Into the Amazon
by
Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings.
If you travel a couple of hours north of La Paz, Bolivia on the high altiplano road you come to a tunnel entrance. It marks the beginning of a terrifying descent along a dirt road encouragingly named ‘The most dangerous road in the world’ which, in a few hours takes you from the high, cold mountains into the hot, humid jungle.
Here, before the tunnel entrance you can stand on the lip of the Amazon basin and stare across a quixotic, ancient landscape that has remained unchanged for 65 million years. Low cloud and mist swirl but where breaks occur there is a secretive glimpse of craggy mountains and a seemingly eternal forest. Vast areas remain unchartered and unexplored and at its heart is the whisper of lost civilisations and prehistoric monsters.
Following a boyhood dream of venturing into the Amazon and inspired by the writing of the intrepid and enigmatic explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings joined the Scientific Exploration Society in 2002. Commencing his jungle adventures in the Bolivian Amazon as a member of the Kota Mama IV expedition he set out on the trail of the anecdotal anaconda, the 30m (100ft) snake of local legends, Cobra Grandé, Yaka Mama, the Great Snake.
Undeterred by the fact that in two months he didn’t stumble on a single living snake species in the remote jungles of Northern Bolivia, let alone Cobra Grandé the Amazon had cast its spell. The author threw away his suit and ties for good in 2006 and returned to search for the giant anaconda of legend and lore.
‘Into the Amazon’ follows lone explorer and inveterate dreamer Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings into the remote jungle of the Peruvian Amazon. Travelling by bus from Cusco to Pucallpa and then by river barge to Iquitos he sets out with local guides in dugout canoes and on foot on the trail of the anecdotal anaconda.
From the highest city on the planet to shrunken lakes boiling with flesh eating fish, through gloomy, tick infested forests to ones of lush splendour Jeronimo’s tale is told in a light hearted fashion but one that is rich in description, experience and passion for the forests and rivers of the greatest rainforest on earth.
From the high cordillera he travels to and explores day and night the hidden lakes of the Cumaceba, Abacharama and Triunfo, drinks ayahuasca, the legendary and highly potent brew of the shaman, in the jungle, at night, and ventures into remote jungle and the haunt of the giant anaconda.
Alone in the old Jesuit town of Yurimagua on the Marañon he is led by the unscrupulous Wagner Julio and his claims of having seen the 30m’ Yaka Mama’ to a distant village and its hidden lakes beyond.
Candid, profane and at times irreverent, from euphoric highs on the open river to desperate lows in the insect infested gloom of the forest beyond Padre Coche on the banks of the Nanay ‘Into the Amazon’ is a true account of one man chasing a dream in the harsh and unforgiving terrain of the Amazon basin.
by
Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings.
If you travel a couple of hours north of La Paz, Bolivia on the high altiplano road you come to a tunnel entrance. It marks the beginning of a terrifying descent along a dirt road encouragingly named ‘The most dangerous road in the world’ which, in a few hours takes you from the high, cold mountains into the hot, humid jungle.
Here, before the tunnel entrance you can stand on the lip of the Amazon basin and stare across a quixotic, ancient landscape that has remained unchanged for 65 million years. Low cloud and mist swirl but where breaks occur there is a secretive glimpse of craggy mountains and a seemingly eternal forest. Vast areas remain unchartered and unexplored and at its heart is the whisper of lost civilisations and prehistoric monsters.
Following a boyhood dream of venturing into the Amazon and inspired by the writing of the intrepid and enigmatic explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings joined the Scientific Exploration Society in 2002. Commencing his jungle adventures in the Bolivian Amazon as a member of the Kota Mama IV expedition he set out on the trail of the anecdotal anaconda, the 30m (100ft) snake of local legends, Cobra Grandé, Yaka Mama, the Great Snake.
Undeterred by the fact that in two months he didn’t stumble on a single living snake species in the remote jungles of Northern Bolivia, let alone Cobra Grandé the Amazon had cast its spell. The author threw away his suit and ties for good in 2006 and returned to search for the giant anaconda of legend and lore.
‘Into the Amazon’ follows lone explorer and inveterate dreamer Jerome ‘Jeronimo’ Jennings into the remote jungle of the Peruvian Amazon. Travelling by bus from Cusco to Pucallpa and then by river barge to Iquitos he sets out with local guides in dugout canoes and on foot on the trail of the anecdotal anaconda.
From the highest city on the planet to shrunken lakes boiling with flesh eating fish, through gloomy, tick infested forests to ones of lush splendour Jeronimo’s tale is told in a light hearted fashion but one that is rich in description, experience and passion for the forests and rivers of the greatest rainforest on earth.
From the high cordillera he travels to and explores day and night the hidden lakes of the Cumaceba, Abacharama and Triunfo, drinks ayahuasca, the legendary and highly potent brew of the shaman, in the jungle, at night, and ventures into remote jungle and the haunt of the giant anaconda.
Alone in the old Jesuit town of Yurimagua on the Marañon he is led by the unscrupulous Wagner Julio and his claims of having seen the 30m’ Yaka Mama’ to a distant village and its hidden lakes beyond.
Candid, profane and at times irreverent, from euphoric highs on the open river to desperate lows in the insect infested gloom of the forest beyond Padre Coche on the banks of the Nanay ‘Into the Amazon’ is a true account of one man chasing a dream in the harsh and unforgiving terrain of the Amazon basin.
