Day 4: Ceremony 2: Journey to the Center of my Mind

We woke up early today, around 6:30, as soon as the sun came up.  I slept soundly for the first time since we have been here.  I had only slept two hours total in the past two days so a nice rest was much needed.  I rolled over to see how Meagan was feeling and to my excitement she looked and felt 100% better.  Meagan also realized that her yeast infection was gone. She believes she may have puked it all out over the past day.  Hillary and Clark also had great sleeps and felt very refreshed and excited for an event filled day. 

We had a shower since we didn’t in the last two days and got in some clean clothes to tackle this new day.  Meagan is not a camper by any means so I am sure not changing or showering in a few days has been quite an adjustment.  Breakfast was served at 8:00am, oatmeal, hard-boiled eggs and smoothies again.  It is all so good I don’t even care.  I down as much as I can as we only have a short amount of time before we head to the Shapibo village of San Francisco where they are preparing lunch and selling some textiles and other Ayahuasca merchandise. 

We all head back to the cabin to grab what we need for the day, I get my camera, 400 Soles, my hat but because of the cloud coverage today I decide not to toss on any sun block.  When I arrive at the kitchen to meet everyone we head to the front entrance to await transportation via motokar.  It will only cost 8 Soles, which is $3 American.  So ridiculous since it is over 20 min away.  It just shows the poverty in the area. 

We hop in with Matt and bounce along the dirt road and into Pucallpa*.  Matt and I haven’t had an opportunity to talk or bond much since arriving so I take the time to chat with him a bit as I have travelled in Australia and New Zealand.  We arrive in Pucalpa and it is so different from Lima in atmosphere, lifestyle and energy.  We arrive at the river and I am so excited to get in the boat.  We had originally thought that we would be arriving at our camp using the boats but that was to the Tierra Vida’s previous location. We are happy that we still get the opportunity.  Our group separates into two boats and we head down the river.

It is so surreal how it feels to be in a completely different part of the world doing things I have only seen on the television, like the Amazing Race.  Everyone on our boat sparks up a mopacco that we light off of the engine motor, and smoke as we continue down stream.

The boat nears the dock and we all hop off and see this enormous rock staircase.   It leads us to the longest rickety wooden bridge over top of a swamp like environment.  I am sure anacondas are lurking below us, they are very common in these parts.  Apparently anacondas are not poisonous but it doesn’t mean I want to run into one.  As I am walking down this scary bridge with no rail the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom comes to mind when a single board breaks and Short Round falls through. Just as I think of this, a board flips up and I almost fall off.  Thankfully dancers never fall so I recover gracefully, or at least I think so. 

The sun starts beaming through the clouds and I can feel it on my back.  This close to the equator it is sure to burn me so I try to walk in shade the most I can.  After about a ten-minute walk we arrive in the village of San Francisco*.  It is lined with children all following us from the dock almost as if we were celebrities**.  They all have been warned that foreigners are coming to town.  The houses** are beaten down and by first glance it looks like extremely poor standard of living.  The houses have no walls and no toilets, just holes in the floor.  It gave me a whole new perception of poverty, however the kids and families seem to be so happy and everyone seems safe and loving. 

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Upon arrival at our meeting place we are met with a multitude of people who have prepared lunch and setup their market*.  The first thing we do is a little more shopping.  Meagan and I have been talking about buying a tapestry** to bring home.  There are so many beautiful ones but the trick is to buy something that will still make sense at home.  I am a big bracelet person so I found a couple of nice ones to bring back as well.  Everything works out to be about $40 American but that is a steal based on the quality of materials. 

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The Shapibo’s have prepared for us a fish called Shirrapira that looks kind of like a catfish.  The fish is not gutted and you pretty much rip it open and work around the guts and bones to find the meat.  It is a lot of work but the skin and meat are extremely delicious.  There are also beans, avocado, tomatoes and plantains.  I make sure to eat as much as possible to make sure I have enough energy for tonight’s ceremony. 

As we are all eating another Caucasian comes up to us and asked us where we are from.  He sounded like he was German.  We told him that we were from Canada but our group was from all over.  He had said that the Shaman had said that foreign travelers were coming so he wanted to come and see who they were.  It turned out he was living here with the Shapibo’s to do 50 ceremonies with the Shaman.  That is extremely inspiring to me that someone could come and devote so much time to learn more about themselves.  He talked to us briefly and then went on his way. 

After lunch we make the trek back to the boats.   Lee decides to hop in the water with some of the kids playing first.  He is told that there are small piranhas in the water but he doesn’t care since there appears to be kids having fun.  Immediately when he jumps in he screams from the bites.   It is not painful he says, but you can feel it all over your body for sure.  He hops back in the boat and we head back the way we came. 

After arriving back at camp, the Shamans from the other night have arrived to bring Meagan and Kristen their medicinal remedies.  It is all completely organic and is made up of all plants that have been found in the jungle.  The Ayahuasca speaks to the Shamans and tells them what plants to use for certain people and afflictions.  They say they hear this from the spirits that live in the jungle.  We pay them an offering of 100 Soles; it is not required but suggested to show our appreciation.  Meagan gives it a taste and is amazed by how good it tastes. 

Meagan and I head back to the cabin to gather our things.  Meagan tells me that she is going to participate in ceremony tonight after what the Shaman’s had told her.  She does not want to be afraid of the medicine after she has seen its healing powers already on her body.  We then head to the ceremony room and I choose the spot with a dolphin blanket because I saw one today when we were on the boat.  We have a new Shaman tonight, Orlando.  I look forward to a beautiful night. 

Below is a video to account everything I could remember from the experience. It is long but extremely vivid in detail. I couldn't imagine putting it all into words so I felt it was best to hear it and see it from my mouth. It was made the day after the 2nd ceremony.