Jungle trip

... or 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!'

A small group of us went to the Ayacuchan jungle this weekend, with Pancho, the tour guide who works with CCS - this proved to be a bit of an adventure! For those of you who want to find it on a map, it's in the Apurimac valley, in the far north of Ayacucho province - it's one of the main coca leaf producing areas of Peru. From Ayacucho it's about a 7-hour drive, and unfortunately the paved road runs out about an hour beyond Ayacucho, so a good 6 hours on unpaved, very dusty or muddy, but always bumpy, roads - I still have neck-ache from the journey!

From Ayacucho, we first headed north up into the mountains until we reached a pass at about 4,200m; here it was bleak and rugged and reminded me a bit of North Wales - see Peruvian Tryfan on the right!

Then down to a small, remote town called Tambo, and then up and over another impressive range of mountains before going right down into the Apurimac valley at 500m. En route we enjoyed lovely views of mountains all around, passed numerous remote villages, whizzed round frightening hairpin bends, and competed for road space with loads of trucks and vans as this seems to be the only 'road' for miles around!

As we descended, the scenery began to change and gradually we noticed more and more green, exotic-looking plants - palm trees, banana plants, etc., the air became humid, and the roads wet and muddy, and we had to tackle more and more streams gushing over the roads. The houses changed too - now mainly made of wood or bamboo, rather than mud and stones. I noticed that there were very few villages with any electricity, as it was beginning to get dark, and people were just sitting out in the streets, or on steps.

In one of the villages we had to stop at a police control - there are several entering the jungle area as because of the coca leaf production there's a lot of drug-trafficking. Our passports were checked, and we were advised to return to Ayacucho on the Saturday rather than the Sunday as we had originally planned. The reason, we found out with some concern, was that the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) is still active in remote parts of this area and the police were worried that they may target election day, Sunday. 1,500 extra police had been brought into the area for the weekend because of this. We decided it would be sensible to return on the Saturday afternoon - it was now Thursday evening so we still had plenty of time for exploring.

After 7 long hours we eventually reached a town called San Francisco on the banks of the Apurimac river, we crossed a bridge and then drove for about another 30 minutes on cobbled roads to Sivia. The van pulled up at Sivia and we were told that we then had to take a boat to the other side of the river. I thought we were taking a ferry, but no, we had to carry all our stuff onto a small but long canoe-type boat and in complete darkness, we were taken across the river. Before we found the hotel we stopped in a restaurant for something to eat and drink and we were stared at for some time - this place doesn't see too many 'gringos'!

The next morning we could see where we were - in a very small riverside town on the edge of the jungle, and with rolling hills all around with palms, banana trees, and coca leaf crops. At the hotel we were given fresh coconuts with straws stuck into the top so we could drink the juice - very refreshing. Then we were taken back to the restaurant for breakfast. I had coffee and toast in mind, but instead we had the choice of chicken and rice or fish and beans!! People here eat a hearty cooked breakfast as they are then out at work in the fields for the rest of the day. I tucked into chicken and rice and tried to wake up ...



We then went on a lovely boat trip down the Apurimac river, in one of the wooden canoes that had ferried us across the river the night before. This gave us great views of the jungle scenery all around, and we enjoyed the wildlife - eagrets, birds of prey - and watched men fishing from what looked like large inner tubes!

We then pulled up on a shore in a fairly remote place, with just a few huts, and then walked inland, through a village, and through some jungle marshes for an hour or so. There are deer, snakes, and alligators here, apparently, but we didn't spot any - just waded through a a huge amount of undergrowth and mud! It was all very hot and humid, but worth it for the jungle views.

Then it was back in the boat and up the river until we reached a small inlet that was to take us up to a natives' village. This is where things began to get interesting! Because there had been so much rain the night before and the river was so high and churned up, it was for some reason too difficult to get up the inlet by boat so we had to walk instead. We started off in good spirits, with a positive sense of adventure ...

But it was hard work fighting our way through the palms and plants with incredibly sharp leaves. Also there were giant ants intent on attacking our ankles. We couldn't get through, so we skirted along the edge of the river, but then got stuck in very gloopy mud - the kind that sucks you in ... so then the fun really began when we were told we'd have to cross the river by wading through it. It was up to most people's knees, but way deeper for me! And the current was pulling us downstream, so we had to hang onto each other to stay upright!

This was something I didn't really want to repeat, but got to cross the same river in 5 different places in the end! A good hour or so later we found the path to the village. We were incredibly tired, hot and sweaty, soaking wet, bitten by ants, scratched, and very, very muddy ...

The road to the village was actually very pleasant, lined with banana and cocoa plants, and the sort of thing that I'd had in mind from the start ...

We walked through the village, which consisted of little clusters of wooden and bamboo huts, and we were taken to the chief's house for a bit of a chat, have our faces painted with natural dye (a welcoming kind of gesture, I think), and to take a few group photos! The chief is in his 70s, has 8 wives, and 43 children! We didn't meet many other villagers as most people were out harvesting the coca leaves.

By this time we were really tired after fighting our way through to the village, so we agreed not to go back via the 'scenic route' but to walk to a road and hitch a lift back. Seemed like an easy option, but we had to walk quite a way, then work out how to get a lift - the locals managed to get in front of us every time a car or truck came by; this lot clambered up onto a truck before we'd realised what was going on ... we'd planned to ask politely in true British fashion, but this is not the way it works here!

Eventually we managed to get a lift - Claire and I squeezed into a car with 5 men - we stuck out enough being gringos, but with mud and face paint, we were certainly a talking point! When we reached the first town we got out and re-grouped and found a restaurant for a great fresh river fish dinner. We were the only ones drinking beer as 2 days before election day, Peruvians aren't allowed to drink and all night clubs are closed, as they are supposed to be reflecting on how they are going to vote! Then all 6 of us squeezed into another car back to Sivia, and I think we were all in bed recovering by about 9.30!

The next day we set off early and went to visit a local nature reserve and saw animals that are in danger in the area - a shame we only got to see them in captivity. Then we went for a lovely walk - this time on a real path (though there was one river to cross without a bridge!) - up to see some beautiful waterfalls, called the Angela Falls.

And there was time for a refreshing swim on the way back down ...

Then we set off on our long 7-hour drive home. However, when we got to San Francisco, we couldn't get through the centre as the traffic was so heavy and we found out that this was because the bridge had been closed for repairs and wouldn't be re-opened until 5.00pm. As we didn't want to hang around for 4 hours, we went for the alternative option, the 'car ferry'...!!

Then a bumpy drive back over the mountains for 7 hours, and home in time for some dinner and a session with the insect-bite relief cream!