2/8/12

Jungle walk! So after lunch we went for a walk in the jungle behind the hotel. The guide Marcio made all the girls headbands made from a giant blade of grass.

It was really eerie how dark and quiet the jungle became the further we went in. Our guide, Washington, I believe, showed us the kinds of traps that the Amerindians use to capture small prey. They were really ingenious, with a loop that would wrap around the prey once the trigger was sprung. The prey would be get smacked against the tree and killed, and then hang high above the reach of other predators until a native could return to retrieve food. Washington also showed us ants that the natives smash and spread on their skin to act as mosquito repellent as well as a kind of fungus the local Catholic Church would burn as incense. It was really fascinating to see how the Amerindians adapted to life in the rain forest.