Day19-20(ish) Aug 20-22(ish)
After our amazing time in the jungle, we hauled our bug bitten bodies back to Iquitos for a few days. There we caught up on sleep, laundry and e-mail and got a welcome rest from the mosquitos. I discovered that one of the plants I had been using in the jungle for bug bites actually leaves a permanent dark purple stain on the skin... I guess the locals never noticed, the stain is similar to their natural skin color, if I had known I would have at least tried to get more "even coverage"....
During our final days in Iquitos we tracked down the bath shaman and spent a day with him buying and preparing herbal baths for ourselves.
We also met up with the ethnobotanist/phytochemist that we had met with the traveling clinic, and he arranged for the boys to do an Ayuhasca ceremony (a hallucinogenic drink /ceremony focused on spirit journeying and healing). I opted out because I didn't feel I had had adequate time to prepare (ideally you fast for several days); though I did sit through most of the ceremony and it was a very intense experience. Though the spirit quest mystique was somewhat tempered by the Back Street Boys album that was blaring from the rooms above us.
After a sad goodbye to all of our new friends, we got on the plane to Lima (where we were finally reunited with our missing luggage). Our travel agent met us there and took us to a hotel in the "nice" part of Lima near the coast.
Comments
Post a Comment