DAY 46. PROCRASTINATION

I had a lovely night’s sleep. The ant-free environment clearly had a positive impact on the quality of my sleep. If only my toe had not started to increasingly bother me in the morning! It has been hurting for a week. I sanitized and monitored it daily, and today some pus came out. I have just managed to recover from that otitis, and now this! Can I have a week without health issues, please? That would be nice, thank you.

I noticed that there were next to no reeds growing along the banks, so probably the riverbed is more stable here. If anything changes in my life dramatically, then it is because of all these floating islands. Or gnats. My lips are now 50 per cent bigger because of all the bites. And this magnificent beauty procedure achieved its effect without any Botox injections!

My bananas are gradually ripening, and that allows me to eat my daily farinha as a delicious dessert. I will make a campfire only when I find a place with crocodiles, and until then – down the river I go. The area is really flooded.

I cheer myself up with an extra portion of farinha. If I squint and forget that I have been eating it two or three times a day for the 46 days in a row, it is very good! It is delicious and it has enough carbohydrates to keep me going, otherwise I would be dead after so much paddling. I feel quite energized after all, although I have experienced some mood swings.

There was an unusual incident today. I was attaching the rope to another floating log when suddenly a piece of bark fell off it. Under the bark, I found a little frog that had been hiding underneath and was obviously trying to sleep, curling into a tiny ball. The frog must have been going through a hard time there. I was so embarrassed at having deprived it of its shelter and its last chance for salvation that I paddled after the piece of bark and fixed it back in place with a nail. The frog gratefully hid back. It did not look like a poison dart frog, but I decided against petting it.

My finger is better, and so am I. I have been busy. Today I am having the most effective procrastination break of my life. I was reluctant to start filtering the water – the filter is runny, and filtering water is an extremely long and boring process, so I hemmed the mosquito net, added several stragglers to it, and made some handy hooks for my sleeping gear and the fruit. Now, even during strong waves, when the boat scoops up water, all my stuff will be dry.

The river is winding and making wild loops on its course, but sometimes, like today, it just stretches all the way to the horizon, and there is no end to it. This is the great Amazon! And I am in the middle of it, following a floating log and an island of greenery. I have noticed that these islands float down the river at a slightly faster speed than logs. Perhaps it can be explained by their lighter weight and larger surface.

Since I have been doing a lot of writing lately, I have been thinking about building a foldable table. The boat seems to be my home, but what is a house without a table in it? It is a house of a very lazy person. Today I finally got to it. I used the cover that protects my kitchen on the bow to represent the flat surface of a tabletop, then I cut several grooves in the boat sides with my machete and cut a table leg from a stem of reed. Now, when I set up my table, I open the kitchen space. It will be more convenient for me to cook, clean the fish, and write. At the same time, all the items in the bow compartment will have a chance to dry up and perhaps the mold will stop growing there. I am very pleased.

I was preparing my hooks for fishing – I decided to make three tackles for live bait and one balantin (which is a local name for a fishing line with a weight, a hook and some large bait that is cast into the current), as suddenly I noticed a flock of butterflies. They were literally carried across the river, followed by a downpour. I folded my newly made table, pulled up the tent and was planning to collect some drinking water, but the downpour passed by. I heard the sound, I felt the drops rushing past, but it was gone and I did not get any water.

The wind had picked up, and the gnats were gone. I decided to give my body a break and let it breathe freely without a shirt. Can you guess what happened next? As soon as I undressed, there they were. I suspect that the gnats live under my bed, though I did not find any maggots there when I was tidying the space up.

A bird was flying across the river. It landed on the floating island, but everything began to sink beneath its weight, because the reeds were too thin and fragile. So, the bird flew to the tent of my boat and had some rest there. I am glad that I could help, little bird.

I decided to have a friendship day today and make an acquaintance with the spider that had been living under my bed for a few weeks now (or, more likely, these were several different spiders of the same species). All this time I have been observing its behaviour and not even once did I notice any aggression. Apparently, the spider felt very comfortable in my company. Therefore, I put on my gloves and decided to pick it up.

The spider’s appearance would have repelled many people. It was the size of my palm, it had strong jaws, and plenty of eyes, but I have never been opposed to nature, nor do I feel threatened unless there is a direct threat made at me. The animal world is beautifully rational, and animals, birds and insects sense our attitudes very well. If the person is calm and behaves gently, a healthy animal will behave accordingly. Of course, if you violate someone’s personal space, you should not be surprised that the said someone may respond with aggression – acting in self-defense. All living things feel fear.

Unfortunately, people’s intentions are much more difficult to predict. There are a lot of irrational individuals among us who can play on our feelings, manipulate, unapologetically harm others and even kill them. This is only amplified if alcohol or drug intoxication are involved. If I had to choose between sleeping in the taiga or the jungle as opposed to a human settlement, it would be an obvious choice. Any night is much safer without people – alone.

I decided to name the spider Vaska, in honour of one notorious perch, which I also jokingly named on the Kacha River back home. For a while the spider hid under the planking and then it came out into the light, apparently having recovered from its fright. Then I mustered all my courage and slowly extended my bare hand towards it. It obediently took a step with one leg, then another leg stepped forward, and so on – until it was in the palm of my hand. I felt an acute sense of relief. What a frightfully interesting experience!

As the sunset approached, I started fishing but my fishing activities were interrupted by sudden rain. It was a good thing that I had stopped for the night an hour earlier today. The violent wind started to literally tear up the waves, but in the meantime, I took off my clothes to keep them dry and set the gear ready to collect drinking water. I only managed to collect four litres, but that is enough. The paint peels off my boat and it gets into the collected rainwater, so I must filter it several times to get rid of small chunks.

My fishing was once again ruined by parasitic catfish; I think I will call them corpse-eaters for convenience. Well, they ate all my dough! They are easy to distinguish from other fish – they suck at the bait and the fishing line jerks, but they avoid being caught. I only managed to catch one catfish, and I set up a tackle with it as bait under one of the fallen tree trunks – I did it right in the rain, fighting the strong waves. I am sure this method will be effective someday.

It was a nightmare to find a good place for the night again. The forests were flooded all around and the banks were too high. I have seen what happens when large waves run into them. I stopped for the night on the water again, tying the bow of the boat to a tree, as if I was trying to hide behind it. In this spot, every wave makes a distinct impact on the boat – they bounce off the sides, and I feel uneasy. This night will be restless, I will sleep like a sailor at rocky sea. I hope there is no storm this time.

It may seem that I am deliberately pushing the boundaries, each time finding more and more dangerous places to stop for the night. I am not. I simply have no better options, so I must adapt and gain new experience without wasting precious energy on worrying.

I want to conclude this day on a sad note. As I settled in for the night, I saw my Vaska, who had emerged from under the bed of his own free will – for the first time. Its eyes were fixed on the jungle. I realised that it was time for us to say goodbye. At sea, rats run from the ship during a violent storm, and I only have this spider left as a passenger on board. I respected its wishes, took it in my hands and helped it get to dry land. I will miss it. I am alone once again.

When it got completely dark and the time was close to 23:00, the wind died down and the night grew completely calm, like it happens at sea occasionally. At times, I woke up to the sound passing boats, afraid whether their impact on the waves would compromise my position, but my fears were not justified. I remember only one boat, which was travelling at high speed but without any lights, as it usually happens. Whether they were collectors or pirates is a good question. I had already seen the former – they were serious men with automatic rifles sticking out of the boat’s windows. The latter, however, will probably look just the same. I guess it is best to leave that question unanswered.

30 May, ~74 (1938) km covered.