Day 152 - Novo Aripuanã

(Ursula) After waking up, we noticed our transport was docked.

The name of the town was Novo Aripuanã. We jumped into the river for our morning shower. Novo Aripuanã was where the Rio Aripuanã joined the Rio Madeira. Rio Aripuanã was the River Theodore Roosevelt traveled in 1914, his expedition barely escaping death.

Today, I brought our journal up-to-date and desperately searched for a lost day. We somehow skipped September 29. Maybe the mosquito bites robbed me of some memory!

Novo Aripuanã has about 3,500 inhabitants, and about 3,000 more live in the rainforest surrounding it. We went ashore with the captain, who introduced us to the Mayor, barefoot and still in his pajamas. He said he was having the flu (to us, it looked more like a hangover).

He led us on a village tour and allowed us to visit the new hospital. Strangely, it was not in operation, but we saw massive medical supplies from an American foundation. The Mayor mumbled something about trouble getting medical personnel.

Later we visited an American pastor who invited us into his home and served us beer and cocktail nuts. Peter & Ute took advantage and consumed more than one serving. That was outrageous of them and very unpolite.

In the evening, we had fun with more games of Mau-Mau and more of the nuts the pastor had given them for the "road."

Tonight, the ship docked because of sandbanks and rocks. We feared a new onslaught of mosquitoes, but that was not the case. And so we all went for a refreshing dip in the river at full moon. It was reckless to do so because we didn't know if any Piranhas were around.Read more