A gentle breeze caressed our boat as we set sail on this amazing Amazon experience. We set sail on July 16, 2000 for the much-waited Amazon experience. After a brief delay in our departure due to a delay in the flight from Lima, we left the dock at 3pm. The amazon river is vast almost similar to a lake, and we sailed on it due north.  We noticed Iquitos getting smaller and smaller behind us while sitting on the hammocks that the crew had provided for us while docked. We had a nice meeting and conversation with the rest of the group, which included a biology professor from Rhodes College, a former student and psychology professor and her husband. The accommodations were definitely cramped. The cabins small and the beds hard. But the excitement and the build up of last two months made those concerns minor. The long feared mosquitoes were no where to be seen the first day and neither was the oppressing heat we feared we would encounter.  We watched a relatively uninspiring sunset and sat down for dinner at the preset time of 7pm which was to be dinner time everyday during our trip. Darkness soon fell and without TV, radio, or the other distractions of the normal day, we settled in the cabin and fell asleep.