Floating the Amazon with the Walkers

So, when we found out we were heading to Brazil I made Jake promise me that we would take a trip to the Amazon jungle. After our Pantanal trip I was worried that our Amazon trip just wouldn't stand up to the Pantanal. But I was wrong. They're two AMAZING, very different places. Which one do I like better? I don't know because I loved them both and I would do them both again.

Our first day there we flew into Manaus. It was a lot hotter, busier, and dirtier than I expected. To be honest I was starting to get cold feet, because I didn't love Manaus. But we did manage to visit the historical theater there. It was very pink, so Jane loved the outside. Inside there was one room that was more beautiful than the rest. It had carved crystal chandeliers in multiple colors, it was very beautiful.

The next day our friends the Walkers flew in. We headed to church and loved getting to know some wonderful people in Manaus. Then we headed to the zoo with our friends. It was small and nothing fancy, but it had a lot of jaguars for one zoo, both black and spotted. It also had a beautiful tucan, that was absolutely stunning up close. And it had a turtle that kept us entertained for quite some time as we watched him try to flip over off of his back.

The next day we headed to our lodge in the rainforest. We drove in a normal van over to the port, and caught a boat which took us to see the meeting of the waters. It's where the Rio Negro (Black River) meets Rio Salimoes, but they don't mix for 5 kilometers. They become the Amazon river. They have different colors, salinities, pHs, and temperatures. Our boat driver drove across slowly so that we could feel the temperature difference, and the color difference was very obvious. It was such a cool natural display of fluid mechanics (sorry I am a chemical engineer at heart). We also saw our first river dolphin.

On the other side of the river we rode in unairconditioned combis(vw vans) for and hour and a half flying over very bumpy roads. Needless to say, not comfortable but it felt very adventurous. We made it to another river port where we took another 20 minute boat ride out to our lodge. I had thought that our loge was on stilts, but I was wrong. It was floating on top of very large logs. They had some yummy fruit juices all ready for us when we arrived (capuacu, caja, and acerola). We ate a lunch of the most delicious river fish (which we ate served severa;l different ways throughout our stay). Then we got settled and started swimming right off the side of our hotel. At around 3 we went out on a wildlife tour. We saw a few sloths, monkeys and river dolphins. On our way home we got to see a beautiful sunset and then we ate a yummy dinner with more fish and other delicious foods.

Our second day at the lodge we went on a hike in the forest, which was pretty intense. Very hot and humid, but the scenery was beautiful. We saw lots of interesting scenery. Our guides taught us to use ants as insect repelent. Yes, you read it right: ants. You let them crawl on you and then you smashed them into your hands and rubbed them all over. After trying it out we concluded that the ants were more effective than the repelent we were already wearing. We also learned that you can bang on the side of a certain type of tree to signal for help or communicate with someone far away in the forest. Other that that we saw lots of interesting insect homes, plants, and insects. After the hike we were so hot and sweaty we all changed into suits and swam as much as we could until out afternoon tour.

In the afternoon we went piranha fishing inside the flooded forest. I don't want to brag, but I was the first to catch one. We helped some of the kids catch piranha as well and some caught them all on their own. It is a bit trickier than you think, because you have to whip the hook fast to catch the piranha. I should mention that we were fishing with raw beef. So Chris and I were busy putting meat on everyone's hooks.

That night we did a night boat tour and there were so many stars that reflected on the river to look like even more. We got an amazing view of the milky way. Then we went on a hunt for caimen. Our guide used a flashlight to find the reflection of their eyes and then we went up fast to see if the guide could catch him. A couple times they were a bit fast or big. But the third time our guide just bent over the front of the boat and picked up the caimen. Then we spent a good amount of time holding, touching, and learning about him. Did you know caimen have a clear set of eylids for under the water and an opaque set for above?! How cool! Aparently our guides say they are not very dangerous for people, because they steer clear of humans. But aparently they have black caimen that get VERY big. Our guide said that they get to be 6 meters!!! And yet we still felt comfortable swimming in the river.

The third day day at the lodge was an early rise trip. We went out to see the sunrise. It was calm, peaceful and is always great to be out in nature.

We went back for breakfast and then we went out to see a local farm. We got to try some local fruits like a new variety of passion fruit that was more white inside and much less tart than other varieties. They also have a turtle sanctuary there, because aparently the turtles are endangered cause of too many poachers. Although it was not nesting season, so we didn't get to see them. We also tried Jambu, which is a plant that makes your lips tingle. It's a fun sensation and makes your mouth feel kind of clean like after you brush your teeth.

After lunch we always got a good swim in before our tour.

That afternoon we headed out to see one of the giant mother trees (much of the forest had been cleared and is now regrowing, so there are fewer of these "Mother trees"). It was outstangingly large, and we took a lot of pictures. We also got to see an iguana dive into the river and got the best view of a sloth.

On the fourth day Louis had a bit of a fever, so he and Jake decided to take it easy and stayed home from our morning boat tour. The rest of us took a boat ride through more of the sunken joungel rather than sticking to the main rivers. Our guide said that it was about 9 meters deep, which means we were floating through the treetops. The animals were elusive, but just as we were heading back we ran into a whole family of capuchin monkeys. The kids loved the close interaction. And when we got home we had the fun surprise of seeing a caiman on a log right there at our hotel.

In the afternoon we took a boat into the main part of the river and swam. The current was much more noticeable out there away from the edge. Then something magical happened, we started to see dolphins jumping about 30-50 feet away from us. It felt like they just came to check us out. They stayed for a few minutes circling us a bit and then moved on.

After we were all tired from swimming in the current we tried our hand at piranha fishing one last time. Pace and Clayton hadn't caught one so they were pretty determined. We stayed too long fishing and we had a mix of disappointment because Pace hadn't caught a fish and impationce from the kids who just wanted to go back and swim. Our awesome guides had the perfect solution: they took Pace to the back of the lodge to fish (and yes he caught his fish!) while the rest of the kids swam. And our guide through the piranha in right next to the swimmers which made them squeal with fear, but it was harmless.

The next day we headed out after breakfast to Manaus. We loved our lodge and the fun memories we made there. Here are some fun photos from the lodge. The coconut looking thing is a shell of a brazil nut.

We made a stop to swim with the dolphins. These ones had been fed by people and were used to swimming with people so they came RIGHT UP. It was hard to not accidently sit on one. They were pretty gentle and let us touch them. Poor Jane was terrified of them and wouldn't get in, but she overcame her fear and got in as we were getting out. Although she screamed when the dolphin was close. Haha, she is adorable and I am proud of her for facing her fears.

That afternoon our kids were soooo tired. But luckily we found a decent pizza place on our way to the temple. After eating we enjoyed a stroll around the temple grounds and then headed back to our hotels.

The next morning we ate breakfast and played some last games before we said goodbye to our friends. There were definately some tears shed. We're so glad we did this with the Walkers. We're so grateful that they were willing to come down to Brazil and share this adventure with us. This trip was so much better because of them. We love them!