Days 4 and 5

After 2 nights in the jungle it was time to move on, this time down river. I booked a day of white water rafting on the Napo river. I have rafted before where the name of the game was to stay in the raft. Not so here. Our guide, an English guy turned native, spent the whole trip devising ways to get his mainly all female crew into the river.

First trick was to land the raft right on top of the massive boulders in the middle of the river. Easier done than you might think. The trickier bit was getting back into the water. This involved getting everyone to sit at the back of the raft so the weight just tipped the raft back into the water rear end first. Makes sense unless your one of the people right at the very back in which case it's time to take a plunge into the river. I am ashamed to say I was one of the first off on that occasion. Turns out there is no elegant way back into the raft. You are literally a beaches whale being hauled back in by your life jacket.

The next trick was not to bother with paddling in the rapids. Instead, we all stood up and balanced on the outer rim of the raft as we went down the rapids. I knew this was a bad idea but just went for it. Glad to say I stayed our of the water on this occasion!

For his final trick, we were taught how to take the raft for a spin. This involved everyone back in the back of the raft again so that the top of the raft raised vertically straight in the air and you just hung on as the raft span round and round. Quite funny for a couple of minutes but then what? You guessed it, back in the river. It was fun though and I laughed the whole 27 km down to our next stop where I was pleased to find hot water and electricity!!!