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So, this will probably be my last blog entry from South America, before I head up to Central America on Thursday. Has it really been 4 months already? Anyway, first up an apology.... If I start to ramble during this entry I'm really sorry, it's just I'm so excited at having had such a great few days I'm liable to get a bit carried away!!!
I think I have found another of my favourite places in the world..... the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest is just sooooooo beautiful. Last time I wrote I was in Baños, which was lovely enough, but after there we left for a jungle lodge a little way outside of a city called Tena in the east of Ecuador. The lodge was just about accessible by roads (if you can call them that!), basically a big wood cabin with spectacular views over a big bend in the the Rio Napo, one of the Amazon's tributaries, in the middle of primary and secondary rainforest. The photo above doesn't really do any justice for how stunning a location it is.
On our first morning there we were told we were taking an easy walk through the forest to look at the flora and fauna. This was somewhat undersold to us.... We were all given a pair of wellies, and set out on our trek, with our local naturalist guide, Don Matildo - a man in his late fifties who looked at least 10 years younger, and a real character - who has spent his whole life studying and conserving the rainforest. We realised very quickly why the wellies were a necessity.... we were walking through big puddles of mud, then through streams and creeks - and not worrying about how wet or dirty we were getting. It was like being 5 years old again.... and I loved it! It was so much fun. After seeing a rather enormous tarantula, the most poisonous snake in Ecuador (a relative of the rattle snake) and numerous other bugs and creepy-crawlies we started our trek back to the lodge - a scramble through bat caves and a small canyon. By the time we got back we were wet through and covered from head to toe with mud - it was GREAT!
In order to clean off we spent the afternoon river tubing - basically 5 inner-tubes from tractor tyres tied together for us to sit on whilst being carried gently downstream.... well, until our guide decides to rock our 'raft' and throw us all into the river! We stopped along the way to visit a local indigenous village, where we met some families and were invited into their houses to see how they live their day-to-day lives.... without the luxuries of electricity and gas, but seemingly doing a grand job of using the resources that the forest has to offer - palm leaf thatched roofs, banana leaves for plates and cooking pots, dug out pieces of tree trunk for bowls, and so on. We were shown how to make 'crowns' out of palm leaves, and had our faces painted with indigenous designs using a natural red 'paint' before being christened with our own Quichua names (Quichua is the language of the indigenous people in Ecuador). My name was 'Wayra' which translates as Girl of the Wind. I'm hoping they were referring to the cool breeze variety of wind.... I definitely had not been eating any baked beans or cabbage before the visit!!!
On our second day we were taken further into the forest to a remote lodge where we started our trek to the local waterfalls. Whilst not on the scale of Iguazu, the setting was spectacular, and everything looked so serene and beautiful. The other thing you don't get to do at Iguazu is to rock-climb your way up the waterfall... yes, thats climbing up through where the water is pounding down, not a small trail to the side!!! Scrambling around on the rocks, swimming in natural pools and whirlpools and splashing around in the river was such good fun. It was quite challenging (some of the waterfalls were up to 25 or 30 metres high!), but brilliant fun, and the scenery was well worth any struggle.
We were sorry to have to leave our little refuge in the middle of nowhere, but headed back to Tena for a day of white-water rafting. As a rafting virgin I was somewhat concerned about falling out of the boat and drowning, but there were several other 'newbies' and we were in safe hands with our guides - two are competing for their country in the kayaking and rafting world championships in South Korea next month, and people come from all over the world to learn to raft on these rivers - some of the best for rafting anywhere in the world. I didn't need to worry as we had such a good day. The boat didn't flip, but we all got thrown in at one stage or another, but although the water was freezing, the air was lovely and warm, and we all managed to get a little bit of sunburn!
Just when we thought the day had finished, we met up with some of our guides from both the rainforest tours and the rafting for drinks yesterday evening. We were sitting in very much a 'locals' bar (Tena really isn't very touristy at all), on plastic garden furniture under a little canopy, next to a small wooden shack selling beers. We were all practicing our Spanish, and dancing salsa, meringue and cumbia bare-footed in the rain, and having a fab time. It was so nice to be able to experience the 'real' culture of the country and not just the bits pre-packaged for the gringos. Two of us went back to one of the guide's house (it wasn't like that, I promise!!!), when the bar owner wanted to go to bed. And then the strangest thing happened..... the local Shaman visited, and cleansed and blessed both Emma and I, for luck and good fortune in the future!!!! It was a time when I wish I had a camera, but these times are often best captured in memory. The Shaman was a very slim gentleman who I was told was 80 years old. He wore a skirt and necklace made of twine and beads of forest seeds, and a head-dress of brightly coloured parrot feathers. He started by using a 'fan' made of dried leaves, and hit me around the head with it for several times (it didn't hurt!!), while chanting. He then lit a cigarette of some description, and the smoke was wafted over me. You can really tell how they get into a trance doing this.... it was almost as if the rest of the room disappeared it was that captivating. Once he had done this, he drunk a halucenogenic spirit made from ingredients from the forest - about 80% alcohol I was informed - and then sprayed it back over me. He then used his hands and mouth to 'remove' the bad spirits from the top of my head and my hands, before 'dispelling' them outside. I am told the whole process took about 10-15 minutes, but it could have been hours that passed.... although perfectly conscious and sober during the blessing, I had no concept of time at all. It was quite unlike any experience I have ever had before, and probably will ever encounter again. I feel very priveleged to have been given this gift. The Shaman instructed me not to wash my face for a day..... feeling a little superstitious about all this, I have not yet washed my face!
So there you have it..... my exciting few days in the Amazon rainforest. It has been such a nice thing to do late on in the tour.... a real high at the end.
I am now in Otavalo, although I'm not sure entirely what's here yet, as we only arrived a couple of hours ago, and have all day tomorrow to explore. I am back in the Northern Hemisphere for a day, before heading back to the Equator on Wednesday before getting into Quito.
I'm sure the next time I speak with you I will be further north on my travels - probably in Guatemala. For now, I hope the blog is still interesting for you, and making you very jealous hahaha!
Speak soon. Lots of love
Nikki xxxx
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