Into the Rainforest

The motorised boat drove fast with the wind and water rushing past I opened the bag pack to find the bandana and noticed the poncho rain cover jacket which I gave to the lady holding a baby as with the arm rest seat. Within the hour we came to a tribal camp on the waterfront, stopping to get out my head still moves from side to side, we ascend up the hill to the living huts, dogs whined at the hands of tribal women in hand made hammocks while the chickens ran after a puppy, in the shadows unnoticeable at first but right in front was a Waorani hunter male. 

The jungle had shown its ways on this one eyed practically naked man, large ear pierced holes came down from this noble and humbled warrior. He saw the camera despite my best efforts to hide it, consciously he touched his missing eye and returned to the cabin. I hope to this magnificent person again.

Invited into the main living quarter for water and eggs I walk in smiling to show a person with no harmful intent, the living space was dark with no window, 7 people sat in a room approximately 4m x 3m telling stories together which I’d expected were similar to when any family meets. Returning to the canoe where we began our voyage deeper into the heart of the Amazon basin, along the way I filmed our route into the ever growing depth of plant life, swamp and thousands of creatures silently judging our presence. Birds constantly flew at the speed of the boat, turtles jumped from their logs when passing, Penti stopped the canoe to show a boa snake wrapped around a tree branch, they poked it with sticks and threw twigs until it moved. We passed several albino caiman, butterflies flew past the atmosphere was fantastic, the smell of the jungle settled every time we slowed down I expected it to smell the same as growing up as a child in Thailand but it was very different, more pungent and thick, the swamp smell was surprisingly sweet with a tropical must. After 8 hours in the canoe a storm arose, when thunder came the tribe count  fingers, sitting on a wooden makeshift bench complemented with heavy rain crashing down. I gave my comfy seat and rain jacket with hood to the lady with the baby Daboto but this did not go unnoticed and for the following 8 days she kept an eye on me to see I was fed and given water. The last 2 hours on the boat was hell but we got there eventually, it was dark when we arrived on the water front under outlines of  pitch black trees, shadows stood meters around me, I was completely unexpected, someone took my bag in the blackness only vivid shapes reflected partial moon light, with hands and feet I made it up the mudslide barely able to walk after the 10 hour wooden plank, head still swaying, with a broken arse I collapsed in my hammock.
Waking up at 05:45 a spider monkey was swinging from and pulling up the mosquito net. Clucking throats and excited “oooh ooh” giggles came as though pulling up a ladies skirt in public. It became a game to see how much the little monkey with long limbs could swing on the net before I clapped my hands or stood up. The game then turned into how close pee could be dropped from above without actually hitting me. A few days went and closer and closer until one day I knew the monkey would sit on top of the net and drop bombs, ultimately winning the game. For this occasion I’d engineered a cunning plan; to leave a wasp in one of the bananas….

But that day never came, no one won the game, this morning she didn’t swing on my net, I found out her name is Digi, and she rolled back my sleeping bag and quietly woke me. She turned her back and through the mosquito net I stroked her shoulders and neck. She came under the net with a tail around my arm, with a hand on my chest she fell asleep.

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