Our first full day

We were supposed to wake up in time for a 5.30am sunrise trip, but wake up at 5.25 unable to join. Instead we sit on our veranda and see the most spectacular sunrise, all by ourselves, until it’s time for breakfast, which turns out to be lavish, featuring all kinds of fruits, juices, eggs, breads and cake. While we eat, Felipe outlines the day, which will be canoeing in the morning and in the afternoon a walk in the forest. There will also be a nocturnal boat ride to spot crocodiles.

Our group gets distributed between three rather fragile looking green canoes made of tree trunks. I look at this and decide to leave my iPhone in my backpack at the hotel. No photos. Off we go, crossing the river Juma, each with our oar, and soon we enter a magical landscape of shimmering dark water, reflecting the treetops above the water level. It is not much different from the landscape we saw when we came, but it is quiet and we hear the occasional bird call. We do not see any animals. It turns out we’ll be rowing for two hours and it doesn’t take long for Oswaldo’s legs to cramp - he’s sitting in the front - and my shoulders begin to ache. “I’m gettting to old for this,” he mutters, now at the longest point away from our hotel. We decide then that our afternoon is better spent at the dark floating pool with a caipivodka, and visiting a macaw and 2 parrots, which have been rescued by the hotel staff.By 8pm, when the nocturnal group is getting ready, we’re getting sleepy in our comfy cabin.