Jungle is massive!

3 Days in Cumaceba Lodge in the Amazon jungle, has taught me I´m not a jungle girl! I had the strong sense that everything in all directions is living and breathing. It is dense with life, fascinating and un-nerving. I feel strangely threatened by it all.

Our first afternoon we went by boat to an animal sanctuary. The sloth is my new favourite animal. It has a peculiar balance of ugly and cute, moving so slowly, with a permanent expression of a smile. Long arms, legs and claws allowing it to climb trees well, if not in slow motion. Although he didn´t demonstrate this to us. He fell from a very low branch and landed backwards. When he was picked up and sat in the sitting position, he fell forward and pissed himself, like he´d been out all night and didn´t have the energy for dignity anymore.

The marmoset monkey was amazing. Like a tiny human in some ways, and like a baby as he lay contently in my arms! Friends of mine may be surprised to hear of me interacting with animals. Don't get too excited, it didn´t last that long, I didn´t bond with the snakes and toucan.

For sunset we went down river to where the Amazon meets with another river, and dolphins come up for air at this time. There were plenty until we got in for a swim, then they mysteriously disappeared, cant blame them, they´re supposed to be smart aren´t they?

I declined the opportunity of a night trip to sit in the canoe listening for nocturnal animals. My paranoia rose as the sun went down. The tour guide didn´t help when he brought one of the tarantulas, which were just roaming free on the walkway to MY BEDROOM, into the drinking area. When it jumped off him, I jumped onto a chair, for the second time that day. The first being when the snakes were let loose. I promptly went to bed after that, unable to calm my imagination.

Early next morning we walked through the jungle in sweltering heat. We were shown how to drink water from tree branches, termite nests which are used as mosquito repellent, as well as monkeys, frogs, lizards, butterflies and working ants carrying big leaves. We finished the trip with a visit to a tribe. An comfortable forced atmosphere. The three men wearing traditional clothes, the others were all women, hardly clothed and hardly a smile between them. They painted our faces, we danced with them and shot targets through wood like a massive pea-shooter. The best bit was Rach and I playing with the blow and arrows.

That evening I managed to relax a bit more with no tarantula sightings and a few beers. We played music and chatted.

We woke in the morning to find four bats above our beds! And then we went piranha fishing! After fishing others decided to swim. I stayed firmly on-board with my make-shift rod and Rach joining me at the front of the boat with the guitar.