The current began to accelerate and the dull roar of a large rapids was audible 1/4 mile from the falls. We surprised a tapir swimming across the river and got some great photos of it before it scrambled out of the water and disappeared into the thick jungle. We landed on the right side of the river to scout the rapids and found a 10 foot falls that would require a short portage. Paul and I crossed to the left side of the river and found an easy portage. We radioed the rest of the team to tell them about the easy path that we had found, but they decided to stay on the right side of the river and hack a trail through the forest. We quickly unloaded our 4 Sea to Summit 120 liter Hydraulic Dry Bag backpacks and carried them 30 feet across a rock shelf.

After 5 minutes we had our canoe loaded at the base of the thundering rapids. We sat in the shade and watched the rest of the group complete the portage for about 40 minutes and then they were finished we hopped in our canoe and met up with them so that we could continue down river together. Paul found a nice pool to lie in and let the cool water wash over him for several minutes.

The heat is really intense here and from 10 AM to 3 PM the sun really beats down on us. We stopped early on a large sandbar because we don’t expect to find large sand beaches on the Rio Roosevelt. We are very close to the Roosevelt and with any luck we will reach the Roosevelt early tomorrow morning. Paul and I startled a small caiman shortly before reaching our camp, it darted into the water as soon as we noticed it. The animals are amazing. The biodiversity here is hard imagine. Every day we see new things and I look forward to seeing what awaits us tomorrow.