The Lodge

I packed my bag and was ready for the off.  Of course I was prepared; I had a pair of trousers, one pair of shorts, a torch and mosquito repellent what more could I need.  Oh yes a decent size back pack and walking shoes, oh dear Walking shoes, who could forget the vitals!  Oh dear jungle Jayne was not off to a good start.  But luck was to hand as I managed to get a pair of wellies on the way to the lodge by the river which turned out better than trainers would have been.  First obstacle over come.  Well done Jayne.

We took a boat over the lake and saw the merging off the rivers, one coming from Peru and the other Brazil.  They are two different colours, one black which is polluted water with only 50 species of fish living in it the other yellow, where it is fresh and clean with over 1500 species living in it, big difference.  When you run your hand through the divide you can feel the difference in temperature, going from warm in the black sea to cold in the yellow river.  My class of the Amazon begins.

I woke to the sound of the cockerel and was joined by a giant frog in the shower. This was the jungle I thought, but really it was just the beginning.

After we hit the road for another 45 minutes we got to the river which takes you deeper into the Amazon and to the place where we were going to lay our heads for the night, the lodge.

It is an amazing little lodge by the river with hammocks hanging up and a jungle book atmosphere as soon as you enter the room.  It even had its own pet monkey, very sweet but unpredictable.  It would jump on you at any given opportunity and give you a little nibble.

We had the local cuisine of pasta, rice and beans and made off in our canoes to go through some canals in the jungle.  The second class began.

We made our way through winding trees, interlocking one another over the canal; it was something like crocodile Dundee, so much so as Raphael (the guide) happened to mention that there was 5 meter Caymans prominent in this area.  Nice to mention when we are in a little canoe with only the ores to protect us, if that wasn't enough he started to call them.  He made the sound of the baby Cayman in distress (yes because this is sure to entice the Caymans to come to us and provoke a good mood in them), just to get them wound up a bit.  Luckily this did not fool them, we saw one peer up but no way near enough to cause panic.

Throughout the trip we had an intellectual commentary on all the different types of trees we were passing and their history, like the tree that the natives use as a poison to kill enemies, nice!  I had ago at the steering of the canoe from the back, (who would know that such skill was required for this task, I certainly didn’t) you'd be surprised to know I possessed no such skill and as soon as it was noticed that eyes could be lost Raphael took control again.

The next task on the agenda was Piranha fishing oh yes that’s right, we were fishing for the flesh eating blighters, so feared they even made a movie about them.  And can you believe it but I was the first to catch the fish, I was now Tarzan’s right hand man.  I have photographic evidence of it; okay it was only a baby piranha, but a piranha no less.  We caught a few more after that, one time I even thought that I would get in the Guinness book of records the size of the fish pulling one my string  (as they have lines rather than rods).  I pulled and pulled and in the end I had to call Raphael and notify him that I was going to be catapulted into the lake if I wasn't careful, to which he replied with a confused frown ´you have just got your hook caught on the reeds below´.  I hung my head in shame, but the four Australians thought that it was funny nevertheless.

The first day was just a taster of the jungle, seeing bats, catching piranhas and learning about natural poisons.  But the day was not over yet, after dinner, once again consisting of the classic pasta, rice and beans we were informed that we were going alligator catching.  I thought he said he was going to ease us into the jungle life style, don't you need some sort of permission or life insurance for this dangerous task.  But I had forgotten that now I was jungle Jayne I had to be up to the task.

It was pitch black, god knows how they knew where they were going, it was like they could see street lamps lighting the way down the river.  No sooner than putting that thought aside Elso, also with origins from the jungle leaned over the front of the boat and caught the alligator, just like that out of the blue.  It was about 0.5 meters long, so not big but big enough, especially when he was passing it around in the little canoe, stressing that your grip around its snout had to be strong and not to drop it in the boat.  I touched its cold, scaly skin but didn't hold it much to my regret now. 

That night I slept like a baby, and woke to the sound of the cockerel and was joined by a giant frog in the shower.  This was the jungle I thought, but really it was just the beginning.