Day two on the Amazon River! We were definitely nervous that day. We had been given numerous warnings and tips about huge whirlpools where big tributaries come into the Amazon, and we had a big one coming up that day – the Napo River. We expected to hit it two or three hours into our day. We were a bit too careful, though. The Napo comes in from the north, and we were heading east, so we stayed on the far south of the Amazon. What ended up happening is we entered a large bay that the Napo had carved into the Amazon, and we had to paddle hard with little or no current helping us out. We realized then that we didn’t have to be so careful in the future. The locals liked to exaggerate details, as most people do. While we still took care with future tributaries, we weren’t that paranoid about it. We also learned another valuable lesson that day; it is better to stay on the outside of the huge sweeping bends of the river, rather than try to cut across. The inside of the river had a lot less current than the outside, and even though it was a much shorter distance to cut corners, we were better off staying to the current and using our energy when we needed to – like for river crossings or to get to shore in a hurry because of a storm.
We had our first real taste of what the rain could be like on the Amazon. It was a really hot day, so when the clouds rolled in, it was a bit of a relief. Then, from our left, we saw a wall of rain coming quickly towards us. We frantically put everything under our tarps, and then the wall hit. It was fantastic! Both Billy and I were sitting there not even trying to stay dry, with huge grins on our faces and just loving life. Within minutes, the storm had passed, and shortly after, another wall of rain soaked us all over again. Ah, that was a lot of fun; experiencing that for the first time.
The communities started to get further and further apart, so Billy and I decided to stop at the next community. Unfortunately, it was starting to get dark by the time we finally spotted some huts, which is not a good time for two strangers to ask for shelter. It was also up and across a small tributary, which meant we had a bit of work ahead of us. We weren’t even sure we could paddle up against any current, much less up and across. We swung into the tributary, and started to make our slow way up the river. It was working! What a relief! But we still had the crossing to deal with. We played it safe and went pretty far up the river before we made our attempt. We rested for a few minutes, and then we were off! We paddled furiously for the other side, keeping the prow of the canoe pointed 45 degrees upriver. We were heading downriver pretty quick, but we made it across with some room to spare. Success! We could move this beast of a boat upriver and across, as long as the current wasn’t too crazy. It was a very good feeling.
As we paddled toward the community with big smiles on our faces, a small group of adults gathered on the shore. We touched land, and were immediately met with suspicion. There was a story floating around about two white men who were coming to villages and cutting off local’s faces. Pretty horrific, and we had to reassure them that we were not there for any reason other than to paddle down the Amazon. It was a stark reminder for Billy and I how far off the beaten track we were. There was a good chance most of the people there had never seen white people before. Once they warmed up to us, they let us set up our hammocks in one of their houses, and we contributed some pasta noodles and sauce to their meal, which we all ate together. They were actually very lovely people, and we loved the company. They were just scared for their lives, at first. It’s hard to blame them for being suspicious. Hopefully Billy and I were able to instill a bit of trust in them towards future travelers.
We were introduced that night to tapioca, and how it’s made. It’s a main food staple all along the Amazon. They pound yucca into a pulp, and let it sit in water for a time. Eventually, they drain it, and left at the bottom of the barrels is a milky white substance, which they scrape out. And that’s tapioca! From there, they crush the tapioca into different grades of powder/crystals. Billy and I came to love the stuff, and we added it to our trail mix, soups, rice and spaghetti. Great stuff.
We had a lot of problems with our mosquito nets that night. My zipper broke, and Billy’s wouldn’t tie up properly, so there was a big hole in his where the hammock rope fed through. He said at one point there were so many mosquitoes in his hammock, that he was better off sleeping outside of it. I heard him getting up at 3AM, so I decided to join him, as my back was killing me, and we left the community in the dark. As it turned out, that wasn’t the smartest decision we made, and another lesson was learned, but we weren’t exactly thinking clearly with so little sleep over the last two nights!