lost and found flexibility

Oy! lots to report
We´re in Apollo finally after an all-day (and a bit of night) transport extravaganza. Yesterday was perhaps the most epic of our 8 day backpack...we began at 6am breaking down camp in a small village on the Twichi river after going to bed clean from moonlit bathing in the strong, cool current. Just about everything you could think of about the day´s plans were up in the air...the possibilities ranged from going in a truck that had originally come to pick up empty beer bottles on the other side of the river to hiking 12 hours with the full packs we expected not to be carrying on our backs. It was waring to have so little to hang expectations on but, it all came together as usual. We crossed the rapids sitting in rubber inner tubes with our backbacks on our laps balanced precariously using a local´s cheap rubber flip flops to paddle while he pushed. The improvised system worked surprisingly well once we got going in ernest (that meaning we were done by 2pm having arrived on the bank at 9am). We then, after a true backpacker´s lunch (crushed crackers with tuna, mayo and mustard finished off with some crumbling cookies to complete the ensemble....a truly and fully appreciated lunch), began the amusing and arresting ride in an open Toyota truck bedstanding in our muddy chacos on all our gear. We had all bonded with the truck by the time we arrived at the convent that took us in at 1am....it´s given name is Tony (shortened to tone when times got rough and encouragement was needed) and I now can tell all you new england drivers that complain of an excess of potholes you ain´t seen nuthin....at times it appeared slices of road had been thrown off the side, other times we cruised through rivers that ran through the road without interruption and I got very well aquainted with the varying effects of different ditches and dips. It was immensely fun and on top of the excitement quite the upper body work out (as well as lower body for the stretches of road where we were told salten (jump off) and had to walk up behind our supposed transport). All around, an epic and euphoric day not to mention the full moon that lent us light all night thru.

But...that was just one day and I haven´t even described one bit of the land we traversed. We began with an excruciating wait in Pelechuco as we urged our drivers to sober up instead of join in the town-wide festivites (which literally is the entire town....every man...getting drunk...for DAYS). But, once we got going, every day we were hiking for 7 to 8 hours and every day we watched the scenery plunge to new levels and even with individual steps found ourself crossing the boundry between one climate, one ecosystem and the next. We began in snow and fog in the high andes fully layered with puffys long johns wool hats and rain gear and came through the dry foggy strip below to the awe-inspiring and mysterious cloud forests and then down to true dense rainforest rich with life that fluctuated and varied with our distance from the river. We spent a day in the most rural community I have ever experienced where we searched desperately for shelter from the sun, harvested and juiced cane with a local family, killed and ate chickens (never had such a direct source of my meat!), and played a wonderfully spontaneous and scrappy game of soccer with the entire town on the most tilted and patchy field I´ve ever encountered (talk about home field advantage but us gringos gave them a run for their money). We had a hurried strained morning at our camp down by the river when the sweat bees awoke at 6am and proceeded to swarm all in camp that had sweat essence....meaning everything one of us had touched....aka everything. In short, it was truly miraculous in the natural scenery and the challenge and rewards of each day made it a genuinely memorable trek. No group I could bring together would have made so much of the opportunity--the positive energy of our 16 is pretty unique and our collective tenacity made each day a treat.

I´m running into my lunch time so I´m gonna wrap this up but for those who are staying up at night worrying (echem, MOM) sleep sound, I´m having a blast. Today we rest, clean and restock on food for the next stretch...constructing our own rafts and using them to keep our momentum through the amazon marveling at all the spectacles around us.