Monkeys, Dolphins, and Piranha, Oh My

Brazil was amazing and packed with a bunch of different activities, so I wasn’t able to write every day.  Here is what I have been doing for the past few days!

On my second day in Brazil, I set out on a tour of the Amazon by riverboat.  I had to be at the union at 8am, so I got up early to pack and eat breakfast.  We ended up leaving a little later than planned since a couple of people showed up late, but it didn’t matter too much since we didn’t have far to go.  We walked straight down the gangplank and onto a riverboat that was docked near the MV Explorer at the port.

Our guide introduced himself as Louis…  I think that was his name, at least.  His microphone was pretty staticy, so I missed a lot of what he was saying for the first couple of hours.  First we went out into the river somewhere to watch for dolphins.  There were only a couple jumping, but I didn’t see any.  The driver turned the boat around and we went in the opposite direction for a while.  Then they took us to January Lake where we went out on canoes for a while, just to ride around and look at stuff.  Then we saw some giant lily pads and a huge tree.  Along the way we also saw three or four monkeys hanging out in a tree along the path and a camen (like a small alligator) sunbathing near the lily pads.  After that we had lunch on the riverboat.  We had our own cook and the food was amazing!

There was a five hour boat ride to get us to our next destination and we were all pretty tired, so they went ahead and strung up the hammocks we would be using for the night.  I never realized how comfortable it would be to sleep on boat in a hammock, but I had a very difficult time keeping my eyes open.  Most people had fallen asleep long before we reached our destination because of the rocking in the hammocks.  About halfway there a heavy rainstorm came over us.  The crazy wind made it cooler outside and the rain felt really good.  It was over in less than ten minutes.

The boat docked beside a small village called Acajatuba.  We were able to buy things from the people of the village if we wanted, but we were mostly just there to look around.  After the teachers and faculty on the ship talking so much about being travelers and no tourists, I had a hard time not feeling like a tourist.  It felt a lot like we were just invading a town and looking at the people like it was a zoo exhibit.  That was the only part of the trip that I had a hard time with. 

We stayed in this village until it got dark outside and could go camen spotting.  We set out into the dark with our group divided into three boats and all the lights off.  The glow from the moon was really bright and lit up the river enough that we didn’t need lights.  The guide used a large flashlight to aim into the sides of the river to catch the bright orange reflection of a camen’s eye.  It took three or four tries before he was able to catch one.  It was barely 3 feet long and didn’t seem too concerned about being captured.  The guide talked about the camen for a while before letting people take pictures with her and then putting her back into the water.  After releasing the camen we went to another part of the river and spent a moment in silence listening to the crickets, frogs, bugs, monkeys, and other animals making noises in the woods.  It was a very interesting experience.  Even though it was dark and there was no one in the rainforest, it was still home to thousands of creatures.

We pulled towards a white sand beach and fireworks began to go off right above us to welcome to the shore.  There was a luau set up with amazing food.  The steak kabobs were my favorite.  We played tug of war, musical chairs, and several other games on the beach.  Then one of the guides tried to teach us a few Brazilian dances.  I say tried because I still can’t dance them, but most people could by the end of the night.

At the end of the night we retired back to our hammocks for the night.  I was out in moments and was asleep all night.  Did I mention how comfortable hammocks are to sleep in?  Some people didn’t think so, but I think they just didn’t understand the awesomeness of the hammocks.

The next morning we ate breakfast and then headed out to swim with the pink dolphins.  It was a little weird because the guides would go into the water with us and feed the dolphins fish, but then the dolphins would have to swim away somehow and just went through people’s legs.  It was a bit of a disconcerting feeling to have a dolphin graze your legs under water.  They also had some giant fish that we were able to feed by tying a dead fish to the end of a rope and lowering it into the water with a long pole.  The fish were about the size of Macgyver (my dog, not the TV character).  They also gave us some pretty necklaces.

                We rinsed off the river water and went onto our next activity: piranha fishing.  My boat didn’t catch anything, but I think one of the other guides caught a few.  Since the fish didn’t seem to be biting we went on a hike through the Amazon rainforest.  We didn’t go very far…  And everyone smelled terrible, so I tried to stay as far away from them as I could without being rude.  Of course, I didn’t smell bad at all.  The guide showed us Bird of Paradise flowers and gave us some Brazilnuts and some other stuff.  I got attacked by an evil insect.  I don’t know what it was, but it was vicious and stung or bit me on the shoulder.  I don’t like that bug.

                Our last part of the riverboat tour was to visit one more village.  We didn’t spend a lot of time there since everyone was really tired.  At the village we learned about the mantioc root and how they have to extract poison from it before they can use it.

                It was another 4 hours to get back to the ship.  On the way they said that we were able to buy the hammocks we had slept in and take them home with us for $25, so I bought mine!  Now I have the hammock that I slept in while sailing down the Amazon River!

We got back to the ship and a few of us took showers and headed toward the Teatre Amazonia opera house since it was free admission if we got there before 7:30.  We were halfway there when someone mentioned to us that we couldn’t wear sandals or shorts, so Rosemary would not be able to go in.  Two of the group really didn’t seem to want to go, so we split up and Rosemary, Caitlin and I met up with two other SAS students and headed towards the opera house, hoping we could get it despite our outfits.  Along the way we walked through the market place and got some steak kabobs at a street vendor.  It was awesome!

The line was all the way around the building when we got there.  We tied Rosemary’s cardigan around her so it looked like she was wearing a skirt and we switched shoes since mine would be less obvious.  She looked like she fit in pretty well…  But then I had to wear her flipflops, so I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in.  The lady who let us in to the opera house didn’t look twice at us.  She didn’t seem to care at all.  The opera was amazing, it was an orchestra concert and not a play and the music, building and everything about it seemed magical.  Afterwards we found a few of our friends and headed back to the ship for the night.

Today was the last day in Brazil and we had to be back on the ship by 3pm at the latest.  Matt, Liz, Josh and I went out shopping and walking around Manaus for the day.  We had been planning to visit the film commission, but after a couple of hours of walking we were convinced it didn’t really exist.  So we just went around souvenir shopping.  I bought a bunch of snacks to take back onto the ship, including a six-pack of coke!  I sent out some postcards and we were back on the ship around 1:00 for lunch.  The rest of the day I spent playing cards, watching the office and trying not to fall asleep in the hallway.

The last thing for tonight was the Brazil reflection where a bunch of people got together in the union and talked about their experiences in Brazil.  Things like how it affected them, how it is shaping them and their views on the world, and what they plan to continue or to try to do in more countries that we visit along the way.

Brazil was an amazing experience, but now that I am back on the ship I am feeling homesick for the first time.  I never realized how much people I know hug each other and how barely anyone does that on this ship.  I supposed that’s a weird thing to miss, seeing as I love my personal space so much, but I kind of do.

Anyway, we will be in Ghana in around 10 days (I think, I didn’t actually look at the schedule)!  But for now I am going to bed.  Brazil was a whirlwind adventure and I am completely exhausted.