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The Groupon appeared anonymously in my computer inbox a few weeks ago and was too much to pass up. "Paddle the Amazon Cheap"! This sounded perfect for the Tuesday Group so I signed us up. Ten of us boarded the chartered jet for Lima, Peru-a rare direct flight out of Norfolk International. From there we rode a camel caravan to the mouth of the Amazon River in Iquitos. Our Andean bearers loaded our kayaks into the viper infested waters and we set off on our journey. Paddling today were Ken, Mark, Brian, Steve, Jae, Christine, Bruce D, Vic, Margaret and Phyllis. And our guide Juan led the way. It was HOT. It was HUMID. There was a slight breeze that helped to keep us comfortable though Vic was constantly plagued by angry tsetse flies. The mosquitos were as big as hummingbirds, the hummingbirds were as big as seagulls and the seagulls--well, let me tell you, you didn't want one of those giants pooping on your head. We paddled through rainforests, dodging hungry pythons falling from the trees into our boats. We crossed great stretches of open water racing anacondas through the murky water. Juan had us take a break on a muddy shore just after crossing into Colombia. We snacked on bananas and coconut milk from the nearby trees. Vic stepped into the jungle for a second and soon came running out screaming for us to get back in the boats. He was bring chased by angry pygmies with blow guns and spears. They threw shrunken heads at us as we leaped into our kayaks and dashed back into open water. (At this point I was thinking "No tip for Juan"). The pygmies were soon forgotten because we were treated to a show of leaping river dolphins in the main channel! They were so much fun to watch that Brian decided to dive in and swim with them! Into the water he went but no sooner had he begun swimming when he started to thrash and roll in the water. Piranhas! We all raced to his rescue batting the toothy fish with our paddles. They soon gave up and swam away---but they did get the twinkie that had fallen out of Brian's pocket. We continued our journey, now crossing into Brazil, where we saw leopards and jaguars padding along the shoreline eyeing us hungrily. Brian threw them a couple of twinkies. Then we encountered a herd of hippopotamuses (hippopotami?) wallowing across the river right in front of us! They didn't seem happy about us being there and blocked our way with their huge bodies. Juan tried to force his way through and that's where we lost him. Bitten in half by a hungry hippo. It was not a pretty sight. But, while the distracted hippos chomped on Juan, we were able to paddle our way through. Suddenly, Margaret's kayak lifted out of the water on the back of a giant crocodile! Crikey! That croc took off like an Evinrude with Margaret on top. What were we to do? Quick thinking Christine had us raft up and paddle together like a giant barge. We cut the giant croc off at the pass and stopping suddenly he sent Margaret's kayak sliding right off. She went over our heads and landed on the other side! The crocodile was mad now and went after Mark and Bruce--but they were too fast for him! Suddenly, he broke off the attack and headed back where he came from. That's when we went over the 1000 Foot Waterfall-Aiyeeeeeeee!!!!!!! How we ever survived that I do not know. But we all did. And there we were at the Atlantic Ocean and the end of our journey! What a day we had! 4000 miles and only one bathroom break! We caught a cab for Rio de Janeiro for our flight back to Norfolk. Another great day for the Tuesday Group!
Psych!! We paddled the Goodwin islands today. And it was great. And we had ice cream. ~8 miles. No crocodiles or pygmies.
Phyllis
Check out some pix: https://picasaweb.google.com/crashneumann/GoodwinIslandsPaddle71613?authkey=Gv1sRgCNOY8ImvzLORNQ
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