The Amazon Trails

We were living in the jungle, practically. Our everyday friends were monkeys, an amazing array of birds of every color imaginable and well, of course, the caimans. Humidity was very high, so we were always sweating. Whenever we looked at a map, we would get static at how much ground we have covered and yet, how much more was yet to be.

They were probably ---now in retrospect--- the best times, the best years of my young adult life. We managed with what we had, which was the very basics. A sleeping bag for each of us, a backpack, mosquito repellents, malaria pills, and plenty of water.

I tried to keep a diary, but the pages got so mixed up, I didn't even know in what sequence they would have belonged to. Still, we needed to put something down in writing, the entire experience was absolutely unique. The countries we "visited" were sometimes a total surprise to us, going from some Papiamento-speaking nation to outright English or Spanish. What do you mean we crossed the border? Well, we had...

Still, the Amazon was our kingdom, from the Iguazú Falls to the Matto Grosso to Belem du Pará, that was all we saw for what it seemed like years rolling over and over and over again. We did have a fantastic time. I remember one particular time in French Guyana we stopped at some small town named Kroukú which it turned out to be one of many spacial stations France had all over the coast. The children of the scientists were all--- the majority anyway--- spoiled brats that had way too much time on their hands and whatever came their way from some other place, they would find it the greatest thing next to pot smoking. So, when we got there, we suddenly got the attention---a much needed one indeed---of all the young girls that just loved us. I mean they just couldn't have enough, even to the point of fighting among themselves for our company, finding in our accents the best thing in the entire world. As anybody could imagine, we were literally in Rome. And we acted like emperors. They let us have anything we could possibly want. They would buy us clothes, feed us, take us places and invited us to have dinner at their parents' houses that were just as fascinated and curious as their lovely daughters. Needless to say, I was having the time of my life. If there is such a thing as Paradise, that was it. No doubt in my mind whatsoever. Why would I want to leave a place like that? It certainly didn't look as if we were ever going to over-extend our welcome, but we knew better. After all, we could always take the same route back if that were to happen. It didn't. I never found out one way or another but I really believe that some of us left our genes behind, it was a time for procreation, and our hormones and stamina were at the order of the day. Today, it could be nice if that fact came to light. at least for the sake of knowing.

But we needed to keep going; the world was waiting, and we didn't want to be too rude...