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Middle of Nowhere // 18th Jan 2005Hi all Having a right giraffe in the rainforest. The atmosphere is laid back, the beer and cuchasa (sugar rum drink of about 40% volume, and not drunk in small quantities) are fast-flowing, if not a little warm (we've run out of ice). We've got a bunch of local guys who take us on excursions into the depths of the forest, where the humidity is enough to make a man break down as an emphysemic blob on the forest floor. Meanwhile there is an plethora of little insects intent on making you their dinner. It's quite amazing how they find their way around though - carrying a large knife (traditional machete, bandit-style), they casually make a tiny slit on a few trees on the way past; not even enough that you'd notice, and they follow these back to our little boat that takes us home. The sounds that come out of the forest are pretty cool - there are howler monkeys which try to ward you from their territory by making a noise that I can only describe as hell opening up. Living nearby the village are a flock of parrots who do a fair impersonation of babies crying - throughout the night. Needless to say, it drives the villagers mad. Fortunately I live across the lake from those parrots, so I miss that little evening pleasure. We went out in a little boat the other day for a little forest walk (there aren't any roads, so we have to paddle to wherever we're going) and on the way back there was a two metre long striped snake on the bottom of the riverbed. The depth of the river can't have been more than a couple of feet at the time - it's the dry season, and the driest the place has been for about ten years - and the water is pristine and clear, so we stopped to take some photos. In the time it took to change film and focus the camera, this snake had become inquisitive about our little boat, so came across to take a closer look. Realising that a bright red and black stripy snake is't going to be too friendly, we panicked a little, and before we knew it the thing was trying to get into our boat. You've never seen anyone move so fast as the four of us who were there, but as the boats have sides only a couple of inches high, we started letting water in. The snake decided to go under our boat and hitch a lift, so we had to madly paddle to the shore, jump off and shake the boat to scare the little scamp away. Oh, the joys of wildlife. And another snake story - there was this snake resembling a green mamba, apparently highly poisonous, chomping away on a frog. It dragged this frog into the rafters of the walkway to the kitchen, and proceded to swallow it whole, dislocating its jaw etc. When it had finished (the process took about 20 minutes), you could still see the frog breathing within the snakes' belly. Makes you glad to be where we are in the food chain. We also have a five metre long resident crocodile named Lucy, who lives opposite my house. He comes to the edge of the pontoon when people are gutting fish, which happens a couple of times a day. In fact fish form a staple part of the diet here. Dinner usually consists of fried piranha and rice. Fortunately I like fish, otherwise I'd top myself. I keep getting urges for peanut butter on toast. I've discovered a way to feel really bad about yourself - playing football with Brazillians. They're all mad about the game, so one of the things they have in the village - population 109 - is a football pitch. In the middle of the forest. Every couple of days we have a game, whereby the Europeans are made to look really unfit. The humidity is enough to make you cough up a lung, without spending an hour chasing a rapidly moving ball. And the guys here are really good, doing all those little showoff flicky things with the ball. They play a really fast-paced game, barefoot. At some point soon I'm going to start teaching local people how to use the internet. Quite surreal. Anyway, must go, there's some relaxing to be done before lunch, then I've got to take an hour or two out to digest my food, and then of course it's time for my afternoon nap. After that, I'll take a bit of time out before dinner, and the evening drinking begins. It never stops around here. Chou for now Ollie |
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