We stopped at a village and had to walk through a wet area before we got to where the people live. It is the rainy season from December to June and the river will rise several feet depending how much rain falls. The guide pointed out high up on the trees the water line from last year. They had so much rain that they were evacuated by the government. After the water receded they were allowed to return. The people in this village have a shop set up to sell the goods that they make. A lot of the stuff was made from natural resources found in their environment. I was looking for a little doll that a co-worker asked me to get for her. I found a really nice one, but did not buy it as it had very colorful feathers on it and they said that is came from native birds. Semester at Sea is encouraging us to not buy anything that is made from using animal parts and I don’t know if I could get it into the USA through customs. Therefore, I purchased a doll made from gourd looking things that come off of the Calabash Tree.
The people of this village also put on a demonstration of how they gather rubber from the rubber trees. They make a cut low down on the tree and a milky white substance starts to flow out from the cut. They catch this milky stuff in a cup and pour it all into a pot over a fire. They keep turning it and turning it to shape it into a ball. They had some finished balls there and they were kind of like basket balls. Anyway up until 1910 they would sell their rubber and were quite successful although the buyers of rubber would require a certain weight for the ball and tell them it was not heavy enough to cheat them out of being paid the correct amount. Sounds like a typical white man scam. In 1910 the British came into the rain forest and harvested 900 plus seeds from the rubber trees and planted them in Asia and that is where most of the rubber is produced in the world today.
Our guide told us we had about a 15 minute walk to another village where we were going to have lunch. We followed a muddy footpath for at least another 30 - 35 minutes and it was very hot and humid, before we came to the restaurant. We even had to walk through a cow pasture and skirt around the cow pies.
The restaurant was on stilts and the food was delicious. They depend solely on their produce and animals for food. The only things they buy in Manaus is clothing, shoes and tools. They take their produce usually on Thursday to the market to sell. They are able to harvest a crop every three months and there is one three month period where they are unable to do anything because of the high water level. The guide said that is why there are so many children in the village! All of their homes, shops, churches and restaurants are on stilts.
After our lunch we had to get back on the river boat and travel about 2 ½ hours to the Luxury Eco-resort. We got there about 3:30 PM and they planned to take us piranha fishing and alligator hunting at 4:30 PM. Phyllis and I declined to go on this expedition, but the people that did participate said it was fun. It was dark by the time they returned and then it was time for dinner. We have been eating A LOT on this trip and it has all been really good food.
Our room at this resort is also on stilts and seemed to tilt towards the lake in the middle. It was very hot and humid and I could hardly wait to take a shower and get ready for bed. It was hard to figure out the remote for the air conditioning and so it was pretty cold sleeping. There was only a sheet on the bed - no blanket and I had charley horses during the night.
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