At the start of the river trip I was hell bent on getting a dugout canoe. As we got further up the river I wanted one even more. When we anchored up for a couple days, I planned on getting one at this village. We offered a kayak for a dugout canoe earlier in the trip and they just laughed at us. We asked Danni, our guide, how long it takes to make a canoe. He said, “one month.” That explains why everyone had laughed at us. Then later we asked Danni if he would trade a canoe for a 3.3 hp mercury outboard motor and that made everyone scramble to find one. Then Danni said, “I will bring a canoe tomorrow.” So we agreed and the next day he brought us one, and we traded the 3.3 motor for a 16 foot canoe.
At this point the trip was a success to me! But there is more. The chief came by the boat after seeing Danni's new motor. He wanted to trade a large pirogue for a 15 hp motor. I don't think he understood that we live on our boat and could never use a huge boat like that. We traded some ropes for his paddle instead. It is a great paddle, well broken in and large! So now I need to practice using the paddle in the canoe so I can get around as well as the Indians. On the way out of the river the people who said no to trading a canoe saw we had one and also saw the kayak. They most have been thinking what did they trade for it. Now I am sealing some small cracks that are customary in these canoes, these cracks are filled with tar. I will pick out the tar and fill it with wood filler. I look forward to bringing it back to the States to go kayaking with Doug and Gram.
At this point the trip was a success to me! But there is more. The chief came by the boat after seeing Danni's new motor. He wanted to trade a large pirogue for a 15 hp motor. I don't think he understood that we live on our boat and could never use a huge boat like that. We traded some ropes for his paddle instead. It is a great paddle, well broken in and large! So now I need to practice using the paddle in the canoe so I can get around as well as the Indians. On the way out of the river the people who said no to trading a canoe saw we had one and also saw the kayak. They most have been thinking what did they trade for it. Now I am sealing some small cracks that are customary in these canoes, these cracks are filled with tar. I will pick out the tar and fill it with wood filler. I look forward to bringing it back to the States to go kayaking with Doug and Gram.
