DAY 12. LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR

I slept well, almost as well as in a real bed. I was only disturbed by light of some lanterns in the middle of the night, which shone through the side ‘windows’ from the passing boats. However, there was fresh air coming in through them as well, so it was all right. The sky is overcast, and the sun still has not broken through the clouds. I hope I will have a glimpse of it today.

Almost every bathroom break looks like a treasure hunt from an Indiana Jones film. I must cut my way through the jungle and make sure I do not get bitten. Not to mention that I must paddle out of the stream first and fight off the mosquitoes that have swooped in. By the way, the anti-mosquito coils that I bought are working marvellously! Yesterday they dispelled all the mosquitoes, so they did not approach my boat for a long time. Now the coils are saving me from the swarm that chases me after I had a quick landing on the bank. Sadly, not all bloodsuckers are affected by the smoke: black gadflies are still terrorizing me, tearing off bits of flesh from me at every opportunity and drinking my blood.

In one of the villages that was on my way, I heard a prayer played on a loudspeaker. It said that it was necessary to love thy neighbour. Hmm. I think I found a way to love my enemies – I decided to catch gadflies, put them into a jar, dry them and use them as bait. And here they say that religion does not give us practical advice these days!

I chose another floating log to cruise on and decided to inspect the boat for ant colonies – there were noticeably more ants around. It turns out that they had taken up residence under the farinha canister at the back of the boat, under the newly built tent. Hey, I did not build this shelter for you!

For the second day, I feel like I am starving. It is the salted fish right in front of me that constantly reminds me of food. It is no big deal – I will have one fish less, and the problem will be solved. Speaking of problems, the motor oil works as medicine indeed! My foot is much better, and the blisters are dry now.

Once again, I came across some huge white birds with black heads. It seems to be a local species of storks, rather unusual for me. I have already got used to seeing parrots on the way – they are like sparrows here. There are plenty of them everywhere. Their chatter is sometimes even annoying.

I decided to try and sit on the nose of the boat and paddle like locals do, out of experimental curiosity. Indeed, I can manoeuvre my boat much faster this way, but I do not have the speed that the locals go at with their motors, so it is pointless for me to worry if I can turn fast enough. I trust the current most of the time, so it is not the speed of the boat that matters to me, but the comfort. Yes, some canoes could reach 15 km/hour, but would it be possible to sleep in them? I decided to move the seat a bit forward, making a compromise: it would be easier for me to manoeuvre the boat, and I could extend the tent, along with the bed.

Today I was a little more fortunate when finding a place to camp for the night. There were so many logs and float wood that got stuck in the bank that I could even walk on them carefully, despite the swampy surface. I have even got my eye on one nice plank that would be handy in my ongoing boat modification, but I cannot walk to it. I will find my way to it tomorrow if I do not forget about it in the morning. Now, I am going to try fishing again.

Fishing was not worth the effort, unlike my new changes in the boat design. There is more room, and the mosquito net is particularly pleasant. This is probably one of the best things I have ever bought. I just need to add a couple of new support beams to increase the interior space a little more. The anti-mosquito coils now do a great job of repelling these insects. I put one of them at my feet and the smoke drives away all the crawlers and flyers, gradually travelling up the tent past me. I can enjoy my sleep in peace.

26 April, ~56 (414) km covered.