Another Day on the River

Another wonderful day here in paradise!  We had some of the village fishermen out to show us a few tricks of the trade, met a nice couple paddling their way up the river, and removed some stitches from the chief.

The tide is high in the morning so were able to motor up a little river 2.5km.  That is most of the way to the village. Otherwise we walk through the jungle on a raised boardwalk. The ground is somewhat soft mud, so we are glad for the boardwalk. It is about 8 years old and made of wood. A few planks are missing, some have been replaced with bamboo, and some are not very rotten. The others you need to make sure you step on two at a time and stick near the edge, or they may give out.

This evening as I was cleaning the dingy, a couple with a child paddled by and asked if they could take a break. We invited them aboard and as it was dinnertime asked if they wanted to join us. They did.  We also happened to have another guest who spoke English and could translate.  It turns out the couple was waiting for the tide to change for the trip up river. They still had 2.5 hours to go and were very happy for the rest while waiting for the tide to turn. The conversation was lively with a lot of questions from our guests. One of the ones I liked was when they asked what river we lived on. They figured it must be a pretty big one, and the only big one they could think of was the Panama Canal.  In the end we were invited to their village where they wanted to present us with a chicken, a living one naturally. That is an adventure for another day. Tomorrow the local village is putting on a traditional dance with all the war paint and costumes associated with their culture.  It promises to be quite the event.

Mother has introduced sprouts to the local Peace Corps guy. I think he may miss some of the fresh veggies from back home. She even started him off with a few mung beans and alfalfa seeds.  He plans to try to get them to produce seeds and be able to continue having a supply.

The mosquitoes are doing pretty well.  Between Valiant and I the blood supply has never been better. I am pretty sure they have a tracking beacon on me and their GPS comes preprogrammed with my whereabouts.

With a great big smile,

Loyal