To the Amazon Rain Forest
Posted in Uncategorized on July 19th, 2008 by admin – Be the first to commentNote: I´m heading home tomorrow (sunday) but wanted to get started on piecing together this portion of my trip for you all. More to come upon my return state-side… (please excuse typos)
Monday, July 14
As we drove to Shell from Quito (Plan B), we noticed that we could see the beautiful snow capped volcanoes. Looks like the weather has cleared – go figure.
The really cool part of this drive was through the deep wet river valley and the start of the Cloud Forest near a village called Banos (yes, Banos). Despite the unfortunate name Banos is the “extreme sports capital” of Ecuador. Just on our wisk through we witnessed mountain biking, rafting, kayaking and bungee jumping. The many waterfalls in the deep canyon accentuated this lovely spot.
Our Cessna flight to Kapawi lodge in the Amazon was nothing short of spectacular. For the first 15 minutes I could see an infrequent smattering of dwellings, then our final 45 minutes into the bowels of the jungle was nothing but a sea of forest as far as the eye could see. Sort of like a lush green version of the Pacific.
Once we decended into our brief dirt runway and I stepped out of our 4 seater plane it felt like OZ unfolding before me and the air smelled like warm honey. “Toto we definitely aren´t at 15,000 feet anymore…”
I have been in rainforests before in Borneo and Australia and I figured out fast that they are all remarkably unique and yet hold similar qualities as well. The sameness lies in the warm enveloping radiance of the moist, still climate teamed with a consistently frenetic vibrancy in the surrounding jungle. Its inviting and confusing at the same time – like being wrapped in a heavy down comforter with a raging storm outside.
On our brief tranquil canoe ride from the landing strip to the lodge I recalled the many rivers just like this one I have paddled and swam (and picked up diseases ..). And I had that feeling of hope I get when traveling to a remote place on the planet – that maybe, perhaps, we are not yet lost to our own ingorance and inadequacies in sustaining our planet. Just maybe…
Tuesday, July 15/16 – Amazon
Yesterday I whiled away the afternoon in the hammock on the deck of our “cabin” writing, watching birds listening to jungle noises. There is a constant chatter and drone about the rain forest. The sounds during the day are unique to those in evening and then at night. As the day progresses into night its as if the critters are slowly sliding the volume up to hit max right when you climb into bed. But the sound is soothing, natural – distinctly different from man made sounds.
We started our day with birdwatching from the river. I´ve never had an interest in going into nature with the purpose of looking at birds but the relaxing rhythm of the canoe and our countless sightings of birds unique to this part of the world kept my interest.
After a lovely breakfast (the food here is quite good and I seem to be adding some weight to my ass as a result), we headed out on a 3 hour hike with the motive of learning about the medicinal plants used by the Achuar people who live in and have the rights to this region of the Amazon.
Only 7 % of plants in the rain forest are edible! The rest are toxic or poisonous ( both of which can be used in particular medicines by the locals). If the forest was more safely chewable than it is it would be taken over by the ridiculous plethera of insects. The animals figure out what they can and can´t eat and yes, there is a very specific pecking order for how it all works. Nature is admirably smart in all this – we are the ones that tend to disrupt things. Though the Achuar have lived here since – God knows when – and they too have adapted to live in sync with all beings in the forest. All depend and thrive on each other for survival.
Here´s an example: The ant bird follows and eats army ants. Certain types of butterflies follow the ant bird and eat its feces – the ant bird apparently excretes a certain mineral that is needed for this butterfly to lay its eggs. So they all work off of each other to survive. We learned of just a few of thousands of these types of processes.
We examined plants used for pain, malaria, wounds, ear aches, to ward off evil spirits and to cure a child with a cold. Wow who needs mega-billion dollar pharmecutical companies when its all right here! Nature truly does provide if one is obliged to seek and experiment. More food and we decided to head out on another short hike before an afternoon canoe trip up river.
Tomorrow we will doing more trekking, then heading to a nearby Achuar village as we´ve been invited to spend the night, interact and have ceremony with these indigenous people. More about this part of my trip when I return to CA…
terri
