DREAMING THE RIVER
THE SWEAT pours down our faces, aggravating bites that are blood-red from the relentless mosquitoes, and we have that conversation. “Is this ‘type 2’ fun, or ‘type 3’?” Debra’s question is a moment’s distraction from the sufferfest of dragging a fully laden boat through the bush in nearly 30 degree Celsius heat. Our present predicament, we conclude, may be better appreciated at some future point rather than right now. We’re on a ‘portage’ on a heavily overgrown trail beside the roaring River Kaitum. It’s hot and hard going, we are dehydrated and running daily calorie deficits, but the worst of it is the unyielding insects driven into a feeding frenzy by the constant sun and the chance of a free meal.
YEARS OF PLANNING
Our beginning, almost a week before, is in far cooler and more benign conditions. We are high in Swedish Lapland in the glory of mid-June, all of us equal parts thrilled and relieved to have finally arrived. Our trip is three years in the planning, and postponed for obvious, pandemic-related reasons for at least the last two. For David and
