Yesterday started out like a normal day. We swatted bugs, and slowly baked in the hot, equatorial sun. However, as the day progressed, large, dark clouds appeared on the horizon, and the trees top began to sway violently back and forth. Within seconds the sky let loose. It began raining so hard that it was difficult to tell where the river stopped and the air began.

The canoes began to fill with rainwater. Every half an hour we had to bail out the canoes to keep them from filling with water. The rain continued as we slowly made our way down river to towards a sacirita. A sacirita is a narrow waterway through the flooded forest, which cuts off a large loop in the main river channel. The sacirita that we were looking for would shorten our trip to the next ranger station by almost 15 miles.

A ranger at the last ranger station told us that we could find the sacirita by looking for a large Ponga tree on the side of the river near where we needed to enter the flooded forest. We spotted the Ponga tree, and turned down a narrow channel of water that rushed through the forest.

The channel was clogged with downed trees, and it was hard to follow the main channel. Several times we had to grab hold of vines and trees to keep our canoe from crashing into logs. Every time we tried a new side channel we were stopped by impassable log jams. Finally, we decided it was not safe to continue. We struggled against the current back to the main river channel, and found a small patch of dry land where we could camp for the night.

Relieved to be off the river we set up our hammocks, and started to cook dinner. After I hung up my hammock, my whole body started to itch and red blotches started to cover my skin . While we were in the flooded forest looking for the sacirita I had to hold onto a Cecropia tree covered in biting ants to keep our canoe from getting swept into a log. Five or six ants had bitten me on the neck and arms, and my body was not reacting well to the bites. I took some Benadryl, and crawled into my hammock to rest. The drugs caused the itching, redness, and swelling to subside, and made me very tired. As I drifted off to sleep a troop of Noisy Night Monkeys jumped through the canopy above my hammock.

The rainforest is full of Bullet Ants, spiders, snakes, and other poisonous critters that demand our respect. Our hammocks provide us with the shelter we need to get a good night's rest. They keep us off the ground, safe from the insects, and protected from the rain. When I am at home I enjoy a nice soft bed, but in the rainforest, my hammock provides me with the perfect shelter.

Keep Exploring!

Dave

In Friday's Daily Dilemma we asked for your suggestions about what to do when we are unable to camp on dry land. Several classes suggested that we take turns paddling until we find dry land. Others recommended hanging our hammocks in the trees above the water. We even received one suggestion to put our gear in our hammocks and sleep in the canoes!

Since we're in pairs in the canoes, it could be difficult for one person to control the canoe while the other is sleeping. This option was tempting because it could allow us to paddle more hours every day. I think that hanging our hammocks in the trees above the water received the most support. Hanging up the hammocks could be kind of tricky, but once we're up there, I'm sure we'll all get a good night's rest. Thanks for all of your clever ideas! Keep up the good work!

Please join us in the chatroom on Thursday April 20 from 10 to 11 AM (CST) and Thursday April 20 from 1:30 to 2:30 PM (CST). Please remember to log your class in using a single computer.