During the month of April here in Iquitos, it rains a lot. With that come the flooding of our backyard. It doesn’t just feel a bit sloshy when we walk; we literally paddle around in a canoe. So. Much. Fun. Our backyard that we once knew so well suddenly becomes an unexplored jungle. I’m not just saying that in order to give a child’s point of view, I’m being serious. We are able to paddle far away from the familiar property and discover greenery that we didn’t know of before. We hear bird sounds that wouldn’t normally be close to our house, and we pick camu camu fruit from the low branches. Sometimes when the canoe gets stuck in the plants, we grab on to them and pull ourselves to a clearing. Oh, and sometimes we jump in the water.
But I am leaving out some crucial information. It’s not a peaceful journey with a few calm people paddling smoothly, it’s multiple children wanting to change seats and touch the water. Plus, it’s not only humans wanting to take a ride, it’s our dogs too. If they don’t make it on board in time for the launching, they will swim out to us and desperately paw at the sides of the canoe. At the end of every exploration, our clothes are soaked and the other girls are telling us to hurry up so they can get their turn. So naturally, we went in the canoe many times this season, but it never got old.
