October 10, 2011
Well since I wrote last night I found out that Jennifer couldn't get the 1pm bus since she was 15 minutes late so got stuck in Pedro Ruiz until 9pm and took the night bus to Tarapoto. Pedro Ruiz is not a place you want to get stuck in unless you enjoy playing the game "eye spy with my little eye" by yourself since there isn't a lot to do but luckily she knew someone there so spent her 8 hours waiting for the bus with her friend. She got in at 5am and I got up and met her at the front door when I heard someone coming in. She didn't sleep much and said the bus ride was very cold at night.
At 7am we headed out when the coffee shops open and we ended up going to a big market. She says there is always a big market in every town and asked a local guy where Tarapoto's local market was. We went there and had coffee and Jennifer bought some local treats for me to try. There were 2 drunk guys singing horribly and playing a guitar and I tried not to look at them (I had my back to them) since I thought they would want money for their horrible spanish singing and sure enough one of the old guys puts his hand on my back (Just seeing what this white ATM might spit out for him) and put his money plate in front of me but Jennifer shoe'd him away quickly. I am glad I have her to watch over me here.
Jennifer said she wanted to go back to the hotel so she could change into her shoes so she went to her room and I waited in the lobby area when I see this guy at the reception desk with a small monkey on his back and a dog beside him who was dressed in boxer shorts and gum boots. I thought it was odd attire for walking around Tarapoto but went up and pet his little monkey on his back. The man was very personable and friendly and could speak english so we chatted a little and he told me he lives in the jungle for 2 weeks at a time and comes back for a day and stays at the Misti Hotel just so he can stock up on another 2 weeks worth of food and that he was into wild life and had been living out there for 2 years now and had a website. He seemed like a guy who would know about the local shamans and I asked him where I could try the ancient shamanic brew called "Ayahuasca" (Pronounced "Eye-ah-waas-ca"). He said he knew of a few shamans that he trusted and invited me out to the jungle tomorrow to join him and he would arrange an ayahuasca ritual and when I asked how much it would be he said it is a matter of just giving a donation to them which sounded good to me since there is a lot of commercialism here in Ayahuasca retreats where they want big money ($70US) for a drink that is natural and to me it loses the whole spirit of what it is about so he got on his cell phone and made a few calls. Now I can't see a shaman carrying a cell phone but he was speaking in spanish and probably well connected and said he could tell me of a few other good shamans in Yurimaguas and Iquitos when I go there. He showed me pictures of a particular pig on his cell phone that I guess he looks after and later I asked Jennifer "So what do you think? He seems like a really good guy and I have a good vibe about him" and Jennifer says "Yes he does seem like a good man but seems very strange". I said that I had figured that out immediately by the way he was dressed but living in the jungle I am sure those are the only clothes you really need (Kind of like a "Crocodile Dundee" type for Peru). He told me to get some rubber boots for the 2 hour journey into the jungle for tomorrow at 6am so that is why I am writing a blog entry now since I may be a day or two. It is amazing how "opportunities" present themselves when you least expect it because if Jennifer had not wanted to go back to the hotel and change her shoes then I never would have met "Orlando" and got this opportunity. I am starting to think that it is DESTINY!!!
We told Orlando which rooms we were staying in and said we would meet up with him tonight so hopefully we can have a few glasses of my coffee flavoured liquer in the lobby and get some more details about this jungle excursion. I mean, are there hungry taratulas that have a particular preference for sinking their fangs into white caucasion males while they sleep, or full grown boa-constrictors that can swallow a man whole, or piranhas who can devour a man right to his skeleton within 30 seconds flat. Hopefully tonight we can get answers to these important questions.
After meeting Orlando we decided instead of doing a tour with a local tour operator (for blue lagoon) we would just get a colectivo for 5 soles each and go 25km to Lama so see some tribe people but when we got there we heard there was a castle in Lama which sounded odd for Peru but we went to check it out. It was a nice looking castle and had a European look to it so we were puzzled on why there would be a European castle in Lama Peru of all places. She asked a uniformed officer and then she told me that some "crazy" Italian guy had built it as a home 5 years ago and then made it a tourist attraction with a 5 soles entrance fee. It had a pool with a wet bar and stools in the pool and would make for a great party home.
Back in Tarapoto I bought some rubber boots and a rain poncho for the jungle excursion since I know I will need them in Iquitos and Jennifer is giving me her insect repellant. Thank god I have Jennifer to speak spanish since I couldn't find any rubber boots to fit me and the guy went down the street and found a pair that fit.
Later on at around 3pm I decided to have a quick nap when Orlando knocked on my door and he was surprisingly nicely dressed as he was about to take his dog out for a walk and the boxer shorts and gum boots is just for the journey through the jungle. He asked if I had checked out his website yet and I said that I haven't and couldn't read all his letters in his name that he wrote down for me. I guess I was expecting his place to be somewhat rugged like a tent and very survival type existence but he said no and that it is all on his website and all I had to do was google or youtube his name "Orlando Zagazeia". Well I am liking this already and very excited and just wished Jennifer could come along for this experience but unfortunately she had her airline ticket booked a couple weeks ago for leaving Tarapoto on Tuesday morning back to Lima.
So I will leave on Tuesday morning at 6am and get to Orlando's place at 8am and stay the night and then probably come back on Wednesday afternoon and head to Yurimaguas on Thursday morning and book a 3-4 day boat ride to Iquitos and catch up to Megan and Eugene. When I get back I will write more and plenty of photos. Charging the camera battery as we speak.
Well since I wrote last night I found out that Jennifer couldn't get the 1pm bus since she was 15 minutes late so got stuck in Pedro Ruiz until 9pm and took the night bus to Tarapoto. Pedro Ruiz is not a place you want to get stuck in unless you enjoy playing the game "eye spy with my little eye" by yourself since there isn't a lot to do but luckily she knew someone there so spent her 8 hours waiting for the bus with her friend. She got in at 5am and I got up and met her at the front door when I heard someone coming in. She didn't sleep much and said the bus ride was very cold at night.
At 7am we headed out when the coffee shops open and we ended up going to a big market. She says there is always a big market in every town and asked a local guy where Tarapoto's local market was. We went there and had coffee and Jennifer bought some local treats for me to try. There were 2 drunk guys singing horribly and playing a guitar and I tried not to look at them (I had my back to them) since I thought they would want money for their horrible spanish singing and sure enough one of the old guys puts his hand on my back (Just seeing what this white ATM might spit out for him) and put his money plate in front of me but Jennifer shoe'd him away quickly. I am glad I have her to watch over me here.
Jennifer said she wanted to go back to the hotel so she could change into her shoes so she went to her room and I waited in the lobby area when I see this guy at the reception desk with a small monkey on his back and a dog beside him who was dressed in boxer shorts and gum boots. I thought it was odd attire for walking around Tarapoto but went up and pet his little monkey on his back. The man was very personable and friendly and could speak english so we chatted a little and he told me he lives in the jungle for 2 weeks at a time and comes back for a day and stays at the Misti Hotel just so he can stock up on another 2 weeks worth of food and that he was into wild life and had been living out there for 2 years now and had a website. He seemed like a guy who would know about the local shamans and I asked him where I could try the ancient shamanic brew called "Ayahuasca" (Pronounced "Eye-ah-waas-ca"). He said he knew of a few shamans that he trusted and invited me out to the jungle tomorrow to join him and he would arrange an ayahuasca ritual and when I asked how much it would be he said it is a matter of just giving a donation to them which sounded good to me since there is a lot of commercialism here in Ayahuasca retreats where they want big money ($70US) for a drink that is natural and to me it loses the whole spirit of what it is about so he got on his cell phone and made a few calls. Now I can't see a shaman carrying a cell phone but he was speaking in spanish and probably well connected and said he could tell me of a few other good shamans in Yurimaguas and Iquitos when I go there. He showed me pictures of a particular pig on his cell phone that I guess he looks after and later I asked Jennifer "So what do you think? He seems like a really good guy and I have a good vibe about him" and Jennifer says "Yes he does seem like a good man but seems very strange". I said that I had figured that out immediately by the way he was dressed but living in the jungle I am sure those are the only clothes you really need (Kind of like a "Crocodile Dundee" type for Peru). He told me to get some rubber boots for the 2 hour journey into the jungle for tomorrow at 6am so that is why I am writing a blog entry now since I may be a day or two. It is amazing how "opportunities" present themselves when you least expect it because if Jennifer had not wanted to go back to the hotel and change her shoes then I never would have met "Orlando" and got this opportunity. I am starting to think that it is DESTINY!!!
We told Orlando which rooms we were staying in and said we would meet up with him tonight so hopefully we can have a few glasses of my coffee flavoured liquer in the lobby and get some more details about this jungle excursion. I mean, are there hungry taratulas that have a particular preference for sinking their fangs into white caucasion males while they sleep, or full grown boa-constrictors that can swallow a man whole, or piranhas who can devour a man right to his skeleton within 30 seconds flat. Hopefully tonight we can get answers to these important questions.
After meeting Orlando we decided instead of doing a tour with a local tour operator (for blue lagoon) we would just get a colectivo for 5 soles each and go 25km to Lama so see some tribe people but when we got there we heard there was a castle in Lama which sounded odd for Peru but we went to check it out. It was a nice looking castle and had a European look to it so we were puzzled on why there would be a European castle in Lama Peru of all places. She asked a uniformed officer and then she told me that some "crazy" Italian guy had built it as a home 5 years ago and then made it a tourist attraction with a 5 soles entrance fee. It had a pool with a wet bar and stools in the pool and would make for a great party home.
Back in Tarapoto I bought some rubber boots and a rain poncho for the jungle excursion since I know I will need them in Iquitos and Jennifer is giving me her insect repellant. Thank god I have Jennifer to speak spanish since I couldn't find any rubber boots to fit me and the guy went down the street and found a pair that fit.
Later on at around 3pm I decided to have a quick nap when Orlando knocked on my door and he was surprisingly nicely dressed as he was about to take his dog out for a walk and the boxer shorts and gum boots is just for the journey through the jungle. He asked if I had checked out his website yet and I said that I haven't and couldn't read all his letters in his name that he wrote down for me. I guess I was expecting his place to be somewhat rugged like a tent and very survival type existence but he said no and that it is all on his website and all I had to do was google or youtube his name "Orlando Zagazeia". Well I am liking this already and very excited and just wished Jennifer could come along for this experience but unfortunately she had her airline ticket booked a couple weeks ago for leaving Tarapoto on Tuesday morning back to Lima.
So I will leave on Tuesday morning at 6am and get to Orlando's place at 8am and stay the night and then probably come back on Wednesday afternoon and head to Yurimaguas on Thursday morning and book a 3-4 day boat ride to Iquitos and catch up to Megan and Eugene. When I get back I will write more and plenty of photos. Charging the camera battery as we speak.
