Jungle Drum
IV.II.VII
JUNGLE DRUM
Okay, here is where I recount the tales of what was another hell of an adventure, one that takes us into the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. I flew into Iquitos as soon as I got to Lima – all sweaty, stinky and exhausted but super ready and excited for what was about to come.
The Amazon is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest that covers over 5,500,500 km² of South America, with the majority in Brazil, Peru and Colombia, and the rest in territory belonging to six other countries. The rainforest boasts the largest biodiversity of any other biome, with the largest collection of both flora and fauna in the world. Also something super cool: around half the dust fertilising the Amazon comes from… I’m giving you a head start… okay? Did you think about it? Yes? Okay… the Sahara! Yup, that’s right. By wind, if you’re wondering how, and its importance lies in the fact that it is full of phosphorus – a compound essential for plant growth. Another cool fact? A 3°C rise in temperature would kill around 75% of the jungle. Scary, right? Wanna know what’s scarier? The fact that when 25% of the Amazon is destroyed (around 20% at time of writing), the rainforest will irreversibly turn into a savannah. Scary.
Upon arriving in Iquitos, I hitched a ride on a tuk-tuk which was very reminiscent of our drives way back in Nepal. The same chaos and lawlessness that ruled the roads also reminded me of my earthly tether and my will to stay alive.
I was dropped off at the tour agency where Colleen, a lady from Florida, and Gábor, a Hungarian guy, had been waiting. We were then met with Alex who would be our guide during our Amazon adventure. After the usual pleasantries, we got on another tuk-tuk that took us to a local market right beside the inland port. Being an internationally acclaimed connoisseur of all that is weird and funky, I simply had to try some of the local food.
Let’s see… gonna rank them from best to worst. First off would be crocodile meat which, to my non-sophisticated tongue, tastes a bit like a mix of fish and chicken. Then came turtle eggs and their stale tap-water flavour. And finally cocotero. But maybe you know them as Suri. And if they still sound unfamiliar, they’re simply big, yellow, squirmy worms. These protein-rich critters are usually eaten raw or grilled on skewers. Their crispy exterior gives way to a fatty mayonnaise-like interior that tastes slightly sweet and, well, wormy. If you can get over their appearance, they’re not that bad. I wouldn’t go as far as saying they taste good though.
After the culinary adventure, we headed down to the port of Nanay where a wooden fishing boat with a thatched roof was waiting for us. We set off on the muddy brown waters, civilisation ebbing away from us as the greenness of the Amazon started to enshroud our surroundings. Finally, I was in a jungle again!
Having been promised a sighting of the elusive pink Amazon river dolphin, my eyes were practically glued to the waters during the two hours it took us to get to where we’d be staying for the next four days: a bungalow in the middle of the Amazon. Unfortunately none graced us with their presence, however we did get to observe some rare species of birds along the riverbank (whose names completely elude me at this point in time and probably at any point in the future).
In the Amazon I quickly learned to not be disappointed by the things you don’t get to see, only cause you’ll see ten other things you’ve never even thought of seeing. Such is life in a jungle. In fact, I have no idea what to write about in this section.
It’s like when you’re madly in love with someone and they ask you what about them makes you so crazy and you come up short of answers cause there’s just too many things. My god, I can’t believe I used such a cloying allegory, I apologise. So anyways, over my four days in the Amazon we got to go on tons of walks in the middle of the jungle and participate in a number of activities that had us come in contact with all kinds of cool species. And I’ll try and mention only those… I’ll try, can’t promise anything.
Well, let’s start off with plants. Banana, coconut, starfruit, cacao, pineapple trees and all the fruit trees you can think of. And then a few trees that had me in pure and unadulterated awe:
- Sandbox trees: Also known as dynamite trees, AKA my favourite trees, which have a spiny bark, poisonous sap and tiny pumpkin-like fruit which explode at a speed of around 160 mph once ripe.
- Walking palm: I like to call these Ents. Their trunk is supported by numerous spiny roots that project directly from it above the ground, allowing the entire tree to move about the jungle by a few centimetres every year.
- Chumba wumba palm tree: Its trunk is covered by long, sharp, black needles. Totally not a fun one to fall onto – take it from me.
- Wasai tree: A palm tree with tall, slender trunks and prominent, red stilt roots that lift it above the swampy ground. Its roots are used as a natural diuretic.
- Sharinga tree: More commonly known as the rubber tree, whose inner bark oozes creamy white latex when tapped.
Oh trees. Then there’s the usual gloriously beautiful flowers you always come to expect from such places like heliconia and hyacinths, grias and begonias, and last but not least, the Victoria amazonica, the largest water lily in the world. Mushrooms and mosses, parasitic plants and roots, tendrils and vine -, an infinity of plant species. Or, more specifically, over 40,000 of them.
If you’re not into botany, perhaps you’ll appreciate entomology instead. Unless you hate arthropods that is. Our day hikes were always populated with all kinds of insects, from the elegant blue morpho and tree nymph butterflies to the massive carpenter ants that swarm tree trunks when you tap on them, and the massive horseflies that leave a red, swollen area the size of Texas when they bite you. But fear not, for if you approach an arboreal termite nest and gently place a hand on it, hundreds of those tiny critters will swarm you. Of course, you can then take the opportunity to crush the helpless creatures, effectively releasing a musky-smelling substance that doubles as an insect repellent. According to Alex, termite juice is equivalent to 100% DEET. Not sure if it’s quite evidence-based, though it did keep mosquitoes and flies at bay for a while.
Night walks, on the other hand, revealed the more sinister creepy crawlies, like the black armoured jungle train millipedes and the red-bodied Peruvian giant yellow-leg centipedes. And spiders. Lots and lots of spiders. Wolf spiders and whip spiders and daddy-long-legs spiders and tarantulas and, well, more spiders. An arachnophiliac’s dream come true.
It was also at night that we got to witness most of the reptilian and amphibian wildlife, except for caimans who decided to pull a no-show during multiple hunting sessions. Their loss. But caimans be damned, I still got to see tons of different frogs, lizards and snakes, with the MVP who stole the show being the one and only Kambo frog. Also known as the giant leaf frog, this green beauty secretes a poisonous substance full of opioids through its slimy skin. Of course, humans being humans, we managed to find a couple of uses for it. This secretion is harvested by scratching the frog’s skin and then applied to arrow tips used for hunting (understandable), or applied to skin during a cleansing ceremony which makes the poisonee crap their pants, projectile vomit and possibly also flatline (not understandable). Humans.
Okay, one last part about wildlife, I promise,. One of the many highlights of the trip was a visit to Monkey Island. But don’t be fooled by its name – there’s more than just one. Way more.
The island shelters a large number of monkeys in their natural habitat, from tamarins and woolly monkeys to capuchin and squirrel monkeys. Monkeys everywhere you look. Monkeys that come up to you wanting to play. Monkeys that climb onto your shoulders and pull your ears and try to kiss you. Monkeys that start fighting against each other because it’s their turn to play with you. Man, do I love monkeys.
Then there was the animal rescue centre where injured animals or those requiring protection of some sort are taken in until it is safe to release them back into the wild. Among these were animals I had seen plenty of times, like the resplendent scarlet macaws and parrots which, in the jungle, seemed to be totally different species. Then there were those I knew about but had never before seen in front of my eyes: an anaconda (had only heard songs about this one), sloths (cuter than photos show but possibly slower) and a yellow-ridged toucan (which no words can do justice when describing it).
And then ones I had no idea existed, like the South American coati. These are kind of a cross between a cat and a raccoon, or possibly a dog and a small bear… hmm, a possum and an aardvark? Anyways, they’re brown in colour with an elongated snout, two Mickey Mouse-like ears and a tail almost as long as their body with numerous whitish rings all over it. And then came one of the weirdest animals I have ever laid my eyes upon: a mata-mata turtle. These prehistoric-looking creatures are brown-grey in colour, with a super sturdy shell covered in spikes and ridges that make them look like bits of fallen bark for camouflage. They’ve got a freakishly flat head with two beady eyes, a Cheshire-cat smile that makes them look creepily cute, and a really out-of-place long tubular snout that sticks out from the middle of their forehead. They also have a neck that looks and feels a lot like mud. Yes folks, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds. And if you don’t wanna take my word for it, just Google it.
So yeah, I really wasn’t kidding about the Amazon having the largest biodiversity of any biome in the world. In just four days, I got to set my eyes on all kinds of flora and fauna!