Chapter 2 : Birds and Boats
4: 06 am:
Yess!!! We are actually in the Amazon! I can't believe it! If you ignore the fact that I got woken up at 3 am, 3 am! This is definitely the best day of my life! Clare is still asleep, but Mimi is awake, and we are discussing what we (hope) we are going to do today, our first day in the Amazon. Sorry I am just so excited!
6: 28 am
Clare has finally woken up! I have realised how spoilt I am: I feel so desperate for my morning hot chocolate! I asked our guide, Becca if we would be doing anything exciting on our first day, I once went on a trip to Paris, the city of (in my case, not much) love where everyone else had decided that they were going on a trip, but I was asleep, and they left me behind, with no idea where they were! Becca says we are going on a boat trip. I just know what we are going to see, we will be on a big open deck boat going down a big river with jungle and luscious plants going past us like a never ending tapestry (please note the poetic-ness)
6: 50 am
How wrong I was! When everyone was awake, we all went to Becca's tent, only to find that she wasn't there!!! Everyone panicked but Emily (who was still half-asleep) just said 'Huh?' We walked around hysterically then Molly screamed (who else would) everyone dashed to where she was half expecting her to have been mauled by a lion (make that a jaguar I don't think lions exist here) or something! Molly was standing at the foot of a big tree staring upwards, and no it wasn't a leprechaun, it was none other than Becca! We all have our own theories, my one is that she is a sloth in disguise, but Becca assures us she just likes sleeping up trees. She says it's calming. I must try sleeping up a tree.
7: 00 am
We are having brekkie in our tent (which is the biggest) it's so delicious! We have fruit salad of mangoes, papaya, passion fruit and a random other fruit I can't identify, but it's still nice.
8: 30 am
I have fulfilled my dream!!! Okay maybe not completely, but kind of! We' re on a boat going down the Amazon! I have a little book about the animals in the Amazon and I am currently trying to work out what this really colourful bird is.
8: 35 am
I have given up on my little book, Becca is much more helpful. Apparently they are called Carpenter Birds. Sophie is manically taking photos and Clare is feeding a Toucan (which she has called Percy) the crusts of her sandwiches.
12 noon
We've just come back from our boat trip and are having lunch. It was really fun but a bit too long!!! While I have some time I'll describe the camp to you, it's quite near the river Amazon but not directly on the banks. The whole camp is in a little clearing among the endless trees and undergrowth. You have to walk for 2 minutes to get to the so-called 'loo', it isn't much of a toilet but I won't go into that! Even though we're not right next to the river, there's a kind of 'window' in the trees where you can see the Amazon. There are 4 tents but Becca's is the smallest by far. In the middle of the camp there is a big camp fire which I hope we will be using. Hopefully there will be marshmallow trees near here!
3: 41 pm
We spent the next couple of hours exploring the camp and personalising the tents. Mimi, Me and Clare have made flower garlands out of all the flowers that grow here and hung them around the tent. It looks really pretty now.