A walk in the 'real' jungle

This morning we were woken up early - very early - by the roosters and fighting cocks crowing. It was still dark for hours after they started, so we were all very tired! After a breakfast of bread, scrambled eggs, sausages, fruitcake and banana fritters (a bit different to the hotel spread!), we headed out for a jungle walk. This was a real jungle walk, but before we got too far, we all had a go at the blow pipe - I am proud to say I was most accurate, hitting the papaya square in the middle! Then watched how they tap the rubber from the rubber tree.

On the walk through the dense jungle, we saw the family burial grounds, the tokens protecting the longhouse (which was quite interesting, considering they are 'christian') and some traps. We were very lucky to have the witch doctor from the longhouse show us where things were and how they worked, including the native plants used as herbal remedies and food in the jungle.


It was a very hot walk, but great fun, and finished at another long house - this one was much older, and more traditional. The people in this one were much younger, and it was closer to the school, although the same number of childeren lived there as the one we were staying at. It was interesting to note the similarities between the communities. After our visit, we jumped into the longboats for a ride back down the river to our lunch destination - a picnic on a rock island in the middle of the river. While we swam in the river and generally had a great time, our boat crew, as well as Mas and Wilson, cooked lunch. They lit 2 fires - one long one, over which they put bamboo containing rice (wrapped in banana leaves) and chicken (topped with banana leaves). The other fire was for the wok, where they cooked some vegetable dishes.

The chicken and rice were so flavoursome - it was amazing how moist it all was! Such a unique picnic! Afterwards, it was back into the boats, and back to the longhouse for a quiet afternoon.

Late in the afternoon, we went to a 'modern' longhouse. A few years ago the community in the longhouse at which we were staying split in two, as about 20 of the families wanted more privacy. The government sponsored them to build their own longhouse, this one in concrete bricks, with 2 stories, but still with the 'community hall'. It was interesting to see what a stark contrast it was - from the outside, it looked just like a 2 storey block of flats.

Given the lack of sleep, and having had such a big day, we had an early night, after playing cards, and it was soon 'lights out' for all of us!