Part 1- ‘Monkey Crisis’ of 2026 🐒🌳

Imagine sitting in an Amazon lodge room at night, tea in hand, deciding what to wear the next day after spending the evening drifting through the Amazon rainforest in Manaus, Brazil in a canoe and meeting a small alligator.

But to understand how we got here, we need to go back to the morning when our guide forgot his phone at the hotel on our way from São Paulo to Manaus in Brazil.

The bus turned around.Time disappeared. Boarding time approached.

A few of us sprinted through the airport and made the flight.

Five people did not.

The Amazon had claimed its first victims.

Fortunately, only their travel plans. 😄

As news arrived that the delayed group would reach hours later, a serious debate broke out:

Should the monkeys be postponed? 🐒

The Monkey Faction secured majority support.

The verdict was clear:

“We will do everything as planned.”

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the Amazon rainforest, the monkeys remained blissfully unaware that they had become the centre of an international diplomatic incident. 🌎😂

The rest of the day included monkey feeding, piranha fishing, a speedboat ride, tropical humidity, and an internal struggle over whether I should attend the night canoe ride.

I eventually went.

The canoe drifted through complete darkness.

It was peaceful.

Then our guide somehow produced a small alligator from the darkness — a strong comeback for a man whose day had started by forgetting his phone. 🐊

The delayed travellers eventually arrived.

The monkeys survived the crisis.

The alligator made a guest appearance.

And I ended the day back in my room with a cup of tea, wondering how a single day in the Amazon had managed to include airport chaos, monkey politics, piranhas, and an alligator.

But after travelling so much , I realised that travel brochures never mention these parts and which is exactly why they make the best stories, amazing memories and lifetime friends.

Contd .. for part 2 😁