Amazonias – El chino

We have just returned from our Amazon adventure which involved 12 hours on a boat just to get there. It was packed (not English bus packed, more like sardine packed where the sardines are Peruvians and their belongings) full of pineapples, mangos, papaya, live chickens, dead fish, coal, banana leaves for roofing, small children, live parrots, supplies for the villages such as toilet rolls and water, two very large engines, lots of hammocks and us Gringos, a term which we have come to hate. We had to climb over all the people and the two exposed engines to get to the 'toilet' which was a hole in the floor. Whilst sitting on an uncomfortable side bench contemplating putting our hammocks up (yes we own hammocks - an essential South American travel item) someone beat us to it so we were confined to hard, hot seats for the next 4 hours. Finally people got to their village on the Amazon River and we put up our hammocks and fell asleep, all went well until the jungle rain. The roof of the boat began to leak all over us, but we are not moaning it was a fantastic experience.
 

We were met 12 hours later by a short man named George, funnily this made me feel safe as he has the same name as my dad. He took us to his house in the centre of the village, helped us put up our hammocks and gave us mosquito nets. He introduced us to his wife Romila, and he also lives with his mama and his wife's mama and his daughter and granddaughter who was 6 months old. This made us think of modern times and what our lives would be liked if we shared our house three sets of parents and all the brothers, sisters and children.

There are 55 houses in the village (El Chino) and about 200 people. George was to be our guide for the next few days and he seemed to be the most important man in the village. It was a bit like a community centre. His wife is a medicine woman and all the locals visit for concoctions for their ailments. She showed us around the huge garden and we saw plants for stomach ulcers, arthritis, colds, coughs and cancer. They also had the only phone and possibly the only TV in the village. The Handicrafts that his wife and mama/mama in law made were outstanding, possibly the best we have seen so far. 

We saw amazing birds, flora and fauna - Toucans, hawks, woodpeckers (my fav.) yellow poisonous frogs (small as a 20 pence piece), wild grouse, bats, woodcreepers, hummingbirds and the house parrot who loved Joe, he is a true Dr Doolittle, I will never forget seeing Joe laying in the hammock rubbing the parrots belly! We went in the small wooden boat down the river, Joe played volley ball with the locals and I taught the women how to make Macrame earrings.

All in all a great few days. We wished we could stay longer but alas time is running short. On the way back we saw lots of Dolphins jumping out of the river, a real treat, if only the locals appreciated it. I nearly cried on the boat back. I watched the Peruvians eating lunch and thought to myself that I should collect all the plastic and polystyrene as they often just throw it into the river, as I thought this an old man threw it over the side of the boat and I shouted 'Senor, no, no' everyone on the boat looked at me like I was a crazy person and I loudly said, holding back tears ' Este is muy malo para pachamama y todos los gentes de Amazonia tambien!' meaning 'this is very bad for mother earth and all the people of the Amazon too' a few people resisted throwing waste into the river after this but they still thought I was a crazy Gringo and definitely knew that I was not a Peruana (they do not say Peruvian). This reminds me over an American group who gave us there tins of Sardines because it said on the side Sardines de Peruana and they thought it was Sardines with Piranhas! Joe is singing 'Peruanas in Pyjamas' he he.

We fly to Lima tomorrow and then do an overnight bus to Cuzco, South America's most popular tourist destination due to the Inca's/Macchu Picchu etc. We are going to celebrate my 30th with a meal and some wine alone, which funnily enough is a rarity on this trip, we always have a least one other person travelling with us! and then celebrate both our birthdays by conquering the 5 day Macchu Picchu trek. It will be tough but no doubt rewarding.

We are beginning to reflect on our incredible year, we are both ready and happy to come home though, we can't wait to see the faces of all our families and friends.

We have been having food for thought thoughts recently and though we are not going to become vegetarian as such we are going to try and eat much less meat which has a ethical source thus balancing out its expense. Joe is reading a great book called the Omnivores Dilemma, the author has a great quote 'Eat food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants'. This is what we are going to try and live by, perhaps starting after Christmas and we have gotten our fill of all the food we are missing.

There is no fan in our hostel and it is absurdly hot, the sweat is dripping onto the keyboard so we will sign off.

Chantelle Lindo