Luxury and a trip to Indiana
Luxury and a trip to Indiana
We were up at 6. We packed by early daylight and kerosene lamp since the “rooms” are dark even in bright daylight because of long overhangs on the roof. We left by boat at 8:30 for a 2 hour speedboat ride to Ceiba Top Lodge. What a lovely surprise! They have electricity, air conditioning, hot and cold running water and hotel type rooms with showers and flush toilets!
We packed the suitcases once again. This time we are We pulled out all of our dirty clothes to air and dry in the room and then repacked the suitcases once again. This time we are trying all shoes, socks, and underwear at the wheel end of the large duffle bags. Our goal is not to have to paw through everything every time we want something that “should” be in the big suitcases. The lodge is really more like a resort along the Amazon River. We took advantage of hotel laundry service to have our REI insect repellant pants washed- they were really filthy.
We took an open boat ride on the river to look for pink dolphins. (I wore a life jacket). We did see several dolphins but they are a bit shy and not as playful as the dolphins we are used to seeing in Florida. From there we took a boat up the river to a town called St.Jose/Indiana. It was very different from other towns or villages we have seen along the river. This one is more modern with paved streets and sidewalks, electricity, schools and churches, well maintained yards, flowers, and even a couple of blocks with flowers and topiary characters in the center divider of the main road. We went on a motorcyclized three wheeled, 2 passenger open air taxi to the next town about two and one-half miles away. It seemed longer. It was a narrow paved road designed only for these three wheeled taxi vehicles. We went to the town of Mazan to see a typical market – fresh produce, fish, some meat, and a sort to flea market area for clothes, notion, shoes, etc. We also saw part of the production of something called “jungle beer”. It is made from yucca root. Women mash the roots and then chew the mash to mix it with saliva which they then spit into an earthenware jut. They add water and allow it to ferment for several and then people drink it. We saw a woman chewing and spitting into plastic bags for sate in the market in Mazan. Needless to say we did not sample any of the beverage.
After the open air taxi ride back to Indiana we returned to the boat and returned to Ceiba Top Lodge about 5:30. I had a warm shower. It was wonderful!
Dinner featured a local fish that was quite good. After dinner there was entertainment – six students from a middle/high school in Indiana performed native dances including one with a large live snake (a boa?). The female dancer included several audience members by draping them with the snake. I was glad to be passed by on that one. A four-person band called the White Bellied Frog accompanied the dance group. We went to bed about 10 with the AC on for a little while. We didn’t want to get too cool and comfy since we return into the jungle in the morning.
Helen’s Journal
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006