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At sunrise
we got up and continued the journey. I was tired and
my lips were swollen and numb from mosquito bites. Pail’s
legs were covered with bites from the day before. We
had no idea how far we had gone but we hoped that we
were near our destination.
Pali recuperating after escaping the
whirlpool
At midday
the wind picked up as we approached a bend in the river.
At the arch of the bend I could see a large whirlpool
that had collected a swirl of debris. As we approached
the bend we were on the far side of the whirlpool. We
paddled hard to try and stay in the main river current
but the wind quickly forced the raft towards the whirlpool.
I had seen smaller whirlpools earlier in the trip. But,
this was the largest whirlpool I had seen and I was
scared that we would get caught and not be able to break
away from its current. We paddled harder but it was
useless. The whirlpool grabbed the raft and added it
to its collection of debris. At one point we were actually
moving upriver with the swirling current of the whirlpool.
We tried
to make the best of the situation. We knew that we could
not escape the current until the winds died down so
we made lunch. After about an hour the winds began to
subside and we took another stab at breaking free from
the current. Pali and I paddled hard. At one point I
heard a snap and realized that I broke my paddle. Fortunately,
I was still able to use the bottom portion of the paddle.
We finally broke away from the whirlpool’s current.
I was so tired I could not stand.
Me
rowing
We rested
as we floated down the river. During the day, when the
bugs were less prevalent and the current and winds were
good, it was an incredibly relaxing and scenic experience.
We eventually
saw a small village along the shoreline and paddled
towards it. We reached the village, and a group of villagers
came out to see the strangers. A villager threw us a
line and we pulled up along the shore. One yelled, "hey
Mister". The speaker of the village, I assumed, talked
to us, asked where we were from and where we were going.
I was so tired that I could barely speak. His Spanish
was mixed with a strange accent so I had a hard time
understanding him. Luckily, Pali managed the conservation.
As we talked the villagers and ourselves swatted at
the mosquitoes. I was surprised to see that not even
the locals are immune to the pests. I wondered how anybody
could live his or her life around such a constant annoyance.
Chatting
with the villagers
That evening
they invited us to dinner. We had platano, a hard banana,
and a fish the was charred over the fire. It was an
ugly fish, with long scales, black and cooked with its
head and tail. Luckily, it was dark so I could not get
a good look at it. It tasted good.
We rented
a mosquito net from one of the villagers. We slept in
one of their shelters, a thatch roofed structure built
on poles about 3 feet above the ground. I finally had
a good night sleep.
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