We were woken at about 5 in the morning by the thunder storm that had been brewing all yesterday afternoon and evening, the ferocity with which it broke was amazing, not only the noise which was immense but the fact that each roll of thunder shook the very ground and bed we were sleeping in! After a while it subdued a little and we were able to get another hours sleep before getting up for breakfast at 7. We ran down the path in the rain to the main lodge where we met Mutante and played Dominoes until breakfast was served. Delicious coffee, papaya, crackers and guayaba paste along with fried eggs to put in some bread made a very satisfying start to the day, even if the weather did not. We were supposed to go on a trek through the jungle this morning but it was still raining hard and Mutante said there was no point as everything would be hiding so we postponed it until tomorrow morning and went to visit some people who live in the jungle instead. We got once more into the little canoe and started off up the river and hadn't been gone more than 5 minutes when the rain started again and we hid under our raincoats which did little to protect us really and by the time we reached a small gathering of houses we were quite damp!! Not that it mattered much as it is so warm here we weren't cold at all but were eager to get on shore and look around. Before meeting the locals, we were shown various fruits growing on trees and Mutante even scrambled up one like a monkey to get a fruit for us to try. The cacao we had had in Costa Rica and was as tasty as we remembered, Guyaba we still weren't keen on as it has a slightly dry taste unprepared but our favourite was a fruit we went indoors to eat as you needed a spoon to get the succulent flesh out which was super sweet and quite filling. We also saw a fruit which at first we thought was Lychee but turned out was a pod full of little seeds covered in a strong red paste which Mutante proceeded to use to paint Andy's face with!! Finally he took a fruit that he was to use later on to make a tattoo with and we headed into the small wooden house/shack where 3 brothers lived. All the houses are built on stilts to cope with the changes in water level throughout the year and this was no exception. We went up the steps and stood on the verandah eating our fruit and watching the rain which was getting harder and harder while Mutante talked to the men who all seemed very shy and kept giving us furtive glances from the safety of the doorway. Eventually one of them beckoned us in and we couldn't help but smile to see the inside of their living room which contained a hammock, 2 tv sets and what looked to be an almost brand new yamaha keyboard! Through the noise of the rain pelting down we watched as they took it in turns 'playing' which amounted to them playing one of the synthesiser beats and randomly bashing the keys to make a frightful row, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely! When the rain started to die down and we'd had a glass of deliciously cold sugar cane juice (which was much sweeter than the juice we'd tried in Cuba) we headed back to the boat to row next door to Mutante's sisters house which in the dry season you could have walked to but now there was a small lake blocking the way. When we arrived we were greeted by various chickens and ducks sheltering from the rain as best they could and went up the steps into the house. There was very little in this living room either, 2 tv sets again, a table and 2 small children doing their homework before getting picked up by the school boat which would be along soon to collect them. Mutante wasted no time and was soon preparing his fruit on the table which he used to draw a tattoo round Andy's arm, this has to 'cure' for 20 mins or so as the rain would wash it off and so meanwhile his sister made us a cup of tea which is brewed from the wood of a tree and with a little sugar is a very pleasant drink. She also gave us some of the wood to take home with us so we could make our own and we spent about half hour waiting for Andy's tattoo to dry, looking at the children's homework and watching Mutante's sister prepare some fish her husband had caught that morning. Eventually we were on our way again and headed back to the lodge for some lunch before getting a bag ready to take into the jungle as that is where we were going to spend the night! Bug spray at the ready we climbed into the canoe again with various supplies and travelled for about an hour before stopping at a little shop on the river to buy some candles before carrying on. We reached a secluded little spot under the trees, quite well hidden from view of the main river and followed a small trail for a minute or two before arriving at the jungle camp which consisted of a few wooden A frames which we draped our tarpaulin over and hung our hammocks from before setting about starting a fire. We watched as Mutante somehow found dry wood to use even after the thorough downpour of the last day and how he carefully arranged the fire to get maximum heat and intensity with which to cook dinner on. A simple arrangement of sticks allowed a large pot to be suspended over the fire in which enough rice to feed 10 people was cooking as 4 freshly caught Peacock Bass were speared through lengthways by wooden stakes and smoked over the fire. When it was all ready we dished up the rice and fish and sat by the remainder of the fire to eat what proved to be the tastiest fish we've had, a bit like smoked haddock but without all the annoying little bones, it was absolutely delicious and we were thoroughly stuffed when a 'neighbour' from up river came to say hello to Mutante before bidding us good night. As it was now twilight we jumped in the boat again to head across the water to where a few tree tops were just visible above the river. The reason to go here was to see the huge number of gulls which roosted here every night for the reason that there were many small fish at this particular spot in the mornings. You have never heard such a racket as these bird squabbling over position on the trees, all trying to cram on away from the water...they sounded exactly like Donald Duck when he is in a temper and if you can imagine 500 Donalds's raging all at once you will have an idea of the noise they created!! Sometimes they would all lift off into the air at once and fly round in a huge flock before descending and trying again until eventually after nearly an hour when it was quite pitch black they quietened down to roost for the night and we headed back to the camp. Making our way across the inky water with just a small flashlight to steer by was quite eerie but we made it under the trees safely and walked and stumbled our way back to the camp where we climbed into our hammocks to try and get to sleep. Apart from the ferocious termites which got our feet as we climbed in, most of the mosquitoes were kept out by the nets and after listening to the night sounds of the jungle for a while we fell asleep. I woke a few times in the night to hear various things creeping round about the camp and was more than a bit worried about snakes and spiders when I had to get up to go to the toilet in the deep dark of the jungle!!