December 3, 2006
Day 431
Today started out with the long process of portaging everything over the rapids via a path on the side of the river. The big wooden boot couldn't make it up the rapids, so we carried a smaller aluminum boat over and had to make separate trips up the river. I went first with a prospector named Derrik, Rocco, who helps run the operation, and a bunch of fuel. It took an hour to get to the unloading point, which was still eight miles away from the main camp. I decided to stick around until Craig showed up. Meanwhile, Rocco started on the long walk to camp, and two porters showed up and each loaded two fuel jugs in their wicker backpacks. They would have to make the trek through the jungle for two hours carrying over 100 pounds each.
Smokey was brought up on the next trip, so I had to wait another two hours for the boat to go back down the river and return with Craig. By the time we were all there, it was getting late, so we decided to camp on the river for the night. We fished for dinner and set up camp in the flattest area that was somewhat free of fumes we could find.
