A trip down the Mamoré from Trinidad to Santa Ana, Bolivia with ten people in two dugout canoes.

At The Worst Possible Moment

July 4, 2006
Day 279

The big event of the day was the World Cup semifinal between Germany and Italy. Ax was especially interested in seeing the game. In fact, the only reason he stuck around Santa Ana today was to watch it. We found a restaurant near the hotel with a TV set… Read More »

Time To Sell The Canoes

July 3, 2006
Day 278

Patricia only had a few days before she had to head home, so she flew to Trinidad this morning. Craig and Louise decided to take the only other option, the “camioneta," a pickup truck that loads twelve lucky passengers in the bed and takes anywhere from six to twelve… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 9

July 2, 2006
Day 277

The boat continued to Santa Ana today. Shortly after leaving, it got stuck in the shallow river. Thus began the long process of turning around, going upstream, trying to push off the banks, measuring the water's depth with a high-tech bamboo stick, and throwing one's arms… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 8

July 01, 2006
Day 276

A boat finally came downstream today. We flagged it down, tied the canoes to it, and jumped aboard. Originally, just Craig, Louise, and Patricia were going to leave, but after we were all on the boat, everyone agreed to take the ride. We were told we'd… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 7

June 30, 2006
Day 275

Nothing significant happened during the day today. We saw lots of birds, including our first macaws of the trip. We also stopped for some swimming a few times in the relentless Amazon heat.

This afternoon, we stopped a little early… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 6

June 29, 2006
Day 274

Craig has been sick for awhile, and he decided that he needs to try to get a blood test this morning. Maybe it's nothing serious, but he could have dengue fever, malaria, or any other number of terrible diseases that exist in this region. He'll try to jump on… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 5

June 28, 2006
Day 273

There were lots of active dolphins on our trip today. They seemed to jump completely out of the water around us all day. We also passed a large group of storks and several capybaras. We found another great campsite in the afternoon with… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 4

June 27, 2006
Day 272

Today was almost the same as yesterday. We took it easy, swam, fished, and threw around the frisbee some more. Patricia and I attempted a couple different techniques for setting up mosquito nets for sleeping, but I don't think the elaborate bamboo pole setup that was… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 3

June 26, 2006
Day 271

Morale was pretty low this morning. The fact that we only had one canoe for a few days caused a separation in the group, and even though we were united physically yesterday, we still weren't acting as one big group. Several people were ready to call it quits and… Read More »

Mamoré Canoe Trip Day 2

July 02, 2006
Day 270

We tried to get up at dawn today, but the mosquitoes were still really bad, so we stayed put in the tents. Half an hour later, they were gone for the day and it was safe to come out. We left expecting to pass the others soon, but that… Read More »