Expedition to the Jungle |
The vast Peruvian jungle, which surrounds the wide and winding Amazon river, is divided into two different areas: the cloud forest (above 700 masl), which features a subtropical, balmy climate, with heavy rain showers (around 3000 mm a year) between November and March, and sunny days from April to October; and the lowland jungle (below 700 masl), where the dry season runs from April to October and is ideal for tourism, with sunshine and high temperatures often topping 35°C.
During this season, the river levels dip and roads are easy to drive. The rainy season, meanwhile, which runs from November to March, features frequent rain showers (at least once a day) which can damage roads in the area.
The jungle features high humidity all year long. In the southern jungle, there are sometimes cold spells known locally as friajes or surazos, cold fronts which drift up from the far south of the continent between May and August, where temperatures can drop to 8-12°C
Note: To calculate Fahrenheit temperatures: 9/5 (ºC) + 32
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JUNGLE TRIP
Provides an in-depth opportunity for people genuinely interested to know an area far from the usual tourist trails. The traveler will have a living experience in a region of great biodiversity and an understanding of a changing way of life that is sometimes missed by sociological and anthropological theoreticians. Peru is a country of vastly different regions: the Coast, the Sierra and the Selva, which is further divided into the subtropical high jungle and the low jungle.
You will have the chance to live as they do, with the natural rhythms of the rainforest where you will have the opportunity to experience:
- Rainforest Expeditions
- Ayahuasca ceremony’s
- Natural herb baths
- Searching for River Dolphins
- Spiritual healing
- A trip to Botanical gardens
- A chance to purchase unique pottery, textiles & more!
RIO TAMBO REGION
The Rio Tambo is located in the central region of Peru and is part of the Amazon system. The river arises from the confluence of the Perene and Ene rivers in the area of Puerto Prado, some 295 kilometers distant. Thereafter their waters join with the Urubamba to form the Ucayali, thereafter joining the Marañon and finally forming the Amazon on its eastern journey to the Atlantic.
In this region the largest ethnic group is the Ashaninka which has been judged by anthropologists to belong to the Arawak, with groups located in Peru, Bolivia and Brasil. Here we are located in the Rio Tambo and Ene region of Peru and we reflect the common indigenous culture. The Ashaninka, few of whom speak English, and many with only cursory knowledge of Spanish, are happy to open their arms to visitors and to share their simple and unaffected way of life.
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GETTING THERE
Lima or Huancayo– Satipo – Puerto Ocopa – Betania – Lima or Huancayo
We will meet at a stipulated bus terminal in the morning or at night for a trip of approximately 08 hours to Satipo passing through the cities of Ticlio, Tarma, San Ramon, and La Merced before arriving in the jungle.
In Satipo we will stay at the little community Saniveni,we take a breakfast based in natural juices; after that we take a car along a jungle trek of some three hours during which we pass through the community of Mazamari and other small communities en route to Puerto Ocopa on Rio Tambo.
In Puerto Ocopa we begin a trip of 4 hours by a motorized long boat to the community of Betania. En route you will enjoy the natural beauty unmarred by the pollution of modern civilization.
WHAT TO DO THERE?
We will be hiking in the area and meeting any number of Ashininka families in their daily setting. For those interested rafting and fishing can also be arranged. Camping further on into the jungle is also optional and of course always there will be unique photography opportunities.
The food is prepared and served by the women of the village who cook in the communal kitchen. The three meals a day mainly consist of fish, yucca, rice, plantin, fruit and herbal tea as this is the food that the villagers themselves eat.
We consider your time in the jungle as an excellent opportunity to allow your body to heal and we also include many treatments prepared by the Shamans such as herbal baths and steams that help you to do this. Combined with the naturally grown and prepared food, we hope that you will leave the jungle feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and with a heightened perspective of the beauty and delicacy of our Pachamama (mother earth).
In respect of this we ask that you see this as a place to shed the habits so many of us carry in modern society and to refrain from drinking and smoking, if only for the course of the Jungle Trip. If you feel that this will be impossible to do then there are many other excursions offered by other companies that would be better suited to your criteria.
Our trips to the jungle will give a genuine insight to the Amazonian way of life and a greater understanding of the impact everyone of us has on the jungle. We hope that our journey is as much an internal voyage as an external one and in maintaining an authentic jungle experience we offer Ayahuasca sessions as part of the trip. The Ayahuasca brew is regularly used by the Shamans and gives a profoundly introspective journey for those who are willing as we hope everyone who chooses to come on a Jungle Trip with us will be.
The life of the village is communally orientated and if you are someone who might see this as more of a disturbance then we'd suggest that you might prefer to take a different style of jungle tour such as the ones where you stay in a jungle lodge away from the interaction of the locals. (There are many options online that might be quite good .)
As guests of the village we are their neighbours and it is not uncommon to be visited by them often first thing in the morning. It is also very common that the local radio-communication operators play loud music from 5-6 am as it is at that time that the people wake up in the village. As a final note, our Jungle Trips are not for everybody.
We prefer to focus on the qualities of a person as opposed to the quantity of the people. So if you consider yourself a positive and enthusiastic person who is open to experience a jungle journey of the mind, body and spirit, we welcome you with open arms!
We will be hosted by the village for the duration of our stay for some days. You being there is a great support to them not only economically but also because your presence helps to re-establish and encourage the significance of their cultural heritage.