Jungle in the Jungle

A four-nights-five-days electronic music festival somewhere deep in the jungle. When we heard about it from a white-bearded Yogi on our cargo boat cruise to Iquitos it sounded surreal. Ravers, druggies, neo-Hippies and wannabe Indiana Joneses dancing ecstatically to some psytrance or goa? Hmm… Still, we decided to check it out (but only for one night). However, everything would turn out to be way different than we could ever have imagined.

We started out on a hot and sunny day together with Matteo a very relaxed Italian guy we had met earlier on the boat. Our first leg would take us to a small village called Santa Elena on the banks of the Amazon. From there we would walk another two hours into the jungle to a place called San Jorge where the festival was supposed to be.

When we found our lancha collectivo (yeah – public transport there is all by longboat) at Puerto XXX we met our Yogi master and some others that we knew from the cargo boat, who were also on the way to the party. We climbed onboard but as soon as we left the port it started raining heavily. Not that heavy rain you know from home but that tropical heavy monsoon kind of bad-ass Amazon rain that has you wet to your bones within seconds. Mostly they pass as quickly as they come but this one lasted for hours even up until we reached Santa Elena. There was no sense in continuing in this rain so we decided to head back to Iquitos. The only problem was that there was no boat going back…

Instead, our 16-year old captain and his 15-year old assistant offered to bring us to the festival by boat so we would not have to walk. With no other option available we continued up a small side river of the Amazon and slowly, slowly it became darker and darker.

The river was quite narrow at times with a strong current and a confusing route. Since it was rainy season the forest to both sides was flooded giving way to meandering side arms and itemporary islets. More than once we took a wrong turn or crashed into a tree. With the light fading it turned into a dangerous situation since the only lights available were the flashlights of our mobile phones.

Eventually some lights appeared in the darkness around us – we had made it to the festival. We went offboard and with shaking steps walked through a small indigenous hamlet up to a roofed structure that served as the community center. Cumbia and Reggaeton flared from the loudspeakers and children and adults were dancing on the dance floor among tourists and skinny jungle dogs. Yet, no electronic music.

One of the local chicle farmers invited us to stay in his house, an open two-storeyed wooden structure, where we could hang our hammocks. He treated us to a beer and made us immediately feel at home. It was really interesting to hear about his life, his work in the jungle, the many difficulties the remoteness of the hamlet causes and he explained why they had organised this festival: they wanted to put their hamlet on the map, to make it known to the rest of the world (and really, I have tried to locate the village on maps but it is not there – yet). So with the help of three Italian volunteers they tried to organise this festival.

Since it was so difficult to reach San Jorge there were not too many people, maybe around 30 non-villagers, nothing that you would call a festival. And with the locals being the majority of dancers it was just natural to cater to their music tastes. Later on, however, one of the Italians played some House and Jungle.

It was not the “festival” or the music that left me massively impressed with this night but the warmth and friendliness of the locals who would always greet you with a smile. They were obviously very happy that (still) so many people had found their way into their remote place and the whole experience turned out to be far better than the festival that I had expected to take place there. And early next morning, when a longboat was ready to take us back to warm showers, walled houses, electricity and the like, I really wished I would have stayed longer.