A Modern Quest for an Ancient Remedy....
If you enjoy a fast-paced read, Five Weeks in the Amazon is the book for you. It's an honest story filled with peaks of humor and valleys of despair. Author Sean Michael Hayes has written a book that many wou...
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5
8:52pm, Sitting in my hammock on Otillia's property in the jungle
This morning I met Otillia outside my hotel with all my bags. I got them into the back of the Motokar she arrived in, and we drove away from the hotel and into the one-way traffic circling around the plaza fountain. When we reached the other side of the plaza we went straight out of the city the same way that I'd come in.
"Lo siento," I blurted out as I turned to her, "no habla Espanol muy bien, es problema?" She looked back at me with a smile, which made her dark eyes squint together and intensified the happiness she seemed to posses. Her eyes searched mine for a split second. "No problema amigo," she said, then she leaned forward and explained the directions to our driver.
A couple minutes later, we pulled up to a small outdoor street market. She got out and, just like Luis, motioned that I should stay in the Motokar. She walked off with a certain kind of grace. Unassuming, yet assertive and sure of herself. I like those traits in someone who's going to be my guide.
She came back carrying two plastic bags that were filled with all kinds of groceries. I could see potatoes, apples, mangoes, broccoli, tomatoes, and a bag of rice. There were a few things I couldn't see, and I couldn't help but wonder if she also got some trippy jungle plants. I wasn't really sure how this whole shaman thing works.
After we had our supplies, we drove a few more blocks and were let out next to a ramshackle van/taxi depot. Both of these vehicles are uncommon here in Iquitos, which makes sense since a Motokar is much easier than a car to ship on a boat upriver.
I stood with my bags while Otillia organized our ride with the man running the taxi outpost. When she was finished with the negotiation, the man told me to put my bags down and led me towards an old Honda Accord. Another man opened the passenger door for me and I climbed in and sat in the front seat.
Otillia got in one door, and through the other came another older woman I'd never seen before. They sat down and exchanged a friendly, yet refined, greeting with each other. Turning around in my seat, I tried to understand what they were saying. Otillia introduced the woman as Juliana and I shook her tiny soft hand.
The driver got in and we departed from the depot down the only real road there was. We passed the military school and the airport and then the true rawness of the Amazon began to expose itself.
I gazed into the jungle and saw the most diverse variety of plants I'd ever seen. I was in awe at how many shades of green there seemed to be, and how many different kinds of plants I saw.
As soon as I'd gotten a look at one plant, it would pass by and be gone. Then I would see another plant I'd never seen before, and then it would be gone just as fast.
This continued the whole drive. We passed "retreats" that had big signs, single homes in different stages of construction, and lots of shacks that were always grouped together. We passed stands selling fresh coco de holchada, fruits, flowers, and bottles of gasoline for the Motokars.
