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Other entries in Lago Valencia

mucho calor

we wake to the most indescribably sound - howler monkeys - best words I can come up with are "mechanical wind". even at 1km away they are LOUD and CREEPY! despite poor sleep, today was the first morning where the first thought I had was "I wonder what I am going to learn new today?" I think Im finding my stride with this travelling thing.

up by 6am for a jungle hike (victor has his keds on, we are fully covered). the best part aboud this hike is we each get our own machettes! I get a tiny blister from whacking so much. we see a real brazil nut tree! 200ft canopy, seed pods the size of softballs. victor carves us ashtrays out of the old pods. we also see mahogony, cedar, palm trees that make parquet, water vines, and trees that treat malaria and kidney disease. we see tons of birds - if I was a bird person, this would really be incredible. I feel bad that so much is lost on me, but my favorites are anything that Ive seen in a pet store. so we head back for breakfast. Ive done more before breakfast in the past 2 weeks than I have in 2 years.

later, the true jungle heat sets in (120 degrees F). indescribable heat but Ill try, just so you feel a little sorry for us! we siesta and the tough choice is outside, a little wind, tons of bugs or in the tent, NO wind, no bugs. I pick the tent. waving a wet hanky for the slight breeze is the closest I get to luxury, but then Im too tired to even wave the hanky. victor paints a henna annaconda on my forearm. its a clear juice when it goes on, an hour later it turned blue & will last a week. am I getting closer to the jungle? now that Im tatooed, it feels like it :)

15:00 we get woken up to fish for pirhannas. vistor says itll be cooler on the lake. I just dont want to move. but hes the guide so we do it. this time, I have no luck. victor catches 4, dd gets one! dd is feeling like ass from the heat but dug deep for this last little victory (we didnt know at the time, but she went downhill from here). victor cleaned the fish on rock island & saved the teeth for us. we watched an amazing sunset. once again I feel so lucky.

dinner that night...it was probably the most uncomfortable experience ever - and I have a pretty high tolerance. dd is OUT - heat stroke is setting in so shes in the tent and cant move. I gut my way through dinner. first, on the platform floor, there are a million little flys attracted by candle light. I move to the other side. next, do you know how many bones are in a pirhanna? and how freekin small they are? theres no way to eat without using your fingers. I ignore how much deet is on them and use one hand to carefully pick, the other to swat bugs from my ear. K, and dont forget that its still easily 110 degrees, humid, no wind, and Im in long pants and sleeves....in the end, I maybe got 1oz of fish, a side of deet and a few plantains. Ill never forget how hard that dinner was. I established a new appreciation for every villager in the amazon valley - they do this every night.

time for bed in my wonderful tent.

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