Swimming in the jungle
It´s still stifling hot here in theAmazon, but we took a break yesterday evening and traveled to Lago Quistococha for some swimming in the cool lake water. We went with our friends Margarita and Antonio to the lake about 10 miles outside of the city in the middle of the jungle. This was the place we went on our first date, so it will always be a special place for Mary Isabel and I. We didn´t see much of the zoo there because we arrived pretty late in the afternoon and didn´t have much time before dark.
I was surprised to learn that Mary can not swim. Despite all our efforts, she barely learned to do a flailing imitation of dog paddling. Fortunately the water isn´t deep and it´s pretty safe, though as the sun disappeared it became quite dark in the jungle and we were all pretty careful.
Afterwards we stopped off at the Belen market and bought a fish from one of the market stalls where it was quickly grilled then wrapped in a giant leaf along with some yucca for us to take back to the hotel. I don´t know what it was, but this fish was definitely on a diet because there was almost no meat on its bones. The little that was there was quite greasy. Still, after a long day it tasted great. As of this morning, it appears I didn´t pick up any parasites from the meal.
I´m not sure what we´re going to do today. I want to visit our friend, Gundrun, at her Butterfly Farm up the river. I´m not too excited about the butterflies, but I want to see my friend, Tony, the little monkey. Tony latched on to me on my first visit and wouldn´t let go. He even fought off the other monkeys who dared to approach too closely! I talked with Gundrun a few days ago and she said Tony is still there.
I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Feel free to write me at phil@texatrack.com. I´d love to hear how everyone is doing back home.
