I awoke just after 0600 am I took a short walk outside my room at Amazon Tupana Lodge to the dock.
It soon started to rain so I returned to my room to rest a little more and then have a shower before the 0730 am breakfast. There was a decent selection of food. At 0830 am I was ready to depart for a jungle trek.
Before we began the trek our guide chopped some fresh Brazil nut for all of us to sample (a group of 13 of us).
We were surrounded by local Tamarin monkeys.
We then headed into the forest.
We paused for the guide to demonstrate to us the age of a tree by looking at the rings on the bark.
The guide then demonstrated to us how the locals use the tree branches to craft a shelter.
We saw an acai tree.
Smelt fresh Amazon cloves. These are good for stomach cramps.
Drank water from the roots of some vines (it had a bit of a coconut flavor).
There was a point where we had a choice of crossing a log suspended a little high above a little river or to take the lower path across.
I decided to take the higher path.
The guide demonstrated to us tree climbing. None of the others in our group had any success in their attempts at tree climbing.
We saw some red wood trees that are apparently very strong (used for furniture).
This was a very hot and humid experience.
Heading back we spent some time peeking into a tarantula’s nest but nobody was home at the time.
When we approached the high tree trunk crossing again I decided to take the lower path instead but part of the river bank collapsed and one foot got soaked.
This was supposed to be the safer option, so there are no lessons for me to learn from that experience. It was just bad luck. I was still deciding whether to camp in the jungle that night.
We returned back to the lodge at 1150 am after spending just over 3 hours trekking in the Amazon jungle. A mildly uncomfortable but breathtaking experience.
I first washed the lower half of my pants which had quite a bit of mud on it and left it out in the sun to dry with my wet shoe.
Some of the guys were swimming in the river so I decided to give it a shot. The water in this part of the Amazon is black in color with a low density of flesh eating piranha. It’s impossible to see what lies beneath, so I wouldn’t swim with my head underwater. I swam to a tree a short distance away, climbed onto one of the branches and chilled out with the guys for a few minutes. 8 Meters of that tree was submerged beneath the water surface. The water level reduces in the dry season.
After swimming and showering I returned to my room to shower, relax and listen to some podcasts.
Lunch was served at 1230. I drank cupuacu juice and ate fish and rice for lunch, with some chocolate pudding.
I then returned to my room to rest and prepare for a possible night of camping in the Amazon jungle. I wasn’t sure if I’d want to camp and decided to only make a final decision later that evening.
