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Introduction As the tans fade, and the mosquito bites disappear, my memories of the Peruvian Amazon Expedition are slowly changing into snapshots of happiness, which I believe will be preserved as clearly as photos in my mind, in all of my Fire’s minds, for life. We met, almost as if for the first time, at Heathrow. Although having met at the briefing weekend, it had been three months since we had last spoken properly, but almost straight away it seemed that the Arowana Fire, also known as Fire B, would get on well. The sky in London was a picturesque blue, I recollect, mirroring our excitement and anticipation. All we could talk about were our expectations. Little did we know that the trip would not only fulfil, but also exceed these expectations – although perhaps in unexpected ways. The three flights taken to get to our destination passed in a haze of non-sleep and glorious sunrises –the first Peruvian dawn we saw while setting down in Lima was a striking red, blue and green amalgamation – and soon, having passed over acres upon acres of magnificent jungle vegetation, we were in Iquitos, at the very beginning of our expedition. The heat when we descended down the airplane steps and onto the cracking tarmac below was blisteringly humid; it seemed the acclimatisation process was going to be difficult! The day spent in Iquitos for our Fire consisted of our completion of the swim test, a meal, where we all bonded over exquisite Peruvian cuisine, and, of course, shopping – which was a slightly odd process in Peru as we were, at that point at least, unused to the pushy street sellers and the bartering process. On the return journey ‘Para dos soles por favor?’ became our main Spanish line, however! As we were yet to realise, our time spent in Iquitos was a mere gentle introduction to the expedition, although there were difficulties even in Iquitos, with the tuc-tuc’s (like rickshaws with motorbikes attached to them instead of bikes) rushing around constantly – around half of the Fire was nearly ran over during our time spent in the city! San Martine, the tribal village situated within the Payaca Samiria National Reserve Park, where we would be spending the next three to five weeks exploring, was our next destination. We had stayed at a hostel in Iquitos the night before we boarded the boat that would take us to San Martine, and this stay also became the last night that some of us would sleep comfortably in a bed for a whole five weeks! Even so, at the time this was of little significance, and the boat we boarded, known as the Eduardo Ocho, was magnificent. A huge old-fashioned metal construction, it was crudely beautiful with age, and our expedition party had a whole two floors to itself. With our hammocks swinging gently in a line from its beams, we could watch as the jungle breezed us by, and bemoan the fact that the majority of us had been stuck with the rubbish green net hammocks instead of the good ones. On the roof we watched out for freshwater dolphins, tanned and chatted, and when it got dark, looked to the sky for shooting stars. Many of us had never seen such a clear sky as the Amazon beheld, with the Milky Way even being identified. The boat journey lasted a little longer than planned unfortunately (although, even though we were knackered, on the second boat journey I remember Fire B being particularly awake and buoyant, who knows what we kept laughing about), and by the end I think we were all glad to depart; finally making it to San Martine at the ungodly hour of 4am. After catching a few hours sleep, and a more than edible breakfast of egg rolls, courtesy of the immense San Martinian cooks, it was time for us to start the first phase of the expedition, Canoe Phase. Canoe Phase Fire B’s canoe phase was somewhat unique from the other Fire’s. It being our first phase meant that we were given the opportunity to take a completely different route from everyone else. We were to journey up the Yanayaquilla River, to “The Lost Cocha”. The term cocha (lake), was actually deemed incorrect by the guide who told us that our destination was simply a pond… But even so, it was the first time BSES had explored that region, perhaps the first time any Westerners had, so we felt privileged to be given the opportunity. After exiting San Martine, we were plunged in straight at the deep end – as usual. We were going to have to paddle to our first camp! Equipped with varying sized paddles, we were split into groups of the