Amazon vs. Congo

In part two of HOD, Marlow spends a lot of time taking the boat upstream to meet Kurtz. His travels reminded me of when we went to the Amazon in 9th grade. We traveled a lot by boat through many rivers and I can relate to what Marlow describes, even though some things are very different. 

I noticed his descriptions talked a lot about being closed up in the river in an obscure environment and many times covered up by fog. He feels trapped and with nowhere to go, and travelling upstream makes this feeling a little bit grander. From what I remember, our trips were very illuminated and the jungle was kind of welcoming us instead of falling over us. It set a nice background for the trip and kept its distance from us, unlike in Marlow's river. 

Also, the river wasn't as dark and penetrating as it was in HOD. It was very clear and the sunshine made it even more pleasurable. But there was one time, where we got lost for three hours and had to travel at night, when I felt kind of like Marlow. I couldn't see where we were going and the river, which was once our friend, became our worst nightmare. It seemed menacing and full of obstacles like dead branches and floating pieces of wood. Sure, we weren't exploring virgin and treacherous territory nor were in danger of a native attack like the Company was, but I was equally afraid we were never going to see daylight again. We were finally rescued and all of us felt like we had not touched land in three months, even though we had been on the boat for seven long yet entertaining hours. We had laughed a lot during the whole thing and managed to keep our heads up, and that made it seem less of a hassle to our entire trip. 

Finally, when we reached the hotel we were going to sleep in, we felt like Marlow reaching Kurtz's trading post, but obviously it was a little bit more kept up than Kurtz's cabin and had less native inhabitants menacing us. It was a fun experience, and like Marlow, we got to explore corners of this earth we had never dreamed of, and at the same time learn more about ourselves as individuals.