Sunday 7th May 2017
Coca – Orellana Province and Sucumbios Province.
La Selva Lodge
Another 5.30am start, this time to paddle up the river, then
motorised canoe, to see the clay lick. This
occurred where a part of the bank had collapsed to reveal a cliff of clay, a
magnet for parrots and macaws. They are
fairly safe from anacondas and eagles, so use the area as a ‘parrot facebook’
to meet up in the mornings, catch up on gossip, and nibble the clay which is
full of vital minerals. This only lasts
about an hour, hence the early start, then they all disappear to their own
patch. Hundreds of parrots descended to
give us a show.
We then continued up-river to visit a local indigenous
community. A Ketchewan-speaking native,
Marta, gave us a lovely welcome and showed us around her village – school,
community centre, elders house, all surrounding a very boggy football pitch
(everyone in South America seems to be fixated with football). Then she showed us various plants which were
used for medicinal purposes, as well as eating, and how to plant Yucca/cassava. The piece de resistance was using a blow pipe
to spear a guava, including some arrows laced with kurari poison! Iain and I had a go and managed to kill the
guava which didn’t put up much of a battle. Diane became Queen of the Jungle
with a hand-weaved crown and some make-up made from a small hairy fruit! We were then shown the kitchen area where
plantains and corn were being cooked, and given a bowl of chichi and small
plate of local foods including catfish. Quite tasty. They had various handmade jewellery for sale
but nothing that would stand the test of use in our world.
Back to the Lodge for lunch and more fishing for piranha and
a swim. Ed, Jude and I decided to
indulge in a bit of yoga which was very odd. Luckily she didn’t make us do a
mantra, but lots of deep breathing and ‘I am’ repetition. We tried not to laugh,
but after some stretching we proved how relaxed we were by all falling asleep
in the middle of her lesson! Oops.
Late afternoon we went for another walk through the jungle
and then met up with our canoe for a paddle around the lake and up river, but
again we failed to find any sloths. However the monkeys came out again for some
entertainment and lots of lovely birds.
This time I took a go-pro video of the jungle scenery.
Back for some pre-dinner drinkies and a cocktail supplied by
the hotel. Another lovely 3x course
dinner with the whole dining room to ourselves. Caught up with the intermittent
wifi access.
Packed.
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