DAY 7. THE FLOOD

I woke up early in the morning feeling that my feet were wet. I did not immediately realise what was wrong. It turned out that it had been raining all night, and water from a section of the upper tent was flowing directly into the boat. By morning it had reached the level of my bed and up to my feet. I levelled the tent, pulled the reeds apart and started scooping out the water with a metal mug (which I had thoughtfully bought just for this exact purpose). The dawn came, and I kept scooping and scooping….

There was no end to the rain, so I decided to pack the hammock and set off for the day. It was all wet anyway. Well, I took a bath. And you could say that I washed everything in the boat. A fun fact (but not very fun for me): mosquitoes did not go away when it rained, they continued to bite even in the rain! I left with a joke on my mind: “And that Russian proverb says that water does not flow under the lying stone!” Heh. I wrapped myself in a lifejacket for the first time since the beginning of the trip to warm myself and put the raincoat on. Well, the river is waiting for me.

I gathered some rainwater to make my daily farinha. I will need my strength to make it to Contamana, the first major town on my way. By my reckoning, I should be there today. The lifejacket worked perfectly, the cold receded, and then I continued my little construction project. I cut down some flexible reed tops on the bank to try and make a roof over some part of my boat. Maybe I will manage to construct something like a greenhouse – with several arches to hold the tent.

Here comes Contamana, the capital of the Ucayali region! That means I have covered 250 kilometres. That is not much for a 7-day journey, but I have enough time. Small hills have started to appear on the way, and there seems to be less sand along the banks now. There could be worms somewhere. Yes, I keep thinking about fishing and finding something for bait.

The rain does not stop. I decided to go ashore for a hot meal and some shopping – I need to buy some nails for the tent. In the harbour I met a family waiting to sail in a tented boat. They were very surprised to see me. I must look like an alien here.

I was apprehensive that such a cold day would affect my health, so I stopped by the canteen to have some hot soup. For a whole week I ate only farinha and bananas, and fish only once. Can you imagine the pleasure I had while eating chicken broth with chunks of meat and boiled bananas? There is a special sort of bananas that are boiled in this region. The bananas taste like potatoes and have the same colour.

I found a hardware shop and bought a whole bag of nails in different sizes. That should be enough for all my needs! I also bought a head of garlic – it is just a little something to keep my immune system up when it is under attack. Now I can get on with my journey.

It may seem to some people that I have been spending too much time to construct such simple things on the boat. Someone else would have already made a bed, a roof, or whatever they needed. The point is that I live on the river and at the same time I am building my dwelling. It is part of my life. I have next to no tools, just the machete. Even the simplest tasks sometimes take a nightmarish amount of time. Building on the water is an adventure of its own. To get to the stern and nail a plank to it, I must move all the stuff to the bow and then put it all back. The circumstances are not the easiest, but they are fun!

Right before my eyes a big catfish was caught in a fishing net or something like a net. I was tempted to paddle to it, take it out and eat it, but I cannot do that. One day I will get a decent catch on my own, but for that I need to work hard rather than look at other people’s nets.

I wondered if I should buy a couple of metres of some braided net, as apparently this is the local method of fishing here. They only use fishing rods to catch some bait. I have always been against fishing nets and poaching, but just a couple of metres would not hurt the ecosystem much… I don’t know. I never want to say, “it’s a different thing”. Standards are standards.

I decided to try and drag the boat ashore with its stern to the bank, as there are two handles there and that might work. Then the bow, in theory, would serve to break the oncoming waves. I found a low bank, but it turned out to be quite swampy and nearly dragged me in knee-deep. There was no real land underneath. An hour and a half of searching brought me no luck. I must keep looking in a different place.

I found some dry land after all. I tried to pull the boat out stern-first and sideways, but I cannot do it. It is just too heavy. I decided to carry out a rather strange experiment: to moor sideways to the bank, so it is more convenient to get into the hammock. There is a chance that small waves will be reflected by the side of the boat and not flood it, as it happens with the stern up front. It is a fool’s hope, I know. One should not face a serious wave sideways, but I would like to risk it.

I tied the boat as tightly as possible – both the bow and the stern. It is weird that there are no mosquitoes yet. There are some rumbling sounds in the jungle, as if the forest is being felled. It must be crocodiles! I am just kidding; my sanity is intact so far. I explored the surroundings and came across a huge frog about the size of my palm. I could use it as bait, but I decided to let it live. I am far from the brink of starvation yet. Besides, my enemies are its enemies. Let the frog eat some mosquitoes!

I made a baby fish trap from a bottle with its neck turned upside down. It works fine on Russian rivers. Maybe it will work here, too. Inside I threw some small bugs, some farinha, several banana pieces – everything that, in my humble opinion, could be of interest to fish. Once again, I found that kind of tree with fruit that fall into the water where catfish eat it. I threw a bottom line there as well.

This time I decided to time when mosquitoes appear. My hypothesis was confirmed – they arrive as soon as the sun goes down, that is, at about 18:05. I have read that mosquitoes that carry malaria are a separate species and that they come out to hunt at night. Maybe that is what they are. Then it is time for me to hide from them.

I bundle up in my sleeping bag and appreciate the atmosphere around me. Above me, there are bright stars, as there is no light pollution here. To my left, there is the symphony of the jungle. To my right, there are gurgling voices of fish. It is a strange sensation. It is scarier to fall asleep this way. Now I am within easy reach of any beast, but on the edge of a river abyss at the same time. I cannot really put it into words very well.

I woke up to a speedboat passing by. I am lucky that these missiles do not fly just as fast at night. What happened to me? The side of my boat was slammed into the bank several times, and some of the mud splashed right on me. I had not taken mud into account. The roll was also unpleasant, and rocking on the waves was rough. I will not repeat this experiment with on-board mooring. If a heavy cargo ship passes against the current, what will happen to me then? A little mud is no problem, but I do not want to be splashed out of my own boat. Well, there is no point thinking about it now. To sleep.

21 April, ~49 km (282) covered.