通往第一站Cuyabeno的河流又深又寬，很容易通行。但第二個據點 – Shiripuno Lodge – 附近河道蜿蜒、本來就不深的水中還堆滿雜物，使得航程驚險許多。
Rivers leading to our first station Cuyabeno were deep and wide, easy to navigate. But to the second station, Shiripuno, we had to sail through meanders. The rivers were shallow with lots of obstacles, making it a thrilling journey.
剛開船不久，其中一艘船就「觸礁」了。船長嘗試開足馬力衝出去，卻導致塑膠造的船底出現裂痕！船上很快就人心惶惶 – 不是擔心自己，是擔心身上的器材！
Soon after setting off, one of the boats got trapped by rocks and dead trees. The captain tried to turn up the motor, but it only created a crack on the boat’s plastic bottom. Passengers started panicking – not for themselves, but for their equipment!
導遊決定開另一艘船去接走船上的人。結果，前往營救的船也未能倖免。我乘坐的船正好是金屬製的，火力全開就輕鬆通過了，所以我才能一直在旁「食花生」。
The guide decided to “rescue” the passengers with another boat. However, even that boat was trapped. The boat I was on happened to be made of metal, so we passed through easily.
最後大家合力把船抬起，才安全地通過了。但由於我們在途中不斷停下觀察動物，又遇到這個小意外，用的時間已經遠遠超出預期。天開始暗下來，船底的裂痕又不斷滲水，導遊也開始顯得緊張起來。夜行動物開始出沒，周圍也越來越多飛蟲。導遊突然說：「你們留意一下，我聞到附近有野豬。」到底怎樣才能「聞到」野豬？！我嘗試了卻聞不到任何味道，只聽到一點聲音。
為了在入夜前到達據點，船隻開始加速。我們不斷撞入一群群的飛蟲中。飛蟲的密度高到感覺就像在風沙中一樣，不斷進入我的眼睛、嘴巴、鼻子。導遊開玩笑地說：「這是我們的前菜！」為了能夠睜開眼睛觀察四周，我們決定用圖鑒的透明塑膠封面擋在眼前。於是我們不斷看到撞到塑膠封面上在掙扎的飛蟲…
In the end, they tried to lift the boat and finally passed through. Since we kept stopping to observe animals, and encountered this little accident, we were way behind schedule. Night was falling and water was leaking from the crack, so the guide was starting to get nervous. Nocturnal animals and insects are coming out. Suddenly, the guide said, “Pay attention, I can smell a boar nearby.” How is it possible to “smell” a boar? I tried but couldn’t smell anything special, only heard some noise.
In order to arrive before night falls, our boats were speeding up. So, we kept bumping into swarms of insects. The density of insects was so high that I felt like I was in a sandstorm, with insects in my eyes, nose and mouth. The guide joked that it was our appetizer. In order to be able to open our eyes and observe the surroundings, we covered our eyes with the transparent plastic cover of our field guide. So, we turned out seeing loads of insects bumping onto and struggling on the plastic cover…
結果我們還是沒在天黑前趕到。周圍開始暗到看不到路，還下起大雨。導遊不斷用電筒給船長們打信號，標示出通道和障礙物，看上去相當危險。終於到達Lodge的時候已經伸手不見五指，比預定時間晚了2、3個小時。
In the end, we could not arrive before the night. It became too dark to see the routes, and it started raining. The guide kept sending signals to the captains with his flashlight, indicating the locations of routes and obstacles – which seemed pretty scary. When we finally arrived at the lodge, 2-3 hrs after the planned time, it was already too dark to see anything.
Lost Sapiens 迷失的智人 