El Colibrí VII - Vampires beware...

During the conversation held every morning the night after a ceremony, Eladio suggested it would benefit me to undertake a plant dieta.  These special plant diets usually last for a period of seven to fifteen days but mine, along with Kristen's, would only last for three as this is all time would allow. I wasn't sure why I had been selected and wasn't particularly keen as  dietas can be quite restrictive.  Some of the conditions include:

• Isolating oneself as much as possible in order to connect with the spirit of the plant being worked with.  This meant spending the three days in a tambo, the wooden huts deeper in the jungle away from other people.
• Limiting reading to as little as possible as it is seen as a distraction, the idea is to still oneself as far as is possible.  Writing a journal is acceptable.
• No listening to music so the ears can absorb more of the sounds of the jungle.
• Restricting the diet to extremely simple foods.  For me this meant a boiled carrot and the water from cooked rice for breakfast, potatoes or some very limited boiled vegetables for lunch and no dinner.  Nice!
• No physical contact with anyone... including my girlfriend.  This was the trickiest part.  Throughout our ceremonies together the prospect of a cuddle at the end of each evening is one of the most welcome moments.  So, no slap and no tickle.

The plant Eladio had chosen for me was ajo sacha, the name, a mixture of Spanish and Quechua, means 'garlic vine'  To begin the dieta I first had to take a shower then enter the maloka for an initiation ceremony.  I was given a tumbler full of ajo sacha water to drink.  This is a concoction made from the scrapings of about three or four roots of the plant.  As you can probably imagine, its flavour isn't a patch on raspberry ice cream and, in addition to the taste, it has a caustic quality and feels almost carbonated as it burns its way down the oesophagus.  Kristen found it particularly unpleasant and vomited instantly.  This work with plants has so much nausea and sickness involved with it, it's a miracle anyone ever begins.  Testament to the possible outcomes, I suppose.

After ingesting the drink we were instructed to take a bath using water infused with herbs, flowers and ajo sacha.  You can imagine how pleasant I smelt after that.  This garlic aroma didn't leave me for the entire duration of the dieta.  It especially seemed to emanate from my palms.  Eau de ajo - not quite the ladykiller of Old Spice!  During the bath we washed the body twice from head to foot.  The first time focussing on removing negativities and the second to instill positive qualities as well as asking for good health and guidance from the plant.  Ajo sacha is known to be helpful in cleansing and protection.  I surrendered to to the process.  After the bath we returned to the maloka for a blessing before retiring to my tambo for the night.