Opportunity of a lifetime, Amazon

Candiru can't go up a pee stream unless its in the water. It was tested in a lab in Florida. Still something to watch out for.
After El Salvador, Haiti, Peru, Everglades and Costa Rica: Bring some afterbite for all the little ants that get you. Also, PERMANONE EVERTHING. Backpacks, hammock (three coats for underside), and make sure that you don't get a pyramid style insect net. Ticks, and terrestrial leeches are also a very normal reality down there. Don't sweat the big stuff, people have been living there for years and will let you know what really to watch out for. Its not nearly as much of an issue as the small little critters just....bugging...you.

Try and make all your equipment run on AA. Fenix just came out with a head lamp that takes lithium AAs.
Hand sanitizer for the feet at night is a joy.
 
Cool trip, DocGP!! Sounds like a great time. Even if the mission is a little vague right now, I envy the trip! Is this through church?
 
tradja said:
Cool trip, DocGP!! Sounds like a great time. Even if the mission is a little vague right now, I envy the trip! Is this through church?
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Yep, offshoot of the IMB (International Mission Board).

Hand sanitizer for the feet!! What a great idea.

Doc
 
Joezilla said:
and make sure that you don't get a pyramid style insect net.
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Joe,
Why is pyramid style not good?
Doe you usually have one insect net for sleeping and one for sitting around camp?
Maybe you never do sit.
 
You've got a lot of good advice here, especially on the hammock if you try ground sleeping in the jungle all you'll do is try. I forgot my hammock once in Japan, I appropriated some camo netting and layered it till I could lay on it. Never forgot my hammock again in a jungle. One Item I've not seen mentioned is baby wipes, God's gift to the grunt, in a pinch alcohol pads will work but in the jungle you need to clean certain areas at least once a day. I'm sure you already know but feet, groin and pits must be clean or you'll find out just how many places can get jungle rot.

Hope this helps
David
 
Echo4V: you're absolutely right! How could I have left that off of my list? Monkey butt is a horrible thing in the jungle and the best way to combat it is cleanliness and taking the opportunity to dry off when you can.

My guys would laugh at me because after cleaning up I would find a big rock in the water (in triple canopy rivers are often the only place you get sun) and lay out buck naked to dry off properly in the sun. I was the only one to never get jungle rot.
 
I do not recommend taking the malaria medication. It will make you hallucinate something fierce and it costs a fortune.

Generally indigenous groups stay in areas where there are fewer mosquitoes (higher altitudes, predatory plants). I've stayed with tribes in a few different countries and I've never stayed with one that willing stayed in a mosquito infested area, but there is always a first. While malaria is lousy, I've always been willing to risk it when the alternative is taking the medication. The medication is horrible.

The standard small fixed blade/machete combo is really all you need knife wise. You can throw in a Farmer for good measure. Most tribes will invite you to stay in their homes so shelter will really not be an issue. Beyond a mosquito net, you really won't need much besides a water bottle. A lot of times local missionaries (non-american) will just put chlorine bleach in the water to sanitize it. This isn't my favorite way to go but it works. Having an alternate method is an option if you are willing to be 'that guy'.

One thing to throw out there-- if any of the indigenous people tell you "the water in the stream is clean, you can drink from it" do not do it. Their guts may be able to take some of the parasites, but yours will not be able to. There is a reason dysentery is one of the biggest killers in those areas.

Oh yeah-- Chacos

9zR85l.jpg
 
OK, another concern that was raised to me was that my pack is a military looking pack. I have a coyote brown Kifaru pack (ZXR). Would a military pack be drawing unwanted attention? I will not be carrying it in public. I will transport it through the airport and to the first camp in a large suitcase. Only would be carried when we leave the first camp and go to the canoe, then jungle.

Thanks for all the good info.

Doc
 
DocGP said:
OK, another concern that was raised to me was that my pack is a military looking pack. I have a coyote brown Kifaru pack (ZXR). Would a military pack be drawing unwanted attention? I will not be carrying it in public. I will transport it through the airport and to the first camp in a large suitcase. Only would be carried when we leave the first camp and go to the canoe, then jungle.

Thanks for all the good info.

Doc
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Interesting. Was this from a person knowledgeable in such things?
 
I did jungle training in the Marine Corps and your first time in is a real eye opener! You'll see things that will blow your mind. I don't know if they have banana spiders down there, but if they do they are HUGE and will freak you out. You NEED to look into a hammock or practice building inpromptu stands to sleep on. You will be eaten alive sleeping on the ground in there so you need to get up off the ground. I think a hammock might be the best thing to look into. Also bring a big tube of hand sanitiser, you rub it on your feet at the end of the day and the alcohol in it will suck all the moisture out of your feet so they will dry out and you don't end up with trench foot, also more socks than you think you'll need also to keep your feet dry at night. I hope you have a great time!!!
 
get a bunch of those little watch-battery LED flashlights, dental floss, and tooth brushes and flea combs, as trade items and thank yous. - they are lightweight and the folks in the outback of the jungle usually really appreciate them.

make sure you have a magnifying lens, needles, and good pincers, and a squeeze bottle to irrigate wounds and such - simple Nestle water bottles that you find all over the Third World will do in a pinch. eye drops/wash can be good too. Liquid Benadryl, Primatene Mist, and topical antibiotic ointments are high on my list too.

Rite-in-the-Rain 3 x 5" notebook or something similar can be nice, especially when communicating by drawings.

nylon laundry mesh bag can be good to have as a dunk bag, gear hamock, headnet, ultralight pack, and much more.

mechanics gloves are a huge asset.

a quality king-sized bed sheet treated with permethrin makes a nice bivy when you have to sleep someplace inopportune, which happens sometimes in the jungle IME. - you can tear it into sarongs and jungle scarfs, which are also great. roll a bunch of clothes pins up in it - they are dry tinder and fish hooks too. you can use it as a rain deflector in haste, if you don't have time to make something out of palm fronds, etc. sheets and tarps and machetes are my number one things to bring to the jungle when roughing it.

a small duffle bag is smarter than a daypack in the jungle. - less sweating and all the injury complications that happen almost instantly because of perspiration.

always be responsible for navigation - have a compass and use it constantly in the approaches and egress.


forget about staying dry, it just doesn't happen in the jungle. - ' best you can do is carry ziploc freezer bags or aloksaks, etc. to store your night clothing in and sleep on your day clothing under a poncho, plastic tarp, or something else impermeable, so that you body hear dries it up a bit.

lots more, but a cool head will solve just about anything there, when you find yourself without - not much can't be improvised in the jungle. - take care of your feet and hands, always treat your water until you learn what's safe, don't try to match the natives in physical ability, and take your anti-malarial meds and get your yellow-fever shots, etc. as recommended.

have fun, i love the jungle, especially when i don't have to shoot folks in it....

vec
 
DocGP said:
OK, another concern that was raised to me was that my pack is a military looking pack. I have a coyote brown Kifaru pack (ZXR). Would a military pack be drawing unwanted attention? I will not be carrying it in public. I will transport it through the airport and to the first camp in a large suitcase. Only would be carried when we leave the first camp and go to the canoe, then jungle.

Thanks for all the good info.

Doc
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i hear that all the time. i don't bring them, but i haven't seen anyone hassled at all for them in several countries, on two continents. that's good enough for me. you hear similar things about camo clothing. there is very little law if any in all the jungles that i have been to, no one cares.

....

a brother suggested not taking the hallucination-causing anti-malaria meds - i don't know which those are.

a lot of folks take anti-biotics that their MDs back home suggested - i have seen a lot of those folks get sick when they took the antibiotics as a preventative. malaria is horrible to experience, and sometimes you are not in a postion to avoid malarial zones. if you don't take your meds, make sure and have treatment meds along, and good luck.

vec
 
Interesting reading. No experience here, sorry. Have a safe trip. I'll pray specifically for your successful trip and your group.
 
I did my J.E.S.T. in the Philippines and rather repeat alot of good info I will say kage gave some excellent advice. Unlike kage though, I'm gald to be in the Mtn of TN and do not ever plan on returning to the jungle if I can help it.

A whole lot of wet and critters that have lasted a loooong time through good camo. Gets dark quick so dont get caught near sunset in an unfamalir place. Bring your own Meds and lots of bug spray.

But you have a good time, may be the only chance you get to visit this type of environ.
 
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