Day 8

Day 8
I forgot to mention before that the guide changed midway through yesterday. Antonio returned to Manaus and now our guide is called 'Leo', with a non-English speaking companion 'Gino'. Like Antonio they are both just happy and friendly, loving the work they are doing and the lives they have here. From speaking to Leo and Antonio you get a real sense of history in the Amazon, the handed down lessons that become second nature to them all.

Another early rise to a to a fresh morning today. Just after breakfast we trekked for a few hours into the jungle to get to a spot to set up camp. Quite quickly it pelted down with rain again but this was quite welcome today, and whatever the weather the jungle just looks and sounds amazing. The trek was hard and long, through sodden terrain and I had the bag. Getting to camp was a welcome respite. The first thing we did was set up some lunch; chicken, rice and veg, all cooked over a fire and eaten off a big leaf with a machete-crafted wooden spoon. It tasted great. Apparently the different woods for the fire help flavour the meat as well.

Next we built our shelter for the night, or rather Leo and Gino did whilst we helped out on the idiot-proof bits. Seeing the way they worked with a machete was like watching an artist with a brush, or Ashley down the wing. They expertly built up a sloped, palm leaf thatched roof and tied up four hammocks underneath. Leo said that they were going to stay up all night and watch out for Pumas.

After lazing around for a bit we all nipped down into an idyllic waterfall and stream for a quick wash, whilst the two guides, incredibly, fashioned a bound step ladder and handrail for future visitors to the camp. This stream may be my favourite part of the entire trip. The gushing water runs down thick, embedded vines, almost like long hay, before plashing and collecting in a small pool, which rests comfortably on a well-formed alcove where a few people can sit. There is another trickling watergall which I used to climb up. The stream then runs through thick and varied trees, flanked by steep banks. The whole scene is partially dyed by a red substance, from the vines through the water and the rocks, and only partially lit through the thick jungle. The red dye is an acidic substance which keeps the mosquitos and leaches away. The whole of the concave and its blotching varied colour looked perfect, the mini-shower was only blighted by the Curse of the Clutterbuck Ear, which has since struck me half deaf.

In the evening we ate some sausages with rice, same spoon but different plates, and all washed down by Amazon water (which is orange but safe to drink, hopefully). We then settled back for the night, accompanied by a typically punitive thunderstorm. It was amazing to lie back in the hammock and look upwards as loud flashes of lightning lit up the entire scene for a split second, the different vines and leaves forming amazing patterns in the sky. Unfortunately Emma is a bit ill, I think its just something she ate. I'm finishing writing this in the morning, looking at the t-shirt I've pretty much destroyed drying on the fire having just woken up from my best nights sleep in a while. The storm and constant jungle noise, this time punctuated by ribbeting frogs, was almost hypnotic, lulling me into a sleep. As I write this the second day of the first test is just starting at Lords, I couldn't be further away. Lucky really as England's below par bowling attack was probably flayed to all parts of the ground (*Edit I was wrong this time, well done Ian Bell, but was only one test match out).