SUPERVIVENCIA AMAZÓNICA - AMAZON SURVIVAL

Adentrarse en la jungla suena a aventura, a película, ¡a locura! pero cuando uno se lo plantea… no sabe muy bien donde se está metiendo. Cuentan que hubo 5 chicos israelitas que se adentraron en la jungla sin guía, al norte de Bolivia, por la zona de Rurrenabaque. No eran conscientes de lo que hacían, ya que solo uno de ellos salió con vida. Una historia escalofriante pero real. El libro que escribió el superviviente fue "Lost in the Jungle: A Harrowing True Story of Adventure and Survival", por si alguien quiere leérselo (creemos que también está traducido al castellano).

We knew this could be that last time we ever stepped in a jungle. For all we knew it could be the last time we ever stepped in and out of anywhere. This story could have ended like a story we heard where 5 guys from Israel went into the jungle and only one made it out. A spine chilling story, but a true one at that.

Dejamos Cuzco a nuestras espaldas y viajamos hasta Puerto Maldonado, al sur de Perú. Dicen que esta parte del Amazonas es de las más primarias y menos explotadas. Cerca de allí se encuentra el Parque Nacional Madidi, prácticamente intacto con una gran variedad de flora y fauna. Lamentablemente este parque estaba fuera de nuestras posibilidades, aunque la experiencia que habíamos decidido vivir tampoco estaría nada mal. 

Habíamos oído hablar sobre el Hostal Tambopata, un lugar que organizaba buenas excursiones a la selva. Hablamos con el dueño y nos ofreció visitar el Parque Tambopata donde podríamos ver nutrias, guacamayos… alojándonos en lodges (una especie de hoteles amazónicos con duchas de agua caliente y servicio de comidas). Le explicamos que no era eso lo que buscábamos. No ducharnos y dormir mal en unos días no nos preocupaba, nosotros queríamos una experiencia auténtica, vivir la jungla y sufrirla, queríamos una experiencia de supervivencia. Entonces nos contó que la familia de uno de sus guías tenía un terreno cerca de allí, en plena amazonía, y que probablemente nos podría llevar. Le esperamos durante un par de días. Cuando nos contó su plan y vimos que era una persona que se había criado allí desde niño, decidimos ir con él. Al tiempo nos enteramos que nosotros éramos los terceros que se acercaban por allá. Según nos contó León, nuestro guía, poca gente se aventuraba a vivir este tipo de experiencias. 

We had made it to Puerto Maldonado from Cuzco on a long 10 hour night bus. Puerto isn't an amazing place on it's own, but a great point from which people part the city to explore the jungle. We had heard that Tambopata hostel was a great place to look for guides and a good bed and that's exactly what we needed. When we found ourselves being talked into a guided tour to lake Sandoval, where we could seep in a lodge, with beds, hot showers, toilets and meals included, we told them that this wasn't what we were looking for. After out first amazon experience down the Napo river, we had loved the feeling of "exploring" vs being guided with a tour. The feeling of confronting the unknown is exactly what we had loved on that particular trip, and that is waht we were looking for. So we stopped Gerson in the middle of his explanation and told him that this was exactly what we were NOT looking for. We then continued to explain him, we didn't care if there wasn't any comforts, we didn't even mind not taking a shower for 4 days, and the set meals sounded great, but we wanted to experience the jungle to it's fullest. We wanted to live in and off the jungle as close to all those triable communities had been doing all those years. He then stopped and looked at us, "well, we do have a guide who knows another part of the jungle. It's not touristic, and honestly, there's nothing really there." "That's exactly what we are looking for." We said. On the positive side, Gerson told us that there was a tribal community in that area that we could, to a certain extent, visit. We were warned that the community itself had been deeply impacted by globalization, but the experience on it's own still seemed to be very interesting. To what point did they all wear Nike shirts, have TVs and talk about football? We thought.

So after obtaining the interesting offer we were looking for, we waited a few days to collect the few gear we needed and waited for our guides to part into the unknown.

Su chacra estaba bastante más alejada del Parque Tambopata. Cogimos un bote y recorrimos el río Madre de Dios durante unas 4 ó 5 horas. Por el camino vimos bastante gente buscando y extrayendo oro. Parece ser que esta actividad está siendo muy perseguida por la zona. Cuando algún avión militar es consciente de ello, sobrevuela la zona y, directamente, lanza alguna que otra bomba. 

Our small group (both of us, with Julia's brother, Leon & Cesar, the guides) and  headed down the Madre de Dios River, again in a tiny motorized canoe, which had to be emptied of water every few minutes. In fact this canoe was old and water seeped into every cravas and crack the boat had gained on it's many jungle experiences. 5 hours down river in favor of the current, and the feeling of leaving behind civilization got more and more evident and thrilling. We had the last sighting of "civilization" just an hour into our trip, all that was left was wilderness and the occasional farmer or illegal gold miner. We had been told by Cesar and Leon that the dirt from the river was full of small gold particles, and that miners pumped this soil, filtering through a civ in look for their future investments. We had also been told that this was illegal, but was still being done. At one point the military had been brought in to take care of the situation by blowing up the gold mining barges that were found on the river.

Cuando llegamos al terreno de León comenzamos a entender a qué nos enfrentábamos. Lo que había era una estructura de madera abierta al exterior (era la "casa"), unas cuantas maderas para cocinar, y una pequeña y básica letrina. Nada más. Los mosquitos estaban por todas partes, era imposible alejarte de ellos. Parecía que no habían comido durante años, estaban sedientos de sangre gringa fresca. Además, la humedad era prácticamente insoportable… aquello iba a ser duro.

After a good sleep on the boat. We had made it to Leon's "plot of land". We tied up the boat to our paddle and started to climb to what was going to be our base camp in the jungle. At first sight there was nothing really there. Just a wooden structure with a roof in the middle of the jungle. If you payed closer attention you could see that there had been some human activity at some point as there was leftovers of food, "wild turkey legs", feathers and trash in general. Not the Ritz if you know what I mean, but it would have to do. We immediately started a fire, and Leon walked in to the land and came back with a nifty ration of green bananas. Well it seemed that surviving here wasn't too hard, we knew that we would at least be eating bananas, so starving wasn't an issue. That's what we thought. 

We started cooking some bananas on the fire as the mosquitos and all forms and sizes of insects clouded around us. I guess some of these blood suckers hadn't seen a gringo or hadn't had a taste of their blood in years. Leon had told us that we had been the 3rd group in god knows how many years that had come here for a "real experience". Lunch was always served with what was laying around. Don't get me wrong, some provisions were brought, like rice, a few eggs, oil, 25 liters of water, salt and sugar. The rest was up to us. We knew that we were going to eat what ever we could catch, trap or hunt in what ever way possible.

Ya era tarde, así que decidimos acercarnos a la "comunidad indígena" "Palma Real" antes de que anocheciera. El conductor del bote, César, la conocía bien, así que no nos podrían problemas. Se trataba de un pequeño poblado invisible desde el río, al que accedías ascendiendo una cuesta de barro. Pero no nos imaginemos una aldea como las que muestran en algunos documentales. La globalización, por suerte o por desgracia, también había llegado hasta allí. El gobierno les daba teléfonos, antenas parabólicas, tanques de reserva de agua, un hospital con médicos voluntarios… en realidad, según nos contaron, prácticamente no quedan comunidades en el mundo que no estén en absoluto tocadas por el mundo en desarrollo, y las que todavía quedan, no dejan que te acerques a ellas bajo ningún concepto. La comunidad de Palma Real cazaba y robaba comida de los campos más cercanos, por eso actualmente algunos voluntarios trabajaban con ellos enseñándoles técnicas de cultivo. Por otra parte, cada año se realizaba un torneo de fútbol entre comunidades, para crear nuevos lazos familiares y evitar malformaciones genéticas. Ellos se regían por sus propias leyes. Un hombre de la comunidad era elegido "presidente", y de hecho, tuvimos que presentarle nuestros respetos y agradecerle la entrada a la comunidad. Algunas niñas nos seguían durante nuestro paseo. Reían a escondidas y de vez en cuando se atrevían a acercarse para tirarle de las rastas a Miguel. Les escuchábamos hablar en su propia lengua, la cuál estaban perdiendo y ahora lograban mantener gracias a la creación de una escuela en el mismo poblado.

The heat started to affect us quickly along with the hordes of insects. All we had to repel them was mosquito repellent which only repealed mosquitos) and smoke from the fire and some sort of jungle rolling tobacco we had bought in the market in Puerto. The first thing we did to obtain our source of protein was to throw a line with a hook and some leftover turkey foot as bate. We would try our luck and hope for the best, hoping for some fish to take the bate. Time went by slowly and the sun was nearly gone. All we could do in the time we had before the sun went down was to visit the "Palma Real" community. Their land was only a few minutes away from our "base camp" and the thought of visiting a real jungle community got our hopes up. Luckily we were traveling with a Cesar who at one point had been working with the community trying to teach them how to farm and plant. With out much success he had told us as they were used to hunting and pretty much "stealing" any unattended food that was growing in the near by plots of land. We got back on our boat and drifted down river to a huge hill. Over the hill was the community. They lived off the land and from the very few tourists that made it over there. To help them out, we bought a few amazing necklaces, just enough to permit us to take a walk throughout their community. The community itself had been impacted by globalization due to the government who "helps" them by giving them communication tools such as a satellite phones, water containers and a small clinic with volunteer medics. Just enough so they can access the outside world if ever the need. Another amazing impact was a small football pitch and a school. We had heard that the community had a "community football tournament". This way the locals could mix with other communities, bringing new genetic codes in the linage. This way they could avoid any genetic problems caused by "inbreeding". We had also heard that the original language was being lost as well. This is one of the main reasons why the school had been placed, so children could learn both mother tongue and spanish. If in any case anyone wanted to leave the jungle and live in the city, this would be some what possible thanks to the basic education they received.

Cuando comenzó a caer la noche, volvimos a nuestro bote. Recibimos con alegría el pez gato que habíamos pescado. Durante nuestra visita, habíamos dejado algo de carnaza en una caña de pescar con la esperanza de tener algo para cenar esa noche. No nos entendáis mal, teníamos productos básicos para no morirnos de hambre, algo de arroz, algunos huevos 25 litros de agua… pero el resto debíamos conseguirlo por nuestros propios medios.  

The community experience was a very interesting one in deed, but what was even better was at the time we got back into the boat. The line we had dropped in the water had caught a farely large sized cat fish, just enough for all of us to eat. At this point hunger was becoming an issue, so any source of protein was going to be a feast.

Aprovechamos el camino de regreso a la chacra para avistar algún caimán. Ya era noche cerrada, así que cuando encendimos la linterna e iluminamos la orilla del río, miles de ojos brillaron en la oscuridad. Había cientos de caimanes a nuestro alrededor. Paramos el bote cerca de un gran caimán que encontramos. El animal se quedó quieto, hasta que atemorizado intentó ocultarse en el agua lanzándose hacia nosotros a gran velocidad. Vaya susto. Logramos coger, con mucho cuidado, uno pequeño. Eso sí, pequeño no quiere decir inofensivo. Debíamos agarrarle con firmeza por la cola y la cabeza, ya que tenia muchísima fuerza. Su piel era dura por el lomo y la cola, excepto en las extremidades de sus patas y por su barriga. 

We left the community at night fall and made the most of the time back to camp in search of caiman. With our torches out, we managed to see the river infested with caiman in all sizes and ages. At one point we were able to trap a small one and handle him with care. What an amazing prehistoric creature we thought. But with our stomaches roaring, we knew it was time to cook our cat fish and attempt to go to sleep in our "shelter". 

Ya en nuestro campamento, nos sentamos todos alrededor del fuego con nuestras linternas encendidas, cocinamos algo de arroz, plátano frito y nuestro querido pez gato, el cuál estaba muy rico. Después nos marchamos a dormir sobre las tablas de madera de nuestra cabaña. Qué bien estar tan cansados.

Nos despertamos a la mañana siguiente en cuanto salió el sol. Desayunamos algo rápido y nos preparamos para adentrarnos todavía más en la selva. Botas de caucho hasta las rodillas y machete en mano para abrirnos camino. Había que tener cuidado, podías encontrar de todo. Nos contaron que allí habitaba una de las serpientes más venenosas del mundo, la "bushmaster". Esta serpiente era territorial, y si te mordía… podías darte por muerto. Así que con seguridad y cuidado nos dirigimos hacia el Lago Valencia. Serpientes no vimos, pero algunos monos aulladores se cruzaron en nuestro camino. Era muy difícil verlos, siempre en las copas de los árboles ocultándose entre la maleza, pero cuando los divisabas sabías que estabas ante una de cosas más mágicas del mundo, que es ver a estos animales en su hábitat natural. Nuestra intención era pescar pirañas para comer. Había cientos de ellas y poco a poco fuimos aprendiendo ciertos trucos. Mientras regresamos a nuestro campamento, León, nuestro guía, dijo "he visto una sombra, silencio". Nos detuvimos, intentando no hacer ningún ruido. Allí estaba, era una pava. Rápidamente, César cogió la escopeta y cuando la tuvo a tiro, disparó. Ya teníamos la cena asegurada. 

Una vez en el campamento comimos las pirañas y muertos de calor, fuimos a bañarnos al río. Sabíamos que había caimanes, anacondas, pirañas, "peces violadores" (unos peces que entran por la uretra cuando orinas y causan graves infecciones), pero… era mejor no pensarlo. Todos necesitábamos refrescarnos. Disfrutamos del baño y de ser los únicos que estábamos allí, con todo el Amazonas para nosotros. Esa noche, la pava nos esperaba. Su carne era durísima, ya que el ave ya era mayor, pero teníamos tanta hambre que la encontramos realmente sabrosa. 

The second day was another banana breakfast. With left over fish from the night before. We need all the energy we could get as we would start a jungle trek in search of more protein. This time, we went on an good 2 hour hike through the jungle with machete and rifle in hand to lake Valencia. There, we were shown how to fish for Piranha. A very easy fish to catch we must say. All you had to do is wip the water with a line and hook, using a bit of leftover meat as bate. In a few hours we managed to catch a good amount of fish enough for a light lunch. On our way back there was a moment where we stopped. "There's a shadow" what could it be we thought. "It's a wild turkey, quite". A few minutes later there was a gun shot and and rustle from the jungle. We had found and shot an old wild turkey, a great source of protein for tonight. We walked back tired as hell to our camp. We prepared the turkey for dinner and cooked some fish for lunch. At this point we were on the brink of fainting, but Leon and Cesar knew that the best option for us was a quick swim in the river. A few minutes later there we all were, taking a quick swim in a river that only a few hours ago had been infested with caiman. Not only caiman, but anaconda, piranha, the small penis invading catfish, stingrays all in all a real survival experience if your able to swim in and out of the water without suffering a lethal contact with one of the amazons many beasts. The feeling was great to be honest, we cooled down instantly and had a little wash, to get rid of mud, sweet and anything that can end up in a little problem in the jungle. And lets face it, in the jungle, what can be a first a little problem can escalate into a huge problem or even death if you are not careful. At night we cooked up our turkey with banana and a bit of rice. A tough dinner but delicious one at that.

 

A la mañana siguiente abandonamos el campamento. Ese día dormiríamos en una playa y construiríamos nuestra propia cabaña. Cortamos algunas cañas de bambú y nos pusimos a trabajar. La cabaña quedó… más o menos, suficiente para una noche. Eso sí, una vez más la naturaleza nos enseñó que ella era la que allí reinaba. Nos cayó una buena tromba de agua de la que tuvimos que guarecernos como pudimos. Y después de la tormenta... llegó la sequía. Los 25 litros de agua se terminaron, así que tuvimos que recurrir a las pastillas potabilizadoras (un aviso, solo puedes tomarlas durante 3 días, más no). Tras encender un fuego y cocinar, la noche pasó rápidamente. Despertamos viendo dos guacamayos volar sobre nuestras cabezas. Ellos siempre van en pareja o junto a su cría. Se enamoran solo una vez. De hecho, si su compañero/a muere, probablemente acaben suicidándose sin poder soportar el dolor de su pérdida. 

The last day we woke up to a good left over breakfast with banana again and proceeded to pack our things. Today we would head down river some more to build a makeshift camp to spend the night. That day, the only problem was the rain, and the little issue that we had ran out of water. All we could do was collect water from the river, water vines or water from any other source we could find. The rain took ages and just kept on coming and going. The worst thing was that the rain didn't help the fishing or trapping either. This time it looked like we weren't going to eat much all day. Our makeshift tent was built miraculously during a break in the rain. With bamboo and bark from the balsa tree. We made a skeleton of a house and proceeded to cover it with some sort of tarp Leon and Cesar had brought along with us. The rain came back and tested our camp, only to show us that mother nature can be cruel when she wants to. Half the tent got ripped off and whatever dry space we had, had turned into a cold damp sandy mud spot. We managed to fix it, but still found ourselves in a cold and miserable state with a much worse factor, we had no water. Nightfall came along and all we could do was try to build a fire. But building a fire with damp wood is almost impossible. We used the good old gas method, and with a little cap of gasoline and a flame, VOILÀ! We had a fire to keep us warm and dry us up. All we had left to eat that day was rice, honestly not enough but with all the bananas collected it just had to do.

Y así acabó nuestra supervivencia en la jungla. Agotados regresamos a Puerto Maldonado. Dicen que estas experiencias tienen un desgaste 40% físico, 60% psicológico. Estábamos deseando darnos una ducha y comer sentados tranquilamente alrededor de una mesa. Verdaderamente intenso y cansado, pero había valido la pena.

That night was a rough one, but it passed quick. We woke up full of mosquito bites and a sore back. But we knew that we had managed to pull of our jungle survival experience. We head back to the boat and started a long way back to Puerto. We were tired, and almost beat, but the thought of a warm shower and a real 2 course meal kept us grinning. What an adventure, and thank god it was only 4 days. Had it of been more, we would have had to but our mental survival skills to the test. They say that survival is 40% physical and 60% psychological. All we can say that at least we had survived in one of the easiest environments to survive, the jungle. That is, if you know how!

¿Qué hubierais hecho vosotros? ¿Os gustaría vivir una experiencia de este tipo?

Would you put yourself in a survival situation? Why or why not?