Sunset on the River Napo
It`s hard to believe that in just one week my time in the jungle will be over...time flies by very fast. Currently Tena and the rest of Ecuador is celebrating Carnaval, which in most places means TONS of water fights. I have been relatively lucky and haven`t been targetted too much, but I have seen kids dumping buckets of water on people´s heads from rooftops, middle-aged women standing in their doorways with super-soakers, and teenagers launching water balloons at passing buses.....not that many buses have been passing anywhere lately, due to strikes in the province that have complicated things for the past week. It looks like things are finally resolved, and buses, cars and trucks are running normally again.
Last week, when I spent time in Tena posting pictures, I was getting over some stomach issues....my trip to Quito wasn`t much fun, since I got sick on the trip to the city...by the time I got there, all I wanted to do was sleep, so I didn`t even leave the apartment we stayed at during my day in Quito. I went to the doctor here in Tena when I got back, since I sensed that I had amoebas....my stomach felt similar to how it felt 3 years ago when I had them, and sure enough the doctor thought I was right. He prescribed a shot in the butt and three different types of pills...it seems like they did the trick, since now I am basically all better.
This past week I spent most of the time in the jungle...a nice couple from California was here for four days and I helped translate for them even though their Spanish was quite good....I had a lot of fun with them. We spent two days at Amarongachi Cabins, where we hiked the waterfalls and then continued on to a 4th waterfall that I had never seen before. We also played lots of cuarenta and went tubing a bit on the Jatunyacu....icy cold but lots of fun.
On Thursday we spent a day at Shangri-La, where we joined up for a morning hike to the canyons with a GAP tour group of 1 American and 4 Brits. The hike was nice and pretty uneventful up until halfway through. Matildo (guide from Shangri-La) was in the lead, followed by Gary (from USA), followed by me, followed by 7 others. Just as I was about to take a step, I looked down and saw a snake, coiled up and sleeping in the middle of the trail. Gary, who hadn`t seen it, had stepped only 10 centimeters away from it. Matildo hadn`t seen it either. I quickly stepped back and told everyone to wait a second, then called to Matildo to say that there was a snake. Matildo looked at it and quickly determined that it was an ´equis´ snake (a local name for a type of Fer-de-Lance), which is a very very poisonous snake (i.e. if it bites you and you don`t quickly eat a special medicinal plant or get medical help, you have only a few minutes to live). All of us crept passed the snake (luckily it was quite small and sleeping soundly, and there was plenty of room to walk around it). Then we watched as Matildo, with a single stroke of the machete, killed the snake. After the snake was dead, Matildo opened it`s mouth for us to show us the fangs and the little sacks where the poison is stored. It was pretty cool but also pretty gross. I was mostly just happy that no one actually stepped on it...I was talking on IM just now with my Dad who found this link about snakes. Check it out for a picture and a description of the snake family:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/snakes-5.php Fer-de-lance
In the afternoon, the GAP group went tubing, but I went with the American couple to Santa Monica, the Quichua community, where they tried chicha de yuca and we chatted with the people there. It was a nice sunny afternoon and the walk was very pleasant. In the evening after dinner, we were playing cards with the GAP group and I went down to my room to get something....just as I got to my door, something scurried across the porch floor....I assumed at first that it was a cricket (which are often very large), but when I looked I saw that it was actually a tarantula (the same type that is in the picture). Actually, I now know that this is not a tarantula exactly, rather a spider called a ´monkey spider´ due to its ability to run quickly and even jump at its prey! I called Matildo, who came down to see the spider along with everyone who was playing cards....we all watched as Matildo killed this too, since it`s quite poisonous and it was hanging out dangerously close to the cabins. It was the second time in one day that I came close to stepping on a poisonous animal! After the excitement was over, Gary noted that it was funny that we had killed practically all of the wildlife we saw that day!
Yesterday was a relaxing day since there were only two tourists....I went tubing in the afternoon which was relaxing...today I have a free day, and it looks like on Monday I`m going whitewater rafting again. Sweeet. Now Ì`m off to the market to buy some fruits and vegetables...I`m going to try to cook Thai food tonight (papaya salad and massaman curry). Wish me luck!
Last week, when I spent time in Tena posting pictures, I was getting over some stomach issues....my trip to Quito wasn`t much fun, since I got sick on the trip to the city...by the time I got there, all I wanted to do was sleep, so I didn`t even leave the apartment we stayed at during my day in Quito. I went to the doctor here in Tena when I got back, since I sensed that I had amoebas....my stomach felt similar to how it felt 3 years ago when I had them, and sure enough the doctor thought I was right. He prescribed a shot in the butt and three different types of pills...it seems like they did the trick, since now I am basically all better.
This past week I spent most of the time in the jungle...a nice couple from California was here for four days and I helped translate for them even though their Spanish was quite good....I had a lot of fun with them. We spent two days at Amarongachi Cabins, where we hiked the waterfalls and then continued on to a 4th waterfall that I had never seen before. We also played lots of cuarenta and went tubing a bit on the Jatunyacu....icy cold but lots of fun.
On Thursday we spent a day at Shangri-La, where we joined up for a morning hike to the canyons with a GAP tour group of 1 American and 4 Brits. The hike was nice and pretty uneventful up until halfway through. Matildo (guide from Shangri-La) was in the lead, followed by Gary (from USA), followed by me, followed by 7 others. Just as I was about to take a step, I looked down and saw a snake, coiled up and sleeping in the middle of the trail. Gary, who hadn`t seen it, had stepped only 10 centimeters away from it. Matildo hadn`t seen it either. I quickly stepped back and told everyone to wait a second, then called to Matildo to say that there was a snake. Matildo looked at it and quickly determined that it was an ´equis´ snake (a local name for a type of Fer-de-Lance), which is a very very poisonous snake (i.e. if it bites you and you don`t quickly eat a special medicinal plant or get medical help, you have only a few minutes to live). All of us crept passed the snake (luckily it was quite small and sleeping soundly, and there was plenty of room to walk around it). Then we watched as Matildo, with a single stroke of the machete, killed the snake. After the snake was dead, Matildo opened it`s mouth for us to show us the fangs and the little sacks where the poison is stored. It was pretty cool but also pretty gross. I was mostly just happy that no one actually stepped on it...I was talking on IM just now with my Dad who found this link about snakes. Check it out for a picture and a description of the snake family:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/snakes-5.php Fer-de-lance
In the afternoon, the GAP group went tubing, but I went with the American couple to Santa Monica, the Quichua community, where they tried chicha de yuca and we chatted with the people there. It was a nice sunny afternoon and the walk was very pleasant. In the evening after dinner, we were playing cards with the GAP group and I went down to my room to get something....just as I got to my door, something scurried across the porch floor....I assumed at first that it was a cricket (which are often very large), but when I looked I saw that it was actually a tarantula (the same type that is in the picture). Actually, I now know that this is not a tarantula exactly, rather a spider called a ´monkey spider´ due to its ability to run quickly and even jump at its prey! I called Matildo, who came down to see the spider along with everyone who was playing cards....we all watched as Matildo killed this too, since it`s quite poisonous and it was hanging out dangerously close to the cabins. It was the second time in one day that I came close to stepping on a poisonous animal! After the excitement was over, Gary noted that it was funny that we had killed practically all of the wildlife we saw that day!
Yesterday was a relaxing day since there were only two tourists....I went tubing in the afternoon which was relaxing...today I have a free day, and it looks like on Monday I`m going whitewater rafting again. Sweeet. Now Ì`m off to the market to buy some fruits and vegetables...I`m going to try to cook Thai food tonight (papaya salad and massaman curry). Wish me luck!
posted by DMP @ 7:45 AM
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