Rain Forest

Today was fun but but exhausting. We were off at 6:00 am on a "speed boat" and traveled about an hour downstream on the Amazon and then another hour upstream on the Napo. The Napo flows out of the Ecuadoran
Andes. From the Napo we took another tributary that I can't pronounce, much less spell. It reminded me of Village Creek. The trip was 70 miles by river. We had breakfast in a raised palapa and then headed into the rain forest. After an hour trek through the forest we ascended a number of platforms connected by narrow (10") suspension bridges. We worked our way up to 127' above the forest floor. Bromeliads and rhododendrons everywhere along with butterflies. From there we trekked another hour and half to a "medicine garden. We were surprised with the amount of topography; we were constantly climbing or descending steep slopes. Added to this was the heat and humidity, think Houston in August. We were very fortunate that it didn't rain but, even so, the ground is always wet, damp, and slippery. Only 10% of the sunlight makes it to the forest floor. At the medicine garden we met two shaman. The garden is a small clearing in the jungle, about 11 acres, where about 245 variety of plants are cultivated. The shaman have begun working with a number of institutions and pharmacist to classify the plants they work with. The shaman were surprising people - they began in there native language, switched to Spanish and rolled smoothly into English. They gave not only the local name but translated to English and gave the scientific name. While they sounded at times like botanist, they never lost the spiritual aspect. Paula and I participated in a ceremony to remove negative forces and to cleanse our spirit. We needed it after trekking for 4 hours. It was a good experience and did make us feel much better. It ended with rubbing an extract of orchids and rose wood on your face - very refreshing. From the shaman it was a short hike back to the palapa for lunch. We were back on the river by 3:00. The Cieba Lodge that appeared primitive yesterday looked like an oasis when we returned - electricity and running water! Paula and I stripped off our sweat soaked clothes and dove into the pool - actually, slid In.



Back on the ground.

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Location:Peru