Fundraising Gig by Classic Rock Band StonedF: PLEASE BOOK HERE

We are pleased to announce that the popular Classic Rock Tribute Band StonedF is performing at the Hedge End Conservative Club, The Hill, Upper Northam Close, Hedge End SO30 4BB  at 9pm on Friday 6th September.

Band:  StonedF

Band Members:  Colin Dean, John Emerson, Dave Latham, Jon Franks

They have all been Semi-Pro musicians for over 25 years.

Music played:  Great Rock and Classic Covers:     Thin Lizzy, Free, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Rod Stewart, Kinks, Beatles, Stones, Stereophonics,  to name a few .

This is typical of what people are saying about this band:

Incidentally, at the risk of repeating myself, I have had FANTASTIC feedback about you guys!  Seriously - everyone was saying how good you were and that it was the highlight of the event!  Honest!!!!!  Well done - and a HUGE thank you to all the boys for their patience and weather-endurance!

Tickets are £10 per head and need to be reserved in advance as space is limited.

PLEASE BOOK AS FOLLOWS:
Telephone 023 8036 6114 or 07801 507100
E-mail         michaelread@peru-experience.com

Only Two Volunteers Left!!!!

It was so exciting  to get such a positive response to the article about the destruction of Amazon Curaca Camp by the termites.  I had never intended to go in August but so many wanted to go then that I had to look into it.

However, it was just as I feared: far too expensive.  I had always intended to go in either September or October and now find that the latter is by far the more practical.  The project involves Voluntourism, both volunteering and having a holiday, which is why there is a cost involved.  In fact, there will be just eight days' work out of sixteen days in Peru.  Also included in the charge of £2000 is a sum that enables the project to take place.

I am now very sad to report that out of over one hundred enquiries there are just two people - only TWO - who are now able to take part in October.  I should like to thank everyone for their interest and understand the reasons for so many having to pull out: the cost, only being available in August or September and, in several cases, losing their jobs.

So it's back to square one - almost!  We now need eighteen people able to go between 15th October and 2nd November.

These flights are now being held.

Our plan is to fly out as follows:

JJ 15OCT LHR-GRU 2235 0605+1                 Heathrow to Sao Paolo

JJ 16OCT GRU-LIM 0930 1300                      Sao Paolo to Lima

LA 16OCT LIM-IQT 1625 1820                       Lima to Iquitos

LA 01NOV IQT-LIM 0820 1000                      Iquitos to Lima

JJ 02NOV LIM-GRU 1210 1955                     Lima to Sao Paolo

JJ 02NOV GRU-LHR 2350 1320+1                Sao Paolo to Heathrow

These flights are now being held for us so we shall be able to accept the first 20 people who are able to go on these dates.

We are able to give you a wonderful experience in Peru, combining volunteering with holidaying in what is one of the most beautiful places in the world, for just £2000.  Don't forget that this will also provide work for the locals for many years to come. You will only work from Monday to Thursday of each week. I shall arrange with Esteban that everyone involved in the reconstruction will become honorary members of the Yagua tribe.

We now require the following, please:

• Full name as it appears on your passport
• Passport number
• Full payment 30 days before we depart

In addition to the normal clothing and toiletries, we have been asked to take with us, or buy in Iquitos, the following:

• Torch
• Two sheets, preferably a sheet sleeping bag
• Ordinary sleeping bag to use as a mattress
• Wellington boots
• Insect repellent
• Plate, cup, knife, fork and spoon
• Rain poncho/lightweight plastic raincoat
• Suntan lotion 
• Baseball cap
• Hiking boots
• Trainers

I am asking Esteban whether he canbuy the wellington boots and mosquito nets in Iquitos.

It is advisable to use a backpack rather than a suitcase for travelling into the jungle.

Reconstruction Latest!

Three people have already looked at the blog before I have had the opportunity to post this, as I have been updating the website first.

Our plan is to fly out as follows:

JJ 15OCT LHR-GRU 2235 0605+1                 Heathrow to Sao Paolo

JJ 16OCT GRU-LIM 0930 1300                      Sao Paolo to Lima

LA 16OCT LIM-IQT 1625 1820                       Lima to Iquitos

LA 01NOV IQT-LIM 0820 1000                      Iquitos to Lima

JJ 02NOV LIM-GRU 1210 1955                     Lima to Sao Paolo

JJ 02NOV GRU-LHR 2350 1320+1                Sao Paolo to Heathrow

 As you can see, we'll arrive in Iquitos in the evening of Wednesday 16th October, which will necessitate staying in a hotel before leaving to go up the river first thing the next morning.  

We shall go by bus to Nauta and then on to Amazon Curaca Camp by boat.

Taking the bus to Nauta

The plan is to work Monday to Thursday and then on Friday and Saturday take river excursions, enabling us to see both day and nocturnal wildlife, such as monkeys, parrots, lizards and much, much else.  You will also have the opportunity to take Ayahuasca - see the blog entry - at a cost of £12 per head.

The Sundays will be free, with the opportunity to go into Nauta by boat in the morning, returning for the afternoon in order to be able to swim off the beaches.

This is Nauta.

And this is the market there.

And the river at Nauta

On the river

Arriving at Amazon Curaca Camp

And this one

At the camp, but we're going to reconstruct a new one quite close to the ruins of the old one.

We look forward to hearing that you're able to come with us in October.

New Village

It is now getting very exciting as the village is going to be built in a new location beside a lake, and will be centred on a large cocamera like the one shown here.

The point of this village is to teach visitors, like myself above, the traditional skills that are in danger of being lost.  The first group of volunteers will build this large communal cocamera and subsequent groups will expand the village.

This is inside another cocamera and here I am wearing the traditional dress of the Bora tribe rather than the Yagua in the first two photos.  This garment is made from tree bark, whereas the Yagua champa is made from palm fibre.

Traditional culture naturally includes dancing.  This is the life that was interrupted by the termites.

Esteban, the guide with whom we are working,  says the purpose of the traditional village is to preserve his tribe's culture, especially the grass skirt and the traditional life style and the use of natural remedies.  He made me a little hut to live in while I was at Amazon Curaca Camp. It had a round roof and two doors, which when shut made the hut completely black inside. I slept  on a ledge and for sheets I  used tree bark and rose at dawn and went to bed when it got dark, as there is no electricity. The toilet was natural and I washed in the  stream, the same as I would in the shower at home. I  used natural  soap and shampoo and had a wardrobe of grass skirts. It was intended that I would have a canoe, which I would use for checking the fishing nets every morning.  This will now be possible for the lake.

This is the inside of the cocamera.  The ledge for sleeping is on the left behind the little boy and below the blue mosquito net.

The grass skirt is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn.   Visitors to our new village will be able to learn how to make the clothing from scratch, how to use a blowpipe and all the traditional culture.  Esteban is particularly interested in teaching and developing the natural remedies that his tribe has been using for centuries. 

So people will have the opportunity of living the way I lived. Esteban will develop  new jungle walks that can be done with bare feet, and we shall build more traditional houses. My little hut (a cocamera) would be built off the main trail leading from the lodge complex, thus giving it complete authenticity. Esteban also said that groups would go to other places for a few nights, thus giving more people the opportunity to stay at the lodge. For example, there would be treks, visits to the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve and special courses to learn about shamanism and ayahuasca.

A tour of Amazon Curaca Camp and its environs

 Here I am in my cocamera all painted up and ready to take you on a tour of the original Amazon Curaca camp. It has now been decided that rather than rebuild from the ashes a new site is to be found, but in the meantime let's have a look around this beautiful area.

Bananas!!

More banana trees.

This is the main cabin where we eat and relax.

And another cabin.

 This was my room in a cabin before I moved into the cocamera.

And another room.

Now we go on the river.

Villagers greeting us.

 Let's have a sunset!

And another!

Then we go back to my cocamera.

This is the outhouse.

And here am I again.

Outside the cabin.

Now you can see who I'm with!

This is what we've lost and what we need to reconstruct.  As I write, we are waiting to here from our friend once her returns from the jungle and we're still trying to get decent airfares for August.

AN AYAHUASCA EXPERIENCE

AN AYAHUASCA EXPERIENCE

The following experience took place in this cocamera.
"The shaman put down a groundsheet, which we sat on. He then lit a pungently smelling cigarette, absolutely horrible, and then breathed the smoke into the liquid we were going to drink. He then started chanting in Quechua, beating time on a paper bag, and after a few minutes he gave me about a third of a cup of the fairly thick liquid to drink, then followed by Jorge and himself. The 'cocamera' was only lit at that stage by a single 'lámpara', so it was quite dark.
"The shaman had said that I wouldn't need to go to the toilet, but would feel like vomiting - or would vomit - and that it would begin to work after about twenty minutes. So we waited. I felt the same but could see what appeared to be a film or a TV programme aimed at children, sometimes with real characters, sometimes cartoon characters, going up and down on theme park rides, then traffic. It was all emerging to turn left, with some overtaking on the right to turn left. Then it switched to the open road, with a black Jaguar police car following the traffic. Normally the traffic was driving on the left, but sometimes on the right. Then there were animals that seemed to elongate, but if I opened my eyes they disappeared.
"By this time I was lying on my back, as I had begun to feel dizzy and very tired, but I still wasn't feeling sick. Then my fingers began to twitch, and then my arms, but I still didn't feel sick.
"All the time, the shaman was continuing to chant, asking for my stomach to be healed, as I had mentioned that I had IBS. 'Is anything happening?' he asked. 'Not much,' was the reply. He wanted to know when we saw the Virgin Mary and Jesus.
"Then, at last, I began to feel sick, but not very. However, over the next hour or so, as the hallucinations continued - in the same vein as before - I began to feel worse and, in the end, had to go outside. But the twitching was continuing and I could hardly stand. The first time, I collapsed back onto the groundsheet. However, the next time, I managed to stagger outside, but I was hardly sick at all, so I stayed there for about a quarter-of-an-hour just in case.
"Settled back on the groundsheet, I lapsed back into the same hallucinations, which gradually diminished until, finally, a traditional picture of the Virgin Mary, followed by a picture of Jesus.
"I felt immensely tired and desperately needed to go to the toilet, which I did with Jorge's help. As I reached the toilet, I thought I could see lots of little animals running around in the torchlight, but as soon as I switched it off they disappeared, so I realised that it was another effect of the Ayahuasca.
"For some time I felt it was a bit of an anticlimax, but looking back at it now it was an interesting experience and I shall definitely repeat it. It didn't give me a purge, but I realise now that I need to take more if I want that to happen."

Ayahuasca is a medicinal tea prepared fromBanisteriopsis Caapi, a jungle vine, found in the tropical regions of South America, often combined with other plants, commonlyChacruna/Rainha (Queen); Psychotria Viridis.

Ayahuasca has a rich legacy of associated traditions, myths, therapies, rituals and aesthetics, spanning from the primordial roots of the indigenous tribes of South America, to diverse syncretic spiritual movements emerging across the planet.