After breakfast we boarded a little motorized canoe with Dad and I, Segundo and our driver Teddy. We headed down the Napo River about 40 minutes and finally turned down a little channel. We were worried about fishing, having eaten dinner with Segundo´s boss the night before. He told us that it may be difficult to catch any fish because the water is still somewhat high, but if anyone could help us catch a fish, it would be Segundo. So we made our way into our little channel and parked the boat close to the banks. We tied up to a tree and handed out our equipment. Dad, Teddy and I used long branch poles with fishing line tied on, but Segundo had a legit pole. We baited our hooks with cubes of raw beef and cast our lines into the water. Segundo and Teddy dipped their poles into the water and thrashed the water around. I guess this stirred up the fish because immediately we felt the piranha start to nibble at our bait. The trick to catching piranha is to wait until you feel them nibble at the bait and then jerk your pole to hook them. Teddy and Segundo had no problem; they each caught fish within minutes. It took us a little bit more time to get the hang of it. Dad started catching a few, and then I caught one. After about an hour Segundo warned us that we would have to leave soon, so he let Dad borrow his pole. As soon as Segundo mentioned leaving, Dad pulled out the biggest pirhana of the day. It was huge! Dad ended up catching 2 red piranha and 2 white piranha, I caught 1 white piranha and Teddy and Segundo probably caught around 8 between the 2 of them.
Our fishing spot
Segundo with a red piranha
Dad...clearly not being cautious.
My one fish.
The winner of the day.
We headed out from fishing and made our way down the Napo river about 15 minutes. Segundo brought us there to meet the Yagua tribe. Unlike the tribe we met before, these people were pretty legit. We pulled up and walked up to their huts. Segundo went inside and kind of left us out front, so we started making friends with the little boys who were outside. They had made their own little toys out of leafs and sticks; their version of a pinwheel. They got a kick out of Dad´s camera so he would take pictures of them, and then review them on the screen. They loved it. There was a pig under one of the houses and all of the sudden all of the dogs started chasing it around. We taught the boys how to do the "thumbs up" and give high fives- They weren´t really understanding the high fives but Dad and I gave a quick demonstration and then they caught on.
Run kids...run fast.
Rockin the thumbs up.
Making the darts
Then the elders of the tribe came out in their traditional outfits; grass skirts and little else. The oldest woman came out wearing her pet sloth and pretty much nothing else. We each took turns holding the sloth and when dad held it, the sloth went for his camera. It kept trying to grab on to the camera strap. That thing was feisty too. One of the old men brought out a blow gun and did a quick demonstartion. Then it was our turn. I went first and hit the tree (our target) on the second try. Dad was up next, and being the natural blowhard, hit it immediately. I see a future for him. After that, the tribe showed us some of their goods and we shopped a bit. As we walked back to the boat the kids followed us. As we pulled away, they were all flashing the thumbs up sign.
The best accesory is a sloth. and going topless.
"I´m waiting...anybody got a match"-Dad
We headed back to the lodge for lunch. Segundo had the cooks prepare 2 of our piranhas for lunch; one red and one white. They were delicious, but really bony. Segundo told us that 2 new guys would be joining our tour too. They were Ryan and Matt, two white kids from Hawaii. We all ate our lunch and then headed out to the botanical garden to buy a few things. Guillermo and Julio, the shamans, did their little demonstration about the plants of the garden for Ryan and Matt. This time Segundo helped out a bit, and he even made us try a couple of things. He had us drink the oña de gato, for our joints and then passed us a glass of purplish liquid. He told us to drink it and then he would tell us what it was. After guzzling it down, Segundo told us it was a natural aphrodisiac. Yea...thanks Segundo. After that Julio, the shaman blessed Ryan and Matt. It was our turn next. We sat in the middle of the circle hut with our eyes clothes and our palms up. Guillermo, the other shaman came behind us and blew smoke into our heads and then blessed us with a leaf and chanted for a while. It was very relaxing and we almost fell asleep.
Delicious.
almost sleeping.
From there, Segundo took us to our canoe where Matt, Ryan, Dad and I took off with Segundo and Teddy to look for animals. We headed up the Napo river and ended up turning off at Loreto lake. We would be whizzing past something when Segundo would signal for Teddy to stop the boat and he would point out and iguana or a bird. I could even see the friggin thing when the boat was stopped so I don´t know how Segundo would spot it when we were zooming by. We cruised around the lake and turned down these little channels, filled with vines and crazy plants. It was like the jungle cruise. We spotted some birds, a couple iguanas and a sloth up in a tree. We even saw some local kids with a baby wild boar. It was super cute. It was a great way to spend the afternoon.
Baby boar.
Hey Mr. Tally Man...
Ladies and Gentlemen...the backside of water.
On our way back to the lodge, Segundo told us we would stop off and visit a village that was having a big party today, with soccer games from all the local tribes in the area. We pulled ashore and a guy was there, trying to recover his sinking canoe. yikes. We headed to the party and while walking there we noticed that everyone was carrying baby chicks, four or five at a time, some cupped in their shirts. We made our way toward the soccer fields and Segundo told us that the mayor was handing out chicks to the villagers because today was the villages anniversary. We still arent sure whether this guy was the mayor or was running for mayor. Segundo told us we had some free time so dad and I walked around the village and tried to find out if the sinking canoe guy needed any help. After we found out that he had gotten it out ok, we headed back to the soccer fields. We all ran into Segundo and he brought us over to hang out with some of his cousins.
Mayor and his chicks.
We all parked it on the ground and were introduced to his cousins. They offered us some of the local sugar cane rum to drin, which is home brewed in the Amazon ("white lightning Amazon style"-Dad). It was delicious. So here we are, sitting in the Amazon, drinking sugar cane rum out of an Inka Cola Bottle with Iquiteña beer chasers and speaking spanish with our tour guides cousins. They were hilarious and awesome and totally wasted. After some good drinks and some great conversation, we made our way back to the lodge. We showered and got ready for dinner.
Notice the Inka Cola bottle...
After dinner, we went out again in the canoe to look for animals at night. Segundo, being the pro he is, fixed Dad´s flashlight so we were all ready to go. We headed out, under the black of night, into the Amazon. This time we saw a snake, a spider that eats fish and a bunch of hummingbirds. It was pretty cool. We headed back to the lodge and we all sat around a had Iquiteñas except for Segundo who had Jack and Cokes and talked. Segundo started telling us all about the jungle ghost stories. And that if you dream about a snake, it means that your wife is cheating on you. He told us about this little guy who lives in the jungle who is the father of the trees. He has one good leg and one deformed leg and will confuse you enough to get you lost in the jungle if you go too far into his territory. The stories got creepier and creepier as he drank more so dad kept buying. We went to the bathroom before bed, Jeffrey now learning his lesson, and I spotted a huge frog down in the latrine. Yummy. We climbed under our mosquito beds and drifted off to sleep.
Snake.
Dad´s singing me a lullaby.
Adios!
