Today - this afternoon - was quite interesting. The afternoon had less to do with the animals and more to do with the plants. We hiked a bit, and wound up taking a boat across the river to a farm. The farmer there, Miguel, mostly grows fruit - papayas, ladyfinger bananas, oranges that are green on the outside, these plants that are part of the cocoa family but taste like gooey, gelatinous crosses between mangos and bananas. He also grows actual cocoa beans, coffee, and starfruit. There are also these plants that I can't recall the name of, but the outside has the green base of a kiwi but with more fuzz, which is naturally red in colour and looks kind of spiky-looking. On the inside, there's nothing really edible. The innards just inside the skin are white - you can squeeze the sides and it pops open - and there are two halves in each half - quarters, I guess. On each side are red seeds that crush if you poke them. It turns into a red dye that safe to use on skin and in food. I got tagged, basically, by Yuri, and now my face is painted. I was able to get revenge - he gave me one of the plants as we were leaving - so now his face is painted, too. HAHAHAAA!!!
While we were at the farm, we did see some animals - specifically, some monkeys in the avocado trees (Miguel grows avocados, too), as well as Miguel's Mighty Kittehs of teh Amazon. Also, Mighty Chickens of teh Amazon.
(I didn't get photos of the chickens)
Before we went to the farm, though, we went to a replica of an Incan Shaman's place. They had plants that actually worked for healing - stuff for headaches, joint pain, one that helped fight kidney disease and certain cancers if you caught the condition early enough. We also got to sample the key ingredient in Novocain (I think that's what it is - the painkiller that numbs your mouth?), which definitely works if you chew it a bit. I started salivating on one side because I went so numb. There was one that's touted as an all-natural version of Viagra, whose name (Puña Puña) translates to "stiff stiff" or "get up get up" or something, which proves that innuendos are multicultural and span as much time as the language has been around.
Of course, the hallucinogenic ones were there, too, which were for spiritual cleansing. Yuri could explain how that particular one affected your brain, because he'd tried it for fun one time (as opposed to trying it to cleanse his soul or learn his ailments or something). It kind of makes you wonder how many of the Incas asked the shaman for that tea so they could get the high, rather than for cleansing or removal of spirits or something - and how many went to help their mother and father and brother, too, but just for the high.
Right, I'm off for now. I'll write tomorrow.
p.s. forgot to mention - on a clear night, Pat would geek out. the stars are the brightest I've seen.
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