Trevor's South America Trip: Arm Day

Day 15 - 13 de Junio: Puerto Maldonado

I know I keep starting these entries with a comment on how early I had to wake up, but I think I'm allowed to comment just this one more time. 4:30am was the wake up call today! Most people would think this was crazy, however this wake up call gave me a welcome reminder of home and good times. Of course, it was a fishing wake up call - today, we would go out to fish for piranha! The night before, it seemed like the whole group would be out with us, but the breakfast table suggested otherwise - only a handful of us actually listened to our alarms. We took the hike back down to the river and were taken by motorboat to another set of stairs, which led to another hike to another body of water. This one was apparently protected by the government, so we weren't even allowed to spray insect repellant once we got on the raft. It was a neat, old fashioned raft with a swivel paddle on the back and a guy up front, propelling us off the bottom with a long stick. I know l'm not describing it all that well, so try and imagine the raft (ferry) that Frodo and company jump onto in the first movie when they're being chased by horses. That's what we were on, only with benches. We slowly made our way to the piranha spot, watching jungle birds and the morning sun rise into the air. We were given rods fashioned from sticks for catching these little fish. Raw beef was used for bait, however the guide told us that many piranha are actually vegetarian (who knew). When I thought piranha, i was thinking of those african ones that take down the zebra before they can cross the river. Here though, they don't look more threatening than those little tank cichlids. A few lucky people snagged them, but I wasn't one of them. It's ok though, since I'll get to try again in Manaus, Brazil. Afterwards, we retraced our steps back to the river, and were taken upstream to our next activity; kayaking! A few people were a bit disappointed that we weren't kayaking on the Amazon river (just a feeder river) but I didn't mind (i figure the river would be the same anyway). The only complaint was that our guide was in a huge rush to get back. Some of our group were so far behind, they were almost out of sight! It seemed like he didn't want to be at work today, but all we could do was try and keep up to him. I actually found it a pretty good workout on the bright side. However, the next activity would be the most strenuous; the canopy climb. Basically, when we arrived after high-speed kayaking, we were thrown right into our next optional, requiring incredible arm strength. We had to use a pulley system to lift ourselves to the top of a platform on a massive tree. By the time I made it to the top, my veins and muscles in my arms felt like popping right out! We did have a Canadian make the highest score, but unfortunately it wasn't me - still did great though, placing 5th out of the whole group. Everyone can be proud of me... not for putting in the effort to get to the top, but being rappelled down at fast speed. I don't have the best stomach for downward drops but I conquered that drop back down! Booyah! After our late kayaking group finished the canopy climb, we showed up late for lunch (and of course, again). Had to wait until this hotel to make any contact. In a way, it's sort of nice to have that disconnect in the jungle (i guess until you get bitten by something). We had a nice lunch, then made our way by foot, boat and bus into the city of Puerto Maldonado. We first were take to the main square to get some ice cream. I got lemon but it was green coloured, so I wonder if all jungle fruit adopt weird colours. Anyway, we found our hotel (a gem in the middle of a rundown street) then checked in. I chilled out for a bit, eventually talking to many of our group beside the pool. When everyone dispersed for a shower, my roommate (and contiki trainee) Jonathan, took a quick walk into town to kill time before dinner. Eventually, we made it to the hotel pool table where we played a game for the next round of drinks. I almost won several times, but he ended up with victory in the end. In my defence, the pockets are twice as small as back home (apparently, bars charge by the hour for pool tables and make the pockets smaller to make the game last longer). Oh well, drinks are cheap here. After a couple games, we went out to dinner where we also celebrated a birthday in our contiki group. A surprise cake was brought out and everything (it was very tasty). Lastly, we ended up in a club for only a tiny bit. We had woken up early and done a lot in a day. I'm actually surprised how fast i've adapted to the jungle climate; it's really quite nice and the bugs don't bother me near as much as most people. I apologize if this post was hard to follow - first post written with a fair amount of alcohol in me. Who knows, maybe i'm a funnier writer. Either way, I better be feeling well tomorrow - got a fair bit of flying ahead of me! To Lima, then Manaus!