Starting off our day, we at breakfast in the lodge. After breakfast, we had chocolate making and tasting. We peeled, ground, and then boiled the cocoa beans. The chocolate was mixed with leaves and sugar to add flavor. The chocolate was still very bitter for me, though. After that, we went directly to the river hike(Skip said we needed more exercise). We got into our boots and swimwear, then traveled to the river. When we first entered, our guide was using machetes to enter the river. We saw eels ( or a snake, idk), little fishies, and many different insects. We walked through the river, and it was freezing cold. We then got to a spot where we could swim. Most of us swam through, and then we shortly got to a short waterfall area where we could jump off. Afterward, we headed back through the forest and walked back to the lodge in our boots. 10/10, I would say this was my favorite part of the trip so far. Afterward, we went to lunch and directly to a chocolate tasting event. We tried a bunch of chocolates from Kallari. Then we finally had resting time after a long afternoon. After 2 hours of resting, we ate dinner in the dark. Then we started packing for our next trip to the Waroni Nation!!!

Today we traveled to the Wallari nation. We woke up around 6:30 in the morning. We ate breakfast and headed to the canoes. The bus ride was about 2 hours. The canoes were small, about 6 or 7 in each boat, and a driver. The canoe was powered by a motor and a propeller. The driver was from the Wallari nation, and he stood the whole time. During the 6-hour drive, the sun was scorching hot. We stopped at a small island to eat. We had tuna sandwiches, Sprite, and fruit. Then we headed back to the canoes and started our trip again. I was able to get comfortable by lying and curling up in a ball and using our lifejackets as a seat. After 6 hours, we finally arrived. The lodge was above a little hill we had to climb, so we climbed up with our stuff. After a cold shower, we had dinner( I don’t remember what we ate, but it was good). Then we unpacked and rested. 

Today we had a packed day. We woke up around 7:30, and Skip took our phones lol. We were introduced to the president of the tribe, who was 18. We also learned his brother or uncle had 3 wives and wanted a total of 5. Afterwards, we headed out to the jungle where we learned about the forest. We swung on the vines and saw the tribe members climb all the way up. They did monkey and bird callings, which were impressive. Afterwards, we headed to a tree which the Wallari nation valued. They said they hide and hunt in the trees. After we visited the president’s house. The community looked isolated but had a well-connected family feeling. After we played a bit of soccer with them, and swam in the river. Afterwards, we went back to the lodge and ate dinner. After dinner, we went back to the tribe, and it was time to dance! The tribe performed their special dances in their traditional clothing. Then we performed our dance, which was the Cup Song, the Macarena, and Cotton not Joe. We then had a special drink they made us with plantains. And then Maggie got married to one of the members, and they did soul ties to Carter and Lama, then Alexa and Aiden. Afterwards, we purchased some bracelets and handcrafted items that the tribe made. After a long night, we traveled back and got our rest before a long day on the canoes again.

Today we traveled back to Iyaria lodge. We woke up at 6:30 and headed straight to breakfast. We got packed and headed straight to the boats. This trip would be slightly longer than the trip to the Warani nation since we would be going up river. We started our journey around 7:30-8. The people in my canoe were Emi, Ava, Maggie, Rick, Aiden, and Kayhaan. After 30 minutes on the canoe of the canoe’s motor broke down, so we had to take Mark, James, and Alex in our canoe as well. We were all squished for a while til our lunch destination. We had a tuna sandwich, Coke, watermelon, and oranges. I wasn’t feeling too well earlier because of the weather and the tight squeeze, but I felt better after eating. We then waited on the island for the other canoe that was broken to catch up. Some of the group jumped into the river and flipped around. When the canoe arrived, we started our journey again. I wasn’t feeling too able to sleep the whole ride, and we arrived around 5. We then took a bus ride for about 2 hours back to Iyarina. Oh, how I missed Iyarina lodge. Afterwards, we went to dinner and unpacked for the day.