Amazon Visit

Friday, January 28, 2011
Wow! We are already finished visiting Brazil and are now making our way back out of the Amazon. What a stop that was. Each day flew by faster than the one before and now we have about ten days to rest until we reach our next port which will be Ghana.

We arrived in Manaus on Sunday, January 25th. Dave and I got off the ship about 9:30 AM along with Carol and John and 17 SAS students to board a crude riverboat which would serve as our home for the next day and a half. John was the trip leader for this adventure and he told Dave and me that he didn’t want us causing him any trouble. I told him we were due to get even with him.

We floated down the Rio Negro to where it joins up with the Amazon. The Rio Negro is very acidic because of the sediment from the trees that grow in the rainforests along that river and the acid prevents mosquitoes from breeding. When we reached the Amazon we could see such a difference in the color of the two rivers. We could a see a straight line where the two rivers meet. One side was the color of black coffee and the Amazon was the color of coffee with cream.

Once we finished that we traveled back up the Rio Negro with our guide, Sid. He grew up in the jungle and knows how to exist in the rainforest but now lives in the city of Manaus and owns a jewelry store and guides tours. It was so interesting listening to him. He took us to visit the giant Victoria Regla water lilies. I can’t believe how big those lily pads were – about 4 feet across each one. We walked on a raised wooden path through the rainforest to get to a pond where the lilies are located. Saw lots of termite nests in the trees along the way. Once we reached the pond there was a dock with a good sized alligator laying his head on a log underneath. We also saw smaller alligators laying across some of the lily pads. Lots of sounds of nature surrounded us. Beautiful and amazing nature!

Next it was back on the boat for lunch. The riverboat had two floors and the kitchen and eating area was on the main level. There were also two restrooms each for men and women on that level. We had meals of very good fresh fish, chicken, beef, rice, pasta, rolls, potatoes, melon, bananas, fried plantains, tapioca, rolls, watermelon, and amazingly good ripe pineapple. There were two women who cooked the food and the kitchen was so tiny it is a wonder they could come up with such good meals. The garbage disposal seemed to be the back window of the boat and kitchen where I saw them tossing out into the river leftover lettuce, fruit, or anything else fish or other critters would eat.

As we motored along, a much smaller boat came along side us with a man and boy holding a sloth. The boy hopped onto our boat with the sloth and lots of the SAS girls took turns holding it. I was thinking “What had that doctor back on the ship said? Don’t get bit?” The girls were so excited until they saw bugs crawling on the sloth. But even then they still wanted to pass it around and hold it. I passed! Pretty soon the little boat pulled back along beside us and the boy hopped out with the sloth. I noticed they had a small alligator with a rope around its neck in the bottom of that boat too. Glad they didn’t decide to bring that up to us too.

After lunch we all went upstairs to a big empty area except for chairs sitting around the edge of the boat. Pretty soon the helpers were stringing hammocks and we were told we could nap while we cruised up the Rio Negro for about 4 hours to where we would tie up to a tree for the night. Everyone staked out their spot and we curled up in our hammocks for a rest. Rocking in the breeze was so relaxing. Once we reached our camping spot and got tied up it was time for dinner. After dinner was finished it was dark and time to go alligator spotting. A low to the water boat pulled alongside us and 23 of us got in without a life jacket in sight. Our guide was standing at the bow of this boat pointing his flashlight along the shore looking for alligators. The sky was full of stars and the moon was shinning bright. All of a sudden without any of us noticing, the guide bent down and grabbed an alligator and all of the girls screamed. It was a young alligator about two feet long. The guide passed it around for anyone to hold that wanted to. Most everyone held it for a picture but again I passed on the opportunity to get bit by anything. On the way back to our riverboat a fish jumped right into our boat next to the seat behind me. Another yelp from the kids behind!

After arriving back to our riverboat it was time for bed. We each had a hammock and blanket. I wondered what we would need a blanket for as it was very warm and comfortable. I used mine for a pillow. After lying in the hammock for about half an hour, I began thinking sleeping in a hammock might not be so comfortable for a whole night. But I laid there looking out at the stars and moon and listening to the sounds of nature and soon curled up and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom. It was quite a feat to weave in and around and under hammocks to get to the stairs at the other end of the boat. And then after I finished my business downstairs I had to do it all over again to get back to my hammock. By then it was chilly and I had to unfold my pillow and use it for the purpose of keeping warm. It was a memorable night to say the least.

The next morning we all woke up when the sun came up about 6:00 AM. I surprisingly felt very well rested after sleeping in a hammock all night. After brushing our teeth with bottled water and spitting overboard, we were told it was time to go piranha fishing. So again the boat that picked us up the night before for alligator spotting pulled up and several of us hopped in and off we went to our fishing spot. We were each given a bamboo pole with a hook baited with meat and into the water our lines went. Our guide caught the first piranha. He took it off the hook and showed us its teeth. He fed the fish a weed and we watched and took pictures as the piranha chewed away. All of a sudden another boat showed up and said that he needed our guide because Dave needed stitches. As our guide was leaving us I said, “Wait, that is my husband, I need to go too”. Dave, Carol and John hadn’t gotten on the first fishing boat as I had. It turns out that their boat forgot to bring bait along with them so they had to return to the riverboat to pick up some meat. Dave reached up to grab the meat and his thumb got caught between the two boats. So Carol, John and Dave stayed on the riverboat. I guess Dave took one look at his thumb with blood running and moved it around and thought at least it must not be broken. He then went into shock and John just about followed so Carol had to take over. She poured cold water over Dave and then the guide went to get medical supplies. It turns out one of the help on our riverboat was studying to be a doctor and was two years into his training. He has been working for a gynecologist. So in the middle of the rainforest our kitchen became a hospital. A hammock was hung and Dave laid there while Fabio stitched him up. Once that was finished the kitchen was set up again for breakfast.

Next we went on a jungle walk and learned about the ways of the Indians – what trees were used for making paddles for their boats, what plants and roots were used for food and medicine, what tree was used for making bows and arrows. We then visited a home and tapioca factory. The tapioca is made from the cassava root which is the main staple of food for the people here. We saw a Brazil nut tree and watched as our guide cut away at a coconut looking shell with a machete and inside were several nuts like we are used to seeing. Again he took that machete and cut away on the Brazil nut until he had the meat and all of his fingers were still intact. He gave us each a taste and I was surprised to find that it was the texture of coconut. Of course, it was fresh and hadn’t been roasted. Maybe the shell wasn’t as hard and tough as I remember them being after roasted. We were told there is very little prostate cancer in Brazil and it is because of eating lots of Brazil nuts. After having lunch here, we were off for a four hour cruise back to the ship. We arrived back to the ship about 4:00 PM just in time to shower and repack for a flight to Rio at 9:30 PM.

Saturday, January 29, 2011
Just came back from exercising and breakfast and heard over the loud speaker that anyone who went on a certain trip in Brazil was to come to the medical center. It appears that a couple of students that went on that trip were either scratched or bitten while holding a monkey. They will need rabies shots. I guess the kids said the monkeys were so cute that they just couldn’t help but hold them. Maybe they will listen to the doctor next time.

We had a special 5 course dinner last night to celebrate our January birthdays. Today is Carol Bender and Susie’s birthdays. Linda’s was the 14th and mine was the 20th. We had the choice of steak or the local fish and both were delicious. We had ordered a birthday cake but desert was included so we are having the cake at lunch today instead.