorian rock band play, we ended up in a club with a few cervezas and a slice of pizza for the walk home.
Saturday passed by with a visit to the old town, people watching in the Plaza Grande with an ice-cream, listening to locals playing music whilst an old man with a loudspeaker spouted what I think was some kind of party politics. After a coffee in the Coffee Tree, dinner in El Maple (again!) and a walk home, the inevitable happened and we were mugged by two opportunists. After hearing mugging stories from nearly everyone I have met in Ecuador, I was half expecting it. Strangely, for the first time, I hadn´t taken a bag out with me, so the little darlings targeted Will, who has been doing the same projects as me this month, and made off with his phone while I shouted for help in Spanish. Luckily, and rather funnily in hindsight, the hostel owner heard me shouting, came out quickly to investigate, and knew the ´ladrones´ who threw the phone back and made off! Maybe, on reflection, the jungle was less scary than I thought!
Today is a lazy Sunday, where I am doing little more than reading, writing, lunching and drinking milkshakes whilst I write this and reflect on the week gone by. I had planned on going to Otovalo, but hadn´t got the energy or inclination to venture out and undertake the four hour return bus journey, knowing that I will be spending twelve hours on the night bus to the coast later this evening. I´m looking forward to leaving the city tonight and waking up (if sleep is possible, knowing the buses now as I do!) and seeing the Pacific Ocean stretched out before me in the morning.
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