The Amazon Part 2

The sun rose in a clear sky on the morning Sunday March 25th and by 6:00, Sue and the three Taiwanese doctors along with Cesar were on the river on their way to one of Explorama's remote lodges to embark on the star attraction for our visit to the Amazon...the world's longest canopy walk. The trip to the walk involved a 15 minute ride down the Amazon, followed by a 15 min motorcycle-taxi ride to the Napo River and a 45 min boat trip to the ExploreNapo Lodge. This lodge was in a remote location and the lodge itself was very rustic, especially compared to Ceiba Tops. The lodge was comprised several palm-thatched buildings connected by wooden walkways. Lighting was provided by kerosene lanterns and the "servicios" were outdoor biffies. All in all, just what you might expect in a remote jungle lodge, and although it was very attractive, at the end of the day, Sue was glad to be at the luxury lodge.

The group had breakfast there and then set off walking 45 minutes or so through the rain forest to the place where the canopy walk had been built. It was originally constructed for scientists to study the upper canopy of the rain forest, but has now become one of Explorama's main attractions. An extra fee is charged for the use of the walkway and these funds go towards supporting the research.

The walkway consists of 14 platforms built high up in the tall trees, with a network of suspended bridges connecting each. The bridges are about 12 inches wide boards with cables and netting about four feet high on both sides of the wooden walkway. The highest platorm is 117 ft above the forest floor and from there one has a spectacular view of the surrounding jungle. As the group made their way gingerly along the swinging walkways, they saw many interesting plants including bromeliads and orchids. The strange growl of Howler monkeys reverberated through the quiet forest, though they remained hidden from sight in the dense foliage. Several different species of colorful birds flew among the branches of the trees. Recently a new species of lizzard was discovered in the canopy and the group was lucky enough to see one on a tree trunk near one of the platforms. It spends its whole life high in the canopy, never descending to the forest floor.

Only three people were allowed on one span of the walkway at a time and only four on any platform. Sue thought she might suffer from vertigo, but didn' have any problems with the height. Most of the time it was impossible to even see the forest floor because of the dense jungle surrounding the walkways. The walk is about half a kilometre in length, but everyone walked very slowly, taking about an hour to complete the walk. Sue didn't find the canopy walk as challenging or exciting as she had anticipated, but it was still a magical and unique experience.

After the group descended to the jungle floor, they walked along a very overgrown jungle path to visit a shaman at a healing centre. Along the way they encountered a snake on the path, the only wild snake on the whole Amazon tour. It was a thin, pale green and cream colored whip snake about three feet long and very pretty. Luckily whip snakes are harmless to humans, so Cesar picked the little creature up and passed him around for everyone to hold. Susan stuck to her policy of not holding snakes or other creepy crawlers or eating insects!

The shaman had a garden where he grew medicinal plants. By the time they reached his shelter in a forest clearing, Sue was drenched in sweat as the jungle was very hot and humid (surprise!). Sue was very grateful for the straw fan the shaman provided. The Shaman showed the group various plants used to treat diabetes, high cholesterol, infections snake bites and intestinal parasites and explained how they were used. It was interesting to consider how we in the western world think we have such advanced medical care based on a multitude of drugs, whereas healers such as this Shaman have been helping native people with natural remedies for milennia.

The highlight of the visit to the Shaman was the "wellness" ceremony he performed on several of the group. It didn't involve snakes or insects, so Sue participated! The Shaman stood behind the individual who was seated on a chair. He smoked a jungle cigarette and blew the smoke on to the head of the person. Then he took a bunch of herb stems in one hand and beat it against his other hand while moving his hands around the person's head and shoulders. All the while he kept up a rhythmic chant. Following this he put a few drops of a fragrant oil on each person's hands and told them to rub the oil on their faces. After this experience Sue felt very relaxed and calm.

The shaman had adopted a baby anteater whose mother had been killed. It was the most darling creature, about a foot and a half long and just learning to walk. The shaman fed the little guy milk which the baby lapped up from a glass. He was very affectionate and seemed to like being held.

The lodge had a pet capybarda, the world's largest rodent. It looked like a beaver but about twice the size, with longer legs and a thinner, dog-like tail. The group watched as the interesting animal walked around and then went for a swim in the river.

Following lunch at the lodge, the group started its return journey to Ceiba Tops along a different route. They were able to return along the Amazon, and didn't have to retrace the path along the Napo River. Blue sky, white billowy clouds and lush verdant jungle on either side of the wide, flat river provided a breathtakig vista. On the way they stopped at the village where Cesar had grown up. The town had a sugar cane press and the group was shown how it operated and how the local rum was made from the cane syrup. A rum tasting ensued with 4 different rums including light, dark, ginger and one flavored with the roots of seven different plants. Cesar jokingly told the Taiwanese that good manners dictated that they drink the whole juice glass full at a single go and they complied to Cesar's surprise. They must have passed the journey home in a mellow mood..."floating" all the way home!

Back at Ceiba Tops Robb was still feeling the affects of his illness, but he decided to have a little bit of dinner and then go on the short night walk through the jungle near the lodge. The night was absolutely still and very hot and humid. The mosquitoes were out in droves and we were thankful for our long pants, long-sleeved shirts and dousing of mosquito spray. We walked as quietly as we could shining our flashlights while Cesar took the lead to scout out nocturnal wildlife. The further we got from the lodge, the louder the sounds of the jungle became. We had not been walking long when Cesar pointed his bright flashlight at a large frog sitting by the path. It seemed paralyzed by the light so we were able to get a close up look. The frog was light brown and must have been about the size of a dinner plate. Next we encountered three red-rumped tarantulas, sitting by their holes. Cesar also managed to grab on to a large Owl Moth, so called because the large eye-like markings on each wing make the moth look like an owl thus providing an excellent defense against would-be predators. We also saw a caiman, a small crocodile-like animal, sitting in a stream and several fireflies flitting through the trees like tiny candles. It was very interesting but we were very happy to get back to our airconditioned rooms and escape the oppresive heat of the jungle night.

The next morning Robb was feeling somewhat better and actually made it up at 5:30 for a pre-breakfast boat excursion to a nearby waterway that Cesar called a lake but was more-or-less just a lagoon off the main river. The morning was again bright and clear, though the temperature started to climb with the sun and it was soon hot with only the cooling breeze as we sped along the river providing some relief. We entered the lagoon with the objective of spotting the many types of birds nesting there and we were not disappointed. For about 45 minutes we drifted or motored slowly along, seeing many different species of brightly-colored jungle birds sitting in the trees or walking in the shallows along the bank. The amount and variety of wildlife in this part of the world is astounding. Although we only saw the tiniest fraction of the countless types of animals here, it was truly awe-inspiring to witness the colorful and exotic wildlife we did encounter.

As we drifted along we passed a native hut on the shore and we could see two or three dug out canoes with lone occupants paddling near by. One of these headed towards our boat and we were surprised to see a very cute young lad five or so years old, paddling along in the large canoe. He obviously wanted to come up to our boat and as he did, he proudly pointed to the bottom of his canoe where a large catfish about half as big as he was, lay along with another two slightly smaller ones. Cesar said that he had no doubt been out in the main river fishing before the sun was up to provide a catch for the family to eat or perhaps sell in the market. We marvelled at this little fellow going out on his own into a powerful, swiftly flowing river, manoeuvering a canoe and landing a couple of large fish, all by himself. We in the western world wouldn't even contemplate letting a young lad out by himself like this, but here it is a routine part of life along the Amazon.

We returned to the lodge for breakfast and then once again boarded our launch for another short trip down the Amazon to the Napo River, where we motored to a small town called Mazan. We walked around, stopping in at the market which was very "third worldish"...flies swarming over the meat and fish displayed on stone counters. Sue said it reminded her a lot of towns we had seen in Asia. After an hour or so, we jumped into motorcylce taxis and roared off down the concrete path which connected Mazan with the nearby and larger town of Indiana.

As we left town, the taxi driver suddently pulled to a stop in front of a little shop that appeared to have soft drinks for sale. But, as we soon discovered, they were not drinks at all but rather bottles of gasoline. This "service station" had a supply of used 1 litre water bottles which had been filled with gas. The driver tipped one of these into his tank, handed the attendant a few soles, and roared off down the path. Life certainly is different here than we are used to in our modern society!

We followed this bumpy concrete path for a few kilometers until we came to a stop in the main square of Indiana (apparently NOT named after Jones). We again walked around for a while observing this rather quiet town, but the beating sun and hot air did not encourage much activity. So it was with some relief that we boarded the launch for our return to Ceiba Tops.

That was our last excursion as we were returning to Iquitos that afternoon. We had had a great time here, though it had been partially spoiled by Robb's illness. But our excursions in this magnificent part of the world will forever remain in our memories, and Robb is already talking about coming back so day to complete the parts of the adventure he missed.

So we reluctantly said our good-byes to Cesar and the Taiwanese fellows (who were staying another day), and we boarded the speed boat launch for the return to Iquitos. We actually felt quite sad about leaving as we sped off upstream, but we were certainly taking a lot of memories with us.