Monday 24th July 2006: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR: Day 3
We awoke the next morning soon after sunrise hoping Sergio had been successful with his hunt, but sadly he was not. However, he did manage to come upon a huge hairy tarantula right near our campfire and he wasn´t at all afraid to pick it up and play with it so we could take the next picture!
After breakfast we packed up camp for the last time and started back on our 10km trek back to the Maloca we had visited on day one. During this walk we saw pineapple plants which neither of us had ever seen before so Sergio went and found us a huge ripe pineapple for us to take back to Leiticia. It was quite heavy and awkward to carry for the rest of the day but when we did eat it it tasted extra sweet!
We also went in search of Incense Trees to find the white sap as we had loved the smell so much that we wanted to take some home as a souvenir. Sergio found lots and carefully wrapped us a bundle in a banana leave; the rest he took home to burn in his house, not just to repell the mosquitoes but also because it is believed that it brings good energy to the home.
A half hour walk from the Maloca we stopped for lunch by a river in the pouring rain! Sergio was still able to light the fire and cook throughout the downpour as he cleverly designed a banana leave cover to keep the rain off the fire - Sergio could definitely show Ray Mears a few tricks!
Lunch was earlier this day as later that evening we were taking part in a traditional Amazonian ceremony of drinking Yahai and this requires each person to have an empty stomach due to the stomach cleansing effects of the ceremony.
Yahai is a tea made from the bark of the Yahai tree combined with Coca leaves that is slowly boiled with water for hours and is made by the Chaman who is the only one with the special knowledge of making of this hallucinogenic drink. The entire tribe frequently partake in this spiritual ceremony including children above the age of ten and we were eager to experience this special ritual that enables you to have 'visions' and learn even more about the lives of the indigenous people of the Amazon.
The Yahai ceremony is always performed at night in complete darkness in a specially made square hut that is a few metres away from the Maloca. Before entering the Yahai hut we met the Chaman (aka William) who is also the Chief of the Hutoto tribe in the Maloca as he briefed us on the ceremony and what we should expect to happen. The first effects after drinking Yahai would be vomiting and diarrhoea which would then be followed by the body relaxing to the point where walking would be difficult followed by these 'visions'. The 'visions' you see when drinking Yahai are entirely individual and dependent on the concentration you maintain once you have chosen what you would like to see, i.e. some choose to see their future, others have chosen to see like an eagle. We were slightly sceptical about the 'visions' and nervous about taking part in the ceremony due to the sickness effects of Yahi but William calmed our fears informing us that his role was look after all those taking part (which included escorting each individual to the toilet!) and assured us that nothing bad would happen.
Having been shown the western toilet next door to the Yahai hut and the 'vomit window' (literally a hole cut out of the hut where you just needed to lean over) we entered the hut barefoot, as is the custom. There were two others taking part in the ceremony (Sergio and another tribe member Sebastian - both very experienced in this ceremony) and we all sat in a circle in the middle of the hut (lit by the tiniest flame of an oil burner) facing the Chaman. We then each had to tie a white band around our head and in turn drank a small cup (roughly 50ml) of the Yahai tea, down in one. Once we had all drank the tea we were advised to move under the 'special' window so that we were sitting with our backs against the wall as we would soon be needing the support and the nearness of the window! Once we´d repositioned ourselves, the flame was extinguished and we sat in complete darkness listening to William´s chanting, waiting for the drink to take effect.
After roughly half and hour, Celina (having been the first to drink the tea) started vomiting and shortly after Oliver followed suit! Celina continued being sick (Oli counted at least six times!) and after each time felt increasingly strange in body and mind. Moving to use the window became more and more difficult - the support of the wall was much appreciated by this time as it was the only thing preventing her from falling over in a 'drunken' stupor! When the time came to use the toilet it was extremely hard for Celina to walk un-aided (William had to practically carry her to the loo!) and the light from William´s flashlight seemed to turn the floor into moving blue swirls of light! After the toilet excursions Celina remained unable to do anything but breathe very heavily and slowly and try to keep her eyes open! During this experience it seemed that the chanting exacerbated the strange effects of drinking Yahai.
Oliver didn´t have nearly as weird an experience as Celina - no strange feelings or inability to walk for him! Where Celina felt that time had stood still during the four hour ceremony, it was long and drawn out for Oli! However, it was quite comical for Oli hearing Celina stumble around trying to put her wellies on to use the loo and listening to her constant heavy breathing!
Just before the end of the ceremony we were each called individually to sit by Williams´ side (he remained in the middle of the hut) where he took off the white headband and recited a mantra whilst patting our heads with some nice smelling and cooling liquid. For Celina to move towards William took a great effort which could only be managed by crawling on hands and knees - standing at this point was just not possible! Once the ceremony was over we all headed back to the Maloca (Celina now guided by Oliver - "There´s a step here love!") to our hammocks and a good nights sleep.
The next morning we spent some time talking with William about our different experiences during the ceremony - Celina was the only one of the four to have had such a strong experience! Oliver was much cheered on learning from William that he has a clean and strong stomach as he didn´t have any need to use the toilet! Sergio also explained that to experience no 'strangeness' during the ceremony is very normal as the ceremony is entirely natural and therefore cannot promise an effect everytime. All in all the Yahai ceremony was a interesting experience and did enable us to have a good laugh about it the next day.
A few hours after waking (having seen William and his wife make Yucca) it was time to say goodbye to William & co and the Amazon jungle and head back to Sergio´s village where Daniel would be waiting to take us back to Leiticia.
Our three nights in the jungle was the most awesome experience for both of us where we learnt so much about the Amazon and its people. This tour has definitely been the highlight of our honeymoon and will be a memory that we cherish forever.
The Goodfellows at the end of their Amazonian trek
posted by Oliver and Celina Goodfellow @ 1:54 PM
<< Home