A week prior to last Thursday we had a leaders meeting, which I was a part of, and we decided to keep the day that you are about to read about a secret. It was such a great idea and it made the day even more relaxing and adventurous for all of us. The river we were staying on in Nauta is actually the Maranon, a tributary to the Amazon. We had been told that we would not get to take a ride in the boat because the cost of fuel was too expensive. Many people still thought it would be a cool idea to try and find a tour or something to take us down the river, but only being in Nauta for two weeks left us with little time to explore. Somehow it worked out for us to take a trip down the river in the boat we were staying on, the following is the story of that day.
Every night for the time we were on the boat our squad was in charge of watching the boat a job we called night guarding. So in planning our departure from our dock we as leaders decided to take the 4-6 am shift so that no one would catch on to the surprise. A few of us female leaders got up at 4 to guard the boat, ferociously of course, and to make hot chocolate as well. Our departure time as we new it was anywhere from 5:30 to 6:00am, which in Peruvian time could mean anything. And to top that off Jorge, our Peruvian leader and boat owner, is very comical, so there was still a part of us that had doubt that we really would leave our docked position.
But have no fear, Jorge and his crew were like a well-oiled machine as they made the preparations to undock us. As the motor started running the leaders sat on the front of the boat with our hot chocolate and the sun starting to rise around us. We were enjoying every minute of knowing that our squad was about to have a great surprise. As we began to push off a few of us scattered to watch as people began to realize that we were really floating down the river. It was so cool to watch their reactions. Rachel was definitely the most excited, it was the kind of reaction that you hope for on Christmas morning, such great joy! Honestly her joy was just the beginning of the joyous day to come.
As the people who were really excited for the day arose (of course with every early morning and surprise some people have to be party poopers- go ahead sing the song… every party has a pooper that’s why we invited you…) we all gathered on the front of the boat. The first part of the journey took a little less than an hour. So those of us on the front passed the time by taking photos, singing Disney songs and watching the great scenery and poopy water pass us by. It was so much fun and so surreal to be floating down to the Amazon. We ended up docking at “The Headwaters of the Amazon” as my teammate Jen Fodor repeated in her announcer voice over an over (it was one of those sayings that never gets old). Our fabulous cooks made us pancakes and someone surprised us with Oreos to eat with or on the pancakes, honestly it just kept getting better!
After eating breakfast we got off the boat and headed into the jungle village that is at “The Headwaters of the Amazon” (please watch Rachel’s video about this day, Jen is on there saying that). There is a tower there that you can pay to walk up into to take pictures and look around, so we all did and it was very beautiful. After that we walked in the jungle and got eaten up by the mosquitoes, it’s the price you pay for a day in the Amazon Jungle, and so worth it. While there a few of us ended up at a place that sold coconuts for a sole, which is close to 33 cents. Rubie however had found a round fruit that she didn’t know what it was, so she asked the coconut man. As he proceeded to open it for the next ten minutes (it wasn’t ripe) he told us some strange fact about how women use the fruit for feminine hygiene purposes (leave it to Rubie to find the most random fruit). After that he began to share about the fact that he is a Christian and he ended up asking us questions about our trip. At the end after trying all of the jungle juices he asked us if he could pray for us, which is pretty unusual for us, but so awesome. So he prayed for us and we in turn prayed for him. A cool side note about this is that the day before I was talking to my dad on the phone and was pretty tired and down about living on a boat and with so many people and not feeling well. But my dad told me he was pretty confident that I would find someone the next day who needed to meet me and I needed to meet him. I believe this to be answered through meeting this man- SO COOL!!!
After talking and praying with this man and his family we headed back to the boat to find the most fun part of the day, our friends jumping off of the top of the boat into the Amazon. Things like this can sometimes be a stretch for me, but I immediately thought of reading Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli and how he encourages us to ” Jump First and Fear Later”. Honestly, when was I going to get another chance to jump off a boat into the Amazon River, probably never! So I decided that I was going to jump in honor of all of my River friends who challenged me, some without even knowing it, to take risks and live on the edge! So I jumped and loved every minute of it. On my last jump we decided to wash our hair in the river since the water we were using in the shower was the same anyway. So I jumped and put shampoo in my left hand and at the same time felt something bite my right armpit. I freaked out, already being scared of the piranhas in the water. Not knowing what it was I ended up taking my shirt off (don’t worry the water is poopy brown you can’t see anything below the surface). Turns out it was a twenty foot piranha who was eating my flesh and I nearly lost my whole arm. Or maybe it was just a baby fish with some sharp teeth; I know the first story is the best. After that I put my shirt back on just in time for our three-hour trip home. We were sad to leave but we were so refreshed from our adventurous time of swimming and jumping.
I think I had to ask myself a hundred times throughout the day where I was it was so surreal. So many people in the world will never get to experience the Amazon River or the jungle and here I am for the sake of Christ- WOW!!! It’s hard to believe that people really live in those places, in those huts but they seem perfectly fine with their lives. Literally for many of them their days are a lot of sitting around watching time pass by. It’s so crazy to see the way this part of the world lives.
To those of you that are making this year possible thank you so much for opening my eyes to creation and to the beauties that God has created around the world. I amazed every day at the vastness of God and His creations. I know there is so much more to come but I am so thankful for the here and the now… one day at a time as my Shelterwood girls would say. I am blessed even without this trip but I am so grateful for it, thank you, thank you , thank you!!!
Please take some time to check out my photos of the day, click on the Browse My Photos link at the top left of my home page.
