Las plantes medicanales

Oi, Frances y yo went to a research station outside of Iquitos con nuestros nuevo amigo Rudolph, who is starting an ecotourism buiness in Peru. Esta un amigo muy bueno! We partook in a guided tour of the reserve surrounding the station and learned A LOT about plants.

We set out on the trail at 10 in the morning, sunscreened, bug offed, con mucha aqua. It is muy caliente in la selva, or jungle. Pero, in the shade, it is much cooler. There is so much verde all around, large vines snake through the canopy, a close reminder of the real thing. There is one vine that is as thick as an anaconda, and a dard orange red. If you are lost in la selva, try to find it. Tiene mas agua that is clean and parasite free.

The guide picked a small yellow flower from some low laying plants and crushed it between his fingers before lifting them to his mouth. He mimed tasting it and pointed towards the ground. I bent low and picked one of the small cushy amarillo buds and bit down on its furry head. The taste was mild and unremarkable, so I frowned, ¨Esta para que?"
He pointed towards his mouth and said nothing, all the while looking at me expectantly. Gradually, my tongue began to sting and develop a slight burning sensation. Not unpleasant, but very strange. I ran ma lengue around my mouth and realized I was starting to lose feeling where the flower had touch my gums. The guide pointed towards the sign, which read something along the lines of anaesthetic locales. Mes ojos widened and I licked my lips, to which a throaty chuckle was his only response.

I took pictures of everything. My favorites were of mushrooms and various slime molds that seeped from the soft crumbly logs, droplets of moisture clinging to their spongy surfaces. Our guide pointed out a small rojo cosa on the ground and I bent down, my camera a lista. It moved, jumping about three inches away from the lens and I leaned closer to realize it was a TINY TINY frog!!! Five minutes of chasing it about, the guide and our friends trying to trap it in their grasp, and I only got three shaky pictures of a red dot!!! Que devertido!

Rubbery spinned seed pods, filled with bright red seeds that burst when you pinch them and leave a thick opaque residue on your fingers, perfect for face painting.

Trees that extrete a viscous milky juice that can be used to set a cast, like plaster. Others that when cut, bleed a dark red liquid, called sanga, the spanish word for blood. Appropriately, this can be applied to cuts, because it has antiseptic properties.

Hallucinogenic vines, magic plants and various aphrodesiacs galore!

Basically, we learned mucho, and bebemos mucha agua. Antonces, vamos a el bano....

Muchas mas tardes,

Brigitte