Day 21: Amazonas, Colombia.

 ‘Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.’

Marc and I woke up to blue’ish skies after last night’s rain. I had a hard time sleeping because it was so hot and humid. The temp might have dropped down to 80 degrees but the humidity remained the same. But I was excited for our hike in the Amacayacu National Park. We had a great breakfast and loaded up for our 11k walk in the jungle.

Ramiro was ready for us and brought along another guide, Hiro, who lives in a local indigenous village with his family and works for Calanoa (where we are staying) part-time. We definitely were happy to have him along. We went by boat, which had some technical difficulties, and were dropped off on the side of Matamata Creek, which was named after a pre-historic turtle in the area. Hiro was wielding his machete a fair amount on this “trail” that wasn’t exactly well-marked while Ramiro explained all of the different things we saw along the way.

As with anything in Colombia, it wouldn’t be a tour without a Pablo Escobar mention. Ramiro told us about a dude who was more evil than Pablo - Julio Cesar Arana. He killed indigenous people as opposed to politicians, which is whom Pablo went after. Julio was big in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and terrorized many. Anyway back to the walk, which was MUDDY. Our hiking boots would have been no match for this terrain. It was mud, mud and more mud. Calanoa loans a pair of wellies for every guest and you do need them. It was slick and I was glad I schlepped along my trekking poles for this part of the trip. 

The walk took about 3.5 hours and while it wasn’t hilly or at altitude, it was mentally taxing because of footing as well as some dicey crossings. This region is in transition from the dry season to the wet season, so many “rivers” are now being “created”. Plus we were warned about this area being more prone to mosquitoes than where we were staying (already significant). I had Deet plus long sleeves, long pants and a rain jacket. I was sweating bullets in 95 degree heat with 98% humidity. It’s like being in a steam room fully dressed without the eucalyptus and being constantly paranoid about slipping and falling into mud. 

Along the way, we saw a sloth who was doing a great job of living up to it’s name that was high up in the trees. Then we saw a Tamarin monkey and a Black Titi Monkey. Ramiro pointed out some other really cool things in the jungle here. He showed us a malaria antidote called ‘abuta’ that the locals use since they can’t handle our medicine, just like we can’t drink the local water. We learned about the ‘ice cream bean’, which is really a fruit (sorry, Lisa).

Then he showed us an ant that acts as a mosquito repellent called ‘ichichimy’. You put your hand on the tree where the ants are and they come on to your hand. Then you rub your hands together and the ants give off a scent that the mosquitoes don’t like. If I didn’t see it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it but it worked. We then saw these massive termite blobs on the side of trees but Ramiro didn’t have a Spanish translation for that. These blobs were 3 feet long on the side of a tree. Continuing on the ant theme, we saw ‘arrieras’ which were ants that were acting as farmers. We literally watched them carry leaves for farming and not for consuming.

I really enjoyed learning about the ‘walking trees’. Because the area is coming out of dry season, we can see the roots of lots of trees that are about 10 feet high. In about 3 months, the water level will rise another 10+ feet. It was fascinating to imagine this area with so much more water. Then we also saw a tree called a ‘capirona’ that peels itself to a nice and shiny coat. 

After the hike, we walked through an indigenous village called St. Martin, where about 700 people live. Hiro showed us his home and let us use soap to wash our hands. His family was very nice to let us clean up there a bit and have a snack before catching the boat back to Calanoa. The residents of this village live a very simple life and they are very happy. the drawings on the side were very cool. I’m just going to say that if you’re reading this blog, you’re in a very lucky place based on what Marc and I saw today.

We went back to the lodge for lunch, and showed Ramiro some of our pics from the Galapagos. Then we went out to search for pink dolphins. The sky was clear and being out on the boat made it seem relatively cooler. We didn’t see any pink dolphins but we saw some grey ones although they are hard to capture on camera. It was a really nice afternoon to be out on the water. When we returned from the dolphin expedition, Marc went to take some pics and ended up with 7 or 8 Tamarin monkeys just hanging out by the dining tent. IT. WAS. LOCO. Then we saw some in the trees. Very cool.

After catching a pretty sunset, we had dinner in the tent with the 2 other couples

who are also staying at the lodge. Both are really nice and very friendly. One couple is from England and one is from Colombia. And for being so remote, the food at Calanoa is pretty awesome. I have had some kind of catfish both nights and both were really good. Marc approved as well since they were so fresh. No night tour, so we went back and finished SOMM 2 before crashing. It was hotter than last night when we crashed so I took a 2nd shower to cool off (the one time when not having hot water can come in handy).

You can find more pics of our travels HERE.