Day 22... Tribal life
You may remember that at the end of day 21 I was knackered and had collapsed into bed. I was out like a light.
Just after midnight I awoke with a start... drips of water were, not quite cascading, but certainly falling with regularity, through the roof, and the mosquito net, and onto my head!
Outside a full blown thunderstorm was in swing, thunder, lightening and torrential rain... I'm not talking southeast England rain, or even Scottish rain, I'm talking full on tropical downpour. Hmmm that will make today's trip interesting.... I settled back down and managed to find a spot that the water drops weren't reaching and went back to sleep.
0500 and once again I jerked awake... not sure why but I got myself organised, visited the bathroom suite, and then made my way to breakfast. I had remembered my first aid kit and I asked if the family wanted me to treat their little boys burn. Maria brought him out with the other 2 boys looking on. The blister was still intact, but as he was running around with bare feet, I was worried it would get infected.
Out of my first aid kit I dug out Savlon cream, a non stick dressing and tape. Understandably the little boy was not wanting me to touch his foot, it was clearly hurting...
with his mother holding his foot, I applied the cream and carefully covered it with the dressing, taping it down, not sure how long it would last. The kid clearly wasn't a fan of me but as I'm used to making babies cry, it didn't worry me too much!
After that was sorted, Maria and Teicho started laying out jewellery and other craft items that they had made. They got dressed up in native dress and explained that a group of tourists was coming to see them that morning. The jewellery was exquisite, made from seeds and beads and wood. I was well impressed. Needless to say a few dollars went towards the community. Teicho showed me a spear that had been carved with an anaconda, again in such beautiful fashion. I debated the possibility of getting it on the plane and decided it might be too problematic!!
Now if you thought I was lounging on a sun lounger (mickey C) this next part of the tale may make you realise just how much effort was going into this part of my adventure!!
After breakfast, Franklin got the kayak ready for our little paddle down river to the Limoncocha lagoon (or so I thought). We left Miguel clearing up breakfast and settled ourselves in the kayak.
The sun was already beating down hard and it must have been 25°C already.
We started off...
I had forgotten how much you need arm muscles for kayaking and before long mine were complaining... we passed turtles that flopped lazily into the water as we passed, we saw vultures and mcaws and herons as we glided along... we felt the waves from passing motorboats that caused our kayak to thump into the water...
an hour passed ... and still we paddled on...
past jungle with trees stretching up into the bright blue sky, past mud banks and sandbanks .. cutting across the mighty river to find a way through....
another hour passed...
everything hurt...
everything was soaked....
hands were burnt...
and starting to cramp....
Not far said Franklin... 20 minutes (he meant in a motorboat)!
onwards we went...energy waning... more turtles, more vultures and then a few beautiful swift tailed kites, diving down to skim the water...
frankly.. I didn't care... I was knackered and had no clear idea of how much longer this torture was going to continue....
another hour....
Franklin standing up in the back of the kayak, pushing us along ... he also was getting tired with the efforts...
suddenly he pointed... our boat... he said.
Our boat ... really??
Thank fcuk... Miguel appeared alongside our kayak... rescuing us. From the babble of Spanish and the laughter that followed, I gathered that he was supposed to have picked us up a while ago, but had missed us and had to double back to search...
I collapsed in the motorboat ... grinning... no energy left.
We motored on up the river for another 20 minutes before arriving at a little town which had a market. We waited on the side of the road for a taxi which would take us to Limoncocha lagoon and reserve... apparently a good place to see anacondas.
As we stood there a women dressed in a pink vest and with a pink bag with the word AVON plastered across it.
I blinked in disbelief....
and looked again... yup... even here, the AVON ladies come calling. I tried to explain to Franklin why I was laughing... it just seemed so absurd.
Eventually the taxi came and we took a short drive to the reserve. Wooden buildings greeted us and an air of officialdom not seen before... passport number handed over and we were admitted to the reserve. Another short walk to the dock for the boat that would carry us round the lagoon. This time we got a guide from the reserve and Franklin explained what we were looking for.
We spent over an hour scanning all the floating grass beds and low lying trees, pushed our way through water plants, disturbing over 1 million flies in the process. Most of these were like aphids and didn't seem to bite, they just got everywhere. Amongst the myriad of aphids there were a few hundred thousand dragon flies of varying sizes and colours. If they hadn't been buzzing in our faces, it would have been a spectacular sight.
The sun was still beating down, almost unbearable at times, but the guides kept up a watchful eye on the surrounding area, looking for any sign of the elusive reptiles.
Of course surrounding the lake in the trees, there was plenty of other wildlife to see. Monkeys made the odd appearance along with many types of heron, and storks, and even the little bats that hang on the underside of branches... but no snakes.
Apparently the huge deluge last night had made water levels rise, making it harder to spot the anaconda. Between that and it's camouflage, we were on a hiding to nothing. Even in a zoo, with the snakes enclosed in 20ft enclosures, they are still hard to spot... out here nigh on impossible. Their colours of black, green, yellow are perfect to blend in with the lagoon and it's surroundings.
And so after trailing the waterways we eventually returned to the dock. Despite copious suncream, my face and the backs of my hands were bright red. We wandered back to the main road, the heat of the day rendering us listless and slow. Once there, we hopped on a local bus, back to the market town and our waiting boat... but not before I dived into the market and bought 3 bottles of coke... full fat... full sugar... perfect!
Miguel and Franklin had cooked up a plan of going to another lagoon, one which may provide a better chance to see the anaconda... (they were taking this hunt as seriously as me). First we went to a village and picked up a little kid... then onto another village, where we dropped the kid off and picked up a young man, obviously in the middle of a game of football as he jumped in the boat with his football boots on! We carried on up river until we beached up and headed into the jungle led by our new guide.
We walked along a track and then came to a nice wooden walkway, which we followed until we reached the lagoon. The young man jumped into a half submerged boat, and proceeded to bail out the water. It looked decidedly rickety.
Add to that, the fact that we then squeezed 4 of us onto this dodgy boat and I was more than a little concerned about capsizing, mainly because my phone would die!
We managed to navigate the narrow waterways of pashpancho lagoon... it was beautiful and still and felt like we were adventurers, blazing a trail through unknown territory. Still no anacondas...
Franklin pointed out trails in the grass that the anacondas had made, large trails for large snakes. Unfortunately it seemed that they were too wise for us, and the trails were the closest we got!
We gave up for today... the heat having sizzled us all to a crisp....
we headed back to our base. We had time before dinner so I headed back to my room, Franklin tow, so I could pack up my stuff ready for a quick getaway in the morning. It was now dark. I swept my headtorch from left to right along the trail ... when suddenly I froze... Franklin copying me.
In the beam of my headtorch was a snake... not an anaconda... but a snake... a live one!!
Franklin looked at it and declared it not to be venemous... he then shouted to Miguel, whilst I grabbed a few pictures. I was happy, found snake... had pictures!!
Franklin and Miguel had other ideas and started trying to catch it... I disuaded them, saying I didn't need a closer picture, I had one, I was happy, there no need to stress it out and catch it. Fortunately the snake had disappeared and I wondered off to my room.
I had just started to get my kit ready, when Franklin called me outside. Standing there grinning were the both of them, Miguel holding the snake. I sighed in frustration... took another quick picture to make them happy and them implored them to let it go. When they did it slithered away and I followed at a distance, filming it as it climbed up a tree and disappeared from sight! Good day!
We made our way to the communal area for dinner and Maria was there with her crying little boy... the gauze had come off and the blister had burst, so I got my first aid kit, dug out another dressing, and with background protestations, proceeded to redress the burn. I gave Maria more dressings, the tape and the tube of savlon and said the boy needed to wear shoes if he had any. I said if it got worse, she needed to take him to a doctor but Franklin told me that was pretty much impossible for these people. So I crossed my fingers and hoped with the dressing keeping it clean, it would heal ok.
The little lad high fived me and was fascinated when I took his picture... from then on, we were best of friends and he gave me a high five and a grin whenever he saw me.
It opened my eyes to the reality facing these people. basic medical care appeared to be out of reach for them. If someone was seriously ill it was possible to get them to a doctor but for more minor things, apparently not!
I went to bed pondering this... the things we take for granted and how lucky some of us are.
Just after midnight I awoke with a start... drips of water were, not quite cascading, but certainly falling with regularity, through the roof, and the mosquito net, and onto my head!
Outside a full blown thunderstorm was in swing, thunder, lightening and torrential rain... I'm not talking southeast England rain, or even Scottish rain, I'm talking full on tropical downpour. Hmmm that will make today's trip interesting.... I settled back down and managed to find a spot that the water drops weren't reaching and went back to sleep.
0500 and once again I jerked awake... not sure why but I got myself organised, visited the bathroom suite, and then made my way to breakfast. I had remembered my first aid kit and I asked if the family wanted me to treat their little boys burn. Maria brought him out with the other 2 boys looking on. The blister was still intact, but as he was running around with bare feet, I was worried it would get infected.
Out of my first aid kit I dug out Savlon cream, a non stick dressing and tape. Understandably the little boy was not wanting me to touch his foot, it was clearly hurting...
with his mother holding his foot, I applied the cream and carefully covered it with the dressing, taping it down, not sure how long it would last. The kid clearly wasn't a fan of me but as I'm used to making babies cry, it didn't worry me too much!
After that was sorted, Maria and Teicho started laying out jewellery and other craft items that they had made. They got dressed up in native dress and explained that a group of tourists was coming to see them that morning. The jewellery was exquisite, made from seeds and beads and wood. I was well impressed. Needless to say a few dollars went towards the community. Teicho showed me a spear that had been carved with an anaconda, again in such beautiful fashion. I debated the possibility of getting it on the plane and decided it might be too problematic!!
Now if you thought I was lounging on a sun lounger (mickey C) this next part of the tale may make you realise just how much effort was going into this part of my adventure!!
After breakfast, Franklin got the kayak ready for our little paddle down river to the Limoncocha lagoon (or so I thought). We left Miguel clearing up breakfast and settled ourselves in the kayak.
The sun was already beating down hard and it must have been 25°C already.
We started off...
I had forgotten how much you need arm muscles for kayaking and before long mine were complaining... we passed turtles that flopped lazily into the water as we passed, we saw vultures and mcaws and herons as we glided along... we felt the waves from passing motorboats that caused our kayak to thump into the water...
an hour passed ... and still we paddled on...
past jungle with trees stretching up into the bright blue sky, past mud banks and sandbanks .. cutting across the mighty river to find a way through....
another hour passed...
everything hurt...
everything was soaked....
hands were burnt...
and starting to cramp....
Not far said Franklin... 20 minutes (he meant in a motorboat)!
onwards we went...energy waning... more turtles, more vultures and then a few beautiful swift tailed kites, diving down to skim the water...
frankly.. I didn't care... I was knackered and had no clear idea of how much longer this torture was going to continue....
another hour....
Franklin standing up in the back of the kayak, pushing us along ... he also was getting tired with the efforts...
suddenly he pointed... our boat... he said.
Our boat ... really??
Thank fcuk... Miguel appeared alongside our kayak... rescuing us. From the babble of Spanish and the laughter that followed, I gathered that he was supposed to have picked us up a while ago, but had missed us and had to double back to search...
I collapsed in the motorboat ... grinning... no energy left.
We motored on up the river for another 20 minutes before arriving at a little town which had a market. We waited on the side of the road for a taxi which would take us to Limoncocha lagoon and reserve... apparently a good place to see anacondas.
As we stood there a women dressed in a pink vest and with a pink bag with the word AVON plastered across it.
I blinked in disbelief....
and looked again... yup... even here, the AVON ladies come calling. I tried to explain to Franklin why I was laughing... it just seemed so absurd.
Eventually the taxi came and we took a short drive to the reserve. Wooden buildings greeted us and an air of officialdom not seen before... passport number handed over and we were admitted to the reserve. Another short walk to the dock for the boat that would carry us round the lagoon. This time we got a guide from the reserve and Franklin explained what we were looking for.
We spent over an hour scanning all the floating grass beds and low lying trees, pushed our way through water plants, disturbing over 1 million flies in the process. Most of these were like aphids and didn't seem to bite, they just got everywhere. Amongst the myriad of aphids there were a few hundred thousand dragon flies of varying sizes and colours. If they hadn't been buzzing in our faces, it would have been a spectacular sight.
The sun was still beating down, almost unbearable at times, but the guides kept up a watchful eye on the surrounding area, looking for any sign of the elusive reptiles.
Of course surrounding the lake in the trees, there was plenty of other wildlife to see. Monkeys made the odd appearance along with many types of heron, and storks, and even the little bats that hang on the underside of branches... but no snakes.
Apparently the huge deluge last night had made water levels rise, making it harder to spot the anaconda. Between that and it's camouflage, we were on a hiding to nothing. Even in a zoo, with the snakes enclosed in 20ft enclosures, they are still hard to spot... out here nigh on impossible. Their colours of black, green, yellow are perfect to blend in with the lagoon and it's surroundings.
And so after trailing the waterways we eventually returned to the dock. Despite copious suncream, my face and the backs of my hands were bright red. We wandered back to the main road, the heat of the day rendering us listless and slow. Once there, we hopped on a local bus, back to the market town and our waiting boat... but not before I dived into the market and bought 3 bottles of coke... full fat... full sugar... perfect!
Miguel and Franklin had cooked up a plan of going to another lagoon, one which may provide a better chance to see the anaconda... (they were taking this hunt as seriously as me). First we went to a village and picked up a little kid... then onto another village, where we dropped the kid off and picked up a young man, obviously in the middle of a game of football as he jumped in the boat with his football boots on! We carried on up river until we beached up and headed into the jungle led by our new guide.
We walked along a track and then came to a nice wooden walkway, which we followed until we reached the lagoon. The young man jumped into a half submerged boat, and proceeded to bail out the water. It looked decidedly rickety.
Add to that, the fact that we then squeezed 4 of us onto this dodgy boat and I was more than a little concerned about capsizing, mainly because my phone would die!
We managed to navigate the narrow waterways of pashpancho lagoon... it was beautiful and still and felt like we were adventurers, blazing a trail through unknown territory. Still no anacondas...
Franklin pointed out trails in the grass that the anacondas had made, large trails for large snakes. Unfortunately it seemed that they were too wise for us, and the trails were the closest we got!
We gave up for today... the heat having sizzled us all to a crisp....
we headed back to our base. We had time before dinner so I headed back to my room, Franklin tow, so I could pack up my stuff ready for a quick getaway in the morning. It was now dark. I swept my headtorch from left to right along the trail ... when suddenly I froze... Franklin copying me.
In the beam of my headtorch was a snake... not an anaconda... but a snake... a live one!!
Franklin looked at it and declared it not to be venemous... he then shouted to Miguel, whilst I grabbed a few pictures. I was happy, found snake... had pictures!!
Franklin and Miguel had other ideas and started trying to catch it... I disuaded them, saying I didn't need a closer picture, I had one, I was happy, there no need to stress it out and catch it. Fortunately the snake had disappeared and I wondered off to my room.
I had just started to get my kit ready, when Franklin called me outside. Standing there grinning were the both of them, Miguel holding the snake. I sighed in frustration... took another quick picture to make them happy and them implored them to let it go. When they did it slithered away and I followed at a distance, filming it as it climbed up a tree and disappeared from sight! Good day!
We made our way to the communal area for dinner and Maria was there with her crying little boy... the gauze had come off and the blister had burst, so I got my first aid kit, dug out another dressing, and with background protestations, proceeded to redress the burn. I gave Maria more dressings, the tape and the tube of savlon and said the boy needed to wear shoes if he had any. I said if it got worse, she needed to take him to a doctor but Franklin told me that was pretty much impossible for these people. So I crossed my fingers and hoped with the dressing keeping it clean, it would heal ok.
The little lad high fived me and was fascinated when I took his picture... from then on, we were best of friends and he gave me a high five and a grin whenever he saw me.
It opened my eyes to the reality facing these people. basic medical care appeared to be out of reach for them. If someone was seriously ill it was possible to get them to a doctor but for more minor things, apparently not!
I went to bed pondering this... the things we take for granted and how lucky some of us are.
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