Today is Friday, and our last full day before we begin the six hour canoe ride down the Amazon River to visit the Waorani community. I am excited, but a little nervous, and definitely trying not to think too hard about how long I am going to be stuck in a canoe tomorrow.
The day started early once again, though I am surprisingly getting used to these early mornings. We ate breakfast at the lodge, french toast with fruit and lemonade. Since it had been raining all night, we were worried we our hike would get canceled because of the rivers rising. Once we found out we were able to go, everyone was so excited!
We changed and prepared ourselves to endure this wet hike and headed to the rainforest. In the beginning, it didn’t seem too bad. The trail was a little muddy, but manageable. Once we got to the first part of the river, things got a little interesting. The water was up to our waists as we navigated our way down the river. Because of all the mud, you could not see a single thing beneath the surface, though the temperature was pretty refreshing.
Eventually, we got to a point where the water was really deep and we had a chance to jump into the river. This ended up being my favorite part of the day. Jumping into the water surrounded by the rainforest felt absolutely surreal and so much fun. After this, we kept making our way down the river and reached another point where there was space to jump, though I didn’t this time. We hung out here for awhile and played with natural clay that was right along the river. Then we made our way out of the jungle. For this part, all of the trail was very muddy and my boots almost got stuck. Once we made it back to the lodge, we enjoyed some very needed lunch.
After having some time to rest, we had another another chocolate tasting. We sampled a few different kinds of chocolate and got to enjoy some crackers as palate cleansers. I was even able to buy more kinds of chocolate, though I am not sure how I am going to fit all of it in my suitcase. Later in the afternoon, a few of us decided to go to the pool again, and we are definitely getting good use out of the brand new pool. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool chatting, throwing a tennis ball around, and I even beat Dylan and Lucas in a game of chicken.
Now I am sitting here writing this waiting for dinner again and preparing for our long trip tomorrow. I am so excited and a little nervous about visiting the Waorani tomorrow and I am definitely not ready for this canoe ride, wish me luck!