It has been three days since we found the dugout canoe that
was sent to us by the river current. All bitten up by the elements, all cracked
open, missing its bow and stern, this once a beauty, looks like no more than a tree
bark resembled a carved canoe. But to me this ship wreck looked like a yacht! It
has had a long body and could fit us and our gear all, if we could just fix
it somehow. Surrounded by deep swamps and rising water up to our necks I could
not move the expedition forward. I had to use the river to keep east and for an
unknown stretch of leg until I find a dry land again, and I had to keep going. Being
in this lagoon for several days and in one spot was dangerous and I knew I will
be better off if moving deeper into the jungle. It all motivated me to find a
way to fix this beauty. So what did I have in my possession that could fix such?
Looking for my survival gear that I carry through I pulled out of my backpacks
all that could play a role in fixing this old lady canoe; Duct tape, paracord,
hammer, handsaw, multitool, knives and machetes. Suddenly all this gear that me and
my team carried all along proved to justify the backache we all suffered from.
We dragged the wrecked “once a canoe” to the shore rolling it over bamboo rails.
With each push or pull she made crushing noises and seemed to totally fall
apart. We needed to be focused and handle her with lots of care. Landing her finally
on solid ground we started building nails using local wood to carve wood-nails Indian style. Cutting, assembling, duct taping; we worked for two days to
put her all together again. What needed now was to seal her somehow. Here came
handy again what nature provides - a method used by the Amazonian Indians
throughout all generations; Clay! Excavating with our hands the reach mineral clay
along the riverbank we stuffed this green thick paste first into the canoe cracks,
and then covered the interior canoe, layer after layer, making sure we get a
solid body of sealed surface.
Not only that we used the clay to seal the boat
we also used it to seal our face skin from the exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet
rays that beamed on us with no mercy. Looking as if we just spent a time at a cosmetic
salon wearing a green mineral mask we made sure to capture this treatment
method in our cameras. Do I look like a clown or like my dear wife in one of
her beauty treatments…? Feeling protected as our grandmas always ordered
and also as our cancer doctor does… we continued our job till we had a proud
dugout canoe ready for us to jump in and continue the Amazon 5000 expedition.
How many days will this improvised canoe hold? I still don’t know. For now it
rocks! We all are in, our gear is in and we are heading southeast down the
river deeper and deeper into the Peru’s jungle plains.
We dragged the wrecked “once a canoe” to the shore rolling it over bamboo rails.
With each push or pull she made crushing noises and seemed to totally fall
apart. We needed to be focused and handle her with lots of care. Landing her finally
on solid ground we started building nails using local wood to carve wood-nails Indian style. Cutting, assembling, duct taping; we worked for two days to
put her all together again. What needed now was to seal her somehow. Here came
handy again what nature provides - a method used by the Amazonian Indians
throughout all generations; Clay! Excavating with our hands the reach mineral clay
along the riverbank we stuffed this green thick paste first into the canoe cracks,
and then covered the interior canoe, layer after layer, making sure we get a
solid body of sealed surface. 
Not only that we used the clay to seal the boat
we also used it to seal our face skin from the exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet
rays that beamed on us with no mercy. Looking as if we just spent a time at a cosmetic
salon wearing a green mineral mask we made sure to capture this treatment
method in our cameras. Do I look like a clown or like my dear wife in one of
her beauty treatments…? Feeling protected as our grandmas always ordered
and also as our cancer doctor does… we continued our job till we had a proud
dugout canoe ready for us to jump in and continue the Amazon 5000 expedition.
How many days will this improvised canoe hold? I still don’t know. For now it
rocks! We all are in, our gear is in and we are heading southeast down the
river deeper and deeper into the Peru’s jungle plains.
***One of the most common uses to the Amazonia clay is made
by the parrots that lick it daily in order to clean their digestive system from
poisoning elements exist in the fruit they eat.
MICKEY GROSMAN SENDS HIS BLOGS FROM THE AMAZON IN THE MIDST OF HIS AMAZON 5000 EXPEDITION
STREAMING IT LIVE VIA SATELLITE BGAN DEVICE
MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE KIND SPONSORSHIP OF THE SATELLITE PHONE STORE
SARASOTA FLORIDA
"WHENEVER"
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