The Amazon Part 2

We had a great breakfast at Marasha and packed up all our gear to head off for the next leg of our adventure.  In retropect, it would have been much better to have been able to stay where we were and do some out trips.  The next accommodation was much less than adequate, in our minds, but the experience was still worth it all.

 We had to slog back through the muck to get to a boat to take us down the river from the lake we had been on. This too is a bit blurry, but gives you some idea of the "trail"...and we'd been through much deeper muck than this the day before, but were too wet and uncomfortable to stop and take a photo. At least it wasn't raining, this time.

That big blob on the tree is a termites' nest.

 And yes, we pretty much lived in our clothes! We did have another change or two, but, as you can see from the photos with the same clothing all the time, these must have been our favourites.

 We headed down this river in a tiny ulu-type canoe to meet our bigger boat. This was great, as far as we were concerned. For $5 we could do this rather than slog back through the same long path we'd done the day before.  This was a short slog and then an interesting boat trip.

Once in the bigger boat we headed off on the Amazon and then into another tributary. This is the Amazon, 2000 miles upstream (roughly) and still a huge river. Little islands of weeds are everywhere.

 Zacambu Eco Reserve was our destination.  There were several sloths hanging in the trees just where we headed into the tributary.

 We had to check-in in Gamboa to get permission and pay to go into the park. Word has it that most of these people used to be in the drug trade but, since Colombia has had their clean up, they are now working in tourism. It appears their new jobs don't pay very well!

This was our transportation for the day.

What a life these kids have. There are no schools, so they don't have a hope of bettering their existence.

 While waiting for the check-in to be done, we wandered around the property. Behind Ralph, they are constructing the thatching for their houses. It is a very interesting process of weaving.

 Off we head downriver and pass several other homes, all with little to no amenities, but most with a satellite dish outside.

A family setting off, in the family car, for some outing or other.  Makes you glad to be born in Canada!

Yes, we ARE in a boat, and yes, THERE IS a river there somewhere!!  This entire section of our trip was spent bushwacking through trees and weeds. This weed is called sea lettuce, I believe.

 Another tour was heading in the same direction, but not to the same lodge. We actually had our own tour, which was much better. There were at least 8 tourists in this boat and, yes, they're on the river too and somewhere under that blue tarp!

 This was a tree we passed. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it...we covered a lot of territory and a lot of plant names.

It was really a weird tree in that the blossoms were all along the bare branches and trunk, not at the ends as we usually see them.

 During our tour, we stopped for lunch in some little back eddy of the river. We had to eat quickly, or be eaten...by the mosquitoes. We were fine, while the boat was moving, but once we stopped we were sitting ducks!

 During lunch, several families passed us heading to God-knows-where.

 Again, what an existence!

 Not a lot of freeboard on these  canoes!

These are the types of long-tail motors they use here...just like in Indonesia or Thailand.

 As I said, much of the time we were bushwacking in order to make way in the river. I kept wondering what might be falling in the boat and, worse yet, on me...remembering the tics from the San Blas hikes!  This stick bug was about the worst that we saw, thankfully!

 We stopped at this place as the farmer had an anaconda in a cage here, poor thing!

 They dragged him out, let him wiggle on the ground and think he might have a chance, then let those who wanted to hold him, and then put him back in the cage.

He didn't want to let go of Ralph's arm and, no, I didn't hold him!

 At the same place, they also had 2 captive Amazon fish, piraruku. He splashed around in this mucky pool until he got a fish in the net.

 He then threw the fish out on the land so we all could see it...what a life!!

 This is one of the farmer's kids.

 As well, they had a cayman attached to a string out in the river. This was our guide showing us the cayman.

 This, apparently, was the farmer's wife's kitchen.

 Here is the entire kitchen.

 I prefer my kitchen at home, or even aboard.

 We had some more rain, so I brought out my trusty poncho!

The river is still 12' to 15' below peak. In this shot you can see the high water mark on the trees.

Yes, in fact, there is a river here!  

 This was a bird apartment building near our new lodging. Some sort of oriole, I believe.

This is what they look like close up. They had the oddest cry, kind of electronic or robotic, not like a bird at all.

This is the last accommodation. As said before, the river floods to  a height of about 12' to 15' above the present level, so all the construction is on stilts.

This, in fact, is the "washroom" where I actually spent most of my time after my arrival. Unfortunately, we don't have any photos inside. The toilet, again, had no seat...also no flush! You had to use a bucket of water from the barrel inside the cubicle. You can see the red sink on the outside, for washing up afterward. There was a shower or two in here as well.

This is the runway from the toilet to the main house and our "bedroom", for lack of a better term.

This is the front of the "lodge". We pulled up in front of here and unloaded our gear.

There was a lovely sunset that evening. We hit the sack a little while after dinner.

 After dinner, the family (comprised of several related women, men and children) sit on the floor and a couple of crappy wood benches and stare at the soap opera on the flat-screen satellite TV set. It is just so incongruous!! That green chair is a rocker with one rocker missing...best chair in the house! For a little excitement, as I was getting ready for bed, Ralph looked up at the ceiling. There was the biggest, hairiest, brown spider we'd seen! He called the guide who said, it's not a problem at all.  Ralph pointed at me and said, "Yes it is!" They poked it with a stick and it disappeared into the thatching that went outside...at least we hoped he'd gone outside!

 By early morning, I was terribly sick.  Don't think it was the food as we all ate the same and I was the only sick one. I felt crappy while it was still dark, but be damned if I was going out there alone in the dark! I think these vultures were waiting for me to kick the bucket and, I would have gladly obliged the way I felt.

 I spent most of the morning sitting on the porch and running to the back out house/bathroom. They made me some herbal tea, to help settle my stomach, but I managed to get rid of that too.  Thankfully, it didn't taste too bad...they were trying so hard; I really didn't want to hurt their feelings.

 The plantain boat arrived and they bought some from the vendor.

 This is part of the family; I believe the owner/cook and her two daughters.  Just the cutest little kids!

 While I was on death's door, Ralph was off fish for piranhas. I'm guessing this is his first!

 They really do have sharp teeth.  The native people use them to cut hair.

 Here's his entire catch lined up! They do come in bigger sizes, but sadly Ralph didn't get any of those.

 Here's the proud fisherman displaying his catch!

 They cooked them up for him and, of course, he had to eat them.  He said they were quite good but, you wouldn't know by me because just the smell of the cooking sent me off on the runway out back, to the loo. I gotta say, not being there for the photo, I can't tell if these have been eaten already or not???

This was his entire meal.  The smell of this cooking just about finished me off!  Directly after this, we packed up and left.  I didn't think I'd make it back to Leticia without being sick, but managed during the 4 hour boat ride. We found a hotel and I went straight to bed. Ralph went off to the pharmacy and got something to fix me up. The next day I felt semi-human, thankfully, as we had to fly back to Cartagena.  We splashed Fortuitous the next day and readied to move out.