By 7:15 a.m. we were on our way to the canopy walkway. This outing involves a stroll of a mile or two through the drippy, rain-wet jungle. It would have been a wonderful walk except for the humidity.. which surely was 100%... or maybe even MORE! It is hard to be hot and happy at the same time but somehow we managed it.



On our arrival at the walkway, it was shocking to learn that there are fourteen connected walkways. I was expecting just one! Each is separated by a wooden platform on a tree.. a TALL tree. The total length of all the connected walkways is a quarter of a mile. Remember the frightening steps that Cuz and Gypsy experienced in Macchu Picchu? Here is a quarter of a mile of 120-foot high, suspended, swinging, swaying, bouncing, undulating terror!

We managed it all... but moved a the pace of "Five Fingered Sloths"! Every time the walkway through the canopy bounced and swayed.. we froze...it was a long.. SLOW... walk! We did manage to look around a bit when we were on the platforms, but while we were on the walkway, we saw nothing but our feet. Gypsy ended up with rope burns on her hands from holding on so hard and Cuz had sore shoulder muscles from her tight grip. But we did it! Another challenge overcome!



After our lunch and siesta, we gathered for a trip to see the gargantuan Amazon Water Lillies. A short boat ride and a short jungle walk brought us to the lily pond. Hey! I am impressed! These lily pads are huge.. up to four or five feet in diameter and with monsterous flowers... as big as cabbages.



Then off to visit a local village and school. It was a typical riverside village, as we have been seeing. The school was quite nice, considering the remote location.. and the village children followed us with simple wares to sell. We were able to visit the houses next to the school which were provided for the teachers. As school is not in session now.. these houses were empty. Empty or not.. they were a shock to our American eyes. A couple rooms and a porch.. the most primitive of conditions.



The next morning, we are up and putting on our soggy clothes, and packing our damp gear for another trip up the river.. this time back to the Exlorama Inn... about 50 miles away.

In spite of the terrible heat and himidity, I think we are all rather sorry to leave our camp.. it has been such a wonderful visit to the rain forest.



We notice on our trip back to the Inn that the recent rains have caused the Amazon to have much more debris and logs that when we arrived. It would have been nice to see the river at its fullest.. but then it would have been raining every day, and I don't think we needed that.

As it was we were soggy all the time. When I took one of my showers, I had washed out my undies and squeezed them in a towel and put them right back on! What's the difference? Although one becomes accustomed to wearing wet clothes.. it isn't the most fun thing that comes to mind.

With the nice weather we had this day we saw lots of activity along the river. Mostly people were taking advantage of the sunny day to do laundry in the river.. or to take baths... or ride in their dugout canoes, or transport goods from one place to another. One one canoe, the man was paddling in front while the woman was doing laundry from the back.



We arrive at the Inn and are amazed at the fantastic and luxurious ammenities... electric lights... air conditioning... a ceiling fan...a real bathroom with a... TA-DA!.... FLUSH TOILET!







In the afternoon we went on the river again to visit the town of Indiana, population about five thousand. The town was named Indiana because a village boy was sent to Indiana, USA, to study, blah, blah, blah.. it was really a rather long an uninteresting story.

The interesting thing about Indiana is that it has a network of paved streets... and not a car in town.

We did a walk about town and saw the interesting homes and the town hotel.. which was abandoned it appears, and we watched people going about a normal Saturday afternoon. The town market was open and it was the activity center of town.



On our way back to the Heavenly Inn, the sky opened and dumped more rain on the rain forest... and also on us. We exited the boat and made the long dash to our Glorious Room. We stripped of our very wet clothes and hung the worst of them on a Real Wooden Chair in front of The Amazing Air Conditioner to dry... while the merely "damp" things were hung in the Honest to God Real Closet. Then we each treated ourselves to the Fabulous Hot Water Shower and Incredible Flush Toilet. Then we dressed again for supper.



That evening we celebrated our last night on the Amazon by treating ourselves to drinks from the bar... while we listened to the local musicians.. who gather every night.. wherever we are in the jungle.. to play guitars and sing.... as our guide calls them... "jungle tunes". It was very nice, and a happy memory of our trip.

We turn in early, as we will be up at 5 a.m. to depart for Iquitos and the airport.