Hotel Jungle

Waking up fresh from the good night sleep on the hammocks, my first night in one and definitely won’t be the last they are brilliant; but the great sleep may just be being knackered from the activity pact day; I made my way outside and joined the kids down by the river to have a wash.  We had our breakfast, eggs and crackers another first class meal that we would be eating a lot of in the next few days and then we made our way deeper into the jungle to set up camp.

Once again we had running commentary on the history and geography of the jungle and managed to see toucans and my first tarantula.  We stopped promptly by what I saw as a normal tree in the canal, Jonny be good (the nick name for Raphael’s right hand man) started to poke around the hole in the tree (nothing too vicious, obviously they didn’t want to hurt the....) and before I could say ‘what are we doing’ a huge, hairy spider came out.  I was at the front of the boat so far away from it (well as I thought at the time as I later found out that they can jump) but are not that poisonous, it just gives a very painful bite.  This was not going to be the first experience of these creatures, I saw so many throughout the trip that I have become quite accustomed to them, even when I saw them crawling up the mosquito net over our hammocks, can you believe it me and spiders.  To be honest I was so worried about the big cats that sharing a bed with a tarantula didn't sound so bad.

I slept with my hammock wrapped so tightly around my head that I almost couldn't breathe.

When we finally reached our destination we immediately started to make our camp.  Our clothes were soaking from the torrential down pour the previous day so the first task on the agenda was to make a fire and dry our clothes.  The girls collected the relevant wood and made a fire like we were taught the day before.  And wanting to try something different I went to cut some wood with the boys.  My naivety soon showed when I walked further into the jungle and realised what a strenuous task it really is and settled for helping to tie the hammocks up instead after the hard work had been done.

It took quite a while to set up camp and make sure everything was sturdy and that the tarpaulin was going to hold through the expected down pour in the night.  After all the effort that went into making our home for the night we were hungry and had a hearty meal of you guessed it, rice. 

After the buffet of all you can eat of rice we made our way for an afternoon trek in the jungle, which was the most interesting of the trip.  As we made our way through the forest we continually came across many different insects and snakes, all happened to be in our path.  Lucky that Jonny be good, who was up front has such good eye sight because a couple of times we nearly walked into the web of the most dangerous spider, where one bite can kill you unless you get the antidote within 15 minutes (we were at least 9 hours away from the nearest town).  We even came across a species of snake which was bright red with a yellow and black head that Raphael had never seen before, could you believe it my first time in the jungle and I had already discovered a new species of snake (don’t quote me on that).  But the most interesting part for me was the descriptions of all the different trees and their uses.  Not only are they beautiful with their difference stance and the way their roots twirl into the ground but they have such healing power.  We saw the tree who's juices help arthritis, and also the termite house which is used to ease arthritic pain, dad I wish you were there you could have oiled them poor joints of yours.  (I was considering bringing part of the tree back for you but I don't think that I would get it through customs).  There were trees which you drill the oil out of to make perfume which smell similar to rosemary and ones where you put the piece of the bark in boiling water and make tea out of which makes you relaxed (a good one for you, mum I think), but apparently if you drink too much of it you get nightmares, tasted quite good though.  The sad thing is all these wonderful trees are owned by multinational companies using and abusing their resources, doesn't seem right that these wondrous plants should be exploited by companies not even of that country. 

We headed back to the camp finding paw prints of the big cats all around, much to my dismay.  With the prints of the cats big paw imbedded in my head the questions started to form, little did he know it but Raphael was about to be bombarded with questions on the topic of ´what to do and not to do when approached by a jaguar´.  Because the rain had fallen, we took a bath in the canal below in lovely clean water, where no piranhas were, and then sat down for dinner where the conversation quickly turned to the cats.  We heard stories of a jaguar jumping on Jonny one night and he gave it a left hook, being stunned the jaguar jumped on the neighbouring hammock of an unsuspecting French tourist.  He had to drink the calming tea from the tree soon after.

With the heat and light of the fire beaming on our faces the stories of the jungle seemed light hearted and fun, but then the time came when everyone wanted to go to bed, or more like had to go to bed.  I sat up for as long as I could with Raphael where we talked about the agenda for the next day and then red eyed I had to climbed into my hammock as I succumbed to sleep.  Then it started, I have never heard a sound like it, my heart jumped out of my chest like you see on the cartoons.  ´What was is that asked, ´oh it’s just the jaguar´ Raphael calmly replied.  ´And the sound after was the Capuchin monkey imitating the jaguar noise to warn other animals that a predator was in the area.  Now I find it fascinating but at the same time petrified, despite the sound being 1km away which was close enough.  The sounds you hear in the jungle to the untrained ear set you mind razing and your imagination runs riot.  ´In all seriousness´ I asked ´what do you do if a jaguar comes around here´, (as they are very suspicious animals). And in all seriousness he replied, ´if they don't see you head they shouldn't attack; besides this is the black panther area and they are more aggressive´ (Great, glad you told me that one Raphael).   He then continued to tell me stories of the predators.  I slept with my hammock wrapped so tightly around my head that I almost couldn't breathe.  The lack of oxygen was probably the only reason that I got to sleep that night.