The Blaus - South America and Europe

1 de Julio, Amazonas - Colombia

The small jungle town of Leticia is Colombia's foothold in Amazonas. It is like an urban island in the middle of the Amazon jungle. When we flew into Leticia we were able to see the jungle from above. The Colombian jungle stretched for hundreds of miles, as far as the eye could see. It is a huge expanse of green without clearing or development and with tributaries of the Amazon river winding through like a snake. The clouds above the jungle cast black shadows on the otherwise green homogenous uninterrupted space. As we descended and got closer to the ground we could start to make out details of the treetops. We spotted the mammoth Amazon river just before landing, and from that height it looked like a wide, brown, silvery column of water.

There is no road into Leticia, which means that the only way in or out is by airplane or boat. When our plans to go to Caracas to visit our friend David fell through, we learned that we could intead make our way to the northern coastal region of Brazil by boat on the Amazon starting in Leticia and floating down river to Belem. When we arrived in Leticia and gathered information about river boat schedules, we discovered that we had some extra time on our hands and an opportunity to go back into the jungle again. We found ourselves a guide (Daniel) who tailored a jungle trek to our desires. When he asked about our dreams of the Amazon we told him that we wished to stay overnight in the jungle, see a sloth, butterflies, flora and fauna, get to know the way of life of the indigenous Amazon tribes, and drink Ayahuasca with a shaman. We had 3 nights and 4 days before the next river boat was scheduled to leave for Manaus, so we created an itinerary around this timeline and set out for our journey into the jungle.

The day we left Leticia we spent most of our time on a boat with Domingo (our trusty boat driver) and Daniel traveling the Amazon and its tributaries to get as far away from civilization as possible. As we cruised up river away from Leticia our guide pointed out the borders of Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, which converge at the river's edges. He also pointed out the banks of the river where giant pieces of land were freshly displaced by the constant force of the moving water. Nearby islands had been formed anew as the mud from the banks collected in shallower spots. Daniel pointed out the brown color and opaque quality of the river, which is made up of a mixture of mud and water. He said that if you were to put a cup of river water into a glass and let it sit for awhile, the mud would settle to the bottom of the glass and separate into a layer of water sitting on top of a layer of mud. We were on a very comfortable boat, big enough to accommodate 10 people with a large shade tarp and cushions on bench seats.

Our first stop was at Monkey Island (Isla de los Mikos), aptly named for the population of squirrel monkeys that live in the trees there. We donned our knee high rubber boots, slathered ourselves with mosquito repellent and left the boat on the shore to follow Daniel into the jungle. There was no path, so we stayed close behind Daniel as he cut down obstacles with a machete. This is not as much fun as it may sound, because the dense jungle is a bit difficult to negotiate with sticky spider webs, low hanging vines, and thick green growth from the ground up to the canopy. Daniel's machete hardly carved out a trail in the thick vegetation, so if we didn't keep up with him we would quickly lose our way. We hiked to the middle of the island where we could hear squirrel monkeys overhead in the trees. We sat patiently with a banana in hand in hopes of attracting them, but unlike the Bolivian squirrel monkeys in the Pampas that jumped out of the trees onto our heads, these monkeys were too wild to come near us. We then walked to the other side of the island to see water lillies in a lake. On the way we encountered a private security guard who informed us that the island had recently been purchased by the owner of the largest hotel in Leticia. The island is now private property and access to it is restricted. We could see the disappointment and despair in Daniel's face when he later translated the news to us and said, "Poor monkeys."

We continued on somberly (this time on a worn path) and we spotted an owl in the middle of the trail. It must have been a baby that strayed from the nest because it shouldn't have been out in the open like that in broad daylight (they are blind in the light of day) and it didn't fly away when we approached. It raised its wings up in defense if we tried to move closer to it. We found ourselves mesmerized by its striking coloring and slow blinking eyes. We continued on again to a lake where water lillies grow and along the way Daniel pointed out many trees, plants and fruits and their medicinal uses. The sap from one tree is used to concoct a drug to treat impotence. The fallen, rotten, sour smelling fruit from another tree is used to treat the common cold (gripa). Daniel pointed out a cacao plant. The seed of the cacao plant is used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter. We stopped at the lake to admire large systems of underwater roots that sprouted giant lily pads and delicate flowers of colors that change from purple to white as they bloom. We made our way back to the boat for lunch to later resume the journey up river to a small tributary of the Amazon where it would be easier to spot a sloth.

We were stopped at a Peruvian police checkpoint for some time while Daniel negotiated our entrance to this part of the river. Here where the two rivers met, we could see a drastic change in the color of the water. The tributary was a dark brown color, like black Colombian coffee, and the Amazon's color looked like creamy milk chocolate in comparison. We watched a man fishing with a net in a small wooden canoe. His silhouette was magical as he stood in his boat and cast his circular net into the water and then pulled it out of the river to capture any fish caught in it. This was a very serene image of life on the Amazon. A pink dolphin popped up for air at the convergence of these two rivers. Daniel explained how clever the dolphins are as they wait for unsuspecting fish to swim down river and into their bellies at these strategic places where two rivers meet. The theiving dolphins have devised an even craftier way of catching dinner. They nibble on big fish (like Dorado or Pirarucu, which can easily grow larger than a medium sized man) when they are caught in fishermen's nets and unable to escape. Fishermen often pull their catches out of the water to find that they are missing heads and tails or big chunks have been bitten out of their sides.

We drifted down this smaller, darker river and craned our necks for 2 hours looking for a sloth in the treetops lining the river. These 3 toed sloths are not easy to find because they look just like termite nests high up in the branches of trees. There are also not many of them left in the jungle near villages, because they are hunted for their meat. Daniel pointed out the 2 types of trees where they live and after hours of searching we finally spotted one. We stopped the boat to get a good look at him and we watched as he slowly climbed further up to the very top branches of the tree where he could eat the tender new leaves at the tips of the highest branches and sleep for the night. For us, it was very special to see one of these strange creatures in the wild. We didn´t have binoculars, so we couldn´t see details, but we could see him hanging there by both arms with his little head peeking out at us. As we continued down the river every once in awhile we´d see a group of 50 or so butterflies flitting around a particular spot on shore, creating a flurry of color and movement to contrast with the constant brown of the river and the solid green vegetation on the riverbanks.

As the sun was setting we drove the boat to a lagoon that was so calm it behaved like a mirror reflecting the brilliant colors in the sky. The surface of the water looked like liquid mercury. We were seeing double the beauty of this sunset in its reproduction. All around us was lit up like the colorful sky at sunset.

We went hunting for caiman after dark and saw plenty of eyes glowing in the beam of our high powered flashlight, but Daniel didn´t catch any of these alligator-like reptiles. Apparently, catching a baby caiman is a measure of an Amazon guide´s skill and a trick that they like to pull out of their hats for the tourists. I was more impressed with the fireflies twinkling in the dark trees and the distant flashes of lightning. The beam of light from Daniel´s floodlight was attracting bugs, which attracted jumping fish that would accidentally land inside our boat and flop around in the dark. The very serious search for caiman turned into a wet fish fiesta in no time.

The first night in the jungle we stayed in a village called Bella Vista with the Ticuna Indians just over the Colombian border in Peru. We hung our hammocks in Don Jose´s home, which was made of wood and built on stilts. Unfortunately, this wasn´t the encounter with indigenous tribes that we had hoped for, as this village seemed to be fairly corrupted by contact with modern civilization. At one point we noticed a huge crowd a people gathered outside of a neighboring home and peering in the open door. Upon investigation we found that everyone was gathered around to watch TV. Some of the people in the village had acquired televisions and stereos and generators to power them. We´ve come to the conclusion that TV has displaced religion as the opiate of the masses, even in places where one would least expect this to be possible. The village was thick with spiders and creepy-crawlies. We could see large black insects skittering underneath the house between the floorboards. The proximity of the pit toilet to the water well was disconcerting as well. Our first night´s disappointing accomodation made the next two nights all the more extraordinary.

In the morning we walked around the village to say hello, wave and smile at the kids playing in the dirt streets. The jungle seemed to sprout up like a manicured lawn kept at bay at the edge of the village. In the river at midday there were kids playing or swimming, women doing dishes or laundry and men in boats spearing fish. Everyone else was either bathing or just cooling off in the water. It was clear to us that much of Ticuna life revolves around the river.

We spent the day on the boat parked in the shade of giant trees while fishing for piranhas. We put meat on a hook at the end of a fishing line and within seconds of dunking our hooks we would have a bite on the line. Most of the time the fish were clever enough to take small bites of the meat without swallowing the hook, but a few times we actually pulled fish out of the water. We didn´t catch any piranhas, but when Domingo did, he was eager to pull back their fish lips and show us their sharp triangular teeth. Our little fishing experiment revealed that under the surface of the murky brown waters, the Amazon is teeming with life.

As the sun was setting we went to another village called La Libertad to see the Jaguas tribe and to meet two members with whom we would be walking into the jungle that night: Amador (one of the village elders) and his grandson (whose name we don´t know, so we´ll call him Nieto). We were introduced to Amador´s family and one of Amador´s other grandchildren was ill, so the family asked us for medicine. We gave them what we had in our first aid kit, but this wasn´t the last time that we were asked for medicine in Amazonia. It seemed that many people didn´t have access to the most basic necessities. We gave the family several fish that we caught earlier in the day and they taught us a new phrase in Spanish, ¨Nos da alegria.¨ (It gives us happiness.) La Libertad was smaller and much more pleasant than Bella Vista. A self-appointed guide and village representative showed us around and introduced us to the village mascot (a giant arco iris snake, or land anaconda, which they insisted Billy drape around his shoulders).

After dark we put our jungle boots on, covered our bodies with mosquito repellent, and trekked into the jungle with Amador and Nieto who planned to spend the night hunting with the two bullets that Daniel brought them. Jen was a little nervous about walking into the jungle at night and staying until morning with no more than a hammock slung between two trees and a mosquito net between us and the insects and animals. Afterall, this is the home of tarantulas, anacondas, jaguars... tigers and bears, oh my! Amador had a rifle for hunting and we weren´t sure if we should be comforted or unsettled by this factor. As we made our way into the jungle Jen wanted to back out at the last minute, she couldn´t believe that she had willingly volunteered for this hair-raising adventure.

We had only our headlamps to guide us, but luckily we had a small path to follow that had been created by the village´s hunters who make trips into the jungle whenever they have bullets. Even so, Jen was worried that one of us might accidentally misstep and land in a tarantula hole or twist an ankle. Daniel told us that in 20 years as a guide the scariest thing that had happened to him was when a tourist dislocated her ankle while walking in the jungle at night far away from the nearest village. He had to create a makeshift camp for the night and find help from men in the village the next morning to carry her to the shaman´s house, who (according to Daniel´s story) put her ankle back in place with a painful procedure that allowed her to walk on it again the next day.

As these nightmarish thoughts were going through Jen´s head, she was startled when our caravan came to a sudden halt. Amador was at the head of our line and Daniel was bringing up the rear. Amador spotted a spider hole on the trail and began digging into the hole to track down the tarantula inside. It wasn´t long before he found it and picked it up to show us his catch, furry and wriggling in Amador´s grip. It was a little smaller than the size of a fist. Amador flipped it over to show us its underside, so we could see its fangs. From what we were told tarantulas only sting and inject venom when they are threatened, but they are otherwise friendly. Daniel provoked it with a stick to show us how the indigenous people make poisonous blow darts with tarantula venom. We watched the deadly spider sink its teeth into the piece of wood and saturate it with venom. At this point Jen was getting edgy while thinking about all the spider holes we would later be sleeping above. We returned the tarantula to its home and continued on and Jen started to relax. She realized that she was being a wimp when she looked down at Nieto´s feet and saw that he was wearing nothing more than a pair of Chuck Taylors. If a little boy in sneakers could do this, then she certainly could rise to the challenge.

Truth be told, it is more pleasant to walk in the jungle at night once you conquer fears. It´s much cooler at night and the sounds are more interesting, because much of the life in the jungle thrives at night. For someone as skiddish as Jen is, it is even better to be in the jungle at night because she could see only as much of the creepy stuff as her flashlight revealed. It was only the sight of glowing sets of spider eyes in the darkness that was bothersome. Otherwise the jungle was enchantingly transformed into a sort of playground for us as we discovered strange things in this new world around us like children. We saw glow-in-the-dark mushrooms and dried leaves that somehow glowed as they decomposed on the jungle floor. We pointed out a silvery and luminescent insect that was hanging from the underside of a leaf. We were moving quickly through the jungle, so mosquitos were not a problem. Jen was calm with the exception of the instances when a hanging vine or leaf brushed her cheek or neck, which again was unnerving. We hiked into the forest for about 3 hours and crossed many streams on precariously placed logs.

When we finally reached a spot from which Amador could hunt, he made a clearing between several trees and laid down palm fronds so that we could hang our hammocks here. It´s funny how quickly a hammock becomes a home. Amador and Nieto set off for the hunt to beat the light of the rising moon. Daniel started a fire and we made coffee, and then we retired to our hammocks to sleep. Of course, at this point Jen had to go to the bathroom, so we disappeared into the brush with a bottle of repellent. Despite our efforts, Jen ended up with 2 dozen mosquito bites where the sun don´t shine. It was a penis envy moment. The mosquitos were thick here and the smoke from our fire was our only protection. To escape them, we crawled into our hammocks and tucked ourselves away in the surrounding nets. We noticed a tiny frog on the outside of Billy´s net, it was the size of a pinky nail...we thought that this was a good omen, because frogs were symbols of fertility in Pre-Colombian times. Once Jen killed all the spiders, mosquitos, grasshoppers, etc. inside her net, we were both laying back and staring up at the canopy above. The shadows of the treetops were so dark compared to the night sky. We realized that we had never seen the color black in nature until that moment. The sound of wind rustling leaves in the canopy (sounds like light rain) lulled us to sleep. We wished we had a recording device to capture all the bewitching noises during the night. There was a bird´s call that sounded like a human voice in conversation. The sounds of insects jumping, birds chirping, and mosquitos buzzing were almost deafening. Billy´s mosquito net had a huge hole in it, so the mosquitos were especially loud in his ears and he didn´t sleep very well. We heard a gunshot far from our camp in the middle of the night and felt conflicted about whether we should be rooting for the triumph of man or animal. We fell back to sleep watching the fire´s embers fade and woke up in the morning to a blazing campfire.

Amador was victorious in the battle between man and nature and when we awoke he was weaving a basket out of palm leaves in which to carry home his family´s dinner. He killed a rodent-like creature that was furry and brown with white spots and long sharp claws. It was probably 25 pounds and about 2 feet long. He said that he saw a monkey, but he couldn´t bring himself to shoot at it. Nieto cut a piece of bark from a tree to fashion into a strap for the basket, and he proudly carried the basket home by fastening the strap to his head. The kill was about half the size of this 10 year old kid, and we wanted to help him as he struggled to balance the weight of the animal on his back.

Walking the same path back to the village during the day was fantastic, because we could actually see our surroundings in the daylight and we weren´t concerned with those nasty nocturnal tarantulas. There were hundreds of mushrooms growing like wildflowers in all shapes, sizes and colors. The trees were colossal and some had thorns or massive roots. Daniel and Amador had a deep understanding of the jungle and as they passed on some of their knowledge, it seemed as if each natural element was carefully placed in the jungle to serve a specific function, allowing the ecosystem to operate in harmony. The thorny tree with raised roots in the shape of a teepee provided a safe shelter for smaller animals escaping the clutches of a jaguar. The towering trees had thick rope-like vines that hung down to the ground, which villagers use to climb to the top of the trees for a better view of the jungle. Huge red ants carried pieces of green leaves as they marched in a line across our path. Butterflies filled the air, the most impressive of which was bright blue and the size of a small child´s head. Daylight illuminated humongous spiderwebs. We drank sweet fresh water from a vine Amador cut down.

When we made it out of the jungle and back to the river we were dying to jump in to cool off, but couldn´t help wondering if we´d encounter a piranha, an electric eel, a stingray or a Candiru fish (according to legend these fish are capable of forcing their way into the body's passageways following a trail of urine and once inside they eat away the mucous membranes and tissues until hemorrhage would kill the fish or the host). We asked the village kids if it was safe to swim and they looked at us as if we were crazy. The next thing we know we had abandoned any thoughts of man-eating underwater monsters and engaged in a joyous water fight with a dozen naked kids in the river. We had officially been baptised and could happily call ourselves Amazonians. At night we would drink Ayahuasca from a shaman´s cup and experience yet another ceremonial ritual to complete our initiation to the Amazon.

We hopped back on the boat after playing with the kids in the river, and headed back towards Brazil to meet the shaman. We went to the main village, and were introduced to our shaman, William. He guided us another hour or so further into the jungle where his Maloca is located. A Maloca is a communal house that is far away from the village where the shaman retreats for spiritual exploration and conducts Ayahuasca ceremonies. It was round and looked exactly the way an Amazonian shaman´s Maloca should look. The inside of the Maloca was dimly lit by a candle on a staff in the center of the room, where the shaman´s wooden chair sat. There were a semi circle of tree stumps surrounding his seat that functioned as stools for us to sit on. It looked like the perfect ceremonial setting, like something out of a movie.

Ayahuasca has been used for thousands of years in Amazonia as a way for the people to communicate with the spirits of their deceased elders, to cleanse the body and mind, and to gain insight into their lives through introspection. The drink itself is made by boiling the root of the Ayahuasca vine together with leaves from another plant (called Yaje) for 8 hours. The active ingredient in the Ayahuasca vine that produces hallucinations does not work when consumed alone, the stomach produces an antibody that destroys it, but yaje deactivates that antibody, and somehow this was figured out many years ago and so this ceremonial potion was born. Drinking Ayahuasca is a deeply important part of Amazonian life, and William is known throughout many villages for helping spiritual seekers through the journey.

We were a bit nervous about the whole thing, being in the middle of the Amazon and drinking this strange substance, but William was very affable and comforting, and had a great sense of humor. When he decided it was time, we went into a separate little house built behind the Maloca to start the ceremony. We sat in a triangle on the floor, the three of us tied white bandanas around our heads, and William blessed the Ayahuasca, poured a cup and drank it. He then repeated the same ritual of blessing, chanting and whistling, and offered the cup to each of us. Ayahuasca has a really strong and bitter flavor, like nothing either of us have tasted before, or ever want to consume again. It tastes like battery acid. After we drank Ayahuasca, we were told to sit by the open window where it would be easier to stand and throw up when the time came. William then blew out the only candle that provided light, so we sat in total darkness, and could only hear the noises of the jungle outside. After about 15 minutes Billy threw up out the window and felt shaky and strange. William then started chanting to the spirits, which was very melodic and calming. We sat there listening to his chanting for hours. The experience is a deeply personal one, and we were told not to touch eachother, and to focus on what we wanted to get out of this ceremony. People not only communicate with the dead, but they try to use these ceremonies to seek answers and to think about how to improve their lives. Some people turn to Ayahuasca for medical help with ailments like diabetes.

After about an hour, we were both feeling very strange, and William was chanting away, when a large bug landed on Jen´s arm, and he screamed and jumped. Two minutes later the same thing happened to Billy. William thought this was hilarious, as he did not believe there was really an "insecto grande" in the jungle that could be jumping in through the window under which we sat. He laughed and was sure that we were hallucinating. I can assure you, it was real. It was strange for us not to be able to ask eachother how the other felt, or hold hands for reassurance, but it was a deeply unique and personal experience for each of us separately.

After another hour we decided to go outside. Walking was not easy, as we felt drunk. The world was spinning and the stars and lightning flashes in the sky appeared much brighter than normal, yet calming. Jen still had not thrown up, but after she walked outside for a minute, she quickly ran back to the window to expell the impurities in her stomach (that is what they call the process, in this way it is a cleansing experience for the body). William would ask us every once in awhile if we were drunk enough (estan borracho?), and we said yes, we did not need any more Ayahuasca, thank you.

After about 4 hours we all became tired and retired back to the larger house to sleep. Jen fell right asleep, but Billy did not sleep a wink all night. There were so many thoughts that would flow through the mind so quickly that sleeping was very difficult to do. The next morning at 6 AM we both rose from our hammocks and regained our normal legs. It had been an incredible experience, and William was the perfect person to guide us through the amazing journey. Although we did not see any ghosts or spirits, we did each have unique and memorable visions, and both have decided to make our lives as shamans in San Francisco (just kidding Mom and Dad).

William drinks Ayahuasca 3 times a week with people, and as we were getting ready to leave, a new crew of locals were coming in to prepare for their ceremony that night. As we said good bye to William, he told us to watch out for the insectos grandes, and then laughed shaking his head. We are still not sure if he really thinks there were no bugs, or if he just wanted to make us think there was nothing there in order to calm us down. Either way, we had an experience of a lifetime deep in the Amazon with a very mystical shaman.

posted by The Blaus @ 10:51 AM