Still the Amazon

March 2, 2006-Wows
(Photos:Rhinoceros beetle,
Host family)

I must say that my skin hasn’t looked this good in a long time. It’s hot, humid, and there’s no central heat; the perfect recipe for plump skin and fewer wrinkles. I’m sure I’ll be all shrunken again by the time we get home.

It rained hard last night but stopped before breakfast. That meant that critters would be about for our early morning walk along the path we took last night. This time we continued around the entire 1.5-mile loop. It took us three hours. We stopped for everything green and anything that moved. I must say that we saw a lot more in rainforests in Australia and Costa Rica. I think this is our last rain forest tour.

At the beginning of the walk we gathered around a tiny plot of earth. Tiny shovels were placed next to tiny saplings. We were told that we could plant the little mahogany trees ourselves. It reminded me of our experience planting trees in Israel. My dad was a farmer (grew oranges) and I’ve always had an affinity for what survives us and what we do for future generations. Trees are the ultimate gift to the earth and the future. Eric led us in a blessing to protect the rain forest for the children of our children.

We began to distinguish between a “wow” and a “wow-wow.” The guides feign enthusiasm for each sighting but I cannot imagine that after all this time it’s genuine. We saw monkeys again, a rhinoceros beetle, a convention of raucous parrots, a blue morpho butterfly, and a walking palm. The palm roots are above ground and reach out towards the sun to send new shoots. They can travel 8”-2 feet in a year.

We traversed the usual paths and tackled the eight suspension bridges and nine platforms. Only six of us could be on a bridge at one time and the bridges were extremely frisky. They reminded me of when our granddaughter Talia and I go on the little suspension bridge at the park. We always call out, “Wobble, wobble.” Just when I thought we crossed the last bridge and were near the lodge we began an interminable walk. The mud was slippery and I wanted it to be over. I took off moving quickly not realizing I was leaving Judi and David far behind. Darwin, one of the young escorts plucked a leaf from a tree when I said it was hot and he followed me and fanned me all the way back. By the time I missed David and Judi it was too late to turn around. They stuck together with their group and eventually showed up at the lodge swimming pool where we were offered banana muffins and ice cream. We were permitted to swim in the pool but even though several brought suits only one took advantage of it. The thought of having to put on our sweaty muddy clothes after swimming was too much to handle. One of our grouped a muffin to the wild monkeys with the permission of Eric. I was surprised at that. One monkey became very aggressive. They do put food out to lure the animals for the tourists to see but I don’t think it’s wise for the animals to learn that tourists can be a food source.

Village Vittles

We sailed a few yards downriver to a small village where a native family was preparing lunch for us. After placing the gangplank down our trusty crew erected a portable handrail tied with rope. I hadn’t noticed before but they must do it at every stop. At least they look out for us.

It was at that point that our camera died. There was a pop and David thought we needed a new battery. When he took the old one out it was fiery hot. He put the new one in and it too popped. We’ve commissioned Judi to be our photographer for the remainder of the trip. We always swap pictures anyway.

The village house where lunch was to be was the usual palm construction but this one was larger than expected. It had a family meeting room that easily accommodated almost thirty people. There were sleeping rooms, a loft, and a kitchen, which I was told was immaculate. The lodge where we’d walked this morning let the village tap into its electricity between 6 PM and midnight.

Our host family was introduced to us. They were freshly scrubbed and in newly laundered clothing. The mother was thirty-three years old. There were five children with the youngest being one year and four months. The mom appeared to be pregnant. The father was nineteen years old when they married and the mother was fifteen. They’d prefer if their children did not follow in their footsteps. They want them to go to school and become professionals. The thirteen year old girl wants to be a tour guide and the fifteen year old boy wants to study forest engineering.

They asked for help from strong men to bring the table in. It consisted of three huge palm leaves that were placed on the floor. The food was placed on the leaves and the mother demonstrated how to assemble and eat it. There were plates and cups but no utensils. They served a delicious fish with tomato and onions wrapped in a large leaf of some sort, grilled bananas in the skin, fish pond fruit and the juice made from it, (the fruit was dry and I drank my own bottled water), monkey brain (which is a nut), bread fruit, manioc root, mashed plantain, farina, and a yellow tomato salsa. We sat on benches along a wall and ate with our fingers. It was Purell all around.

The family and crew from our boat sat on the floor to eat. The mother and baby sat on the floor a little bit away from the group. She fed the baby then ate herself. When we gave them the gifts we brought from home they were presented in a ceremonial manner. We lined up opposite the family and each of us took turns walking up to them. We told them where we were from and gave them the gift. Freddy translated. Then we climbed the hill to their village gift shop.

Entertaining the Troops

Our late afternoon lesson on board the Aquamarina was learning how to cook a native dish called juane. It’s eaten during June celebrations. Chef Edwin provided the ingredients and we took turns assembling it. Two marantha leaves were held in the hand. Cooked rice was mixed with raw egg and piled on the leaves. Cooked chicken that had been marinated in garlic, bay leaf, turmeric, and ginger was added. To that was added olives, a hard-boiled egg, and more rice. It was wrapped in a bundle like a beggars pouch you see in Chinese restaurants and tied with string made from balsa wood. It was then boiled for a half hour and was part of our dinner. It was blander than I thought it would be. Since we seem to have run out of Coke Light on the boat I tried Inca Kola Light. It’s the national drink and tastes like cotton candy.

What do you do with the kids when you have down time? You show a video. We watched the National Geographic film called Land of the Flooded Forest. Since that’s what we’re seeing it was perfect. We’d tied up to a tree for the night and it was eerie to look out the window and see what was on the TV. At the end of the video the sun was setting on film as well as outside our picture windows. To make us feel more at home they passed around popcorn. It really was a nice touch.

When the continents split apart and South American drifted southwest seawater was trapped inland. That accounts for the dolphin and stingrays that got stuck here and had to adapt. The Amazon was a huge inland sea until the Andes rose forcing it to flow to the Atlantic and Pacific. During rainy season the water can reach up to thirty miles inland. I didn’t know that sloths were proficient swimmers. It looks like they’re doing underwater tai chi. Flooding allows them to move around more than they can above ground. Eric spotted a pod of dolphin cavorting off the stern so we paused the video about the Amazon to actually watch what was going on in the real Amazon.

There was a fried manioc appetizer with mayo/mustard dip before dinner. Yum! The Mute Band transformed itself into the Freshwater Dolphin Band and provided another joyous hour of entertainment. OAT hired the group of men as a band to play once a week on their cruises and then trained them as crew so that they were available every night. It was a good decision. They’re all very personable, good musicians, and good at their shipboard jobs. One man in particular is multi-talented. At one point during the evening he was holding a rondador under his arm and playing it while strumming a ukulele. They were going to teach us the Macarena but we knew it with a new twist for them. They don’t change direction during the dance. We taught them how to hop and turn. We didn’t realize it but we’d attracted an audience from a nearby village. The tree to which our boat was tied was loaded with kids watching our show.

Perhaps there’s such a thing as over-scheduling. There’s little down time to just sit and watch the world go by. We get about two hour siestas in the afternoon but little other time to loaf. Lots of the excursions are the same-old-same-old. There’s little to see here in any season except for birds, monkeys, and sloths. I thought it was because it was the rainy season but Eric said that the land animals aren’t easily visible at any time. On the skiff trip tonight we caught quick glimpses of night birds and one baby boa. I felt sorry for it. Freddy tried to grab it to help us see it better and it slithered away. I’m surprised they’re even permitted to interfere with the animals. We traveled at high speed in the skiff without running lights. I was sure we’d hit a log.
The best part of the trip was that we could see lots of stars. There’s nothing like jungle darkness. Well, maybe desert dark.

Tomorrow we have an early wake-up to see what? More birds.

Toby