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So we got up and ran, which was good because we are going to be laying around on the boat for 4 days. Ran all the dirt roads on the south? end of town, including down by where our boat (Baylon I) was moored yesterday. After cleaning up (cold shower felt good this time), we went down to the boat and at first we were told the camarotes (private, more expensive cabins - not the hammock space with everyone else) were all sold out. Hmmm… Determined not to take no for an answer, we spoke to a captain (or so we thought), who let us in a room and gave us the key, which seemed very strange, since he didn’t ask for our names, passport numbers, money, nada! I began to understand how obviously gringo we were.

Once we left there, we had a mototaxi swing by the hotel so we could get the Lonely Planet book and went to the internet cafe. Once there, we searched for hotels in Recife, Brazil - our chosen location for Carnaval, about a month ahead of time. We ended up booking the Best Western of all places, at about $100/night, about a third of what comparable places were going for in Rio for the same dates. Carnaval tourism in Brazil is big business. This place is a few blocks from the beach, so we’re stoked. Anyway, we printed our confirmation page (we’re not going to forget this time, like for the hotel in Lima) and went shopping for our boat trip.

The family that runs the internet cafe took a liking to us yesterday (they had the talkative Lorita bird) and told us about big water containers - we ended up buying two 7-liter bottles for 10 soles. We also picked up some Ritz crackers con queso, some oreo-style cookies, 2 gatorades, a lighter and another roll of TP for 15 soles. Back to the hotel for checkout and we caught a mototaxi for our big entrance at the docks.

As I expected, people fell out of the woodwork to try to “help” us but we carried our own stuff. Straight to our little room on the boat that was already an oven in the afternoon tropical heat. At this point it is 2:30 in the afternoon and the boat is supposed to leave at 5 or 5:30, can’t remember. Meghan immediately makes friends with all the kids. At about 6:30 the fun begins.

The boat still hasn’t left, but all of a sudden a group of people showed up at our camarote looking and sounding really pissed off. As it turns out, the initial news about the rooms had been correct - that is, we shouldn’t have the keys and we should not have moved in since someone else had paid for the room 3 days prior. One of our new found friends went to fight (only verbally) for our cause, and returned after talking to the captain to tell us that since we had the key, hang on to it, and the room is ours. We went downstairs to find a woman just livid with the situation. We ended up making a bargain for the room - we’d give up the key if we could keep our bags in the camarote. He put the icing on the deal by showing us his business card - which apparently he assumed was going to communicate to us that he was an honest guy. I think he was a professor at a tech college. While the negotiating was going on, we bought 2 hammocks. Keep in mind it’s now about 2 hours after our supposed departure time, and by this point, both decks for human cargo are packed. Like you wouldn’t believe.

Luckily everyone wants to help - so quickly, our hammocks are hung and we are settling into our new spots. Shortly thereafter, the boat begins to move. About 15 minutes later, the boat jerks backwards suddenly and everyone starts panicking and grabbing life jackets. We were a bit freaked out since last night at a restaurant they had a crappy overdubbed and remastered version of Titanic playing on the TV. As it turns out, there are some shallow spots in this part of the Rio Ucayali and we found one. Lucky us!

After the mayhem subdued, someone fired up a DVD of 80’s music videos and cranked it to a ridiculously high volume level. I got to know my friend Michael (Peruvian) very well, he spoke a bit of English but mostly he helped me with my Spanish. He even took me to the restaurant on board the boat and bought me a Sabor ORO soda. Which tastes just like Big Red, only yellow. Or should I say gold?

Michael needs financial help with his project to build a house for orphans here in Peru. Since I had already told him about the Peace Corps, I mentioned that he might contact them with his project ideas. We exchanged email addresses so hopefully I can help get things rolling for him. Michael told me that in Peru (away from the Lima area), girls are often pregnant at age 13. He also mentioned that under Peruvian law, women’s rights are guaranteed, but at home, things are subject to machismo. After our soda, I crashed since they turned off the lights in the restaurant and killed the DVD and sound system. Thus began the night of hell.