Amazon

Flying over the snow capped peaks of the Andes, we begin to see the ribbons of white rapids and mountain ridges that gradually descend into a flat ocean of tree tops. The green expanse lies featurless, like an ocean except for the serpentine rivers running red with mud. The rivers meander slowly through the flat basin connecting one to another and grow wider.

The hike to the lake lodge is hot and muddy. Nicole is back at the last town, Puerto Maldonado, as her bout with food poisoning has kept her back. A visit to the make shift emergency room, filled up bags of last nights birthday dinner (Hannah´s 13th), and a description of the boat ride, hike and canoe paddle to the lodge has left her thorougly depleted in all apects. She spends a night in the hotel as we continue on.

On the hike we see monkeys, kites, and leaf cutting ants all while trying to keep the mosquitos off. Our guide Herbert helps Ava with her boot which has been sucked down into the mud. Her foot dangles in the air, a clean white sock balancing above a pond of brown.

At night we walk with our head lamps on a wilderness trail where we casually bump into a boa constricter and poisonous coral snake and find tarantulas and other large spiders. The next morning we take a canoe ride and watch the lake birds perched on trees and palms. We find more monkeys, alligators and sea otters. Macaus fly high over head.

Nicole joins us in the afternoon, feeling much better after the antibiotics and some rest. She completes the group an shares an afternoon canoe ride across the lake, happy to finally reach the Amazon forest.