Our group spent three days camping in the Amazon Jungle along the Zabalo River this past week. During the initial 5-hour canoe ride into the deep jungle, we spotted a pod of pink dolphins swimming in the marbled waters of the mixing Zabalo (“black”) and Aquarico (“white”) rivers. We also saw several species of birds, a traveling group of squirrel monkeys, and woolly monkeys lounging in the trees. When we finally arrived at the campsite, we set up our tents, ate a dinner of cooked Piranhas provided by the Cofan cooks, and went to sleep in our tents.
We spent the next day out on the river. Some of us drifted down the river quietly in order to observe the wildlife, while others headed upstream to try our hands at fishing for piranhas with little wooden blocks attached to some clear fishing line and some bait on a hook (we were not successful). We eventually reconvened to swim in the river near our camp. The current was pretty strong, but we all had a ton of fun in the water on such a hot day. It was so humid, that when we dried off, it only took a matter of minutes until we felt damp and sticky again; it was awesome! That night we went out in canoes to search for Caimans in the dark waters of the river. We spotted a giant toad and two fully-grown Caimans. The guides caught two babies to bring back to the village of Zabalo to help strengthen the population of the species there, and we were allowed to hold them.
The next day, after watching Josh and his comrades skin, gut, and salt a deer they had just hunted, we packed up camp, and headed back to Zabalo; many of use elected to drift back quietly in order to see the wildlife: we saw many couples of Macaws, an adult Caiman, and three species of monkeys, among many others. A group of canoers actually capsized and Eli came to the rescue in a moment of high adrenaline, pulling the capsized boat out of the water. Skye and Jordan had to move slowly in unison within their canoe as not to rock the boat too much, but they emerged victorious, having only let Skye fall in once.
The trip was an amazing opportunity for us to appreciate what it can be like to live in a hot, unapologetic jungle environment. We left bitten by bugs, slightly charred, and soggier and smellier than we had ever been before. But we also left with memories we would have forever, having spent such an amazing time with friends in the wild.
By Emily Hilton-Nickel
