February 6, 2007
Day 496
I woke up with a bad stomach illness today. I wanted to leave Belem, but I just couldn't. I tried walking down the street without me backpack, but I had to turn back after a few blocks because I was too tired. Besides that, there was no way I was going to survive a bus journey of any length without a bathroom.
Craig headed out to Fortaleza this morning. We were planning on splitting up anyway because he wanted to get back into surfing but I wanted to go to a resort town nearby. We even had our last game of Scrabble last night (he won, as usual). Although we traveled together for a long time and had many adventures, I think the main theme of our travels was boats. I started thinking about how many boat trips we took together and remembered forty-eight offhand:
1. Antarctic cruise aboard the Marco Polo.
2. Zodiac to/from shore at Halfmoon Island, Antarctica.
3. Zodiac to/from Port Lockroy in the LeMaire Channel, Antarctica.
4. Zodiac to/from Paradise Harbor, Antarctica.
5. Tender to/from Westpoint Island, Faulkland Islands.
6. Tender to/from Stanley, Faulkland Islands.
7. Boat up Rio Paraguay.
8. Canoe around Florida, Bolivia.
9. Hand-pulled ferry entering Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia.
10. Rowboat exiting Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia.
11. Paki-Paki up Rio Itenez from Cafetal to Remanso, Bolivia.
12. Canoe from Remanso, Bolivia to Versalles, Bolivia.
13. Riverboat from Versalles, Bolivia to Guajara Merin, Brazil.
14. Paki Paki across the Rio Itenez from Guajara Merin, Brazil to Guayaramarin, Bolivia.
15. Bus ferry across the Yata River, Bolivia.
16. Crossing the Beni River from Rurrenabaque, Bolivia to Buena Aventura, Bolivia.
17. Crossing the Beni River from Buena Aventura, Bolivia to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia.
18. Ferry crossings near Trinidad, Bolivia (can't remember all of them individually).
19. Canoe down Mamore River, Bolivia.
20. Private boat on the Mamore River to Santa Ana de Yacuma, Bolivia.
21. Iquitos to Santa Rosa Amazon boat, Peru.
22. Crossing the Amazon, Santa Rosa, Peru to Leticia, Colombia.
23. Tabatinga to Manaus Amazon boat, Brazil.
24. Crossing the Takatu River from Bon Fim, Brazil to Lethem, Guyana.
25. Power boat up the Essequibo River to Iwokrama Reserve, Guyana.
26. Power boat down the Essequibo River from Iwokrama Reserve, Guyana.
27. New wooden boat up the Potaro River toward White Man's Camp, Guyana.
28. Small aluminum boat up the Essequibo River toward White Man's Camp, Guyana.
29. Aluminum boat down the Essequibo River toward Chinese Camp, Guyana.
30. Bus ferry on the way to Mahdia, Guyana.
31. Power boat up the Potaro River from Pamela to Amatok, Guyana.
32. Backwards rowboat up the Potaro River to porkknocking camp, Guyana.
33. Tourist boat down the Potaro River to Amatok, Guyana.
34. Power boat from Amatok to Pamela, Guyana.
35. Bus ferry on the way to Mabura, Guyana.
36. Ferry across the Corentine River, Guyana/Suriname.
37. Boat up the Corentine River from Nickerie to Apoera, Suriname.
38. Bamboo raft down the Corentine River from Apoera, Suriname to near Siparuta, Guyana.
39. Dutch tourist boat down the Corentine River from near Siparuta to Siparuta, Guyana.
40. Rocky boat up the Corentine River from Siparuta, Guyana to Apoera, Suriname.
41. Washabo boat down the Corentine River from Apoera to Nickerie, Suriname.
42. Crazy boat taxi across the Maroni River from Albina, Suriname to San Laurent, FrenchGuiana.
43. Power boat up the Maroni River from San Laurent to Maripasoula, French Guiana.
44. Power boat down the Maroni River from Maripasoula to San Laurent, French Guiana.
45. Catamaran on Atlantic Ocean from Kourou to Iles du Salut, French Guiana.
46. Catamaran between Islands, French Guiana.
47. Zodiac to St Joseph's Island, French Guiana.
48. Boat across the Oiapoque River from St George's, French Guiana to Oiapoque, Brazil.
We have parted ways for now but still could meet up further down the coast of Brazil...
Somehow I got out of bed for an hour to meet up with Juscelino for lunch again. All I could eat was some fruit and a bit of salad, but even this later proved to be too much for me as it came right back up. I couldn't accept that the delectable meal I had yesterday could have made me this sick, so I decided to blame it on the water instead. Just thinking about eating made me nauseous.
I spent the rest of the day moving between my bed and the toilet, with no energy to do anything other than sleep and stare at the ceiling. Luckily I still had an ample supply of antibiotics on hand.
