Hello Everyone,
Yes life continues in the Amazon! The absence of my alarm clock going off this morning marked yet another week on my Brazilian calendar. I left home on Sept 7th, and arrived here on the 12th so near as I can figure it's been 9 weeks.
My regular readers know that I have been writing a novel in my spare time. This is one of a few hundred unchecked things that I still have on my bucket list. I am now writing chapter 11 and 12 with some modifications going on in the earlier chapters as the story takes shape. Please bear with me and I will work out the kinks! Here's the link for those who want to keep up:
http://080866kwn.blogspot.com.br/2012/11/the-congo-connection.html
Today, I managed to use a company truck to get my flat tire on my bike fixed. After that, I took a drive about 30 km east of here onto a winding jungle road. I stopped and went for a hike in a few different places, slashing my way through the palm trees with my machete. I had a little excitement at one point when I accidentally walked onto a large hive of ground dwelling hornets. For all I know, they were killer bees because Brazil has no natural bees, following an accidental release of Africanized Killer Bees in the 1950's. These bees unexpectedly swarm, killing whatever is in their path. I walked across a barren patch of earth to investigate and as I woke them up, I beat a quick retreat. Just as I was getting away from there, I spooked a large animal which crashed through the dense bush right near me. I froze, my heart beating at record speed. The animal stopped running in a few seconds and I couldn't tell if it had come towards me or away from me. As much as I considered drawing my machete and slashing my way towards the animal (NOT!), I slowly backed out of there and am glad to be able to tell this story from the safety of my hotel room.
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| As I investigated, swarms of large black hornets flew out of these holes! |
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| Wild Amazonian Killer Ants |
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| Wild Amazonian Killer Butterflies |
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| I came on to three buzzards in a tree and the sweet sickly stench of something dead. |
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| Wild Amazon Birds of Paradise |
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| I didn't know if this was a crab or a spider when I first saw this Tarantua crossing my path. He went into this defensive position everytime I got too near and he even jumped at me a couple times (I admit it - I squealed like a little girl each time!) |
