DAY 25. THE BIG RIVER

Good morning! Or is it? During the night my boat was invaded by ants again. They trailed to it along the rope which I use to tie my boat to a tree. Bloody rope walkers! I am fed up. I have run out of ideas how to prevent this kind of infestation. I have tried all kinds of things and they do not work; I still discover ants everywhere. You know, I would love to have an anteater as a pet. It would be the most pleasant and useful company on a trip like this.

In another channel I spent a lot of time looking for those berries. And I found them! It was the same black berry, but it was growing high up in the branches. What a mockery. A week ago, I would have spared the branch, but not today. I decided to cut down one of the branches to get to the berries. I cannot afford to miss a chance like that.

I picked so many berries as if I could eat them myself. Although they say they taste bad. It is never a good idea to taste unfamiliar things, but since birds and fish eat the berries, I do not think they are poisonous. I gave them a try. Most of the berry is occupied by the stone inside, but the flesh around it is sweet and somewhat reminiscent of bird cherry. I did not swallow it, however – I spat it out to be on the safe side.

It is raining again. How many days in a row is that now? It is not funny. I cannot dry my clothes properly, I cannot fish, because the best fishing is always in sunny weather. I guess I will get to Iquitos sooner. There is one advantage in all this situation – during the rain the speed of the river flow increases. Now my speed is about 8 km/hour, but in about 20 kilometres the Great Amazon is waiting for me. I wonder if the speed of the current will change there. For now, I am going to read a book.

I think that is enough reading for today – just as three days ago, I was so engrossed in the book that I went under a tree at speed and the tent of the boat got caught in the branches. That is bad news. I am going to try and lift the branch a little. I might even have to cut it down for it to let me go. The main thing is that I hope no ship will pass by at this moment, or it will cause large waves and I will be in danger. The canoe is pinned to the water and would not bounce on the waves, so I could be drowned if that happened.

I got away with a bit of a fright and at the cost of getting wet through again. The tent also suffered some damage, but overall, it is fine – it is nothing that duct tape would not fix, and most importantly, there was no damage done to the solar panel. It was good luck that I was able to see my boat being carried straight into a tree, so I was able to brace myself for the impact. I did not have time to steer away because the speed was too fast.

I am driven back into the trees again, no peace for me. I must keep paddling to stay in the main channel. The whole coast is dotted with logs that warn me from afar about the possible consequences of my inattention. I am quite tired.

I am about to reach the confluence of the Ucayali and the Marañon, where the Amazon proper is formed. It is only a few kilometres away, but it is still raining. In such weather it can be dangerous to break into another river on a strong current. I have done it before. I think this time I should lead the boat along the bank, so it will be safer for me. I am glad that now there is no strong wind, only this incessant rain. But there are dolphins diving nearby, and it is quite a lovely sight!

The thing I have been waiting for has happened. It is the confluence of the rivers. Hello, the Marañon. Farewell, the Ucayali. Greetings to you, the great Amazon! It looks bigger here, but up ahead, I know it will be two kilometres wide or more. Let’s test what the current will be like. Luckily there are no waves today.

I did not notice any difference in speed. There are small whirlpools spinning islands of greenery, but I was able to dodge them all. I think it is time to celebrate that I have reached the Amazon. Technically, I have been travelling down it for a month, but now it is officially the Great Amazon. It is time to celebrate this achievement with my last coconut.

My spirits have immediately brightened up – coconut juice is life itself. It is about 120 kilometres to Iquitos; the city is some three days away. There I will complete the first part of my trip. Not so long ago I doubted that I could do it, that my health could take it, and here I am… I am so close. I cannot believe it.

Now I have been paddling out of the channel for half an hour with almost no current. The river does not let me relax; it constantly throws a random wind at me so that it is difficult to get out of the streak. I feel nauseous. Either the coconut was spoilt, or I am sick of this rain. I want to see the sun! I want to dry my things out. I cannot remember the last time I was completely dry, and wet blisters are reappearing on my feet. I have covered them in machine oil again.

Let the current carry me wherever it wants. I have already made 45 kilometres today, so speed is not of much importance. I need to rest. Does my nausea come from overexertion perhaps?

In general, the river has not changed. Everything is the same as on the Ucayali, only the whirlpools have become bigger, now they throw the boat like a splinter. It is very hard to get out of a whirlpool by force, so cunning helps. I invented this method: when the maelstrom starts to spin, I need to insert an oar into its eye and it will gradually collapse. That is the trick.

I finally found a huge floating tree. Thanks to it, I can rest a little and let it pull me downstream. The beauty of a hauler like this is that no ship will want to ram it. As long as I am close to a large driftwood log, I am safe. I put the loop on the tip of the trunk, not on a protruding limb, because the tree could tip over and catch the boat underneath. It would crush me with its weight. This way, the rope will easily come off the tip if the tree rolls over.

I made a mug of cocoa to lift my spirits, as I was feeling a bit down without fishing. I looked at this floating tree in front of me and decided I wanted to walk on it. It is truly gigantic! I took a gentle step on it – it was not sinking under my weight. I took a couple of steps. It was still holding my weight. And lo and behold… I am standing on a driftwood tree in the middle of the river with my boat pulled after me. If I lived on a tree like that and attached everything that floated by, that would be an interesting sight. I do not think it would last too long, though. There are barges going round here too.

While I was looking at the clay in the roots of the tree and wondering if I could use it to seal the leaks in my boat, the trunk started to roll over. I was forced to take a hasty retreat. Ooh! That was quite an adrenaline rush.

I watched as the tree slowly made a turn on its axis. I was right: if I had thrown the rope on a branch, it would have pulled me underneath. This way, it did not.

It was just a couple of hours before sunset, so I started looking for a place to sleep and fish. I would like some pond with clear water, like the one I had found yesterday.

I noticed that on the big river there were no fishing traps at all – those ‘anzuelo’ traps which helped me catch my first trophy. On the Ucayali they were everywhere. Are there not so many fish here? Or are they harder to catch? That is not the best news. I hope my suspicions are ungrounded.

Now, right in front of the boat, a dolphin jumped out of the water. And it did that again – one more time for an encore, so to speak. I am not usually easy to scare, but this time my heart nearly stopped! If you could have seen that! Just a little bit closer – and I could have touched it. What an amazing creature.

Well, the moment has arrived when I have no food left but farinha. Thankfully, I have got a supply of sugar and cocoa, so I will add more sugar now, it will make me feel better. Fishing is still not working out for me; the local fish are ignoring even the berries. I need to find a better spot.

I feel that my mood swings are growing worse, I feel sad more often. It is the hunger. I cannot satisfy it with farinha alone. I need some fats and some variety in my diet. I get very tired paddling, but I do not think I will give up. Things will improve soon. Iquitos is only kilometres away! There I will buy some small things I need and continue my way. There are huge trees all around me now. I hope they do not fall on me.

9 May, ~60 (989) km covered.