Ayahuasca and the Jungle: round two

So my experience with Ayahuasca wasn't what I had expected, I met many people in the hostel I went to in Iquitos. And most of them encouraged me to give it another shot and introduced me to a man that has a travel and tour company. Carlos, short man, half peruvian but has awareness that a lot of people don't have. He takes care of his body, and his mental health as well. Not only for himself but for others around him including the environment and endangered animals.

I will get more into the 'Belen Markets' later in the next blog, but in the Belen markets for one, you can buy anything... and when I say anything... its not a far stretch. You can even buy endangered monkeys and other animals if you look hard enough for them. Its actually quite sad when you hear how they do it and what they do to get them. besides the point Carlos helps out with a sanctuary to stop this from happening and takes these wild animals and rehabilitates them back into the wild.

Carlos views the earth and all the living things on it as a giant organism,  this giant organism has an electo-magnetic pulse almost like a heart beat, much like our own electro-magnetic pulse. He says that when we are not connected to the energy around us and are out of sync, our lives become out of sync.

He went on about these things. I was ify and trying the Ayahuasca again because of my bad experience, but decided to leave it up to fate, ask for a sign to do this again. On one night two of my friends at the Iquitos hostel the 'flying dog hostel" decided to head back to Lima, we decided to go out and have a drink with them. Devin and Ahmed, Devin I have mentioned before, Ahmed is a very insightful intelligent person with a very attractive energy and always positive and open. Although he doesn't drink and didn't partake in Ayahuasca he was one that was encouraging me to do it again. His main reason is that I came into the jungle for a main reason of doing it and other people have had good experiences with the shaman that Carlos knew, including Devon and I shouldn't leave unsatisfied.

At the club I was having a drink making jokes about Devin (we have a mutual unspoken agreement to have a laugh at each others 'expense'). Early that day an English man came up to Devin and told him that he had just arrived there, someone had beaten him up, broken his finger and taken everything he had. Devin felt bad for him and gave him a few Soles for his trouble and tried to get him a room in our hostel. Little did he know that this man has been living in Iquitos for a long time, many months at least. A con artist that scams tourists. It was even published in a local paper. When Devin had told others at the hostel, to his disbelief everyone including me had already heard of this man. Devin was to say the least a bit perturbed by the whole thing, not from losing the money, but for feeling bad for the guy.
Anyways, when I ordered a drink at the bar Devin noticed that I had paid less than him... infact everyone was paying less than him. The man at the bar was ripping devin off on his beer, not by much and it may have been an accident but it happened none the less. When someone local here sees you as a tourist, they figure that you have money and some will try to get a little more from you.
so the joke was "Hey Devin (the tall lanky white guy with blondish hair, blue eyes and glasses) You're sooo white... even the British rip you off!" ohhhhhh! yeah too much? I thought it was priceless!

When I looked up from my laughing fit, I noticed what kind of a bar we were in. The name of the bar was Osiris and there was a huge picture of Anubis on the wall with a full moon behind him... "hmmm..." I thought, that its literally a big 'sign'. That was good enough for me, I told Ahmed that I wanted to book a tour with Carlos to go out into the jungle to meet this shaman and partake... one last time... rain or shine... good or bad... I would take it.

I met Carlos and paid for the tour and would have to pay the shaman a fee for the Ayahuasca itself.

Bob came into the hostel with two people that he had met on the street. Came up to me and introduced me. This American couple sat down very apprehensively, Bob didn't explain much of why I was talking to them just that I might have some information about this trip I was doing. Well the story goes that they heard about Ayahuasca and were going to do it from a local down the street... I'm guessing they were going to have a similar experience of my first time. So I explained to them that I was going out to the jungle... 2 hours by car, 3 hours by boat down the amazon. Meeting up with the shaman part way and going into a lodge to preform the ceremony.

They were both interested in the Ayahuasca, I must apologize because for some reason I cannot remember her name, she is late twenties, very big brown eyes and a smile about her that makes you want to smile too. His name was Andreas in the army back home, chiselled body and covered in tattoos. They both had a great sense of humour and adventure about them. At one point I remember saying... "wow you guys are so cute" half sarcastically which was replied "why does everyone keep saying that" It looked like they were on their honeymoon and couldn't keep their hands off each other, all giggly and what not hahaha.... anyways.

She had had some experiences hiking up to Machu Picchu that were quite interesting as well as very intense dreams. I won't get into the details she shared because they are her own. But in my opinion she was drawn into the jungle to do this ayahuasca even if they both were apprehensive about it. They both decided to book at 6 day jungle tour in the amazon with Carlos.

5 am in the morning.... up before my watch hit 5 yet again. I got into the car and met my tour guide. Lucho, a small peruvian with a strong accent. Very fun and very informative about the wild life, the trees and vegetation as well as the the river. What I noticed is that Carlos and his crew would go out of their way to make you feel like you are having the best experience they can deliver.

The Amazon river is, huuuuuuge, it is as wide as a lake and the depth is 10 meters deep at some points and in the high rain season can be up to 50 meters deep. Chilling out in the boat we made pretty good time going with the current.

We stopped the boat where the shaman was staying. Him, his father and his apprentice got into our boat. The Shaman is a short man, but not much use of his legs, they still work but they are twisted and small. What I respected about him was that there was no pity with him at all, none. he has his crutches carved out of local wood and he used his strength in his upper body to pull himself in the boat. This was after the 30 minute walk in the rough path from the village he lived in. His eyes were always looking and watching and reading. His father would always make comments about something and laugh showing the few teeth he had left, But his smile still make me want to smile as well, something about him was overly happy. and the young apprentice would stare at you until you looked at him and smile and laugh shyly.

we turned off the amazon down a smaller river that would lead us to the lodge. I should mention that our boat is about 5 to 6 feet wide and 20 feet long. Not that big ;) with a small 10hp motor with a long stem that reached the 8 inch diameter propeller. we got a long ways before.... up ahead the thick rich vegetation that grows on top of the water stopped us in our tracks.... or wake if you will. Machete time, this is where our Warrior friend Andreas shines, he was really having a lot of fun, cutting threw the vegetation and creating a pathway for the boat. The shaman with his broken legs was doing more than other people in the boat, jumping out and moving the vegetation with his arms and legs, pulling himself back in and using branches and pushing. I really have the utmost respect for someone that doesn't let anything get in the way of living their life. I will take a note from this man and do my best with what I have.

After an hour and only moving a small amount we got to the lodge and unloaded our bags and food. Jungle Trek time! I foolishly didn't bring any long sleeves or pants with me, so its was shorts and a t-shirt for me. I did however have cream that had bug repellent in it. The American friends of mine... did not have any... and wouldn't borrow any even when offered. Well Andreas did once, but I think it was too late at that point.

MOSQUITOS!! hahaha wow, if you have not been in the jungle... you will never know how bad it is for mosquitos, uuaaahahhhhggh! other than that, I really did enjoy the trip out there. We hiked and saw monkeys jumping from tree to tree, jaguar tracks, all different kinds of cool and unique trees, Ants up close that would give you a fever if they bit you, termites on one tree that if you put your hand on it they swarm covering your hands, so what you do is you rub your hands together making a paste with them... using that as bug repellent, it has musky smell that keeps the mosquitos away, although it doesn't last that long. We saw lots of vines, some with water in them that is safe to drink. A tree that has this spikes coming off that the local natives used to use in their blow dart guns. Cutting through the jungle with machetes and plunging through the wet wilderness, musky wet smell of damp wood, the foreign smell of trees and vegetation that I have never smelled before, the excitement of finding a snake so poisonous and so far away from a hospital its not even funny, or running into an alligator or jaguar make my heart beat stronger.

When we finally made it back, lunch was prepared from the cook that lives at the lodge. We ate some pasta with some local tomato sauce and mashed lentils and fresh fruit. very good. I saw my mosquito bites... too many little red dots to count. I felt alright though, Andreas... I don't know why, but the mosquitos liked him most of all... he should be flattered haha. His body on the other hand.... most huge dollar sized welts from a reaction from the bites than imaginable and more than I could count and it was obviously a larger number than mine... Neeless to say that him and his girlfriend did not join on the next outing. We were to take a Canoe into a river near by with thick vegetation overhanging trees and vines deeper into the jungle until it was dark... I didn't understand why Lucho wanted to go into the dark but I was game!

The jungle is not a peaceful place, it is in the sense that its close to nature and that is awesome... but it is soooo loud, crickets, frogs, so many different kinds of birds, not chirping, making sounds that I didn't think birds could make, monkeys and other noises that I couldn't even describe. when the sun disappeared past the tops of the giant thick trees, everything began to turn into a silhouette and the jungle started to come alive! At this point, the canoe has me in the middle, the young apprentice from the shaman that wanted to come along in the back and Lucho in the front. What I found was the most beautiful thing that I have seen out there was these little bugs... they were not fireflies, they didn't move, they sat in the thick vegetation and glowed like thousands of little bluish stars ominously. Now, I realize that I have no idea which was is back to the lodge, I have my headlamp on that doesn't really see that far past the branches hanging in our way and the vines blocking us...

Lucho is looking out like a hunter in the night, I realized later through conversation that he was in fact a hunter... ah the world makes sense yet again.

He sees something, eyes... I saw lots of eyes... in the trees always watching... strange sensation of not being alone but not being able to see what sees you. Lucho shone his light onto a spot in the water... Yes, I saw the eyes he was looking at... A freakin' Alligator! he got closer and closer and drove his hands into the water to grab him! Splash! Hahaha, ok he tried a couple of times, but didn't get a chance to grab one, they are quick! So, I learned why he wanted to be out there, to catch an alligator in the dark! haha, we paddled back after a few hours in the dark, Me hoping that the boat wouldn't tip. When Lucho tried to catch the alligator the canoe nearly tipped over, I knew that this river is many many meters deep and I have no idea how to get back and what living things are in the water and jungle... exhilarating!

When we got back, dinner was being served. I was not to eat before the Ayahuasca and the American couple were on the fence about doing it, and were contemplating even staying because they had so many bites and swallowed so many mosquitos that it was interrupting the fun of their experience. They decided to do the ayahuasca at the last minute and passed on dinner as well. We were to go into my lodge and meditate on what we wanted to see in the Ayahuasca.

I meditated on the answers that I desired. and waited in the darkness.

We put a couple small cot mattresses on the floor and the shaman sat near us, his mixture was a creamy brown color in a bottle. He was not wearing anything different than his clothing he had on earlier. His father joined him and Lucho stayed in the room to make sure we were safe.

Each one of us took a cup of this liquid and downed it. We were passed a local 'jungle cigarette' to keep our stomach settled, we were not to talk anymore and not to touch anyone else.

I waited in the darkness after drinking, the taste of the Ayahuasca in my mouth still after rinsing. A bitter and creamy taste. Not great, but not that unpleasant either.

after about 15 minutes my head started to swim... I closed my eyes and almost instantly after that I began to see...

It is hard to explain everything that I saw, and impossible to convey all the details of even a short bit of the experience but I will try none the less.

So many colours, some that don't exist in day to day life. beams of light crossing each making patterns, my ears started to ring. the patterns became more intense and more bright and colourful, so many different colours interacting with each other. But the details... so many small intricate tiny complex patterns spiralling around creating animals and people and experiences. Voices talking to me making me laugh and entertaining me. My mind was clear through the whole thing, my physical body and head were swimming however, dizzy. I laid down and asked my questions. Many answers were given in very amazingly bright and cool metaphors, like a dream would be, but more intense and vivid. At one point I was standing in a desert, pink sand in egypt, egyptian and Pharaohs were around me, the Sun was a golden red colours, but I felt no heat from it. everything was lit up with no shadows. (I talked to the girl later and she told me she experienced much of the same egyptian things.)
I will say that a lot of the experiences were my own personal venture and I will share with personally if you want to know some things... but some of them are my messages.


The colours faded at one more and brought me to a very dark and disturbing place, black and dark, I remember no linear thoughts, just emotions, processing and hurting, but when I opened my eyes I was clean and clear and let go of so much. My face wet with tears. When I closed my eyes again the colours came back and it showed me many many things... all very beautiful, intertwining with my own soul...
One of the most amazing experiences that I have had. I didn't vomit and after 3 hours I was clean from the experience. so good. I got what I needed from it and I doubt I will take it ever again... I do not know how to write his name but Thank you Shaman Sagundo.

The next day we ate breakfast and went back into the boat, about 8 hours to get back to where we get the car to drive the rest of the way. A lot of strange dreams that night that might have been the left overs of the ayahuasca experience that I will also take to heart and learn from.

I met 3 spanish girls on the boat on the way back that were interested in the experiences that we all had on the Ayahuasca... the vine of life... the vine of death... connecting in a different way.

everyone has a different experience on Ayahuasca, some good and some bad, some dark and some colourful and light, some have experiences without seeing. It is not for everyone... but when the jungle pulls you, you might think about going?