I guess it’s about time that I blogged about my trip to the Amazon.  Not that I’ve been putting it off, it’s just that life seems really busy right now.

Which I guess is why the Amazon was such a great trip.  Since the advent of cell phones, I’ve never been somewhere for so long where I didn’t have access to the outside world.  But more about that in a minute.

Many months ago, I started talking to our South African friend Nicholas about going to Leticia (which is the Colombian city on the Amazon).  He was game, but it took a while to take off.  But we finally booked it.  We went over Memorial Day weekend, for 5 days.  We flew into Leticia, which was an interesting town.  It’s the only city in the department (state), which tells you something about the department.   It’s all jungle and forest, and those who live there are indigenous and don’t want to interact with city folk or the government.  I don’t even think there’s a road connecting it to the other departments.  Leticia also shares an invisible border with its Brazilian sister city.  So when we went from Leticia to Brazil, we didn’t even know we had crossed into Brazil.

We then took a boat ride, which lasted about 5 hours.  We were only about half way there when the sun set.  And we had to stop at some river town for a pit stop.  It was really interesting to see the way the locals lived.  As we went along in the boat, we saw the tops of huts/houses which were flooded by the Amazon and other tributaries.  From what our guide said, the owners let it flood, and then when it’s low season, they move back in.  I can’t imagine living on a river.  Not like today’s Mississippi.  Like 500 years ago Mississippi.  Living off the river commerce.  Being affected so much by the high and low seasons.  For example, when the river is in high season, it’s harder to fish, because the fish have more areas to spread out to.  But when it’s low season, they are confined to their little river.  What a strange life!!

Our jungle lodge was neat.  It was all earthy and organic.  They only had electricity for about 2 hours a day, and the only light we had during those times was 3 flourescents in a large mess hall.  The light was dim enough that you could barely read.  Which meant we went to bed at around 8 or so, because there wasn’t much else to do.  Of course, the sun rose at around 5:30, along with the rest of the jungle.  Even before the sun rose, birds and animals and insects woke you up.  We slept in little cabins that had wire netting for walls.  And then we slept underneath mosquito netting.

The weather wasn’t quite what I expected.  There were less bugs, less heat, and less rain.  None of which I am complaining about.

It was definitely hard to be so far away, communication-wise, from Kristen and Jackson.  There was no cell phone, internet, landline, TV, etc where we were.  Which was a nice break.  But was also hard not getting to see how their trip in Cartagena was going.

I definitely got to see a lot of wildlife, but not as much as I had expected.  That was partly because we went out in groups, and weren’t the quietest bunch.  But we did see monkeys, caymans, pink river dolphins, grey river dolphins, birds, and pirranahs.

Overall it was a great and memorable trip.  I’m really glad I went.  But Kristen and I have decided we’re not the kind of couple that enjoys taking separate vacations.  Maybe one day, but not today.