Montezuma's Revenge.
Papaya Puddles!
04.03.2011
About 4:00 am diarrhea struck hard. Squatting under a tree in the middle of the night is not exactly what I had in mind for this trip. After a few more runs to the bush early in the morning, and after downing a few cups of jungle medicine I was feeling a bit shakey but ready to go. I think this happened from all the Papaya I had eaten earlier. I ate a few slices earlier, then they gave me a freshly squeezed Papaya drink that I figured might give me problems, but they said it was good jungle medicine. I was also handed a Papaya cut in half with a spoon stuck in it, and I ended up eating that also.
Today we travelled another 2 hrs. up river until we came to a remote camp site in the jungle where we would spend the remainder of this trip. Our Guide´s Aunt had an old house here that was in a state of disrepair. Before we reached the site we came upon a tree blocking our way. Our Guide only had a machete, and it took him at least 15 minutes of chopping to finally get through. These people have an uncanny sense of blance, and he just stood on this tree while chopping.
Another boat also showed up today with 4 men 1 boy, and also decided to camp here. They came to the jungle to gather certain leaves that they use for covering their roofs with.
Latter in the afternoon the dreaded diarrhea struck again and off I went to find another tree to squat under. Not fun, but the worst was yet to come!
That evening I decided to partake in a Ayahuasca ceremony with Eduardo. I was only given a small portion of the foul tasting liquid about 10:00 pm that evening. It stayed down for some reason and after a half an hour I was told to lay down and concentrate. About 4:00 am the diarrhea struck again, but this time I could not get up. My head was whirling and balance was gone when I moved. The feeling is hard to describe, but is like seeing a strobe light blinking on and off real fast, with your hearing the same. Not pleasant. I knew I had to get to the nearest tree somehow and after an hour of stuggling I finally got my boots on and crawled outside. This bit of movement finally brought upon the vomiting, which Ayahuasca is known for. It cleans out the body amongst other things but not in an enjoyable way. I made enough noise that my Guide came and directed me to the nearest tree, where I once again emptied my colon. After getting done and being helped back to my ´tent´ which was only about 4 meters away, I thought I would finally settle down for the night. My stomach didn´t feel quite right and in another hour I would vomit up the rest of this horrid brew in a tub I had been supplied with.
Morning finally arrived but I did not feel good at all and stayed in my tent for a few more hours until I got up and took a dip in the river. I ended up just laying in the hammock until 4:00 pm until I finally felt functional again. I got up and had a bit of jungle spaggetti made out of palm heart, with some toasted buns and then sat down to write about these fun events!
I told Wilder ¨No more Ayahuasca for me¨, but I was willing to try some different jungle medicine.
Posted by ScottK 05:47 Archived in Peru Tagged ayahuascashamancurendero
