«We’ve arrived in paradise.» Those were my first thoughts upon our arrival in the jungle. Well, a hot, sticky paradise full of mosquitoes, but still… paradise.
A couple of days earlier, I’d stumbled upon Novalis by chance (you can find them on Airbnb, too) and was fascinated from the start. Treehouses, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest? Count me in!
That’s how, together with Anna, a fellow volunteer, I ended up in the jungle, a few hours away from Puerto Maldonado. A bumpy ride in a pick-up truck – trying to avoid the biggest puddles, followed by a boat trip through the muddy waters of the widest river I’ve ever seen (and it’s not even the Amazon!) and a trek through the rainforest itself finally brought us to Novalis’ beautiful site where we spent the next few days.
Saying it was an amazing trip would be an understatement. Back in Cusco, it’s hard to capture the magic of that place and explain it in a few paragraphs – you’ll just have to imagine it.
We didn’t see any jaguars or sloths or other big exotic animals, but that was totally fine for me. We did spot monkeys and hummingbirds and tiny frogs – and I loved the “jumping butterflies”. I enjoyed just being there, literally soaking up the rainforest, without having to rush around or adapt to a tight tour schedule.
Being an avid foodie, I particularly appreciated the fresh dishes they concocted or we prepared ourselves every day: coconut fruit salad, yummy arepas and jungle fries (dipped in guacamole of course), just to name a few. We dug up turmeric just behind the kitchen and tried exotic rainforest fruit on our walks. I literally went bananas over the sheer number and variety of fruit – just take the example of bananas: never in my life had I tried so many different types of bananas! In Switzerland, you can find two, maximum three varieties, here they come in all shapes and sizes – and flavours, we even tried one with the texture and taste of a potato!
Experiencing the rain in, well, the rainforest, is quite special too. You can hear it coming from afar, sounding like the wind in the leaves at first. Then it just washes over you, like a huge wave, and if you haven’t made it to a dry spot in time you’re at the storm’s mercy. And if you happen to remember that you left your washing out to dry, it’s definitely too late now… Long after the clouds have passed, there are still drops falling from the trees, making it seem like it’s still raining although technically it’s not.
My personal highlight of the trip: visiting a cocoa plantation!!! Jane, the owner of the plantation, showed us around and invited us to try the pulp of the cocoa bean pod. She knows so much about plants and their medicinal uses and was happy to share her knowledge with us. After a nourishing lunch, we stocked up on pure chocolate and banana wine.
Of course, it wasn’t all rosy. It made me sad to see how certain people treat this amazing place, destroying it without much of a second thought (more about that in a next post). We also had to leave our comfort zone, adapt to this unfamiliar environment. Millions of different insects, bound to land on your head or arm or thigh, some of them possibly poisonous. The constant itch of hundreds of mosquito bites. Swarms of bugs rising from the pit of the (otherwise quite luxurious) composting toilet, just waiting to stab you in certain sensitive parts… The perpetual humidity added to one’s own sweat, almost never feeling dry or really clean.
«It’s hard to tell how two people have been traveling together.» Somehow, traveling blurs the distinction between strangers and friends. After a few days, you feel like you’ve known your companions for ages – without necessarily knowing all the details of their lives. That’s why it might’ve seemed like Anna and I had been traveling together for a long time when really we’d only met a week earlier. Apart from us, two other gringos were staying at Novalis: Yoann, a landscape gardener from France, and A. C. Ridenour, a writer and nomad from the United States (check out his website here). We spent lots of time chatting, joking, mixing languages, exchanging knowledge and stories. Far away from the city and “civilisation”, we formed our own little travelers’ community. I hope to see them again, certainly our paths will cross again in the course of our travels.
Our rainforest trip went by way too fast, I would’ve loved to stay longer and get to know more about this special place. I was happy to come home to a dry, sand-free bed, but I missed the sounds of the jungle lulling me to sleep. It’s amazing how a spontaneous trip turned out to be such a great, once in a lifetime experience. A big thanks to Juan and Cassandra from Novalis for making it possible!