Adventures with Julia

Late yesterday , a few of us went for a tender ride to try to find Macaw birds up the Maranon River, which we reached early in the day. There is no debris or lettuce in this river and it is very black and pretty. We are now at the most southern point of our trip. We found several Macaw high up in the hollows of dead palm trees. I did not get a photo of them flying but I managed to get a few looking out from the tree stumps.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

This morning at 9am a group of us set out for a whole day of activities. First we registered into the national reserve at the ranger station. I caught a photo of a flowering acacia. This plant is supposed to help people with kidney problems. We started with biking and kayaking. Mark went biking while I happily went kayaking.

My partner was our female medical doctor who, unfortunately, spoke no English. I learned quickly that she also did not have any kayaking experience. Most of the time I asked her to stop and enjoy the ride while I did the kayaking. However, she was a good medic. I had woken up with a bad head cold and she gave me some pills for it at breakfast. By the time we went kayaking , I was already feeling better.

That worked pretty well and we meandered around a couple of little tributaries off the main black water river, an offshoot of the brown Amazon. After we had done enough kayaking, about 45 minutes, everyone returned to the tender and up the river we went to get to the designated jungle walk. We all changed into rubber boots and headed out into the jungle. It was full of unusual creatures.

After the one hour walk we got back into the tenders and rafted up with the food tender, bar tender included, for a picnic lunch. This time it was rice, chicken and a hard boiled egg wrapped in a banana leaf, hearts of palm salad, chocolate salami and and Oreo like cookie. We are being fed oh so well. Near by were branches full of egrets. I even caught one in flight.

Shortly after lunch, we motored out into the middle of the river and dropped into the water for a leisurely drift while wearing life vests. Mark took his off and floated on it instead of in it. We were definitely drifting downstream, but decided to let the crew follow us rather than fight the current. The water temperature was perfect. I wish Lake Tahoe was like this. Eventually we were ready to go back to our ship and called for the tender.

We picked up a few more photos on the way and I must give credit for the animal images to Wallace, a fellow traveler. It was about a 20 minute run back to the ship, followed by showers and moisturizers. Most people in our group had received many mosquito bites and too much sun. We had faired fairly well in both cases. Once cleaned up we spent the rest of the afternoon on the pool deck enjoying the breeze as the ship motored north toward Iquitos.

As sunset, the crew band began to play and everyone onboard showed up to share drinks, appetizers and music. Mark took a lovely photo of the sunset. Then we had dinner and went to bed.

The weather has been nearly perfect the whole week. Only one hour of rain on one afternoon. Otherwise sunny, but not overly hot or humid.

Friday, July 1, 2024

We wake up still on the clear, black Moranon River. Kept breakfast simple with fruit and yogurt. Then out at 9am for a Tender ride to visit a Shamana (female shaman), named Karuka. She is a 31 year old local healer who was chosen at age 14 by her grandfather, a medicine man, who had a vision that she would become a shaman. She agreed and spent 8 years under a strict set of rules to follow as well as a strict diet. Once she finished her training, she became a shaman and started training others in the art.

She now has a normal life with a husband and three children. She talked to us about some of her special medicines including Ayahuasca (a wood vine, the juice from which causes significant dreaming); Wild Garlic (crunch a bunch of leaves and inhale the smell as deeply as possible, to prevent or cure Covid, and good for sinus problems); Dragons Blood (the reddish sap is mixed until it becomes a white paste and is used as an anti inflammatory against mosquito bites among other things.); Copaiba ( the sap of which is used for arthritis). After rubbing the Copaiba sap into the joints of several of us, Karuka gave us a blessing and sent us on our way. We bought a bracelet with Ayahuasca wood in it and a Jaguar mask. Then we walked a slippery, muddy path back to the tenders and motored 45 minutes back to the ship. We lucked out with an overcast sky, but no rain.

Lunch was an Asian affaire complete with egg drop soup, fresh spring rolls, pork belly in sauce, daikon and cream caramel. The meals have all been good. By being served family style, we can eat as much or little as we wish. Then at 2pm, a few of us were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the ship: including the bridge, the crew quarters, the crew gym and music room; the laundry facilities, storage for extra skiffs, bicycles, kayaks; water supply and filtration system; AC units and more. That tour lasted about 20 minutes and then I was back in our room composing another post. Our room is like all other 19 rooms on the ship with extra wide beds and plenty of storage for a week.