Today's installment of my Adventures in the Amazon articles is up at Gadling. In this article I share my experiences trekking in the jungle, which, as you can imagine, was quite a different experience from zipping up and down the river in a boat.
It was a few days into my Amazon cruise before we actually stepped foot onto solid ground once again, but it was well worth it. Trekking through the jungle was quite the experience, with the dense forest closing in around us very quickly. We had to break out the machete at times to hack our way forward, despite the fact that there was a semblance of a trail there. I imagined what it would have been like for explorers visiting the region in the past, dealing with the thick foliage, not to mention the heat and humidity. I even said something to one of our companions about how the Spanish Conquistadors must have felt in metal armor, traversing the jungle, as we were hot and sweating in our quick-dry, microfiber high-tech gear designed to make us feel as comfortable in these environments as possible.
The best part about our treks was seeing the diversity of Amazon life around us as we walked. There were birds and monkeys and unique plant life aplenty, and while we saw much of that from the river skiffs, for me personally, there was no better way to immerse yourself in the jungle than on foot. You certainly wouldn't want to get lost though, as you'd probably never find your way back out!
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