Jungle

I love the rainforest! What a week its been. It took three hours or so by bus and 5hrs by canoe to reach the lodge and it was worth every second. It was so relaxing to spend a week in the jungle, miles from anywhere, surrounded by nature at its very best and with good food, good company, a good book and a hammock. With no traffic, concrete, television, news, internet, supermarkets or marketing, a few days in the wilderness must surely be the best antidote to modern life? And I can’t think of a better way to get a good nights sleep than under a mosquito net. Its hard to describe why, but the sense of comfort and security is a bit like sleeping in a tent when its raining outside.

There were only three others in the group so we were treated like royalty all week. Andrea and Mike were a lovely couple from the states who couldn’t stop giggling and Francois was a swiss guy who introduced himself as a Barclays banker…..but I thought he was ok.

Most days consisted of a 3 to 4 hr trek in the jungle and a 2 to 3 hr canoe trip down river. I liked the treks the most. Our guide was a regular Doctor Doolitle who could speak to the animals and they would reply so we could work out where they were. Hacking our way through the forest tracking monkees (spider and wooly) was the best, although fishing for Piranha comes a pretty close second.

We saw parrots, turtles, crocs, anacondas, tarantulas, frogs, about ten billion insects and more colourful birds than Xmas fancy dress at TOTS 2000 (boom boom!).

This trip was the first time that I realised the shortcomings of my ‘pack light’ philosphy. The only ‘long’ clothing I have is my going out kit, so I reckon I must have looked a bit strange trekking through the jungle with my diesal jeans, best boss shirt and raybans…