Leticia,
Amazonas,
Colombia
Monday, April 6, 2009
It rained all of last night and part of this morning. The rain was so heavy it lulled everyone to sleep within minutes. In the morning after breakfast, we went to do the first of our activities - scaling to the canopy. And man, was it hard work! We had to scale up to the canopy on levers attached to two ropes. I had one terrifying moment when one of the levers slipped a little before holding fast, but that was enough to have me gripping the rope in terror, with the realization that I was 35ft in the air with no way of getting down! But after a few moments and deep breaths, in the knowledge that I couldn't get down and that Alex was gaining on me fast with her big long legs, determination to finish set in and I finally made it to the top, by which point my poor arms had almost given up. I could hardly move my fingers when I reached the treetop because the muscles in my arms were so strained, but it was totally worth it - the view from the canopy top was just fabulous. We were able to see birds and some flora before we crossed a death-defying plank bridge, which was like walking across a tight-rope before arriving at another smaller platform and abseiling back down the 70 ft drop. I actually almost crapped myself when I swung my body out over the abyss, but I loosened up enough after about 30ft to enjoy the view!
After lunch it was time to go see the dolphins...unfortunately for us, we only saw a few grey ones, no pink ones :( I was so disappointed as this was one of the main reasons I wanted to come down here. On the way back we stopped off in Mocagua, one of the indigenous communities. They have a lake where Victoria water lilies grow - the largest in the world. The Americans who came with us stayed by the bridge, not wanting to venture further in. Me and Alex however had a wander round the village, talking to people and taking pictures of the kids, who were really sweet. The Ticuna houses are very simple, made from rough-hewn planks of wood and corrugated iron roofs perched up on stilts to keep them out of the flood waters. But thanks to eco-tourism projects in the area and government-funded initiatives, they not only have schools for the kids, but also electricity and even satellite dishes!
