Muddy and late for the ship...but happy.

Former Premier of Saskatchewan Grant Devine used to say “Don't say whoa in a mudhole.” That could have been our motto today.

It should not be a surprise that in the world's largest rainforest, during the rainy season, that it should rain. And it did. It poured for hours and hours. But, our excursion to go trekking in the forest wasn't going to be cancelled for such a minor (and common) event.

After a 90 minute bus ride, on buses that looked as if they could have come from Saskatchewan 40 years ago, we disembarked, put on our bug spray, our rain gear, and with walking sticks in hand, went trekking.

How does one describe your first time in the Amazonian rain forest. Silent...except for bird calls and piercing high cicada calls. Still, except for the steady drip of rain. Scary....as our guide finds a beautiful and deadly spider. We are told not to touch anything, as many things in the forest are poisonous or at the least, could cause an allergic reaction. We had to watch our footing on the wet and slippery trails, so looking around us had to be done quickly and from a standing still position. But what a reward when we did....beautiful orchids and other flowering plants were popping up in the most unlikely places.

We saw rubber trees, giant bamboo, and brazil nut trees. Those trees are huge. Their seed pods are about the size of a medium grapefruit. When broken open, they contain roughly 20 brazil nuts....the kind that are readily available in supermarkets at Christmas. Our guide peeled one with his machete and it was delicious.

Too soon our forest trek was over and we had to hightail it back to the ship. To get back to our bus, we had to walk about 1/2 km on a very muddy dirt road. By the time we got to the bus, we were all about 4 inches higher because of the sticky gumbo mud. What a mess! But, our guide scraped the majority of the mud off our shoes (using the same machete with which he peeled the nut) and we were off. As it was, we got back to the pier an hour later than we were supposed to. There was no question but that the ship would wait for us, as we were on a ship-sanctioned activity, but it was a good reminder why it is a good idea to go on ship excursions when out in the wilds!

We are now underway and will anchor off Parantis tomorrow. We are going to a folkloric show tomorrow afternoon there. One of us is a little more excited about it than the other!

 CHECKING OUT A BRAZIL NUT TREE....THEY GROW VERY VERY TALL!

THOUSANDS OF SMALL HOMES ARE BEING BUILT BY THE BRAZIL GOVERNMENT FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE BANKS OF THE AMAZON RIVER, AS THEIR HOMES ARE CONSTANTLY BEING FLOODED. QUESTION....HOW WOULD YOU FIND YOUR WAY HOME IF YOU'VE HAD A DRINK OR TWO?

 A TYPICAL SCENE IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST....A SMALL POOL OF RAINWATER, LOTS OF VINES, TREES, ETC.

THE MIGHTY AMAZON. ALTHOUGH THIS LOOKS LIKE A LAKE, IT IS THE AMAZON RIVER AS SEEN FROM OUR SHIP.

 OUR SHIP TENDER BRINGING PEOPLE TO AND FROM THE SHIP. ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE PHOTO, YOU CAN SEE THE BUILDINGS THAT HAVE FLOODED DURING THIS RAINY SEASON.