Feb 23rd
As we imagined, a good night sleep and a shower (although cold & we had no towels) did us wonders. One thing the travel agent forgot to tell us was to bring a flashlight & towel. Hmm, would have been good information to pass on. We were able to get towels later that afternoon & learned how to work the hot water. And yes, the bed net worked quite well as we were not attacked by cockroaches or taranchula.
And now, I could take some good pictures of our home for the next 3 days.
Breakfast was promptly at 8 and we had some chicken sausage & eggs, cereal with yogurt, fresh pineapple, and another local fruit juice.
After breakfast, we were all back in the canoe, heading toward the Amazon river, to go visit the Shaman.
We first walked around the grounds to see what they grow. They use everything they grow to live & survive. One of the things I found most intriguing was the cocoa plants. It was a bean shape but once opened up, there was a white sweet layer that we tasted that is over a nut. Once that nut dries, it turns into a cocoa bean in which they use to make chocolate! Yummy!
The Shaman then told us about their culture. It was interesting, but the translation wasn't the greatest so sadly, I tended to lose interest & let my mind wander, which was better than some others who were falling asleep. I wont mention any names, Connie. But it wasn't just her either.
After he told us about their life & culture, we had a boxed lunch of chicken, rice & salad. And, townhouse crackers which everyone was raving about. As we were having lunch, the sky opened up and it was a mad downpour! It was amazing how fast it came on. And, funny thing that we all left our ponchos in the boat since it was so gorgeous out!
So we all used the restroom which was really just an outhouse with a toilet seat, but let me tell you... I won't go into detail, but it was the worst I've ever seen.
We stopped at another community as well where we helped prepare a traditional food. It was very cool to watch & be a part of. It started with chopping down the leaves of a yuca plant and then pulling the roots out of the ground. The roots were then peeled and put into a sack to take back to prepare. Here they had something that resembled a trough. She also had a piece of metal that holes were made in. This was what we used to shred the yuca. Next, she put the shredded yuca into a burlap type thing that was then twisted & hung from a knob in the hut. She used a stick to put in the bottom of the burlap to twist it around the pole to get all the moisture out of the yuca. She caught the juice in a bucket that later they use to make soups. When she unwound the burlap, I was amazed it was all dry. She then used another homemade tool that she sifted the dried yuca to make it finer than it was. With that now it was almost finer than flour. They spread the dried yuca on there hot iron, rolled it flat with a wood bowl and a few minutes later we had something similar to a tortilla. we ate that with tuna or jelly. It was really good. However, adding a touch of salt & pepper would have made it quite tasty.
So, one thing I haven't mentioned about this stop yet.. as soon as we got off the canoe, we see there are 2 monkeys. These are wild monkeys that have now become their pets I guess you could say. One was very tiny, the size of a rat maybe. Juan first put it on Connies shoulder and he burried himself into her hair. He did the same with me. He was a cute little thing!
The other monkey was a bigger one. I don't remember the species, but its the kind I would want as a pet. I don't have any pics on my phone, but will post some soon. After taking more than enough pictures of this adorable monkey, I saw one of the other guides holding him so I asked if I could. He ran right over to me and climbed up into my arms. I was excited to get a picture with him. Much to my surprise, he was much more active, and "affectionate" dare I say, than I expected. So instead of getting the cute cuddly picture I was hoping for, I got a picture of him nibbling on my nose! then he would nuzzle his nose into my eye. And then start nibbling on my nose again! Ok, maybe it was slightly more than a nibble. He was playful, but ended up breaking a bit of skin! I was laughing so hard I was crying and Connie just kept snapping away and she got some good ones of the chaos! And for those of you wanting to ask... No, I need not be worried about rabies. Apparently it is more likely we would pass a disease to them, than them to us.
On our way back, we stopped to see the tallest Samoa tree, where we also were introduced to jungle weed. You seriously take it off the tree and light it up!
We then stopped back at the lodge to quick charge some batteries, use the banos, and grab a drink and back out to search the river. By this time it was getting dark and I tell ya, I've never seen anything like it. Juan would shine the flashlight into the jungle trees and when he would flash continually in one area, the driver knew to go that way. And every time, there was something there. Tonight, we saw 3 snakes & a black caiman. It was incredible that he would find these small snakes up in a tree. We all teased him that he planted them before bringing us out!
After all that excitement it was back to the lodge for another amazing dinner of chicken & beef stew & rice, broccoli soup, yucca and for dessert... Bananas drizzled with chocolate. Again, the meals have been so great, I may just ask them for all the recipes!
After dinner, we took a quick walk around the lodge and found a glass frog. My pic below isn't the best, but when you'd shine a light under the leaf & take a picture, you could see through it like glass. We also found a few taranchulas.
Another very full day ended with a bit of socializing with our group who would be leaving, and meeting the new group we would spend the rest of our time in the jungle with. Both great groups of people. The first group were all from other countries but would occasionally speak English. The second group all speak English even though they too are diverse. I have to admit, It was nice to have them around now. They just seemed a better fit for us.
Off to dreamland....
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