The Amazon

We have made it home, but we just wanted to make our last update about the time we had in the amazon (just in case we have not talked to you).

Day 1 - We flew from Bogota to Leticia. After we arrived we got into some taxies and drove to Tabatinga, Brazil. After lunch we had a very interesting taxi ride. It can best be described as a 4x4 adventure. The road was very muddy. Our taxi was the only one not to get stuck. We arrived at a native camp/housing area called Monilla Mena. We were able to meet the leader of the camp, he told us all about the area (via a translator). After dinner we retired to our beds. There is not much to do in the evening and the mosquitos were everywhere. We were even warned not to walk around barefoot at night because of the many creatures that might be about. The place we stayed was a very large two-story room. It had 2 bathrooms (boys and girls). The first floor was for people who wanted to sleep in hammocs. We elected to sleep on the floor upstairs. Everyone had their own mosquito net that surrounded their bed.

Day 2 - We woke up early for our first hike through the amazon jungle. Our first obsticle was a small stream we had to get across (there was a small canoe). We crossed many questionable bridges, some our guides created on the spot using their macheties. It was a good thing we were told to purchase some rubber boots that cam up to about mid-calf. Later on during our hike we were hit with a nice rain storm. It was interesting how you could hear the roar of the rain a few minutes before we actually felt any rain drops. We got completely soaked during the rain. We only had our rain jackets (no rain pants) so our rubber boots filled with water. We were sloshing in our shoes long after the rain stopped. Later that evening, back at camp, we were shown how they create their bags and baskets. They even had us try. They would use a palm frond. They told us that it would take about 3 hours to to "strip" all of the palms off of one single frond. We were able to make some bracelets for ourselves, with the help of the locals.

Day 3 - After breakfast, we packed up back in our taxies for another 4x4 trip back to Leticia. It was really amusing watching the taxi drivers push each other out of the bigger mud puddles. In Leticia is where we boarded a river boat to travel up the Amazon river. We were heading to a national park called Amacayacu. On our way there we stopped at a place called monkey island. This is where we were able to feed bananas to little spider monkeys. They seemed to be very hungry as we arrived. The monkeys would jump onto us and eat right out of our hands. It was really quite fun. Our trip to Amacayacu took about 4 hours. When we arrived at the national park, we were welcomed with a short talk about everything in the park and some facts about the amazon river (the second longest river in the world). Then we were treated to a short hike where we were able to see a 500 year old Seiba tree. This tree reminded me of the trees in Jurasic park where they found the Raptor eggs. It was reallly big. The park had really nice beds and even hot water for the showers.

Day 4 - We left to go on another jungle hike at 8am. We had lunch in a village called San Martin. They have no types of motorized vehicles in the village. After lunch we hopped on a boat that took us back to camp. Later in the afternoon we went to another village down river to do a little shopping. After a wonderful dinner at Amacayacu, we went on a night canoe ride. These canoes were only big enough for four people and they rode very low to the water. This was our chance to see some caimans (similar to a crocodile) and other wildlife. We searched with our flashlights in the dark, but we did not spot any. But, there were soooo many sounds in the jungle at night. The amazing view of the stars only added to the experience.

Day 5 - This was probably our best day in the Amazon. We woke up at 4:30am to go on a canopy trip today. This is where we get to rope climb up to the top of the tree canopy and look at all of the amazon jungle from a birds perspective. This was a total blast, the views were incredible. The tree canopy was about 200-250ft high and the climb was tougher than I thought. Coming down was even more fun. Then we went on another boat ride to view the giant lilly pads. They are about 5-6ft. in diameter and can hold a small child afloat. Later in the afternoon we were treated to a lagoon in which we were able to go for a swim. They told us that it was safe to swim in this lagoon. It was only inhabited by dolphins (the pink river dolphin). No dolphin ever came over to us, we were only able to view them from a distance, I guess they are a little shy. fter our swim, we went to where the river with the lagoon and the amazon river meet. There we were able to see many river dolphins. We then went to a city called Puerto Nareno where we spent our last night in the amazon. At night the town even had a little soccer game, Jeanne and I watched for a little while.

Day 6 - We woke up and packed for our trip back to Bogota. During our boat ride back to Leticia we went to the other side of the Amazon river (this happened to be Peru) for one last shopping trip. This place had an anaconda skin for sale, we were tempted but not sure if we could get it through customs so we passed.

We arrived home on December 23rd around 9pm. Just in time for the holidays. We had a wonderful time and we hope you enjoyed reading our blog.

Thanks, Rick and Jeanne