Into the Jungle
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2008
1
3
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Tena,
Ecuador
Friday, March 28, 2008
As you would expect, the jungle is a different world to the Andes. The first thing you notice is the humidity and the constant sweat patch in your clothes throughout the day. Also the remoteness of the communities, not just from home, but anywhere, is very real. From the town of Tena, we rode in the back of a truck for 45 minutes further into the jungle until we arrived at the home of Delphin, a local sharman (healer) and all round good bloke. He does not speak English and his Spanish is also a bit rusty
Hiking Up The Creek
. He is a native Quichua (pronounced kee-cha) indian that grew up in the jungle and so his primary language is the Quichua dialect. Delphin was letting us crash at his place for a few nights while he showed us around his hood.The accomodation was actually pretty comfortable considering the location. Mozzie nets over a mattress, no electricity or hot water, but there was a flushing toilet (all paper had to be placed in bins and not in the bowl). Better than finding a quiet place in the bushes though!
With the help of a translator, Delphin taught us about jungle medicine plants and it is amazing what he can fix with the stuff growing in his front yard! One morning he said we should go for a walk up the creek to the waterfall. We found it strange that he flung a few ropes over his shoulder, but happily followed him into the jungle canopy. We ended up on an incredible 3 hour trip following a creek bed upstream, using fallen logs to scale small waterfalls and eventually the rope came out so we could scale the face of a 5 metre waterfall. Had a reality check halfway up the cliff - we are in the middle of nowhere hanging off the edge of a waterfall by a rope, with indian markings painted on our faces and a dude standing at the top of the falls smiling and saying something supportive in a language that most Ecuadorians can not understand.
One evening, Delphin gave us another wedding ceremony in traditional Quichua style. They dressed Alycia is a headwrap and shawl and Paul in a white robe, which looked similar to what a priest would wear over his clothes, and a hat. The celebration mostly consisted of dancing to drum beats from a bongo and was quite repetative
Shangrila Jungle Lodge
. Needless to say, we have now been married twice in two weeks!Delphins place for a few days. Just a great look at life in the jungle and the simple stuff of getting on with day to day survival.
Back in the truck we headed to Shangrila jungle lodge for a few nights which was the gringo version of experiencing the Amazon. Shangrila is like Tarzans dream pad on the edge of a 80m cliff overlooking the forest. So to paint the picture, we are drinking a beer on the deck and below us is one of the rivers that eventually flows into the Amazon River and there is jungle going all the way to the horizon, where the Andes mountains just start climbing into the sky out of nowhere. There are lots of volcanoes amongst this section of the Andes and we are sitting there admiring the view when one of the volcanoes in the distance starts spewing smoke.
The following day we climbed down the cliffs with inner tubes and floated down the river for a few hours then caught a ride back to the lodge in the back of a ute. We also visited an animal rescue centre for injured animals like monkeys, macau, snakes and alligators. Australia Zoo it wasnt but they have some animals there that you just dont see every day.
Four days in the jungle certainly felt like a long time and we thoroughly enjoyed the unique experience. Heading back into the Andes next for some whitewater rafting. Check in with you all soon. Hope everyone is happy and well.
