Caño Guamal

My second week in the Orinoco started off slow, very slow. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were forgettable days of work. Aside from the usual cleaning tasks, I had to spread every bit of furniture with diesel (to protect the wood), deep scrub all the cushion covers (to remove the stains and bird shit), paint a few things in the main lodge (that didn't need painting), and many other riveting jobs... Anyway in the late afternoons I made sure to get out in the kayak and go explore a little. I found a great spot in the jungle for collecting coconuts, and I've filled my kayak with them a few times, so at least I'm eating some fruit..

However, the week was flipped on its head on Wednesday, when I was told to go 'jungle-logging' again with Piña, and a Warao friend, Carlos. I was definitely exited after last time, but it was one of those days where everything went wrong. First off, I woke up with diarrhoea, and there's a lack of loo-roll here, so not a good start. Secondly, the weather was miserable, so no glorious sun-lit morning scenery. Thirdly, after finding our first tree to cut, the chainsaw broke within 60 seconds, and we couldn't repair. Fourthly, after a long time of hand-axing, the bastard tree fell the wrong way and into the river. Fifthly, and most importantly, while chopping my machete, I released a 30ft branch from above straight down onto Carlos' head. It was an accident, but it was bad. Blood was pouring down his face from a 2-inch open cut in his head, through which you could see his skull. He had a lump on the other side the size of a tennis ball. He probably had concussion, and although the guy was tough, this was serious, and I felt terrible.

We got on the boat and left the jungle straight away. An hour later we arrived at camp, Carlos had lost a lot of blood but didn't seem phased by it all, and just held the blood-soaked t-shirt wrapped around his head. It was quickly decided that he needed to go to hospital (in Tucupita), which was over an hour away on the fastest boat. To make the long trip 'worthwhile', Anthony (the boss) insisted we also took a faulty boat engine to the mechanic in town, problem number 6. This engine was large, weighed some 300kg, and took 5 of us to load it onto the fast boat. Problem 7 came when the engine on this apparently reliable boat failed to start. After some time trying to fix it we decided to take another boat, which also failed for an unknown reason (problem 8). By the time we got a working boat, made the journey to town, and waited at the hospital, it was some 5 hours after the accident when Carlos finally had the stitches he needed. Just to top the day off, during the wait I went junk-food shopping and lost my Spanish phrase-book. I've used this fucking book every day like a bible, and even when retracing my steps in this dodgy town I couldn't find it. This definitely was a problem-filled day, but on the plus side I didnt have severe blood loss and 10 stitches, or several-thousand pounds worth of broken boat engines, just diarrhoea and a lost book. Also on a positive note, the long boat-ride back to camp during sunset was spectacular.

So, that was Wednesday in as little detail as possible. Thursday was much better; me and Piña went back out to the jungle to complete the logging job, and did so successfully. This time we had a working chainsaw (and parts for when it broke), so we got the work done fairly efficiently. Of course, it was still hard work and problematic from start to finish, but Piña was a genius and a powerhouse. Because of my mistake, I'd managed to drag out several hours work into 2 eventful days, but it certainly made the week exiting. Also, just when I thought to fun was over, I was back in the depths of the jungle again on a sunny Friday morning with Piña, this time to collect 50 large Palms to use for roofing repairs and decoration. It was however a relatively quick and easy job, and I was back to cleaning and painting by the afternoon.

The last day of week 3 also held a nice surprise; I went on my second 'supplies-trip' to Boca, and experienced the Venezuelan gas station. We pulled up to the busy jetty with our several empty containers. Unbelievably, petrol costs just 80 Bolivars per Jerry can (60 litres), so for the equivalent of single penny you can fill a car! There's a single long hose-pipe extending from the gas station to the jetty, you wait your turn then go crazy and fill all the containers you have. Payment is just a guestimate amount and no-one really cares because it's so cheap, hundreds of times less than water! Anyway it was a good day, we spent a lot of time just chilling on the boat in the sun, waiting for Maria (Anthonys Wife) who brought  supplies in her jeep, and then welcomed us to a 'fin de semana' gathering at her families place down the river.

Saturday also saw the lodge welcome it's first guests in over a month, so when me and Piña finally arrived returned, I was keen to get to know them. This turned out to be very easy, as they were 4 tourists (2 married couples) from England, on a two-week tour of Venezuela to celebrate a 50th birthday. I served them evening drinks at the bar and had a good chat, they're only staying 2 nights but it makes things a little more exciting, and I briefly experienced life as a bartender... Read more