Last night we fell asleep to the rumble of the Panelas Rapids. In the morning our first job was to figure out a way around the half mile long, dangerous rapids. Roosevelt found a local man to guide his party safely past the rapids and we did the same thing. Several locals led us down a narrow side channel and helped us portage our canoes and equipment around the worst of the rapids. It took us about an hour to carry everything around.
We paddled on for the rest of the day and only encountered a couple sections of fast water. Our next major rapids is 40 miles downstream.
Jack and Hercilio caught 3 large piranha just before dark in the exact place we were all bathing a few hours before. It makes you think twice about swimming. However, it is really hot, and piranha bites are very rare. I think our chances of getting a fungal infection or a painful rash from poor hygiene are far greater than being bitten by a piranha.
