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In Amazonas - 1998
In Amazonas - 1998
Jacek Pałkiewicz2006-06-18 22:36:03
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used as a hammock and a tent as well. Mr. Fixit had a highly-developed sense of humour. He often spoke in riddles and had planned a future expedition in which we would all go to discover the yeti. To hear him speak, the yeti would greet us all with open arms because we were such good company. When he was tired he used to withdraw into the shelter of his hammock-tent. Once there, he would engage in furious battles with non-existent insects. That evening he had pitched his tent in an uncomfortable dip in the ground and could not sleep. His fulminations at this piece of bad luck made everybody snigger. Gaetano moaned about something every night, yet he was the first to laugh at such inconveniences. He could even laugh about the "Colonel", whose snores reminded the rest of us of aircraft taking off and landing throughout the night. The "Colonel" strenuously protested that he had never snored in his life, but nobody believed him, least of all Gigi, who shared a tent with him one long, wet night.
The following day we intended to cross a vast tract of forest in order to reach another river. Amazonas extends so far that you can only really travel its length and breadth from the air. The disadvantage with this, of course, is that you don't get to enter the forest. Alternatively you can take the trans-Amazonas or the trans-Orinoco highways, making detours, which enable you to get glimpses of the real forest. Or else you can go by boat, chugging up and down the innumerable streams and rivers. Even so, one can live for years in Amazonas without ever being able to say that one knows it well. It is also easy to forget its dangers. I tock a quick dip before we set off that morning in a placid stretch of water away from the main current. When I emerged from the water, I looked in horror at my body which was covered, especially my legs, with scratches and cuts of every description. I immediately thought of piranhas but luckily the current was too fast even there for piranhas
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