I can outline the demographics about myself: My name is A.J. Rivera, I am of Mexican American by birth, in culture, and in nationality. I can tell you of all the nice people, of the many fishermen that have given me fish, of all the families that have opened their homes to me, of the native farmers who shared their planted sandbars, or of empty beaches full of nesting shore birds, terns, and nighthawks. It is something else, difficult, if not impossible for me to tell you why a fifty-four year old, obese, accountant would embark on a 3,500 mile kayak journey. It is a life time of passion that culminated in this adventure. The years preparation and research precludes it from being a manic episode, some who know me would argue that point. 
One day I´m on a computer in an office in Jacksonville, Florida. The air-conditioning cool and comfortable under the tinted windows of the building, and the bright florescent bulbs makes it impossible to tell if the wind is blowing, or the clouds drifting. Next moment I find myself in Rio Ucayali, watching the clouds pass in the reflection of the muddy river. Carried across with the wind, my laughter mixes with the screaming parakeets and the honking of horned screamers. Many times I have laughed at myself and ask,”how did I get here? “ Occasionally a kingfisher will answer with a rattle of a laughter. It all seems so absurd, but so real, invigoration, and above all alive. 
I put in at Puerto Ocopa, Junin due east of Lima. The first one-hundred miles ran fast. The river was turbulent and treacherous for a sea kayak. In the past eleven hundred miles, the river has widen and slowed making it perfect for a touring sea kayak, The rotomolded Polyethylene Current Design, seventeen foot kayak is well suited for the abuse handed out by the river. The unique design, and the strong blue color, is guarantees to bring out a hundred and one questions from the locals who are impress by the canoa de platico, that to them reassembles and airplane. There is no comparison between sitting in an office, and sitting in a kayak that is drifting slowly and is being carried gently by the Amazon River’s current towards the Atlantic Ocean. 
Did you know that Pink Dolphins are quite territorial? A pod of the dolphins protested to the intrusion of blue kayak into their feeding zone. They first let me know of there objection by rushing the kayak from the rear, and blowing out louder than normal. Bubbles surfaced under the kayak, a sign, a warning. Twice, the splash of a dofino broke surface next to the cockpit startling me, and a tail of water in my face was beyond belief. “The gray dolphins are playful, but the red ones are vicious. They will upset your conoa,” so I recall a fisherwoman’s words of caution. Who know, maybe by the time I reach Belem, in Brazil, while I watch the sunrise over the Atlantic, I will know why I decided to forsake all for a journey. You can follow along on the trip in my blog at http://kayakaj.blogspot.com Ajr. |