Amazon adventure

My next adventure in Brazil was the Amazon. But before the Amazon riverboat exploration began, I needed to fly to Manaus, via 4 separate flights. In the end, I did make there alright, although our last connection was delayed and they had to hold the plan for us. Overall, we were quite impressed with the reliability of TAM airlines and the quality of the airports.

Our first stop on our riverboat in the Amazon was to the Meeting of the Waters: the place at which the Rio Negro and the Amazon River meet. The Rio Negro looked like Coca Cola and the Amazon looked like chocolate milk. Do you like my drink analogies? Anyways, the two rivers do not mix because of their differences in density, temperature, velocity, and pH. The picture above shows this phenomenon.

Later that afternoon, we explored and saw massive water lilies, caymans, and monkeys. We then went on a boat ride and as we were going along, kids in canoes paddled quickly and caught up to us. What we quickly realized was that they had snakes, sloths, and caymans for us to hold. It was freaky. They wanted money for this little spectacle. One of the conflicts in these countries that I am sure we will all encounter is when to give money and when not to.

After being confronted by those children, we went on to fish piranhas. Sadly, I didn’t catch any but others did. Then our guides went into the water catch some caymans. As you can see in the picture, we got to hold them. That night, we slept in hammocks. It was close quarters and more comfortable than one might expect. The following morning we went on four-hour trek through the jungle. One of our guides, Jozef was leading the way with his machete. Rumor has it that he was a former jaguar hunter. They showed us so many plants and trees that can be used for survival. There was a tree that yielded water when you cut it. There were a couple trees with milk that can satisfy your hunger. There was the plant that yields the Vick’s medication – it smelled quite good. There was a straw whose oil can be used as insect and jaguar repellent (sadly, no jaguars sighted by us). It is amazing all the resources in the rainforest – the Indians who have survived all these years in these woods are so full of knowledge.

That afternoon, we pulled up to a beach. This beach was on the Rio Negro (so it had the Coca-Cola-colored water, if you have forgotten). Seeing that I hadn’t had a shower in the past couple days and my skin was plastered with bug spray, sunscreen, sweat, and dirt, I was desperate for a shower. This was the next best thing. I ran into the water with my shampoo and soap and cleansed the best that I could. It was so refreshing, even if it was the same water that we threw our leftovers into. Gross, I know. But, this is one of the few “roughing it” trips that I am going on. I am just glad it was at the beginning so I can truly appreciate the future hotels.

For our last day in the Amazon, we visited some villages. The best part about it was seeing the kids. But, it also was sort of weird, how would you feel if strange Americans came into your village and walked around holding the hands of your kids while taking pictures of your houses? It’s not to say that they weren’t happy to see us though, especially because we bought their handicrafts. I just wish that I would have remembered to bring my gifts for the children, like stickers and balloons, but I left them on the ship. Seeing the villages were amazing. We saw a traditional Indian performance at the second performance and it was quite impressive. I had the opportunity to dance with them. It was nice finale to the Amazon.