Canoeing upriver…joy

August 28th, 2009: Today I went canoeing upriver, questioning my ability to manage my money. I no longer want to pursue the brief thought of buying a canoe and heading down the Amazon in its entirety. What a nightmare it would be if I took the wrong route and had to paddle upstream. Do people actually get joy out of paddling upstream? Of course there are a few selected individuals who would get pleasure from this…perhaps if you are the fitness guru, Tony Little or one of his followers, but not me. I could possibly do this trip down the Amazon if I had a longboat with a small engine, a seat with 100’s of those obnoxious massaging balls on it, but most importantly…two bought friends that can do all the paddling in case there were some engine problems.

I was exhausted, looking more like a paddling dead man as we made our journey up the river. The men with girlfriends conveniently switched paddling duties so they can relax and enjoy the scenic surroundings. If I knew this was going to be the case I would have found a temporary girlfriend in Quito before coming here. Everyone had girlfriends on our canoe – excluding myself and our guide that was busy doing the most important part…steering.

As time passed by, one of the girls must have seen how each time I paddled, I was putting less and less power behind it with my twig-like arms. She kindly asked me if I wanted her to take over paddling for a bit. At first I said no, but inside I was saying, “please don’t accept that blatantly obvious courtesy no and to just ask me one more time!” Time seemed to be moving as slow as we were. After 1000’s of calories were carelessly burnt, the girl asked me again if she could take over, where this time there was no hesitation as the word, “okay” slurred out of my mouth.

There was another canoe filled with a group of young Israelis who were obviously at one point in their lives in the military. Stopping underneath a branch, we held onto each others boats as we were looking at a tiny-tiny-tiny snake that was resting in the branches above us. A harmless gardener snake could have wrestled this snake to its death. The snake started to make its way to our boats hanging farther and farther down the branch as the Israelis quickly tried to move out of its way…then panic filled the boats as a man began to yell, claiming it spit something at him. Quickly we dispersed as I laughed watching what unfolded. Perhaps I should have been nervous…but it looked so small. I guess I don’t read enough Snake Fancy magazines or visit the zoo enough to know how dangerous the smallest things can be around the Amazon.