March 5th 2009 - Machete!

After a breakfast where the highlight was parrot feeding we heading out for our Jungle trek. After learning a bit about the trees in the hostel grounds (like the golden tree which was like cinnamon and tasting coca leaves) and being given our orange war paint, we were ready to head out. Hardly five minutes into the walk I realised that my boots must have had a hole in them as even in shallow water my socks started getting wet. I didn’t let this hamper me except for having to stop after every stream to empty to water from my boots.

The Amazon (yeah baby!) was immense. I think I saw more shades of green and brown in those five hours than the rest of my life combined (I haven’t studied Dulex colour charts obviously). There were so many species of plants and trees that even though I saw hundreds, I must have missed hundreds more. I was constantly stopping just to gaze around the forest and each sight seemed so similar yet completely unique. Its amazing how some ecosystems can give that sensation.

We stopped for lunch at a little pebbly spot next to the river and then went to visit an indigenous family on the way back. We got to taste a tree root which they eat a lot of and it was so good I ate most of the bowl we had to share, before trying the alcoholic drink they drink which was also very pleasant.

The blip of Katja was taken at some point during the trek. And no, it was not part of a low budget horror film. One of the guides was tying something in the back of her hair and the machete in his hand was just being held in such a way that it looked like he was attacking a very happy and non-plussed Katja!

The evening was a mixed bag as my sore throat which had been coming on through the day was starting to feel worse, but a nice veggie meal and my first ever game of ‘Bean’ later and I was hoping in the morning I would feel better. We spent the rest of the evening arguing over what came first ‘popcorn or salt’ before discussing a bit of religion, terrorists and a few other issues before I got an early night.