4. To site — Aram's Path

The next morning we picked up a few basic supplies; water, canned pasta, beans, fruit, sleeping bags and cheap plastic rain ponchos prior to heading out to see the property, me for the first time. Our plan was to overnight there to better get a sense of the logistics and everything we'd need for the build, and to make the place home for the 2-3 months we figured it would take to build the "Eye of the Amazon" lodge, as Josh had proudly named it.

With our hands full of bags and supplies, we climbed on board the bus to Nauta; an old Korean-made coach, bright yellow in colour with white trim, rusty and beaten on the edges. It was already full so Josh and I had to balance standing up over our belongings as it careened off with loose suspension. Josh nearly landed on an young indigenous looking woman holding a baby, which wouldn't have been pretty. We weren't the only ones carrying a bunch of supplies on the bus, there were at least a few chickens, half a dozen sacks of potatoes and beans, and other random wares piled around amongst the passengers. We managed to get seats by the time the bus hit the outskirts of Iquitos, and headed more comfortably for the remaining half hour east to the end of the road. We got off where a dirt side road crossed the highway, there were three lads with moto taxis waiting for passengers there, after a small haggle we agreed on a price, fifteen soles, and hopped on.

It was nearing the rainier season, so the road was muddy. Rainier, because there was never a true dry season in the heart of the Amazon. the first kilometers or so were flat, but as we encountered our first hill, the tires spun a couple times on the ascent, then it was downhill fine, and fun. We had a straightaway, and then another hill. Then the pattern repeated, and it started to rain. Light at first, and then harder. The next hill the tires skid more and "s" slid. Chunks of mud were landing on my legs below my khaki shorts and my head was getting wet. We weren't exactly a light load with Josh and I in back, particularly Josh, I might add, who was hootin' and hollerin' away, loving every moment. We motored forward with the buzzing of the motor partially muted by the rain until we came to a bigger hill, which had become quite slick. Without saying a word to another, we both silenced our enthusiasm. The hill was steeper and the dirt road an oozing slick. The driver gunned it, but his 30cc scooter could barely gather speed on the muddy straightaway. We made it up perhaps 30metres on momentum, but the wheels spun propelling their splattering spray and sank in. We oozed to a standstill, wheels spinning and stalling. After about 10 seconds we both intuitively hopped out our sandals and sneakers sinking into the mud to our ankles, leaned in and pushed. Josh while trying to dig in on an incline slipped forward covering himself half in the gunk, and cursed. He got up with a momentary look of frustration in his face, when I started to laugh and said "hey buddy, this what its all about; adventure! His lips curled up too and he bellowed out a cowboy "woohoo!". We pushed, one sloppy step at a time, and the moto-taxi advanced upwardspraying us as it advanced. As we rounded over the top of the hill, light broke through the clouds and the rain slowed, almost symbolically. A view of Amazonia opened up before us, the riverine village of Santa Anita about a kilometer away as the road sloped downwards ahead, beyond lay a vast green landscape with a river snaking into the distance. "That's the Ucayali, the property is on a smaller river that branches off of it. We'll hire a put-put (canoe with a motor) from Santa Anita to there", Josh informed.

About half an hour later our hired peke peke driver cut the boat's motor and we were gliding towards the grassy side of a river. Strange hanging birds nests hung from the snaking branches of large trees overstretching the river, their residents darting about and chirping overhead. With a soft thud and a grainy braking slide, we came to a stop. Leaving our supplies under a shady tree hidden from river review near the bank we followed a small trail through the grass up the embankment. The sky had totally cleared and the mid day sun was beating down on us. As we levelled over the embankment the shade of the forest gave us welcome respite. First on the right was the house. Well, to north american eyes it was a shack on stilts, not more than 6 x 8 meters . We climbed up the rotty wood steps on to the small open porch and set down our supplies. There was a small main room with a few old rags, dirty pots, and a broken toy or two. Adjacent there was a rustic plank on hinges that made for a door, and beyond a 1.5 x 1.5M room with just one hole in the plank floor "la toilette said josh in a bad impression of a french accent. On the opposite side a small room with an old bedframe lacking a mattress. "Home sweet home?" I said sarcastically. Josh said "yeah I guess, but hopefully not for long, and we can also just sleep under the stars. Let me show you the rest of the property."

We continued up the grassy path past bushes and smaller trees, some in flower, and rounded a bend. There before us stood a giant. Its roots alone were almost as tall as we were in places. It stretched upward at least 100 feet into the canopy, its massive trunk sprouting huge mangled branches reaching outwards. Various species of vines curled up and around it. Bromeliads inhabited its branches. A chorus of half a dozen or more different bird songs or animal calls could be heard around us. "The Mother Tree", Josh said this was one of the reasons he bought the property, I saw his point. She was majestic, whatever species she was. Not more than a couple minutes walk beyond we came to a spring coming out of an exposed earth and rock face. "Here's the second reason" Josh proudly exclaimed with a grin. "Is it potable" I asked. "I think so, but I'm not 100% sure. Nita says it is. "I wonder if Nita had tapeworms" I replied. We both laughed uncontrollably. After taking a couple minutes to regain our composure we trekked on; climbing up through the forest, stepping over the odd log in our path, stumbling over roots, and dodging the odd prickly branch. A few minutes later an area with more sunlight breaking through could be seen up ahead. There we emerged on the top of the hill. Walking out into the centre of the semi-clearing, I looked around, you could see the river below looking forward, and further in the opposite direction the Ucayali snaked its way towards the Amazon river. The view was nice. Josh squinted in the sun, the look of a man with purpose, surveying his land. "What do you think of this place for building the lodge" he said. "Could be, but is it a little far from the river? I'm wondering if all your guests will be fit enough for the climb?". "Well, we could build a better path with wooden steps". "Yeah could be I said. Great piece of land you got here". "Half of it can be yours, buddy". "seriously?" "Yeah, I'm going to need more capital to build the lodge". I reached out my hand and we shook it. "Yeah buddy" Yeah buddy".

I'd just took the riskiest decision of my life, but took strength from one of my favourite mantras "risk nothing, risk all", but felt proud of myself for doing so. I'd always followed the safe "sure" path. My parents were professionals, a lawyer and a teacher, and had raised me to get a "good job". While it wasn't my nature, nor in my upbringing, I admired entrepreneurs, and secretly dreamed of becoming one. While this might not be the "big thing", it promised a taste of risk taking and making something tangible, that was also tremendously adventurous. I smiled to myself as we descended back down towards the river, the midday sun beating heavily down upon me, sweat streaming down my cheeks. A few minutes later we arrived down by the river and a small sandy riverbank beach, the icing on the cake. We stripped down, jumped in and celebrated. The rest of the day, we talked more logistics, costs and finance, e-marketing, and special markets like veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and upper middle class millennial drug addicts, whose new age parents might fork out big bucks to cure their lost offspring. We soon realized we'd need a decent propane stove, as the canned pasta wasn't going to be something we wanted to turn into a regular meal. We had plenty of water and fruit though.

That night, the air cooled down just enough, we decided to Camp out on the shack terrace in our sleeping bags, staring up at the stars. Josh recounted his ayahuasca experience to me again, as I'd already herd the abbreviated version the morning after we had the life-changing experience. "How'd you feel when it was first coming on?" I asked. "Not much really. I kind of all of a sudden felt that my thoughts were being guided. Maybe, come to think about it, a bit of a warm tingling feeling through my body, but very subtle. Not much at all. I was listening to Esteban sing those songs." "Icaro's" I responded. "That's what they're called". "Cool". "So yeah, I was kind of just fascinated by that little ceremony and singing, Icaro's as you say, and noticing the glimmer of the candles, little shrine, the rest of the room dark around us. And then I guess my thoughts went wandering off. I thought of Cindy, and the kids, but mainly Cindy. It was weird, and intense man. I saw every single little argument we had, and when I said mean or belittling things to her. Dude, I was an asshole sometimes. A lot of times. I really regret it man." His voice twanged with emotion. "Cindy wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she was a good mom. And, we had great sex." He sighed". "I remember this one time I'd been working all day in this really dirty re-posess". Josh had made a living cleaning and fixing up re-posessed homes in Florida for banks, after he found himself out of work with three young children in the aftermath of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. "I'd literally been scraping shit off bathroom walls, dude. People were angry, you wouldn't believe how much trashed some of these places are". "All I'd asked Cindy, who wasn't working, to do was to pick up some cleats for Styles' as he had his first soccer game that eve. Do you think it was done? No. I get back with 15mins to spare to get him to his game, and I find out he's got no cleats. Cindy says (with her thick spanish accent) "Jason I don't know what kind of cleats is good. I told her to use her head for once, and gave a little knock knock on it "hola is there someone home". But dude, I swear, I must of saw every thing incident over the years, stuff I didn't even think I remembered. It was like a movie playing clip after clip. "It's incredible technology isn't it?" I said. "Yeah!" "I needed to apologize man, it was too late to save our marriage I know, but a weight lifted after that, they I didn't know I was carrying. And, our we get along better now, around the kids you know, and that's important. Although I still can't stand that little weasel she's shacked up with now". "Ha I don't blame you. What about the second night?". Well part of it was the same, but I also wanted to build this lodge". "Crazy man. Me too". "She's like that. Mother Ayahuasca. She know's what you need, and wants to get out in the world. To heal it". "Yeah! Said Josh, its really the truth! Tell me about you again." "She took me through everything, all the important relationships in my life that I have and don't have. God, family, women, a potential future soul mate. I was also infused with a great sense of confidence and unbound potential. I was really reminded I can do anything. I came out wanting to honour my parents, who won't be around forever, at least not in this lifetime. I was compelled to make the time to have meaningful experiences with them, tell them how important they are to me. Talk about God and the afterlife with them. Likewise to cherish my siblings and my friends. My belief in God was reinforced, and his people Israel. I also saw myself in my career and work relations. I was shown that the sky's the limit for me, that I'm as smart and capable as any man out there, to reach whatever heights I want, and not just on my current path, but any path I choose! I could remain and grow in leadership in the corporate world, or, I could become a consultant with the freedom to live where I choose and be my own boss. Or, I could break my mould and become an entrepreneur and start a completely new businesses, or several. The one path that kept coming up for me too though, was this one. To build a lodge, create a network of certified shaman's to safely bring this psycho-spiritual medicine to a sick world with lots of lost souls, hurt and pain. She wants to get out to the world, and is calling on us to help."

We awoke to tropical birds chirping, and a light only slightly cool breeze traveling off the river. My back was only slightly sore from sleeping with only a thin mat over the deck planks but I was happy to be in this place and the future that lay before me. I did a few stretches as Josh boiled some water for coffee with the small propane burner we'd grabbed at the hardware store in Iquitos. Nescafe never tasted so good! Not only was I excited about this venture, but also for the party at Astrid's place this night. I'd nearly forgot about it, but it was a sweet thought when I remembered. I felt a butterfly pang in my chest with the thought of seeing Rory again. I hoped to engage with her. I hoped she'd reciprocate the interest. It wasn't long until we heard the baritone buzzing of an outboard motor in the distance. Felix our peke-peke boat driver was on time. The day had started out well.

We arrived back to the Bellavista hotel in Iquitos around noon, I enjoyed a shower and clean bed and got lost down the internet rabbit-hole. I had a lot to do now that I'd committed to the craziest, most spirit-filled venture of my life.