Day 4. First Trek Through The Jungle.

The goal was to be ready to go by 7am. That didn't happen. We were up early, but it just took everyone a long time to get going. We had breakfast on the boat, most of the same stuff from the day before. We were told to load up on calories because we wouldn't be stopping for lunch today, or any other day for that matter. Lunch would be considered all the snacks we had bought like ruffles and cookies and crackers. We also had plenty of Gatorade bars for an energy boost. Hydration was the most important part of today because none of us were use to the humidity or the heat so we had to replace all that we lost with water and Gatorade. I'm not much of a Gatorade drinker so I had a tough time taking down anything but water. I knew that Gatorade would be helpful, but I just didn't put that many scoops into my bottles.
It may have been around 830 when we finally were ready to start trekking. We met some local people right before we were under the canopy. They were great, very nice and excited to see us. Isaiah gave a little kid a pair or booties from his culture, it was so cute!
A lot happened during this day. We were told it was going to be the toughest day. Everything was going smoothly, we were learning about all sorts of things in the jungle from our guides Shirley and Pene. They told us all about different plants and insects. Butterflies were everywhere and every single one as pretty! Ray was obsessed with them! All through the trek the A-team was being photographed so it was kinda weird at first. I never knew if I should look at the camera or keep doing what I was doing. After awhile I got use to it and became a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. There were so many intense hills and climbs on this part of the trek. I should also mention that Shirley puts on the Jungle Marathon every year and it is a stage race through the jungle that lasts alittle over a week. Ray competed in it a few years back so he knew exactly what we were in for. We followed the trail from the Jungle Marathon and had a water stops at the same places the race did. I couldn't believe that people actually run on this trail for a race, thats how steep these climbs and descents were. Everyone was good up until the first water stop where the Bomberos filled up our bladders and bottles. I apparently wasn't drinking enough because my bladder wasn't empty. Marshall was mainly in charge of monitering our hydration so he just told me to keep drinking and drink more. It was tough to force water when I really wasn't thirsty, but it had to be done.
As the day went on it continued to get more humid and the temps warmed up. Thank god we were under the canopy and in the shade. Alittle while after the first water stop Isaiah started to feel the effects of the humidity. He started to slow down and over heat. We stopped so that the rest of the A-team could distribute some items in his pack so he wasn't carrying so much. While we were sitting, someone yelled bees. We had to run down this steep hill to avoid being stung. It was scary at the time, but funny after the fact. Once we were out of harms way, we decided to let Isaiah lead at his pace and made sure that he was drinking enough. Someone also asked him about how many layers he had on. He had like 7... tights, pants, underarmor, tshirt. He is from the Yukon so I guess he was expecting some sort of snow storm. haha just kidding if you read this ;) After we got everything figured out he was good to go and we finished the trek for the day at the same point we went into the jungle at. It was a huge loop. We didn't get to the waterfall because we had to be back for a BGAN call at 3pm so we didn't have time. We headed back out to the boat to change and gather our stuff for our nights sleep in the community. The BGAN didn't work because it isn't made to get a single on the water, it has to be on land so we missed out first call. This meant that the next call had to go through because these students were counting on seeing us! We got boated back to the community and set up our hammock in trees along the beach. The sunset was beautiful, like nothing I have ever seen before. The sun and the moon were up at the same time. The President of the community cooked us dinner, which was fish and rice and manioc. We had to be careful because of the small bones. The fish still had heads, teeth and eyes. Kinda creepy at first, but I was starving and wasn't about to go to sleep without any calories, especially because I would regret it the next day. After dinner everyone pretty much just gets ready for bed and passes out because we have to be up at literally the crack of dawn. This time around I got some advice that in your hammock you can lay diagonally and you will get a flatter suface. This helped out a lot. Even though I spent most of the night curled in a ball because it was so cold! I wouldn't think that it would get that cold at night on the equator! Another side note: we had mosquito nets over our hammocks to prevent getting bit by anything during the night, but I am also taking Malaria pills just as a precaution!