Great Amazon River Raft Race!

The Great Amazon River Raft Race! 180km (like 111 miles...), 4 days, blisters, sunburns, attacking mosquitos, and 5 friends still smiling at the end of it! Probably the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I will never think of the Amazon river the same again...

Amazon River waiting for us...

Hanging out at our hotel in Iquitos

"Casa de Fierro" by Gustave Eiffel (yes...like the Eiffel Tower) 

Pineapples

Bananas for sale

Yummy grubs! Yes - I ate these...kinda taste like bacon. 

Market in Iquitos

Piranhas

"Taxi" boat to the butterfly farm

Monkey-ing around

Toucan!

Snake!

Wild monkey hanging out

Caterpillar cocoons

Caterpillers

Animal from Dr. Seuss...?

Alligators!

Capybaras (large hamsters...?!)

Manatees!

Feeding the manatees

After our fun adventures in Iquitos it was down to business and off to the raft race! We were taken out to an island, 3 hours by bus upriver from Iquitos to build our balsa wood rafts. We had from 2pm til dark (or all night by flashlight...) The next day we would start the first leg of the race! Day 1 - 60km, Day 2 - 80km, Day 3 - 50km. Each night we would camp out in tents at a site along the river. No showers, no sleep, exhaustion, it was a crazy four days!

We were "The Jamaican Raft Race Team" 

Cheer: "Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it's raft race time!!!!"

Raft building day

Team lucky 13!

Getting our chairs ready for the boat

Rafts ready to race

And away we go!

Go Team 13!!

Resting at the end of Day 1

Team Amazonas!

Trophies

YAY to all the Peace Corps teams! Everyone finished :)

My blisters at the end of the race

Made it!

Cheers friends - all winners in my book :)

Had an amazing time - congrats to all who conquered the Great Amazon Raft Race!!! Can't wait to check out the show on: http://tv.esquire.com/shows/boundless (keep an eye out in early February/March for an episode about two guys from Canada who did the Amazon Raft Race with us!)