The Amazon Adventure

I was to report to the Union at 4:50 a.m., as you know the previous night I got back to the ship around midnight. At that point I thought to myself what is the point of sleeping for only 4 hours? So a few of us just stayed up all night and talked. I was in Group B which consisted of 60 people. We had to split up into 2 groups and then we walked to the buses which were waiting for us outside the boat ramp. The bus ride to the airport was about 45 minutes long. The flight was at 6:40 and we had a layover in Brasilia with a flight at 9:10 which took us to Manaus. Once we arrived in Manaus around noon we took another bus ride to a boat dock which was about 30 minutes away. There were many fishermen standing around the boat docks and watched as 60 Americans were rushed onto boats decorated with red white and blue balloons. This area was also very dirty; I had to walk over a dead cat and had to walk around little children in ragged clothes with no shoes. In order to get onto the boat I had to walk up this very unsteady ramp which crossed water filled with garbage and again smelled like urine. At first the boat was cute, and I looked forward to spending the next 3 days on it. (we were called the Anacondas and the other part of the B group were Jaguars) There were dancers who welcomed us with hats and necklaces. Everyone then proceeded to the second deck where we found hammocks stowed across the roof planks. This is where we would all be sleeping. We then walked back down the steep stairs and ate pineapple and watermelon as we watched the boat leave the dock. The boat tugged down the river where we would see the Meeting of the Waters, where the black waters of the Rio Negro meet the brown waters of the Solimoes. It was interesting to see the color of the water change at a certain point. I have never seen water that did not mix, that just stays totally different colors due to its density (just learned this in Oceanography). After that we visited the giant Victoria Regia water lilies. They we so big a small alligator could lay on them, which we saw happen. On that short hike I spotted a monkey, a sloth, a colorful caterpillar, and a woodpecker. We then hopped into motorized canoes and went fishing. No one caught anything exciting, just a few sardine fish and some other small fish that I can not recall the name of. It then got dark and mosquito’s swarmed our skin. Yes I had 100% deet on but apparently I missed my ankles and lower back. But that is why I am on Malaria medicine. After we had enough of the bugs our guide, Ennie, wanted to catch a jacares (alligator). We putted down the river along the edges in search of alligators. It was then that it finally hit me, “I am in the Amazon,” I thought to myself how awesome this is to be floating along the Rio Negro in search of alligators! Ennie finally spotted one and jumped off the canoe to catch it. He then let us all hold it and take pictures. By the time we got back to the boat everyone was tired. It had been a long day. I passed out in my hammock around 9:30.
Everyone woke up with the sun and attempted to get out of the hammocks. This was no easy task. My knees had locked up because you can only really lay in one position in the hammock- straight and on your back. I never sleep like this and so my knees locked up and it took me a few minutes to be able to bend them. Other people’s backs and necks were in pain. The hammocks were so close I had one person’s head on my hip all night and someone else’s feet right next to my ear. Everyone ate breakfast and then hopped onto the motorized canoes again and went for a trek in the forest. The only wildlife I saw was a huge grasshopper which some people thought was a scorpion... And I only saw 2 flowers that were pink, everything else was green shrubbery. It was 30 students stomping through so I’m sure if there were animals, they were all scared away. We walked 5 feet and stop for 15 minutes while our guide would explain something and then walk another 5 feet and stop. We were only there for 2 hours and then left for lunch. I was disappointed about the degree of difficulty involved with the trek. I was ready to hike 5 miles and see crazy animals but that did not happen. We were supposed to go on another hike the next day but a bunch of people complained about the bugs and sweating so we didn’t go. After lunch we visited the Terra Preta community where we learned about their lifestyle. The men would go into the forest for 18 hours at a time collecting wood and producing rubber products out of them. We got to visit the school which looked new compared to all the shacks surrounding it. One of the classrooms had a huge flat screen television which they used for satellite classes. The government funds all the school programs and tries very hard to get as many children involved as possible. We then proceeded to the arena where SAS students played soccer with the locals. They were extremely skilled and fast. It’s pretty cool that I can say I played soccer with Brazilian people. The games lasted all afternoon, almost until dark. We got back in the canoes and Ennie told us we were going to have a surprise. We arrived at a beach with fireworks going off and Brazilian dance music playing. We had an amazing cookout on the beach followed by musical chairs and tug-o-war games.
We again woke up with the sun the next morning. The sunrise was amazing, wish you all could have seen it. That morning we visited a manioc-producing community and observed the people as they prepared Indian pancakes. Manioc is a root which looks like a potato, from this they make flour which is used in most of the foods. We got to sample the Indian pancakes and acai which I mentioned in my Salvador blog. I could tell this acai was much fresher than what I had in the town of Salvador. At the village they added tapioca which made it have more texture. It’s delicious and I am going to want it back home but it is very hard to find and is expensive. It is hard to embrace the idea of people actually living like the people do in these small villages. They live very simple lives consisting of preparing food, playing soccer, making crafts to sell to tourists, and some how making enough profit to stay alive. I wish my life were that simple sometimes. After saying goodbye to the village family we went piranha fishing. Only one person on our boat caught one, it was not that exciting. After lunch on the boat a few of us jumped into the middle of the river. This was very exhilarating because I spotted a dolphin a few feet away and there was a possibility that piranha’s were swimming around. The water was really warm in some spots and cold in others. When I floated and only a thin layer of water covered me, it looked like I was swimming in iced tea. The color was an orangey brown, not too appealing. Later I learned the toilets flushed right into the river. Either way at least I can say I swam in the Amazon! We got to lounge on a beach for a while and then the boat started heading back down the river. At this time most people took naps. That night was the most fun. We docked at a really nice resort where a show was put on for us. Probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. The locals dressed in native attire- feathers and fruit- and danced around the stage. There were fire breathers and just outrageous costumes. After the first hour and a half they invited people on stage to dance so of course I was one of the first people to jump up and dance in the front row like a fool. I had the time of my life, danced the whole night away with the locals. It went downhill from there. We left for the airport at 11 p.m. and we did not arrive to Salvador until noon the next day. Many people got very sick and it was just a miserable time.
It is nice to be back around English speaking people. While in the Amazon and in the airports the locals all spoke Portuguese and I always wanted to know what they were talking about. They probably felt the same way about us and speaking English. It’s just frustrating when you can not easily communicate with people.
Overall the trip to the Amazon was a success, just a bit disappointed about the hiking part, but pleasantly surprised about the beach cookout and dancing. This adventure will forever be on my mind.