Day 6 – Half a Day too Many in the Amazon

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Day 6 topped them all with the amount of reading and sleeping that we have done the entire trip. All agreed we should have left one day earlier. We started as usually with a nice buffet breakfast. When Kirsten and Chester arrived at the table the once pestering parrot was now at the table with Judy and Betty as they prepared a plate of bread and fruit for its breakfast. This is the first sign that you have been here too long. We then met our guide along with annoying couple again, but they were at least almost on time. We headed for what we thought was a morning of piranha fishing that would be exciting and active. WRONG again. A morning of fishing in the Amazon constitutes about 1 hour with bamboo poles. Chester did manage to catch the only piranha by a non-local within about 30 seconds of dropping our beef bait in the water. The ferocious looking fish measured about 4 inches (and that’s being generous). One boat driver did manage to bring in one that was a bit bigger, but nothing like the zoo. He did catch his on just a fishing line tied to a plastic water bottle. Kirsten got a number of bites but landed nothing. This is known as green peace fishing. We are just feeding the fish but catching none. Betty and Judy got nothing. Kirsten did pick up the bigger one on the dock and chased Chester around which was humorous to everyone but Chester. As our tour guide was heading out that morning, Chester did manage to get his digits and e-mail. She is 2 for 2.

After this we headed over to another area in the jungle to see the resident caiman. There were 2 of them that seemed to be very receptive to the breasts of chicken the guide was feeding them. Coincidently the caimens were named after the guide. We did a bit more fishing with no catches and then headed back to the lodge a bit after an hour. We wondered what we were going to do the rest of the day as it was only about 10:30 AM. But fortunately we had another excursion scheduled for 4PM. Ugh, that was a long time to kill. We started with a nap and some reading time on the hammocks. Then we ate lunch of which we had done nothing to burn any calories but that didn’t stop us. Then we got our swimsuits on and Kirsten, Chester and Judy headed to the natural swimming hole. It was a bit cool but felt good. Betty “worked out” (yeah right) and read some, AKA took a nap. We spent some more time reading (thank goodness for Kindles). Finally it was almost 4PM and we were ready for some exercise as we were told we would be paddling 2 canoes. Foiled again. We had one canoe and a guide and we again did nothing to burn a single calorie. Chester and Kirsten were a bit disappointed, but we did head deep into the jungle and it was so peaceful. We did run across some more monkeys jumping in the trees which are always a treat to see. That trip only lasted an hour though. So we had more time to rest, read, and had a drink. We finished the day with some cards waiting for dinner when a group of about 20 “old people” Betty and Judy’s age (ok maybe a bit older) arrived. All wearing the same safari travel pants 9with zip-off legs), vests and Columbia shirts from Travelsmith. Not an ounce of color besides beige, olive and grey in the group and plenty of fanny packs. Oh what we have to look forward to. Kirsten told Chester she better save up for their trips when they are geriatrics because we decided then and there we are not going that massive tour group route.

After dinner it was back to the rooms to pack and get to bed early. Chester’s ridiculously over-packed suitcase seemed to have exploded while in the Amazon. Kirsten’s master packing ability saves the day and probably the trip. Tomorrow we head to Iguacu Falls located on the Argentina and Brazil border. We are excited, but not excited for our 4AM departure time by boat.

Note – Around 10PM just as Kirsten and Chester were going to sleep, Chester notices through the limited light in the room something on the bathroom door. You guessed it, Kermit was back. Again Kirsten had to come to the rescue. We’re still not sure how Chester even saw him. But Kirsten got him trapped in a basket. Problem was it was on a vertical slate. As she was trying to put a piece of paper between the base and the door to trap Kermit, he takes a big jump out of the ridges of the door and nearly lands in Chester’s suitcase. For the next few minutes, Kirsten was chasing Kermit from around the suitcase and table to get it in an area that she could access while Chester continued to jump on the bed and scream. Finally he jumped to the floor and Kirsten again trapped him under the basket. This time she dragged him all the way to the door and showed him out with a piece of paper. Pretty sure our neighbors were not happy with us.

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Photos

The only fish we caught.
Chester with nothing really to brag about.