Have camera will travel

Slept like a log even with a the night sounds.
Up at the crack of dawn – not. Got up around 7 for breakfast at 8. Fruit and scrambled eggs. Then came the process of trying on boots to get a good fit.
We started our jungle walk around 9:30. We barely got into the trees and we all stopped. 2 different frogs. One little ity bity one that looked irredentist light green. And one big brown one about 3in.
It took a while to get past the frog as there were 13 people – photographers – jockeying for position. I think both frogs got sunburnt from all the flashes.
Then onward through the jungle. It is about 85% humidity. We stopped for moths, caterpillars butterfly’s, praying mantis, thorny palms and everything else.
The trees are amazing. We followed a tapir trail for a while. 3 of us split of from the pack. One of us just couldn’t keep up and us two were tired of waiting for the other 9 people to take 800 photos of the same thing. We got back to the lodge just after noon. We waited for about 2 hours for the rest to get back and cleaned up.
While we were waiting we lounged in hammocks in the lodge. Eating fresh bananas that we picked up on the way here yesterday.
Lunch !! O my !! More soup – o so good. Then beef and green beans fresh tomatoes rice and deep fried plantains. Fresh pineapple for desert. We all rolled away from the table saying there was too much food and we needed a nap.
Kurt the owner, is fixing our shower. No hot water. That made waking up this morning easy!!
Next we are on the boat looking for anacondas and caymans.
While we were trying to have our nap, next door had a hot water issue. So Kurt the owner was running in and out. Once he was done next door we told him that we didn’t have hot water either. So in he comes with a helper and they were in and while I am sitting there cross legged having to go. I gave up and headed for the lodge. Couple of people in the lodge said come on over I ignored them and ran for the bathroom. So no nap.
So onto the boat taking our rubber boots with us. The sun was setting as we left but no real sunset as it was very cloudy. We were in search of the anaconda. Along the way we saw a two toed sloth – actually a dark lump in the trees moving slowly along a branch high up. We also saw some caymans.
The water level in the lake is going down so they have to follow the channel as we were getting closer to where the snake was, we got stuck and so did our other canoe. Kinda funny seeing a canoe out in the middle of a lake being pushed.
The other boat landed first and the guide jumped off and said everyone stay in the boat till I make sure the snake is still there. That didn’t happen, people started to get out and try and follow him. Our driver took us around and closer. Only 3 of us stayed in the boat. And the comedy started. Everyone except the 2 guides and 2 others got stuck. It wasn’t funny but it was. To see everyone floundering around, except one guy sunk up to his knees. Someone came to help and got stuck too. The third guy was crawling out on his hands and knees. One lady started to sink got told to stand still, did so but started to sink. As she started to sink she got scared and agitated, a lady came over to help and promptly got stuck too. Then a guy came over and you know the rest. It looked like they were having a tug of war and no one was winning. One of the guides finally got them out. The guy up to his knees made it to our canoe and climbed in. His boots were full of mud. He walked from where he was stuck to our canoe in his sock feet. The guide washed the the mud/clay off. We ended up with 3 extra people in our canoe. We got off the shore and met the other canoe and transferred the people and gear back. Through it all no camera gear was injured.

Now to find the channel and head back to the lodge. As we went across the lake it got dark. So down the river we went looking for caymans. We found a boa. Just a little guy. As the story goes the guide climbed up the bank and found the snake and brought it down. The guide was bare chested and all the ladies swooned as he climbed down the embankment – well that’s how we were writing the chapter over supper.
Most people retired early except for the few who needed to wash the mud out of their clothes.