Mother Nature unleashed another torrential downpour in us, severely hampering our abilities to bail the mud out of our boat as we turned up the Manu River to begin the final leg of our journey.
Just like the other showers, this too stopped as sudden as it started and we were able to sit back and appreciate our jungle cruise. Up until now, we had been floating on the Madre de Dios River, which is swift moving thus our journey was more like running the rapids then a relaxing float.
The Manu River was actually guiding us into the ‘zona experimental’ area of this massive protected area. Unlike the ‘zona natural’ where no visitors were permitted without special permission of the Peruvian Government or the ‘zona cultural’ where the majority of the visitor activities occurred, we were going to be in a unique middle ground. The ‘zona experimental’ is heavily controlled and we were lucky enough to get a spot with the only tour operator permitted into this venue.
The entry into this area is regulated through a variety of check points and occasionally we would be required to stop and produce passports and register. At one stop point we had to listen to a “safety cultural” briefing. The rules about the various zones of Manu are applicable to everyone, except Amazonian Native tribes – they are clearly free to move about as they wish. These tribes are often referred to as the ‘unconquered tribes’. Some of simply never been found where as others have taken great pains to remain without contact from the outside world. They live traditionally; hunting with blow darts, sleeping in thatched huts and eating monkey. They would surely kill us upon sight, and be within their rights to do so. However, the biggest concern was us exposing them to any of the germs that we would carry. Not having had to develop immunities to our common day ailments, a simple cold could cause a tribe to become extinct.
As we headed back to the boat, Jose realized the need to start giving us the rest of the rules was upon as after he caught Yuri holding a poisonous grasshopper. So as we floated along, he started to introduce us to the adventure we are in for…
Rule #1 – Never touch anything colourful. (Apparently there is a vibrantly coloured caterpillar that excretes a paralytic that slowly suffocates it’s victims)
Rule #2 – Never go near any water source at night. (They lost a tourist a few years ago to a black caiman)
Rule #3 – Never go anywhere alone, night or day – no hiking, not to the washroom, nowhere. (Jaguars will rarely attack a group of 2 or more, but a lone person is a very easy target)
Rule #4 – ALWAYS look in your shoes before you put them on. (no shortage to the number of venous things that like to hide in dark places).
Rule #5 – ALWAYS look under, in and around the bed or shower before getting in. (Bushmaster snakes are prevalent in this area and instantly lethal. Jose started to describe the diamond pattern on the back and explain that they can get to be up to 10 feet in length. I told him that I would just come get him if I encountered any snake, no matter the pattern or size of it. This is when we discovered that Jose is scared of snakes – not reassuring since he is the one who is supposed to be keeping us alive)
There was more…sleep with your mosquito nets down, stay away from the unconquered natives, don’t eat the jungle plants – I stopped listening as my head was swimming with excitement and fear over the adventure that we were about to have.
No rain for the past few hours meant that we were able to see vivid Macaws flying overhead and curious squirrel monkeys watching us from shore. Unusual birds became more and more common as we sailed along and the occasional splash from the calm, but pirhanna infested waters reminded us to keep our hands in the boat at all times.
As the sun was setting, we finally "docked" (read: slid into the mud bank). Hyperaware of the dangers of the jungle now, I was petrified to leave the safety of the boat and start the 2km hike to the lodge. The trek in the dark was terrifying as we stomped through thick mud wearing rubber boots while being nibbled by malaria carrying mosquitoes and ducking devil spiders that build their webs across the path. I recall breathing a huge sigh of relief as we finally reached our jungle lodge silhouetted against a mass of dark green rain forest.
We enjoyed a precious few minutes of power while the generator ran long enough to prepare dinner - a delicious meal that we all enjoyed as we sat around a big table and recounted the tales from the past two days of travel. Exhausted, I collapsed into bed, positioned the mosquito net and fell into a deep slumber within seconds. It wasn’t until the next morning when pieces of my dream still haunted me that I realized…I had forgotten to check for snakes.
At least I hope it was a dream…
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