The first few days in the Amazon

So much to catch up on… We have spent the past few days hiking and learning so much about the plants. Rodolpho is a dictionary of plants; he can identify every plant, even if you show him just the leaf, or the fruit, or a branch, He also knows all the uses of them, which ones are not medicinal and which ones are toxic. He is also very funny and has the most contagious laugh. At the end of one of our hikes, we came to a starfruit tree. Starfruit is my most favorite fruit in the world (unless you count tomatoes…) and so one of our guides took a very long stick to poke the fresh fruit and Rodolpho was supposed to catch it, but then he got scared and just covered his face so the fruit fell on the ground. Then he was trying to pick some limes from a lime tree but they were just out of reach and he had to jump. On both occasions, we were all laughing hysterically. Then we were all walking into the dining area, with Rodolopho in front, and our guide waiting at the end, stating “ladies first.” Rodolpho, having heard this, quickly jumped off to the side of the step to let us pass. I laughed at him again. We did the canopy walkway a total of three times, and each time, I noticed more plants that I didn’t see the day before. We also have Ruth and Shawna, who know a lot about botany and have been explaining so much to all of us along the way. It is really cool to have them here with us too. Last night, we stayed at the most rustic of the four lodges, ACTS (Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies). It is the smallest lodge, but still comfortable, no wifi and deepest into the jungle. It rained just as we were going to bed, and continued on as a steady, comforting continuity of beats as we slid into the sweet serenity of sleep. Professora brought some recording equipment on this trip, and I have realized even more than the last time, how beautiful the sounds are here. At the least, you can ere the buzz of the mosquitos, similar to the summer months at home. Then, if you listen more closely, you can hear so much more than that – frogs and birds, the water lapping against the banks. I love it. I should back up, and talk a little more about the canopy. The canopy is the top layer of the jungle, where most of the leaves are on the trees. There is a set of 14 platforms, each approximately 100 ft (the hishest is 117 ft) attached by make-shift bridges that are like horizontal ladders hanging by ropes from the trees with boards on top. It is an absolutely gorgeous site to look out over the jungle with a birds eye view. Shawna set up a time-lapse camera today that takes a photo every minute and we are so excited to see hoe that turns out! We did a mock ayahuasca ceremony today, where Julio blew tobacco smoke over us and snag in his native Shapibo languge. It was entrancing, and I wish that I could record his voice. Ayahuasca is known as the “vine of the soul;” it is the mother of all medicinal plants, and especially respected. Shamans will go into the jungle for months at a time when they are young, drink the ayahuasca and that is how they learn the traditional medicine. It is not allowed to do ayahuasca here at the camp, but many of the shaman still drink the ayahuasca in their homes. Then, we used natural plants to dye t-shirts! I put some random patterns on mine, and on the back, I wrote a saying that I saw in the graffiti of Iquitos: “vive sin miedo.” That means “live without fear.” Tonight, we just had dinner (delicious and fresh, as always) and Bascilio and the gang are playing music and singing for us. The group just got up to dance, so ciao for now!