After our rat-infested, sweaty expedition into the Malaysian jungle 2 years ago, we felt we were prepared for anything the Amazon could throw at us. When our tour agency mentioned that sleeping bags were not included, we laughed. Who needs a sleeping bag in the jungle? Which is why we were shocked when we arrived in the middle of a friaje – a cold spell in the jungle when the winds come up from Patagonia.
Instead of sticky and 90 degrees, the jungle was sticky and 70 degrees and the mosquitoes were toned down. It turns out the amazon doesn’t even have the leeches that crawl after you while you walk! (They do have their own special giant leeches though!) These cold spells make the amazon jungle have slightly less reptiles than expected, but way more birds than you can imagine.
This cool, cloudy weather made for relatively comfortable sight-seeing as we boated for 10 hours up rivers lined with caymans, turtles, and birds galore, but our guide was freezing. Theoretically our tour was in the hands of Juan, our guide whose sole qualifications appeared to be speaking a few words of English and recognizing the calls of every macaw, parakeet, and other bird that flew overhead. In actuality, El Capitan ran the show, solving all problems with a large knife, continuously bailing out the ramshackle boat, spotting wildlife, and as needed clambering out of the boat to dislodge us from rocks in shallow parts of the rivers.
After 5 hours of boating up three increasingly smaller rivers, we stopped to camp at a remote homestead. We asked Juan how much further the next day to reach our “camping lodge”. El Capitan scoffed when Juan said 2 hours and curtly corrected him: “6!” It turned out El Capitan was right, and we would be going very deep into the jungle. That night, while we were eating dinner in our docked boat with a candle for light, the homesteader stopped by to inform us that one of his dogs had been bitten by a snake. Welcome to the Amazon!
The next morning, 6 hours in the boat went quickly as we spied caymans sleeping on the riverfront, playful capybaras (4 ft long guinea pigs), and countless colorful birds flying alongside the boat in spite of the cool weather. Then we arrived at our lodge, a great idea 10 years ago before it was devoured by termites. Though the common room and bathrooms were long gone, there were still 2 platforms for bedding covered by a mostly intact thatched roof overlooking the muddy river and surrounding jungle – rustic accommodations.
After seeing the jungle from the boat for 2 days, we were ready to don rubber boots and dive into the forest. Juan led us through the jungle for hours. During the day, we awaited screeching, vibrant macaws near their clay lick and spotted butterflies. At dusk, the monkeys started swinging through the trees above us. By the time night fell, the truly creepy things started emerging from the depths of the jungle. Alongside stick insects and tree frogs, there were small spiders, big spiders, and giant spiders awaiting their prey. We slept easier when we were encased in a tent. El Capitan slept soundly in the open boat.
On the third afternoon, we begin the trek downstream back to civilization, camping on a vacant beach. The cool weather starts to break, and we were devoured by insects while we sleep, the Amazon’s parting gift. We spend our last morning watching dozens of parrots eating clay and spying on turtles and caymans sunning themselves on the beach as the sun finally emerges. We spot our first large white mammals of the trip. Back at the rural airport, we spot hundreds more of these large white mammals. They must have gone downriver, where the lodges haven’t been eaten by termites; showers exist; and El Capitan isn’t there to cut his way out of problems.
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