Jungle Carnival - Days 3 & 4: Fiesta de Agua

This was our last day living around the river Arajuno and we had one more quick excursion: to see a 200 year old tree and visit the Amazonico, a sanctuary for rescued wild animals. This not before a heavy dose of the tropical rainstorm. In its true cats and dogs format it washed down in big drops and the thatched roofing kept us all dry but did not keep away the pitter-patter, splosh-dosh noise of the rain on the vegetation. The heavy rains the night before caused an immense surge in the river flow. Even the depth: the docking berth for the lodge was unrecognisable and we didn't have to wade in. Not to mention the fact that the river went from green to brown overnight!

Have a look at the tree....






The whole wall is the tree trunk!...welcome to the Amazon





Who knows, after a couple of hundred years these vines will finally kill off the old sage of a tree

On our return to so-called civilisation we had to go back up river again and our "captain" had the task of keeping the boat from smashing into the banks and also to cut off the engine if a cluster of think debris comes by us.

The angrier, "browner" river Arajuno....not so "green" and docile anymore

We got back to Tena to enjoy the carnival till the following day. It was a combo of people gathering, playing traditional games, dancing and singing with an obsession with water boarding (CIA, take notes). And don't bother to bring your best clothing; you will get so soaked you won't recognise your clothes. Sometimes the kids put dye in the water to add that bit of colour to the splashfest so leave your guccis and pradas at home!

Permit me to demonstrate...





One of the fellas gives a blow-by-blow account of an encounter....






..so, we were jus' chillin' on the street corner...not much goin' on..





...then some fools jumped us with water cannons, buckets and all types of hydroprojectiles...

A very bad chronology but hey, u get the drift. Whilst in Tena we visited yet another zoological park, on a river island around which the Napo river flows. You will have noticed that there quite a few places to see animals behind cages. I personally think "whats the bloody point" when this is the environment where they can roam free and be seen free. The quality of these "zoologicos" varies from place to place. This particular one was the most depressing. Even the snakes, those slithery creatures that can make a home in any nook and cranny looked morbid behind the chicken wire. Some of the visitors are no better. The lack of appreciation and understanding of nature by the city folk is quite shocking. A saw a grown woman cooing at a wild cat and trying to feed it fruits. I felt like opening the cage and letting the feline bite her so she realises that she ain't dealin' with no vege!

Some highlights:

The African guinea fowl: nice to know Im not alone so far away from home....





A peccary (type of pig) feeling at home in the mud






I saw millions of these little chaps on a mission....






As you can see, it was a mission impossible.....look, an ant eater





Funky water trough...





Some beautiful macaus....they were all paired up (most pair up for life and display some fidelity that would make the French blush.....some you can't see here) except for a miserable old male with shaggy plumage (he lost the will to attract the ladiez)







Stealth turtle...he's gonna get ya....in a couple of hours...









Sunset from the hostel.....that's all folks!


K.

Jungle Carnival - Day 2: Abundance of fruit, veg and booze!

The beds of the thatched roof cabanas were really comfy and I slept well. Food is pretty much grown here so we were getting fresh muesli, fruit juice and bread for breakfast. Local coffee too! The view from the lounge is the river and dense vegetation with all sorts of diverse flora plus some spider monkeys messing about in the trees. These ones are a wild variety than don't care too much about human presence. Very rare!

The dining/lounge area the river that feeds the Amazon...

We had 2 rainforest excursions today. One into the jungle around the lodge with a local guide to discover interesting plants of medicinal and culinary value. We were in gum boots, as is normal out here, especially because the rains of last night made the tracks boggy. Plus the guide wielded a machete to break open the path that is constantly closed in by the rapid plant growth. And now, a pictorial walk through....

"Semillas rojos" - this is a red dye used for ornamental purposes. The "Colorado"(means 'red colour') or "Tsáchila"(means 'true people') tribe of the Ecuador coastal lowlands colour their hair red with this dye...

We needed to watch out for these "hormigas" (ants). Some species are very aggressive and inflict up to 3 days of pain!

This ant hive is bigger than a backpack!

Vines ('Liana' in Spanish, 'Huasqa' in Quechua) are used for construction (to bind beams), food wrapping, ornaments and even fish traps! One variety has a fluid that acts as an anti-snake venom serum!

In front of a stout virgin tree...probably over 150 years old!




These tip-toe type trees have "raizes duros", strong roots that make fantastic walking sticks




Playful woolly monkeys at a Swiss-run animal sanctuary

The tourism circus in town.....no wonder those monkeys go nuts (the monkeys, not the tourists)...and checkout 'superwoolly': he is eying those drinks!

Animal conference back at the lodge....

After lunch we were back into our boots and jumped into the lodge motor boat to cross the super-fast river, which was washing down all sorts of debris including tree trunks (i kid u not), towards a river island called Anaconda Island. There aren't any anacondas left as a community live on the island, have cleared a lot of the native vegetation and cultivate. We visited the plantations and the Quechua village there. We sampled some "chicha", a "yuca" (cassava) based alcohol and had a go at hunting using a blowpipe to launch a dart at a wooden parrot (no real targets unfortunately ;-p).

One of the houses at the Quechua village...a typical construction except for the corrugated roof (normally they use palm leaves to thatch a roof)

The palm tree is another all important plant: palm fruit, palm oil and the palm centre ('palmito' in Spanish) are all edible products. The leaves are used for construction, traditional clothing etc. The trunk for timber, construction etc.

It is not pleasant to run through the forest with these spikes hanging around...




Anything grows out of anything anywhere in the Amazon




Marching ants negotiating the cacao fruit route....




I've never seen the real source of chocolate before ......but I'm enjoyin' this first close encounter!




This is related to the banana but it grows upwards and is not edible at all!!!




Pounding the cassava and......




....a couple of fermenting days later, hey presto!




Boots n all.....


K.