I set my alarm for 7am this morning, well aware that I had a lot to pack before we left at 9 for the jungle. From this morning until Saturday morning, I will be off the grid in the Amazon jungle. Let's hope that all goes well and we end up leaving all in one piece, (with no pieces missing and no extra pieces). Anyway, the alarm was for 7 but the snooze button was very friendly today. After that and having to accompany Jeffson to pick up some final items, I really didn't have much time to pack. We were about 15 minutes late leaving, but i managed to fit everything back in my bag! I had to bring everything with me incase I have to go straight to the airport from the jungle. If that is the case, I pity the person who has to sit next to me on the plane...although, don't they use Amazon jungle as one of the air freshener scents, lol. We took off in 3 cars; Jeffson's, Marcelo's and Jeff's parent's - I went with Marcelo. I was able to have a basic conversation with him in portuguese, which was a good sign. I have to keep it up though - I have one final week to get as much practice as I can. We had a mountain of supplies to pack along (hence the 3 cars). I joked that we might sink the boat with all of it. The boat ride over was peaceful and it didn't rain (bonus!). Near the base camp, we stopped by the house from before to pick up our canoe. I looked around and saw several, one of which was tied to a tree but completely sunk. I though to myself, "I guess we can rule out that canoe". But of course that was the one that we picked. I have even less faith in this canoe than the last one. When we arrived at our cabin, i noticed a variety of renovations had been done: a foot bridge built that connected us to shore, and a new kitchen sink. I'm pretty sure I know which of the guys he would have asked to do this on our way out last time, but I'm really not 100% sure. We could also just say that the cabin is magic too - that would be a good story. Well, soon enough, the group of us had lunch, then half of the group that came along (Jeffson, Marcelo, Marcia) left to head back to Manaus. Tomorrow, the Jaguar team would return with the clients, however tonight, I would be living with the elderly - Jeffson's parents and aunt. Of course, they're all incredible workers that don't stop! Like i've said before, they seem to build their old people well here. I was constantly asking how I could help them out, but in the big picture, it didn't amount to much. We did end up restoring a deck for one of the cabin rooms. It was rotting away, so Jeff's dad and I went at it, replacing the wood and adding it where i was missing. It didn't go 100% smoothly though - he ended up dropping a machete in the water and couldn't find it. Later on, I jumped into the river and saved the day by finding it. I was worried that he was going to cut his foot in the water though. All was fine though - I learned the names of some tools while helping him. After that project, not too much more would happen. We had some coffee, then I was kind of falling asleep (my theory is that the roast every ounce of caffeine out of their coffee here and that's why it tastes burnt and doesn't wake you up). So they decided it was time to put up the hammocks. I actually became really useful with this because despite not having half the life experience of all of them, I was the only one who knew how to tie the desired noose-type knot that they needed to hang them. I was kind of proud - felt like a boy scout. In reality, I learned it out on one of the jungle hikes, watching Marcelo do it. Anyway, next came dinner - chicken soup that was delicious. This whole day, meanwhile has been great for practicing Portuguese (since the only english word any of them know is "ok"). A real emersion experience and I think I did pretty well, even if I cannot understand everything yet. Very soon after dinner we hit the hammocks for bed. I'm pretty sure there's a bat in the cabin but it's not bothering us so that's ok. Now the challenge awaits me - to try and get to sleep at 8:30 pm! I guess this is the life of an old person - today, consider me retired!
The foot path to shore
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