DAY 21. ON THE WINGS OF ‘FREEDOM’

I woke up to raindrops drumming on the tent and a distinct feeling that I had a sore throat. Apparently, I had overworked my already exhausted body in the sun the day before. I will deal with it on the river, as I should continue my journey today by all means. I am more worried that overnight the boat has taken on more water than usual. Maybe it just seems to me so, but it is scary. I will leave in two hours, as soon as everyone who wanted to say goodbye arrives.

Not too many people showed up at the appointed hour. They were busy with their work, I guess, but every now and then someone left their business and stopped by to say a few parting words. They gave me some coconuts, sweet bananas and warm wishes. It is a nice day. Even the rain has stopped. It is time for me to go!

I crossed the Ucayali diagonally to reach a small channel on the other side of the river. I was pleased with the keel. It is too early to draw conclusions, but the canoe holds its course for a while even when I let go of the paddle. I still feel awful, so I decide to make some soup. I need something hot, not bananas and farinha. Sugar will only do harm to me now.

The current is slow, and I do not have the energy to paddle at all. Fortunately, there is no great need for that either. Making soup is trickier – I need fish for it. I use the rest of the salted fish to improvise some broth. I should try to spend this day recovering – without too many adventures.

That is interesting. A speedboat was travelling down the river – the kind that usually took workers to the gas extraction plant in Britannia. It slowed down and honked to me a few times. It must be someone I know. It made me feel better. I am so far from home, but home is so close to me. I love that feeling.

To make my day easier, I found a floating island. It is huge! Now I am being carried along the fastest part of the river, and I am protected from hitting anything carelessly, as the plants will work as a damper. Hmm, I have a private yacht and a private island. What is left on the bucket list? Get the girl? It should not be too hard. I just need to build a house now. Wait, I have a boat. That will do as a house. Anyway, it is time to rest.

I do not feel well. I am trying everything I can to beat the fever. The heat is making it worse. With great difficulty, I peeled one of the coconuts to lift my spirits. Fresh coconut milk and coconut meat should be the best fuel for a weakened body.

One of the advantages of being sick on the river is that I do not need a basin of water to wet a towel. Judging by the impending clouds, soon I will not even have to reach out for some water. Well, I am not in the mood to play with the elements, but I do not seem to have any choice. I stretched out the tent and put on my raincoat. I will wait out the bad weather. I should not get wet and cold.

I drove my boat down the river. At some point the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared. The sun came out of the clouds! I saw a tented motorboat coming straight towards me. It stopped at my floating island. A few girls peeked out of the window and asked in English if I was all right. They are local tourists, apparently. I told them my story briefly, they took selfies and left, wishing me to enjoy my trip. I felt better for a while, ‘for a while’ being the key word. As soon as they were gone, the rainbow disappeared, and the sun hid behind the clouds. It started raining heavily.

After taking shelter from the weather inside my cabin, I made some more adjustments. I completed fixing the tent on the frame and added two bars to support the tent on the sides of the canoe. The result is a kind of fender that makes the boat more streamlined and allows me to see what is going on over its sides during heavy rain. This is important as the noise of raindrops drowns out the sound of boats coming at me. Also, it improves ventilation somewhat. My ‘Freedom’ has wings now! How symbolic.

The sun had already started to set, but the downpour was still not ending, only getting stronger. I decided to keep travelling down the river until the last moment in hope to wait the rain out and avoid getting wet as I dock. And it worked! The rain stopped and I quietly found a place for the night. My fishing endeavours were fruitless, however: I only fed some mosquitoes with my blood. I hope I will not feel too bad at night.

5 May, ~39 (760) km covered.