Today was our last day before our adventure 72 miles into the Amazon. It certainly did not disappoint. We woke up and ate French toast for breakfast and then packed up and headed out for our water hike. We weren’t sure if we could do it due to the rain last night, but they checked that it was safe and luckily, we got to go. We drove down the street a bit to the entrance, where we trekked through the lush growth until we hit the water. The water was a nice temperature, and it was up to our ankles/knees. We hiked up stream, and eventually hit a waterfall with a little pool up top in the cove that we got to hoist up to and sit in. It was insane how deep it was. The waterfall was so thick it was like a massage on my back as I was helping people up. After the waterfall, we hit a large waterfall and took a group picture.
Right after this was where things started to pick up. We took off our boots and had the opportunity to swim instead of walk, where we swam between stone and bats flew over our heads in water that was too deep to touch. The current wasn’t easy either, which made it super fun. After this swim upstream, we hiked on more and found a deep area with a small cliff we could jump into the water from. We took a group video of everyone going in together. It was probably 15 feet deep here, and it was a blast to play around in!
We found clay on our walk and painted it on our faces and bodies. Eddie also cut a stick for me to have a walking stick, which was extremely useful in the terrain. We found another swimming hole with a small waterfall and hung out there for a while. There was a lot of clay here, and we were painting each other with it, throwing it, and playing with it. Eventually, the hike came to an end, and we climbed out and were picked up.
Lunch was amazing. We were so hungry after the hike. It definitely took a lot of energy out of us, so it was nice to have chill time until our chocolate tasting at 3:00. The chocolate tasting was Kallari, who came to us at the lodge which was great, and we got another different experience. We compared their chocolate to others and tried some of the cocoa powder as well. I bought more chocolate after it (my supply is getting large).
After the chocolate tasting we had more free time, in which we filled by swimming in the pool again and throwing around a ball. We also tried to make a whirlpool but didn’t succeed as well as we hoped. It wasn’t a total failure though.
We ate dinner, and then skip gave us a presentation on chocolate, where we learned more interesting facts about the industry. We also discussed packing and our plan for tomorrow, where the games begin! Here we go!