The Amazon Brazil
Exploring
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Two rivers coming together.
From Julia: We awoke to the sound of the rainforest coming in through the open windows of our hut.
I need to add here that they are screened, and we had the added anti-insect protection of a mosquito net above the bed. After the usual delicious tropical fruit for breakfast, we set off for a day on the river. We cruised down the Rio Negro, past Manaus, to a point called the meeting of the rivers, which is where two different enormous rivers of differing color and temperature (the Negro and the Solemoes) merge to form the even more enormous Amazon River in Brazil. We didn't know what to expect and weren't expecting too much from waters merging. But it was an incredible sight, with one river like black coffee and the other like milk swirling together.
Meeting of the Waters
A little village girl at another village we visited on our journey.
We saw river dolphins in the river. The sky was filled with vultures and magnificent clouds. It's been our experience that when you book a tour on vacation, there's usually some optional extras. Today's was to go exploring in a speed boat instead of returning on the double-decker rather large river boat we'd headed out in. Luckily for us, we opted to go for it this time and after a scrumptious Brazilian lunch, we set off in a smaller, faster boat.
The small boat enabled us to take a different route home. We cruised many side tributaries of the Amazon. This gave us up-close and personal views of the jungle and many animals. Plus, the most unusual thing for me was seeing the many houseboats distributed along our way. I was not aware that so many people lived on the Amazon River.
A sloth we encountered on our travels.
Once we returned to the lodge and ate dinner, we were taken out in a very small canoe to paddle around the local shoreline and bayou, spotting animals.
The canoe was fitted with a powerful spotlight which helped us find our way through the thick water-covered bayou jungle.
We saw many critters, and when the light was turned off, we found ourselves in the very dark bayou surrounded by tarantulas. It was truly scary and fantastic at the same time.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Julia in our jungle hut.
Last night, while we lay in our beds, it rained. We were encased by the humid jungle air and our mosquito net and felt safe.
This was not just your average rain shower - this was a full-on tropical downpour. There was thunder and lightning and buckets of rain most of the night.
Here is a shot of our intrepid hiking group.
After breakfast, we went hiking in the jungle with our guide Yuri. Yuri is a native Brazilian, in his mid to late thirties, and extremely knowledgeable of the Amazon.
Here is a piranha the boat skipper caught, as none of us tourists had any luck fishing.
On our walk, he introduced us to many different plants and explained to us how the natives used them for medication and nutrition. It was extremely hot and humid on our walk; we were drenched in perspiration, but it was a fantastic trek. Yuri showed us how to climb and swing on vines, how to use a blowgun, and how to fire his native bow.
Our final excursion at the Eco Lodge was to go piranha fishing and caiman spotting.
Jungle Trek Video