This was probably the best experience of our trip so far, a really special couple of days in the heart of the rain forest with our guide Sergio a local indian who knew everything there is to know about the forest.

We awoke for another early start to the sound of torrential rain and were met by Sergio at our hostel. First impressions were dominated by the fact he only had one eye. We set off in a cab to Sergio´s house where he picked up his kit and he helpfully provided us with a cup, spoon and plate and then we set off in the rain. After a fairly short walk we arrived at the Maloca which is a large hall which is all handmade from trees and leaves etc. Here Sergio explained to us how the Indians use Coca leaves (at pains to explain this was not cocaine and was a tradition used for centuries when working, hunting or walking) and tobacco in their rituals, he told us how they were produced and proceeded to shovel a spoonful of coca leaves powder into his mouth. Once this had begun to take effect he told us the Indian story of the world´s creation which had been passed down orally from generation to generation. Basically the world had been one land mass with all people living together and things had gone bad so God had flooded the world (see Noah from the Old Testament) and then created separate continents where he had placed a child from each race on each continent from whom the peoples of the world had spawned. All was well until the seas had been crossed and people had invaded other peoples lands. He explained how their culture was dying out and how young people were moving towards a westernised culture and it was clear how hard this was for him as he clearly cared deeply about his culture, language and history. Having read about the impact the Europeans had on this continent, exporting anything of value without paying those whose lands it came from and importing slaves as well as enslaving the indigenous people, you could understand why the Indians believed that their Gods had never meant it to be this way.

We then set off, still in the pouring rain, and before long we´d crossed into Brazil, not that there was any possible way of telling. We walked until early afternoon with the most excitement being crossing some fairly wide rivers by walking across tree trunks, not so easy in the pouring rain with a rucksack on your back believe me. We reached the place where we were going to camp, Segio then went about putting up our hammocks up and starting a fire (a real art to get one going given the 12 hours or so of rain) and then cooked us a really tasty lunch of lentils, rice, vegetables and sardines, I think the river water was the secret ingredient. Lunch eaten and the rain having stopped we set off on a short walk, Sergio told us all about the various herbal remedies from the trees which was really amazing just how many ailments can be treated, showed us how Indians had communicated with each other over many miles by thumping the huge tree roots, showed us how the Maloca walls and roofs were created and much more about the forest and his people.

Back at camp, and with a few more mouthfuls of coca leaves to keep him going, night fell and Sergio sang his tribal songs for us and told us the traditional fables that were passed down. This was pretty tough to follow as his Spanish always got faster when he´d necked some coca but we got the drift of most of them. We then set off for our nightwalk on the lookout for wildlife, tarantulas (to sound of squeals from guess who), frogs etc were all found although not all the wildlife Sergio had hoped for which he explained was due to the rain which meant the animals didn´t need to head for the creeks and swamps. It´s difficult to describe just how dark it is in the forest, absolutely no natural light so that you can´t see each other when you`re standing within arms length, we did have torches but tried to keep them turned off, although not when we had to cross another couple of rivers on tree trunks (it´s amazing how much balance you have when you really need it). We´d been going an hour or so when we came across some bones, Sergio calmly explained that it was the remains of a tiger (we think this is a jaguar) which he said would have been shot which was then explained as we found a campsite a few metres on. This kind of made me think what we would do if a tiger decided to visit our camp later on, Sergio didn´t have a rifle just the all purpose machete. So peering into the darkness to check for Mummy Tiger we headed back, I´d say the most amazing thing about Sergio was his ability to find his way around the jungle. There are no reference points, he had no map or compass, you can´t usually see the sun but he always got us home, he simply explained that he just always knew which way to go.

After an equally tasty supper we prepared for bed, this pretty much involved covering ourselves from head to toe in insect repellant, especially as the mosquito nets we´d been provided had numerous holes in them. Not expecting much sleep we were both pretty surprised to get one of the best night´s sleep we´d had in weeks. Waking up in your hammock in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest was an amazing feeling, something that will be remembered for ever.

After breakfast we then packed up the camp and set off further into the jungle, we walked all morning, again Sergio explaining how the trees are used in the local communities etc and answering all our questions before arriving in a tiny little village where we had our lunch in their Maloca. We then walked through the afternoon back to Sergio´s Maloca where we watched his Mum (a nice but pretty bossy lady who put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a look that felt like she was staring into my soul - really spooked) and Stepdad (his real Dad is the village Shamen who administers the ayahuasca, not sure where he was) producing their tobacco residue ahead of the local festivities on 12 June when all the local tribes gather to dance, sing and take mind altering substances.

And that was it we headed back into Leticia. Trying to do justice in writing to the experience we had is impossible, spending just two days in an environment that is so alien yet so interesting and perhaps more importantly spending time with someone who is so knowledgable about his people and his surroundings and who cares so deèply about them was really, really special.