Floating in the River

Today was chosen to be a lab/organization day last week. And this afternoon was arranged to do the black water river float. Because of how tired I was last night I almost slept through breakfast, but I didn't. After breakfast it was off to the lab we went. I spent all morning entering data. Right before lunch it started to rain, so we pushed back when we were going to do the river float in hopes it would stop raining. Lunch was nice; I really like the tradition of having  a two coarse meal and one always being soup.  I spent the afternoon helping make an export file and correctly labeling the herbarium samples. It stopped raining about ten minutes before we were supposed to leave. We, as a team, had decided that we would all float in the river, but we would do it in our field clothes for a couple of reasons. First for protection. Second for warmth, and third because tomorrow is wash day. Wash day is one of the most important days of the week because it dictates when you get clean clothes and how long you must wear the same outfit over again. Since the station is down to just seven researchers wash will now be done Wednesday and Saturday. This has made everyone every happy.  However, this means I will not have all clean clothes before leaving, I will have some dirty clothes. Anyway, back to today, on the way to the boat we invited Miguel who works at the station. The boat ride was cold. We were all psyching ourselves up to go swimming at the end of the float. We went to the same place that I went fishing. At the beginning of the system the guide turned the motor off and we had to use two paddles . One paddle for steering, the other for forward momentum. I did a turn for a few minutes, but then let the guys take over. The extra rainhas swollen the river so much that the black river was brown so we had to go deeper into the system.  This meant that there were branches that were in the way of the boat. That is when I was told the most wonderful thing. I was told it is machete time! I was able to get the machete from the guide and use it. The guide told me where to cut then let me do it. The team thought it was a little creepy when I first took the machete and started to giggle from excitement and happiness at being able to use a machete in the jungle. They also thought it a little weird how much I enjoy using the machete. I did really good with it. It took me about 3 minutes to cut through a branch the size of my calf. The guide said I did a good job. I then let him finish. He then cut some more on that same branch, but in about 1 minute and in a very skilled manner. I could totally tell that he has had years of practice doing it. I hope that someday I too can have that skill. 

 After clearing the path we continued deeper into the water system. The water was brown then suddenly black. It was really hard to see the transition with the reflections.  The black is very similar to the color of swamp mud, but the water is also clearish. By clearish I mean you are able to see about a foot into the water. While in the Tiputiini you can barely see an inch into the water. The trees in the black water are just like what you would expect to see in a swamp. It  was really neat to see. After spending some time floating in the boat we turned around and worked our way back. Only the guide, T and I noticed when we had turned around. The way out was a lot faster than the way in. Once out to the Tiputini T and Z were quick to get their life jackets on and to jump in. M went next. I had to talk M. J. into actually doing it (she didn't want to because it was still chilly) but she would if I did. So I got all ready and jumped in. Yes, I did shriek a little like I always do when jumping in. The water was cold, but not Utah cold. The water, T and I decided, was like the warmest any of the reservoirs get, so not that warm. I like floating along with the current. I really liked it when I could feel the sunshine on me.  I floated for about an hour and a half. It was sunset and getting cold when M got out. Z and T were only in for about 45 minutes. M. J. was trying to swim to the boat, but had gotten caught in the current where it was really strong. The current took her to some over hanging trees. She was smart and grabbed a branch so she would not be pulled under the trees and water. I saw her having a hard time ahead of me and started to swim away from the current. I was only at the edge of the current but it still pulled harder than I thought it would or liked. I was able to break free of the current once I was down stream another100 meters from where M.J. was. I was very grateful to be in the middle of the river and happy to stay there waiting for my turn to be picked up. I was shocked at how far I went down the river waiting. I did not need any help to get into the boat, but everyone else did. Once in the boat it  was very cold. M.J. and I sat close to each other to stay warm and I kept my life jacket on as well for added warmth. Once back to the station we happily rushed to take a shower. The water was warmer than I thought it would be at first, but it still was cold.