The Amazon will kiss your soul and then kick your ass.
3 days 3 nights.
Birds that soar high and birds that prey low.
Animals that need one another to survive as much as they seek to devour each another for that same survival.
Flora that can save your life by first pushing you to the brink of taking it all away.
Surrounded by a symphony of sounds at every turn, meant to welcome and warn, seduce and repel, and with the sweetest power to mesmerize even the most wary into the deepest of sweet dreams.
This is the Amazon.
In all of its enchanted glory, you must take heed. The Amazon is not meant to be your friend. Its sole responsibility is to prepare you for what life may bring. To strengthen your resolve. And in that, when you are determined to fly the coop, only then can you and She align, with the dearest respect, the deepest appreciation, and the most profound knowing that in the end, you’re both the better for having had each other.
3 days 3 nights in the Amazon.
I swam with pink dolphins, fished for Piranhas, ‘caught’ a caiman, walked amidst monkeys and frogs and tarantulas and snakes.
I stared at the wonder of birds in flight.
I closed my eyes and listened to the flapping of our boat against the lillies on the water. The water dripping onto itself as we sailed by.
I stayed at a swanky lodge for the Amazon with Tempur-pedic beds and chef prepared meals.
And still and yet, the Amazon remained her wild self.
The Amazon at night is pitch black, until your eyes get acclimated to the darkness, at which time all of the trees come into focus giving an eery silhouette of everything that surrounds you.
Have fear.
Our tour’s planned midnight walk was not accompanied by me. I opted for the safety of my netted room against the backdrop of open air walls staring at me with piercing eyes.
My fellow travelers, however did, returning with videos of poisonous snakes slithering in front of them, tarantulas crawling on trees ahead, large frogs burrowing in holes directly under their feet. Only guided by the light of the full moon. #IPass
I arrived as a tourist, but I left as an Advocate. Supporting the preciousness of all that is and makes up this mysteriously wondrous place. Respecting the experience with a greater understanding of the complexities that make up all that She is.
Thank you for sharing your resources with me.
For choosing to keep me protected, knowing I mean you no harm.
Maybe again we will meet.
One day.