This was a random entry in my journal after several days in the Amazon, “…Pictures of the Amazon don’t really tell the story. Even film or video with all of the sounds can’t tell the story. I think a person really needs to be here to feel the heat and humidity, have all the sweat bees buzzing in your ears and bugs crawling on you to get the real feel of the Amazon. My clothes are all wet, the paper I’m writing on is damp, and the toilet paper is damp. The jungle is alive with beautiful colored birds and butterflies and plants. And as soon as you are enjoying seeing one, a six-inch flying beetle will strafe you, sounding like a B-52 bomber. It’s hard to get good pictures of the animals. They move a lot and there aren’t many large openings in the jungle. The sounds are really great. But you need to just enjoy the sound because you might never get to see what is making the sound. I’m enjoying it.”

Another journal entry from our fourth day in the Amazon, “Ron Weber’s watch quit working last night. He’s had a cracked crystal for several years, but the watch still worked perfectly. After three days in the Amazon, it quit working. Vicky (my wife) has had her camera for years and never changed the battery. She put in a brand new battery just for this trip. After three days in the Amazon, her camera quit working. Basilio, our guide, has a very expensive pair of water-proof binoculars, but he said that they now have a fungus growing inside the binoculars. Today, I pulled a hard plastic compass and some US coins out of my camera case. They all felt very clammy and sticky like they were deteriorating. This is really a harsh climate for many things. I decided to wash one of my undershirts. Everyone said that it wouldn’t dry. I said that I’d rather have it wetter and cleaner than drier and smellier. As I washed it in the basin, I noticed that the underarms were quite green. This was a brand new white undershirt at the start of this trip. After doing my best with a bar of soap, Vicky felt compelled to wash it again. Then Vicky noticed that my underarms had a red rash. I suppose there is a connection. The Amazon can be pleasant with beautiful flowers, butterflies, and birds, but it can also bite you, sting you, and rot you.”

Writing daily notes and keeping up my journal was a bit more challenging in the Amazon. I had to deal with wet paper, no electricity, and you never get away from where you are, even for a minute. Here, you can see my concentration being tested.

The Amazon jungle is an incredible tropical rainforest. I’m standing by a Ceiba tree. These trees are used to make plywood. It has a huge base with giant buttress roots growing in every direction. There were also tons of epiphytes growing on the Ceiba tree. Basilio, our guide, compared this tree to one of our California redwoods. The ceiba tree is not that tall, of course, but it does grow to some 230 feet tall and it is an impressive tree.

You need to be some 120 feet up to get a good view in the Amazon, as Vicky is in this photo.

This photo is our last night of the trip, back in Iquitos. We had dinner at Le Mason restaurant, overlooking the Amazon. I ate alligator for dinner and Vicky had chicken. Along with some good beer, we enjoyed our dinner and the end of a great trip to the Amazon jungle. Also note that we look none the worse for the wear...

This is the Amazon River one evening as we were on our way back to our camp. I’ll end our trip with this beautiful photo of the Amazon.