Shamans and Schnauzers

Never been so happy to shut the door to a hotel room in my life! And hotel is a bit of an exaggeration. Today we kayaked on a river about half the size of the Amazon and ended at the Jardin de Aleman, a rustic lodge deep in the hot, stinking Amazon jungle. Animal noises large and small rage outside my door, not the least of which is the deadly Fer-de-Lance (snake). He is out there somewhere with the yummy taste of Schnauzer on his fangs. You might recognize the Fer de Lance by his other name, the Step-and-a-Half. Mucho poisonoso and I would have been mucho deado had Bill the Veterinarian (another kayaker) been scanning the paved trail we were on for tree frogs. Bill saw the snake right as he coiled and lined up to strike my right foot. Sadly the mini-schnauzer (lodge pet) was not so lucky. He was bit in the snout, but maybe was not injected with the full lethal dose, as he lived through the night.

After dinner the entertainment was a visit from the local healer to talk about jungle shamanism and if desired, perform a cleansing. After the doggy trauma no one wanted to dis the spirit world so we chipped in to buy a cleansing or two.
Interesting ritual – mostly relied on smoke from a Marlboro (yeah cigarette), but fascinating none the less.

By morning we learned a general strike was being called by the proletariat (most of Ecuador) and unless we high-tailed it out of the jungle we would be there until Easter.

Oh damn, no more jungle? We drive back up to the fertile Quijos river valley for some more creeking and a few runs on other sections of a pretty Quijos.
And stay here:


Seems maybe we did push our luck in the karma department a bit as the next day the brakes gave out on our rental van (luckily in the driveway of the farm, NOT on the hard side of the pass), and well, ummmm, it took me 3 days to fly home. But more on those stories later!!!!
Gorgeous country, friendly people, nice rivers. Oh and good hot sauce, what’s not to like!!!!