Day 1: 7:30AM departure, meet up with Jerry who takes us to travel agency. We then take a taxi, boat, bus, and then another boat to arrive at the Juma Lodge. Upon arrival we were served an incredible lunch buffet of rice, beans, chicken, salad, and pumpkin. All the food is fresh and grown in the backyards of Amazonians. After a post lunch nap on a hammock, we explored the river through boat. A couple hours on the river and we spotted an array of birds, pink dolphins, and monkeys. We then used a long stick, string, and hook to catch our dinner-Piranhas! Yes, I caught a Piranha in the Amazon and then ate it for dinner. We watched the sunset, caught a Cayman (a small crocodile) and brought it back to the lodge. Alan, our guide for the trip, gave us a thorough education on Caymans and their physiology.
Day 2
The next day we went for a three hour trek in the jungle and learned about the plants and animals of the Amazon. For a natural bug repellent, we let ants spread over our hands and then smashed them and spread them over our arms. It worked quite well; no bugs bit me! I ate a larval worm that grows inside small coconuts. It tasted like coconut, the texture was not my favorite to say the least. Towards the end of our hike, rain fell and gave us an appropriate scene of the rainforest. The boat ride back to the lodge was wild with a downpour. The second we got back to the lodge we couldn’t help but enjoy the moment by jumping in the river. I will never forget this. The water was warm and the pouring rain made me feel so alive! This feeling overcame any fear of piranhas, caymans, or parasites. After running and jumping off the dock, we retreated inside to enjoy another fresh Amazonian meal and some fresh mangos. There was a huge mango tree at the lodge that had hundreds of fresh ripe mangos. We snacked on them throughout the day, sweetest mangos I’ve ever had!
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