Race rules

So, we talked to Mike Collis today... here´s the deal:

We´ll be going up to Nauta on the 19th, after a ceremony and speeches.

We´re not allowed to do any work on the raft until the 20th, when all teams will be provided with materials and are given 3 hours to construct the rafts. That means 8 5-foot balsa logs of approx 8 inches in diameter, woven plant rope to tie them together, nails and twine for the foreigners who don´t trust the plant rope (but the locals say that nails are useless in balsa, they just fall out). We are allowed to treat the wood with paint or varnish the logs, but it has to be done within those 3 hours.

Each foreign team will be provided with local workers to help them.

What we put on board it up to us - we can take anything, so long as it doesn`t give us more propulsion (ie no sails). We can make whatever seating we want, take any kind of cooler or container that we choose to put water and stuff in.

We all need to have gloves, sun hats (as large as possible), a machete on board. We can buy foam here for the seat pads, but I packed some with me so if my luggage ever arrives we shouldn´t need to buy any. (Continental gave my bags to Lan Peru once they arrived in Lima, and now Lan Peru has lost them. Grrrr!!!!) Don`t forget to pack as much of the necessary race stuff in carry-on luggage as possible, in case they lose your luggage!!!!!!!!

Martin and I are going to go to the local village where all of last year´s top teams came from. We met somebody who says that they will probably be friendly with us and might let us borrow their rafts and show us how to make good rafts. Hopefully that will work out!

Lili, just let me know when your flight will arrive and I will meet you at the airport. If things go sideways and you get there on an earlier or later flight for some reason, we´re staying at the Hospedaje San Cristobal on calle Prospero, a few blocks west of the Plaza de Armas. A motortaxi costs about 5 soles.

Your 15L water container may come in handy if we decide to carry our own water on the support boat, but we can buy 5L water bottles, so it probably isn´t worth the hassle to bring.

There is a cheap little hotel very close to the airport... I forget the name, but if either of you have a long layover and want to sleep in a bed, it`s only 20 soles for the room and 1 sol each way for a taxi (equals about $7). I will send you the address sometime soon, I don´t have the info with me at the moment.

It´s really hard to get small change here in Iquitos,and almost everything you buy is with small change, so try to withdraw soles from the ATM at the airport and use the 100 sole bills to buy small things at the airport where they can break the bills and give you change.

I had a good time poking through the gift shops at the airport... it`s interesting to be able to compare prices and quality with the stuff that´s sold in the towns.