Amazon-Day 6

This morning we were able to sleep in, 7 a.m. wake up call. We had a nice breakfast, packed our, oh wait no we don’t have any luggage so easy to get ready.  We are traveling today about 6 - 7 long hours to our accommodation.  It was peaceful traveling along as we were able to spot many birds.

We were poling down the Shiripuno River to enjoy the sights and sounds of the rainforest. It was still fairly early so the sun was not as hot. About 2 - 2.5 hours we stopped at the Apika community, which was completely different from the earlier visit to the Achuar community.

Here they were singing and dancing, and they loved to have their photos taken and with digital cameras. The young children loved to see their photos, and so did the adults. We had a lot of fun here.

The women all danced together. Then the men got together with their flutes and palm leaves and danced from one side of the hut to the other. They were singing and laughing at all times.

One of the young lads took a liking to Kate and all the men started pushing them together.  Soon the ladies all joined in and afterwards we found out they were married. Kate then had to serve everyone chicha (no, I'm still not trying this).  A few minutes later all the men embraced another young boy and started shaking him and dancing with them trying to give him their energy, they were rubbing him and holding him. This was so authentic with very real feelings, not at all a shows.

They explain to us about the endangered Yasuní Reserve. This was a great stop to stretch our legs from the dugout canoe. It was soon time to complete our journey for the day, but the kids were swimming and some thought it was a good idea to have a short break of swimming to cool off.

We continue to the campsite, but the combination of the heat of the sun and no padding on the canoe seats made us have to make many stops.  When the boat was moving, we struggled to keep still. We were all hoping that we were strengthening our core muscles, but my legs were cramped from sitting in a near-fetal position.

The 6-7 hour journey ends at the Nenquepare campsite where our tents were already ready for us on wooden platforms. Here there is only one bathroom and shower, but they are in the works to add more bathrooms & showers. Following a nice lunch we put on our rubber boots and set off with our guide Javier & Eme and the general manager, Jascivan Carvalho, to the waterfall.

The hour hike was hell for this 50-year-old. Much up and down and mud, I happily accepted the offer to use a walking stick and felt much better!  Then we got to the steps.  I could swear there were over 2,000, but that may be stretching it just a bit.  Until the steps were built (within the last 6 months) one would rappel to the waterfall.  These nice new steps were steep and there were a lot!  I lost count but I did make it.

The waterfall felt great and was beautiful, but all I kept thinking about was the climb back up, the journey back to the lodge and if I would really make it. As the others were putting their boots back on, I decided to start climbing/hiking up the steps.  My thighs were burning and legs were shaking like crazy, but I made it! It wasn’t easy but I did it! I sure needed the waterfall again as soon as I returned to the lodge. We rested a bit and visited with each other, amazed that we are only at day 6 and only 4 days in the Amazon as we have experienced so much in such a short time. Following our dinner, we talked with the team about improvements that could be made to update the lodge and the campsites. All too soon it was time for bed and the moon was shining brightly.  I would guess there were about 2 more days until a full moon. However, the moon still lit up the sky and the area where our tents were set up. The moon shone through in the middle of the night, which was awesome.  This was a long day sitting in the canoe!