1. Oversized

I hear someone yelling in Spanish, but I don’t know what they’re saying.  “Danny, what’s going on?” I ask my guide.  “What’s he yelling about?”  “There’s a tarantula.  A big one,” he says excitedly.  “Do you want to see it?”  “Yes, of course.”  We pick up the pace of our hike along the bank of the Amazon and catch up to another hiking guide.  He has a huge tarantula balanced on a leaf that he’s holding in his right hand.  With his left hand he’s holding a machete.  The scene is a bit overwhelming, but the hike yesterday — with oversized snails, lily pads and ginormous trees with uniquely shaped branches — set the foundation for the next level of intensity on this excursion through the Amazon.  I listen as Danny speaks to the other guide, Frederico, in Spanish and then takes the leaf and the knife from him.  I cannot believe what I’m seeing — the two men wave the spider around like it’s a toy.  I quickly grab my iPhone and take a video of the men and the spider, knowing I’ll want to remember this.  I lean in to get a closer look at Danny showing the other guide how to let the spider crawl onto his shirtsleeve.  Then, surprisingly, the spider takes a turn to the left and almost leaps onto me.  I gasp as a furry, long leg misses my arm and momentarily dangles on the edge of the leaf.  While I catch my breath, the two men carry on — this is business as usual.  This jungle is their “office,” and this what they do day after day.  I know Danny loves it.  Yesterday he told me his life story, including how he started working as a bellboy at a Holiday Inn in Iquitos.  After that, he worked at a five-star hotel and longed to go to medical school, but he couldn’t afford it.  Instead, he worked to become a naturalist.  Now he learns about the medicinal properties of the plants in the Amazon and sincerely enjoys it.  His excitement over the tarantula is no different from his excitement yesterday when he taught me about the saliva from the meat of the snail, which is used for facials.  “It is good for the skin,” he said.  “The locals call it ‘congompe.’  Do you want to put your hand inside?” he asked, referring to the giant snail shell.  “You will feel the smooth animal in there.”  “Nope.  I’m good,” I said.  “But thanks anyway.”  Our conversation moved from the snail to his experiences taking people to visit a shaman.  The shaman practices Amazonian medicine using plants found in the jungle and spiritual arts.  “He does good,” Danny says.  “Not like a witch doctor who does bad.”  “How does he do good?” I ask.  “A person might go there to find clarity on something that is concerning them.  Or maybe they need help healing after a loss…  things like this.  Personal things… Enlightenment…”  “This is fascinating.  What happens when someone goes there?”  “The shaman invites them to drink a mixture made out of various jungle compounds, which he has boiled for twelve hours.  It is called ‘ayahuasca,’ and he uses this along with a spiritual ceremony to help people.”  “When does a person drink this?  And what do people say happens to them during the ritual?  Where does their mind go?”  “You don’t lose consciousness, if that’s what you are asking.  But I know that when I did it, I went into a little bit of a trance.”  “You’ve done it?”  “Yes,  more than once.”  “Wow.  And in that state of mind, what happened?”  “You find your answers, and for me it was good.  People travel from all over the world to do this.  Do you want to do it?”  I think about his question for a moment. “I’m not sure.  I know that I would like to interview him for my blog, though.  It would be incredible to meet him.  Maybe if I came back to the Peruvian Amazon you could take me to meet him, since you know him?”  “Yes.  This is possible…  When would you like to come back?”