Three Days in a Very Muddy Jungle!

Charlotte and I have just come back from 3 days in the jungle. It was fantastic, tiring and very very muddy!

We chose the tour company because we knew it had links to the local community and were told that one of the guides lived in the community. As it´s in what is called the ´primary jungle´ we got a taxi part of the way there and then walked the rest. I expected mud, but to say there were lots was an understatement!

The village was really welcoming - the chief offered us a local drink called ´Chicha´ which was very filling and slightly alcoholic. Our guide said you could drink it and it would suffice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We thought we might make the most of the delicious food though... There were kids all over the place as the families were huge. When we arrived they were playing with home-made kites, and happily posing for the camera.

After we had lunch we headed up to a viewpoint in the jungle. We walked up 200m of altitude to get there, and it was a real scramble! More mud and the path was quite steep and I was pouring with sweat by the time we got to the top. It was well worth it though, the view was stunning. The rainforest just seems to go on forever, you can see nothing but green, it´s so breath-taking. Even though we were so high up we could still hear the river, which was just below us. Apparently it was quite full and with 3 days of sun it would become lower and greener. It just shows how quickly things change here.

Our guides were really interesting and knew so much about everything in the forest. It seems that every plant has a use and the guides knew about it all. They showed us trees they used as the columns in the houses and the leaves they used as the roof. One of our guides also made us a ´natural bag´ which the hunters used to make to carry the animals. He turned a palm tree-like leaf into a matter of minutes! Hopefully photos will come soon (or soonish).

The second day we were heading to the nearby caves. Again, these were amazing. The rocks were gorgeous, and surprisingly varied in colour - there was one that looked like a cows head! There was also more wildlife than I expected - the guides showed us a lobster, eel and fish. We had to scramble through some of the paths, but they are well trodden paths. Although at the end the path went into a pool of water and this pool of water went up to my chest. Little bit cold but we soon warmed up in the sun.

In the afternoon we ´played´ football. Or the kids played football and we essentially became spectators. I don´t think either of us added much to the team to be honest. We then went for a swim in the river Pastaza with lots of the local kids. As soon as we got in the water it turned into a water fight which the boys loved!

After we got out we played games with some of the younger girls. There was one particular 5 year old who was very keen to keep hold of our hands! It was great playing with the kids although we got covered with mosquito bites, and the kids happily counted the ones of my back the next day - they seemed surprised by the number of them!

The last day was spent very near to the village and we only went for a short walk close to the village to see the land which one of the guides owned although apparently the women do most of the work!

After lunch we had a very muddy and fast walk back so we didn´t miss the taxi. We arrived sweaty and completely filthy. It was very sad saying goodbye to the village, especially the kids. It was a great experience and about as remote as I think it was possible to get. The jungle is absolutley stunning and there is just so much fruit, plants and trees that we don´t have in England. It was well worth the sweaty walk there and back and a very loud taxi driver!