The Jungle!

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Entry Trip End Nov 20, 2008 Next
Entry

  Cuyabeno, Ecuador
Monday, June 30, 2008

CAUTION: THIS IS A LONG ENTRY!!!

So, last time I wrote I was very nervous at the prospect of going into the jungle. Dom and I had originally planned to do 4 days and 3 nights but then we decided to go with our friend Lars, from our house in Quito, and when we were in the agency sorting everything out the two of them ambushed me and we ended up signing up for 5 days and 4 nights.

We left our house in Quito at 8.30pm to take the taxi to the Central Bus Station. This was the biggest bus station I've ever been to and even on a monday night was packed out with people going places and locals selling everything you could imagine. We found our way to our stop and had a short wait before our bus arrived. The company had reserved us seats which I thought were really good as they appeared to have more leg room than the others

At our camp

. However when we got going I found out that we were actually in the worst possible seats because we were right under the only speaker on the bus. The driver's choice of music was latin american dance music...for the ENTIRE journey! The low point was when the crazy frog song came on at 5am, at that point I ready to kill someone! Despite the music I was able to sleep for parts of the 11 hour bus journey. I think this is an incredible achievement when you consider the only decent road was for the first 40mins out of Quito and the rest was a dirt track. At the beginning of the journey it was freezing and I had four layers on but when we had a "banos break" at 1am we got off the bus and found it was suddenly really steamy and we could make out in the darkness that the vegetation was definitely changing.

At about 6.30 it was light but pouring with rain. It was amazing to be driving through the jungle though and the bus kept stopping to pick up people who were off to work at the oil mines. After what felt like forever we finally arrived at our stop and were met by our guide, Jirro. We went by motorised canoe for about 10mins up the Cuyabeno river to our camp. Just on the way to the camp we saw toucans, monkeys and the most beautiful electric blue butterflies. Our camp was pretty amazing it was a collection of about 10 cabanas which were raised above the ground and all linked by wooden walkways

Dom in the Jungle

. There was then a main hut where we ate and could laze around in hammocks. We had breakfast which was really nice and then had about 10mins to find our cabana and get ready for the morning walk. Our cabana was basic but comfortable, there was no electricity and the shower was very cold river water but it all added to the jungle experience.

Having put on the appropriate jungle clothes and sprayed half a bottle of insect repellent on us we were ready for our jungle trek. Jirro told us the walk would be about 3 to 3.5hours and it was at this point we met up with the rest of the group on our tour, making it 12 in total. The jungle was amazing, exactly what you would expect. It was hot and steamy with strange noises coming from all over the place just like something out of a David Attenborough documentary. We had walked for about 5mins when Jirro said "ooh a big spider". For a moment I thought my palpitations had returned! My heart was thumping, I couldn't think straight and I thought I was going to faint! However when I summoned the courage to open my eyes I saw that it was actually beautiful, not hairy luckily. It was a golden orb for any spider fans out there. After another 5 mins Jirro found a tarantula hole and tried to entice the thing out, I made sure I was at the back of the group and told Dom to take a photo, but luckily the spider didn't want to play (they usually only come out at night)

Making Yucca bread

. Shortly after this we went "off piste" with Jirro and Jorge (another guide) hacking their way through fresh jungle with machetes. Because of the rain the ground was really muddy and the jungle is suprisingly hilly so I was the first one to slip over. After struggling to stay on my feet for a while Jorge made me a stick with a handy point on the end and made a backpack sling thing with a vine for my poncho and after that I was fine.

We ended up walking for 5 hours in the end but it was absolutely brilliant! We learnt all about which trees and plants the indigenous people use to made houses, tools and weapons. We found a crab in a stream which I really didn't expect to see in the Amazon. We got to swing on a vine and feel like Indiana Jones and smoke a twig from a branch which looked, smelt and tasted like an incense stick. We also ate ants that lived in a tree and tasted like lemon sherbert, we drank sweet water from a vine and drank sticky milk from a tree. I did feel a bit like I was on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!! One of the highlights was when we found South America's deadliest snake....The Bushmaster. You could tell it was an impressive find because the guides got very excited and it was the only the second time Jirro had found one in his life! One bite from that thing and you have no more than 2 hours to live, there is no antedote...we all admired from afar!

After the 5 hours we had lunch and then I was totally wiped out for the day and slept for what little of the afternoon was left. We woke up as it got dark, the jungle was much louder with loads of cicadas all making a racket. Dom and I did a sweep of our cabin and declared it "bug and spider free" so we put our mossie nets down so we would know that the beds would be "clear" when we came back in the dark

More Jungle!

. This became a nightly ritual!

We had a nice dinner and got to know the other people on the tour. We were really lucky because they were such a nice bunch of people and we all got on so well. That night I slept really well, which surpised me as I thought I wouldn't get any sleep in the jungle but the next day I woke up refreshed and listened to the monkeys in the jungle.

Day 2 was a brilliant day and probably my favourite day in the jungle. We took the motorised canoe up the river for 3 hours to the Laguna Grande. On the way we saw 6 different types of monkey, loads of birds including some incredible blue and yellow macaws up in a tree. We also saw an anaconda sunbathing by the river! The weather was absolutely perfect and we had the most amazing morning going up the river in glorious sunshine and spotting all these animals, plants and birds on the way. When we arrived at the Laguna Grande we found that the water had turned black, this is because the Laguna only exists during the wet season (now) and is basically a huge flooded area. The lake is 7 meters deep so we were at the same level as the tops of the trees which felt a bit strange! And the black water is because it is full of nutrients from the trees and leaves etc. We went right into the middle of the lake where there were no trees and were told to jump in for a swim

Sunset on the Laguna Grande

. Our guide, Romelo (we had a new guide) could see we were a bit sceptical but assured us that the piranhas, anacondas, electric eels and caimen stayed near the trees. So I but all my trust in our 20 year old guide (who has a reputation for putting tarantulas on his face and then scaring people!) and jumped off the side of the canoe. It was so lovely even though the colour of the water made it seem as though you were swimming in iodine!

After the swim we headed up the river for lunch and a siesta. Cold tuna pasta never tasted so good and then Lars, Dom and I went and sat by the river and were surrounded by butterflies....ah! After the rest we carried on up the river to an indigenous community to see how they live and make yucca bread with them. They've got some cocoa trees which is how they make most of their money. We got to pick a cocoa plant and open it up to get the cocoa seeds which are then later used to make chocolate. They are covered in a white slimey substance and you have to put the seed in your mouth and suck thw white slime off before leaving it out to dry. Whilst the seeds were in our mouths Dom and I laughed when we realised that someone's chocolate would technically be in our mouths before theirs. However we stopped laughing when we realised that all chocolate has sort of been in someone else's mouth first. I'll leave you to enjoy that fact!

Swimming in the Laguna Grande

Romelo also showed us the seeds they use to paint their faces red and then painted an indigenous sign on my face, with his pen knife, which was fun...and scary! He also showed us a plant they use to treat muscular pain, it's basically a natural local anesthetic. It really hurt when he rubbed it on our hands and then made my hand go all red and was covered in white spots. Although it did numb my hand I think I'll stick to nurofen in future! Making the yucca break was interesting and tasted a bit like a rice cake and shreddies! After saying goodbye to the community we sped back to the laguna to watch the sunset. Fantastic.

Then we went back down the river to our camp and once it got dark we looked for caimen (small alligators) on the river. We did manage to spot one, it's eyes and nose poke up out of the water - I think it looked like a velociraptor! Romelo also spotted a snake (I don't know how he did this given the speed we were going at and the fact it was dark). It was an amazon tree boa, Romelo jumped off the boat and climbed up the tree and got the snake onto a paddle so we could all pass it down the boat! There was another time when he saw a caimen and jumped off the boat and thrashed about in the jungle trying to catch it. He really was the loveliest nutter I've ever met!

The jungle!

The next day we were all pretty tired after the long previous day so it was more of a chill out day. We went up the river and did some piranha fishing but weren't very lucky on that front. The rest of the day was spent attempting to canoe, hilarious as the current was too strong for us and we had to abandon ship. So we decided to go swimming instead (yes, this is the river where we had been fishing for piranhas) and we found a rope which we could swing off and jump into the river...so much fun! After lunch we took a long siesta and lazed in the hammocks reading our books and chatting. Then at 5pm most of the group were leaving as their stay had come to an end. I was so sorry to say goodbye to them and about the same time some new people arrived (including a rather angry german, the less said about him the better!) We asked to move rooms because we had been in a twin and the doubles were much nicer, and had their own hammock. When we did the usual sweep of the room we discovered a BIG spider in the bathroom but it wasn't that hairy so I didn't freak out, in fact by that stage I was so relaxed I actually wanted to see a big spider! The others went on a night hike but Dom and I didn't go as we were so relaxed that we didn't want to ruin it by seeing a hairy tarantula. Turned out it was the right think as the others only found a small spider, the one in our room was bigger! When we went to bed we couldn't find the spider so were able to sleep in peace

The Shamen

!

The next day we went piranha fishing but Jorge was the only successful one, he caught 3 (rather greedy if you ask me!) I was pleased though because I saw some of the fish that are in my tank back home! (Dad, I saw the X-Ray Tetras!!!) Afer lunch we went on another walk in the jungle but this one was much shorter and didn't go "off piste" but we saw some leaf cutter ants carrying loads of leaves a massive distance back to their nest. We also got to eat to lemon ants again! At the end of the day we showed Jorge the picture of the spider in the our room. He was very pleased to tell us it was a type of tarantula, my face must have not looked so pleased because he had hysterics at the look on my face! That night when we did the sweep of the room we found the tarantula had returned...and this time he had bought a friend! This time they were right above our bed!! So as we lay under our, extremely tightly fastened, mossie net we could shine the torch and watch two tarantulas above us! Incredible! Having been scared to the point of not wanting to go to the jungle for fear of tarantulas I was really pleased to have two in my room! I am sure that I am not as scared of spiders now.

On our final day we took the boat back up to the Laguna Grande but unfortunately it was raining so I didn't feel like a swim

The tarantula!!!!

. However on the way we did see pink dolphins which was absolutely amazing, but unfortunately they are a bit quick for the camera. After lunch we went way up the river, much futher than we have been before, to visit the shamen. It was quite interesting to hear about his life and what he does. He claims he can cure anything except broken bones and he can't do operations. However it was all over in less than 10mins and we had to pay $3 each for the pleasure so we've worked out that on an hourly rate the shamen earns more than an English doctor! Though Dom did say "hang on, I'm not sure how tax works in Ecuador so can't work that bit out" Geek!

Then we had to go like the clappers back to camp to get our bus. I was convinced we were going to miss it. I don't even want to think about the speeds we were doing but we got back to camp and threw our stuff in the bags and jumped back into the canoe to go back to the bus stop. As it was dark the 3 of us thought we would be helpful and shine our torches so Jorge could see the way but he screamed at us to turn then off as he "was better in the dark". So we had 10mins of terror as Jorge flew up the river in pitch black, we made back to the bus stop alive and 20 seconds later the bus arrived! Jorge was very pleased with himself.

The bus ride back was...eventful

View from our hut

. It was completely full to the point where a family of four were on the 2 seats in front of us. At about 1.30pm I was dozing when the bus (which was going a some speed) hit a pot hole. At least that's what I think it was, I REALLY hope it wasn't because the driver fell asleep. The bus left the road and went into the air for about 3 seconds and then when it landed the driver luckily regained control and avoided hitting the trees. People on the bus were screaming and kids started crying. Dom, who had been fast asleep obviously woke up with a start and we just clung onto each other. Strangely the only thing I could think was "I'm going to be on the news"! The driver really slowed down after that, but for me sleep was out of the question from then on! Forget any tarantulas and snakes, that was the scariest thing that happened in the jungle!

Anyway we got back to Quito very early in one piece and went for breakfast. We then headed back to our house for a shower. I cannot tell you how nice that shower was! However we also found that Cecelia had accidently overbooked her house, and although she was very sweet and offered us the floor we decided we needed a bed and so left and have found a hostel in El Mariscal. It was hard not to cry when we left as we felt so at home there and Cecelia made us both a scarf as a leaving present. We said all our goodbyes but El Mariscal is so small that we bumped into them all again today! That's something I love about Quito you're always bumping into people you know, we also bumped into people from the jungle trip today.

However we will be leaving Quito for good tomorrow as we are off to the coast. Another 10 hour bus ride (hurrah!) to Manta where we will spend a week making our way down the coast through all the small fishing towns. I'm very pleased with myself at the moment because I made a telephone call in spanish today to make the reservation on our first place. I just hope it has worked.....!
Ooh, one last thing, I promised you photos. It has taken me ages but I think I´ve finally cracked it now! Hope you like them!
Hope you are all well, we watched the Andy Murray match today and saw it's nice weather at the moment, hope you are all enjoying it! Bye for now! xxxxx 

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