Between the park entrance and the office/camping area some 20 minutes away there were several blatantly tree-hugging statements on signs emblazoned with the national park's logo, like this one which translates as " This land is ours; many have died, some still live but most have yet to be born. " How cool's that? I wish DSE Victoria would do that instead of facilitating destruction of some of the tallest and most carbon-dense old-growth forest in the world.The rainforest was beautiful and just what I needed to cool me down and chill out for a while. I set camp without a fly for the first time in the Western Hemisphere to enjoy the cool night and clear starry sky. Later while in deep sleep I was of course awoken by the rain and was forced into putting up the fly while confused, swearing and wet. As I began that process I heard something four-legged up and slink away from my tent. I fantasised it being one of the many different types of small feline forest predators, but in reality it was most likely the mangy dog I saw around camp the next day.
My sleep was not good but eventually the alarm got me up the next morning in order to begin creating my illusion to the park guards that I had just arrived that morning. After much effort the plan executed as intended (saved $3... yes!). That day, despite being in lush jungle, was a big trip through Struggle-town. The heat, bad sleep and no morning exercise routine had left me deflated, however I know that the real culprit was a lack of caffeine. Like most drugs, she's a rough lover. All good when you can feed the habit, but stop it entirely and she drops you like a bag of cement. Despite drinking buckets of beautiful water for most of the day I had a fuzzy headache and my muscles should really not have come in to work that day at all.
After a morning nap I followed the main river south along a path that slowly ascended through the forest. I stopped often to admire butterflies of amazing design and striking colours as well as other insects, fungii, plants and a calvacade of cascades across the path. I went past an old settlement full of weeds, sugar cane and even a well-fruiting mandarine tree. I promised myself a feast on the way back. Eventually I turned around and trudged back, getting crankier and tirederer with every clawing vine, spiders web and slippery rock. I stopped in for my mandarine feast and discovered a new level of sourness previously unknown to man. No wonder the birds didn't go for them. It really was a beautiful walk though and towards the camp my energy finally started to pick up. Three tourism students from Loja joined me at the ranger's office/camp area and of course couldn't believe my going into the park alone or my high-tech Trangia cooker.
I didn't plan to do much the following day and after exercising did just that. After lunch it was a steep ascent up the closest ridgeline to a lookout with fantastic views.... of the town. Oh well, keep following the increasingly trickier and more overgrown track. This walk certainly challenged me (more than I'd hoped for the day)- I had to stop every 3 minutes to catch my breath and take photos. I saw this startlingly blue mushroom of which I ate some (but none of the brown acid). When I finally reached the top I found it was a research trail testing carbon density in low montane forests. I sat on the planed ridgeline in the simpler forest and enjoyed the filtered sun and incoming storm. It was lovely and peaceful. Meanwhile a bevy of different flying insects (not many actual mosquitoes, mind you) were drawn closer to imbibe on my blood, sweat and other bodily excretions. I returned down, down, d down down to the turnoff to La Poderosa (Powerful Waterfall) where I managed to get in a quick shower in between visits from local families as the rain came down. Very refreshing. After getting back to camp I dinnered early and relaxed in the tent to avoid voracious insects. The next morning was an early start to pack and get out of there back to Zamora.
No comments:
Post a Comment