Pink dolphins, Piranahs & Shamen

Landing in Iquitos, a city on the Amazon river, one thing is evident from the get-go, the 'junglist massive' indeed. We have been flying over lush green rainforest and nothing else for about an hour before we touch down. 

Iquitos is one of the most isolated cities in the world, home to 650,000 people, it can only be reached by plane or boat, cut-off from the rest of Peru by dense jungle. There are no roads in or out. We are soon to experience the Amazon jungle for ourselves because we are staying in an eco-lodge in a remote area 165km up the Amazon from Iquitos - it's a three hour boat ride away.

The humidity is overpowering the moment we step off the plane - the air is hot, steamy and damp. It has just been raining. Our guide, Johnathan, greets us and informs us that the humidity is around 80 percent. I didn't really need anyone to tell me that because it is evident in my hair, which is doing what can only be described as a Mick Hucknall.

Johnathan also tells us there are only two seasons in the Amazon - the rainy season and the really rainy season. We have arrived in the 'really rainy'season - when the river floods the surrounding jungle by up to 15 metres for 5 months of the year. So everyone gets everywhere by boat or canoe.

As we make our way up the Amazon the scale of it really blows me away - it is a mighty river indeed, it actually looks more like a huge lake.

We pass remote villages built on stilts, kids paddle about in canoes, waving at us. We learn that these people are called the Riberena  people, tribes and communities that live on the Amazon. They even drink the water straight from it. Yikes. 

We soon experience the full extent of the rainy season when a big storm hits the river - it is impossible to see more than a couple of meters ahead because the rain is hitting the water so hard it turns the air into thick mist. Our boat is forced to dock at a little village for an hour until the storm passes.

After a couple of hours the boat turns up a tributary called the Tayhuno River. Eventually, we arrive at the lodge. It is basically a huge tree house, with wooden walkways connecting wooden cabins.  There is also a research centre where scientists studying the Amazon wildlife spend several months a year. The cabins are pretty basic - mesh walls, beds covered by mosquito nets and cold showers with water straight from the river - which we are warned not to swallow otherwise 'It could be very bad'. Fair play.

The first thing that strikes me about the jungle is the noise - it is deafening - the sound of macaws, monkeys, frogs, crickets and everything else,  it is thrumming with life all day and all night.

At 6am next morning Johnathan takes us to vist a reserve called Terra Firma (yes, all very Jurassic Park). It takes two hour by boat but we have the best chance of finding the elusive Poison Dart Frog there. Terra Firma is the only part of jungle that isn't flooded because it is on higher ground. We are issued jungle boots and have to tuck our socks into them to prevent stuff getting in  mainly scorpions and spiders.

 Travelling by boat through the undergrowth to reach Terra Firma is hairy experience in itself because everytime the boat bumps a tree or bush, a smorgasboard of bugs and insects drop into the boat, and all over us. At first I am petrified - there are big crickets, stick insects and some sizeable spiders. Stef and I get used to flicking the bugs off each other after every brush with a tree. We also learn not to look up to admire the huge vines, creepers and trees with our mouths open pretty quickly.

As we arrive at Terra Firma, following Johnathan - who is reassuringly armed with a machete to hack away at the undergrowth, we start hunting for the frogs. After two hours we've seen loads of multi-coloured frogs and toads and some massive ants and wasps. But no Poison Darts. Suddenly one of the guides shouts us over. There, on a leaf, is a tiny red, yellow and black frog about the size of a thumbnail - the Poison Dart. For a frog it is incredibly pretty. We actually see quite a few in the end.

There are mozzies everywhere. Johnathan goes over to a huge termite nest hanging from one of the trees, he grabs a big handful of termites, crushes them between his palms and rubs them all over his face, informing us that the scent crushed termites give off is a natural insect repellant popular with local tribes. He offers me a handful of crushed termites to rub on my face. It is all getting a bit too 'Bear Grylls' for me so I decline. Plus I have already marinated myself in deet. But Stef gamely has a go.

Johnathan then takes us to a large hollow tree that has fallen on its side.

"If we crawl through we will see hundreds of vampire bats, fruit bats and scorpions. Maybe even a tarantula" he explains excitedly, switching on his head torch. Oh. My. God.

I decide to sit this one out and am so glad I did becuse the second Stef follows Johnathan into the Tree of Horrors loads of bats fly out. He emerges filthy but chuffed because they saw a big Whip-Tailed Scorpion, and about three vareties of bats that were flapping around their faces. Nice.

As we take the boat back to the lodge as we pass a low hanging tree. Suddenly a large brown monkey drops onto the boat. It is the most amazing moment - I have never been that close to a monkey before. The guides tell us it is an Amazonian Brown Woolly Monkey. They give us a few bananas, unable to resist the monkey comes and sits on my lap, peels a banana and wolfs it down. I am speechless. She then goes to sit on Stef's lap and does the same. We learn she was rescued by the lodge as a baby from the black market trade in Iquitos. The lodge released her back into the wild but they check in on her once a week  to make sure she is doing ok. Her name is Dorila and apparently she always drops into the boat in search of a snack. Amazing. We also see a tiny Pygmy marmoset - the world's smallest monkey that is super-cute, a teeny monkey about the size of a hamster. 

That afternoon we head off in search of the famous Amazonian Pink Dolphin. They swim in a particular area of deep water and are apparently very shy. We arrived in an open-topped boat in the middle of another pelting thunderstorm. I am getting used to being drenched most of the time in the Amazon. We are so soaked that some of the boys in our group, Stef included, jump into the murky water. After half an hour the rain subsides - suddenly, Pink Dolphins appear from nowhere - they only surface for a nano-second but they are definitely pink. They seem quite curious - they don't come closer than 10 metres or so but circle the boat for quite a while. Another crazy creature of the Amazon - they are pink because of a particular plant acid that is present in the river water that turns their skin pink over time. It is a pretty special moment - this place is one of the few areas on the Amazon where you can see these dolphins.

That night I decide to man-up and join Stef and Johnathan on a tarantula-hunting mission. Being terrified of spiders, this is a big deal for me. Thankfully Johnathan is armed with his machete again which gives me some comfort. We get into a tiny three man canoe - apparently the best place to see tarantulas and other big scary beasties is at night on tree trunks close to the water line. I tell Johnathan I am relieved that we will be in a canoe and not exploring on foot. But he looks confused. "Yes, but we have swimming spiders and tarantulas too," he explains, "But don't worry, they bite but they aren't poisonous, you won't die."

By this stage I am paralysed with fear. As we set off in the canoe into the pitch black jungle Johnathan tells us to switch on our head torches because the best way to spot a tarantula in the dark is to look for two red eyes glowing on the tree trunks. I sit in the canoe with my jacket zipped up around my head, thinking I can see red eyes everywhere.

It doesn't take long to see them for real. In the glow of my head lamp I suddenly see a big furry, palm-sized spider on a tree trunk about six inches from my face. "I think that's a tarantula" I stammer.

Johnathan tells us it is indeed a pink-toed tarantula. I can't tell if its toes are pink or not because I am trying not to scream. 

Johnathan then starts hacking away at some undergrowth taking us deeper into the jungle in search of more stuff. He calmly points out a swimming spider - it is about the same size as the tarantula and it is indeed swimming. Suddenly something plops into the water from a 

It is an amazing experience to see these creatures up close but it is the longest two hours of my life. I am proud to admit that I didn't scream though.  

The lodge is a fantastic place to experience the jungle - the guides are so knowledgable and if you are game they will happily take you in search of anything you want - and they seem to always know where to find it.

There is only one drawback about staying at a remote eco-lodge deep in the jungle - it in attracts it's fair share of eclectic characters who are determined to commune with nature and 'find themselves'. It makes from some pretty interesting conversations around the communal dining table. 

First we meet two Canadian women in their sixties who tell us they are energy healers - as far as I can tell this involves doing some kind of rebirthing therapy for adults in a pitch black swimming pool and using their 'great heart energy'. Then we meet an electrician from the UK and his wife who have jacked everything in to become professional Buddhists. But they explain that they have yet to become 'fully enlightened'. So they are travelling the world on various pilgrimmages hoping to meet Buddhist teachers who will enlighten them. Stef and I keep very quiet about what we do - admitting to any kind of corporate teat will probabably throw everyones chakras out of whack. 

Little did we know that just two nights later we would be sitting in a circle, holding hands with them all in the pitch black and getting blessed by a Shaman.

We stumbled upon the Shamanistic ritual entirely by accident, but once we were in the middle of it all, there wasn't any escape.

It all started when one of the Canadian energy healers caught a cold. I offered her some Nurofen, but she declined, explaining she had asked one of the guides to call in the Shamen from one of the local villages to see if he could help. She also revealed that during the night she woke up to find the spirit of a monkey bouncing on her bed. Stef gently asks her if perhaps it was an actual monkey that had been bouncing on her bed, given that we were indeed in the heart of the Amazon jungle. But she insists it is a monkey spirit and that she wants to see the Shamen so he can call the monkey back to find out why he visited her. I agree that Nurofen probably won't help with that, so the Shamen is called. Curious, so we decide to go along and see what it is all about.

The energy healers and a few others are sitting in the hammock room in front of the Shamen. I don't notice that they are actually sitting in a circle with their shoes and socks off until it is too late and we have plonked ourselves down next to them.

I am delighted to discover that the Shamen is indeed an old, wizened man. In front of him are lots of dusty bottles filled with various potions. Through an interpreter, because the Shamen only speaks Quechua, he explains what all the potions are - various tree roots, herbs and bark that are used to cure everything, from colds to impotence. He offers samples round. The energy healers are necking everything, from cold remedies to aphrodisiacs. Given that I am only just beginning to feel normal again after my tummy problems I decline.

The Shamen then explains that during a ceremony he is going to give each one of us an animal spirit guide that will stay with us forever. Stef and I exchange glances - it is too late to back out now and neither of us wants to contend with an offended Shamen. The Shamen gives everyone an animal guide. Stef and I are happy because we have both been given hawks. The Professional Buddhist is also chuffed because he has been given a Panther. However, the energy healers don't look too happy because they have both been given a Black Electric Eel as their guide. 

The ceremony begins - the lights are turned out and we are all asked to hold hands. Stef is first up - the Shamen blows smoke over him, then starts chanting whilst dousing his head in a pungent-smelling potion. I am trying not to laugh because it is running down Stef's face. The Shamen then starts waving palms leaves above Stef's head. He goes around us all in turn. It is really interesting to watch, so I am very grateful to the energy healers. They never did see the spirit monkey again though, funnily enough.

Johnathan later tells us that Shamanism is dying out in the Amazon because many of the young people in the tribes and villages no longer want to study it or follow the strict fasting diet and rituals involved to become a Shamen. He tells us that he once took part in a frog poison ritual in one village. It involves having your arm pricked in several places with a burning wooden stick then the poison from a particular frog is rubbed into the wounds. He shows us the scars on his arm. The poison instantly makes you vomit - which the Shamens believe cleanses you and gives you energy. Johnathan said that after the ceremony he was out of it for a couple of hours but then felt great and was able to play football the whole day. 

On our last day we ask Johnathan if he could take us to see some piranahs. He looks delighted. "Let's go fishing," he smiles. The second our fishing lines, baited with raw beef, hit the water we can feel things nibbling it in the murky depths. Johnathan catches his first piranah in seconds - it's a red-bellied piranah, the most aggressive kind apparently. He shows us it's razor-sharp teeth, they are indeed a creeyp, prehistoric looking fish. Johnathan catches them left, right and centre. Stef and I catch everything else but piranah. Back at the lodge, Johnathan frys them up for our lunch. They are surprisingly delicious. As a parting gift, he gives us the jaws of the piranah which he has cleaned for us. A very cool present from the jungle and a reminder of a truly fascinating part of our adventure.

Next stop, the Outer Exumas in the Bahamas, man, until the next time...

Love Beth xxx