Life on the Amazon

Back on the ship from the most AMAZING experience in Brazil!! Bear with me because it is somewhat long and involved, but I want to cover everything because it was one of the neatest things I have done and one of the coolest places I have ever visited.
When we arrived in Brazil on the 7th, we had about four hours to walk around Salvador before we had to gather our things to get to the airport. So we went to the Upper City and the first thing we saw was a huge street festival and parade since it was Independence Day! So that was pretty neat and we just walked up and down the streets taking everything in. We did a little bit of shopping, saw some capoiera (a local form of martial arts that is a combination of dancing and fighting which is really neat) and of course had a local beer. We didn’t get the chance to get to downtown Salvador which was a taxi ride away- and this wasn’t the best area, so we were OK with only being there for a few hours. It was fun to bargain with the street vendors and also working around the language barrier was interesting and entertaining also. Then we headed back to the ship to get ready for our adventure to THE AMAZON!!
We were a group of 12 students traveling independently, meaning we had no affiliation with Semester at Sea and we did all of the arranging and scheduling as opposed to just signing up for one of their offered trips. Our group consisted of myself and the three other students from Ithaca College (Ben, Lacey and Greg) as well as two more guys and 6 other girls. So we left Salvador at 730pm, and with connections, a time change and a few delays, we landed in Manaus at about 230am. Our tour guide, Fabio, was there to meet us and we had about a half hour drive to the dock where our boat was ready to go. (Note, we didn’t realize there was a time change, so we thought it was 430am even though it was only 330am) The boat is two decks high…and there were the twelve of us, as well as a crew of about 10 guys (head guide, translator, two cooks, a few captains, the tree climbing expert, and a few others). So the twelve of us slept on the first deck and we all had to bring hammocks with us from Salvador. So we set those all up and got situated…a few of us slept for an hour or two before waking up for a BEAUTIFUL sunset at the meeting of the waters, where the Amazon and Black Rivers meet. Both rivers are distinctly different colors and it was an unreal scene to see the two meet together. From there we just cruised down a smaller branch of the Black River and Fabio explained to us a lot of history about Manaus and the Amazon region and about his past 7 years of being a guide, etc. There was a little storm that was neat to see roll in, and also it is unreal seeing the water line on all of the trees lining the river. I don’t know what the difference in river level from high season to low season is, but it is several, several feet. All of the shanties lining the river are floating so they adjust to the water height which is pretty interesting.
Before lunch we stopped at a local market and went on a little hike to see the largest Water Lilies in the Amazon and saw some birds and other neat wildlife. Then back on the boat, a few of us played cards with the staff members- luckily Luciano was there to translate- their favorite game is a variation of Rummy, so we picked it up pretty easily. It was neat because even with the language barrier, we were all able to hang out and spend time together and get to know each other. Then we stopped at a small beach and went swimming (in the Black River, not the Amazon) and grilled Timbutki, a type of fish and had a very delicious lunch, thanks to Jozue and Willande (the cooks!) In the afternoon we went piranha fishing in smaller boats. So we broke up to 5 people per boat and had just bamboo sticks with string and pieces of meat attached to a hook. Pretty basic…but the boys boat got the most, but I caught one!! It was pretty exciting because I had only been fishing a few times! But we caught them and then cooked them the next night for dinner!! We hung out on the boat for awhile after fishing and took some naps…before setting out to go alligator hunting once it got dark out. Again, we went out on the smaller boats, and one guy would drive the boats, and one would be on the front of the boat with a huge search light. Fabio was able to see the gators eyes from SO far away, and he would tell the driver where to go and would literally lunge into the water and grab the gators by their necks. It was a pretty crazy scene. But the first one that he caught the boys maturely named him Gaylord, and the second one, Crazy Craig was a little feisty and they threw him back in after a few minutes. But we all got to hold the gator and take pictures with him and Fabio gave us some fun gator facts- like you can tell how old they are by the elasticity of the skin on their necks! Then we had another delicious dinner-they eat so late in Brazil, which took a little getting used to, but we didn’t mind because the food was worth waiting for. That night was pretty chilly, so a lot of us didn’t sleep too well in our hammocks, but oh well. I had woke up in the middle of the night, and my hammock was actually on the end, so I caught a glimpse of the sky and just HAD to get up to look at it and I kid you not when I say that it was the most beautiful nighttime sky I have EVER seen. There was not a single light in sight, so the stars were SO visible- I have never seen such a bright and glittering sky in my whole life. Then of course I had Fabio wake me up to see the sunrise which was again, absolutely beautiful.
I went back to sleep for a little while before awakening to yet another delicious breakfast, and then we split into two groups for the day. My group was Greg, Lacey, Ben, John and Pooja. We headed to the tree climbing that they had set up for us early that morning. Mr. Valencio is a professional climber and in the Brazilian Air Force so he was super experienced. Another team member, Hobson, was also very experienced. So they set up all of the ropes and we each climbed the 25 meter tree to the top of the Jungle. It was really neat being up so high and I had a moment when I was about halfway up and it was so quiet because there was no one really in my vicinity (just above and below me) and I was taking a little break to catch my breath and just appreciating the beauty all around me, and then it just started to rain, out of nowhere and it was a really, really moving moment which was amazing. I continued to the top, and then the repel down was one of the most fun parts!! Once we were all hot and gross and sweaty and dirty, we headed back to the canoe to go back to the boat. We all went swimming to cool off and fool around and had some lunch, then we switched with the other group for the afternoon. There was a village not far from where we were anchored for the afternoon of native Brazilians who originally belonged to the Bera tribe. The community is only 14 years old and originally started as 12 people (I think) and now has 120 people- with a school, a church and a medical center. We had brought two soccer balls with us for the children and they were SO happy to receive them. They were really fun to play with and even though we couldn’t really speak with them much, we could still play with them, and they lovvved looking at themselves on our digital cameras! It was neat to learn about the natives of the Amazon region and the history of their village and see how simply and happily they live. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.
Back on the boat we were trying some of the native fruits from the Amazon region (which may not have been the smartest thing, but oh well). There were some really good ones, and some really gross ones. My favorite was the coconut water (which is nothing like anything coconut tasting I have had before. That night we had a lot of fun on the boat because we were getting to know the team better and started to communicate better with them. I actually was surprised how much my basic Spanish got me by and how much Spanish I was able to recall from high school which was pretty exciting!! But we had a great dinner of beef and sausage (neither of which I eat, but hey- I was in the Amazon, I had to!) and then we were just dancing and listening to music and had some rum drinks. They listen to music that we listened to in the 90s…Madonna, Michael Jackson, 90s alternative music…it was very funny for us and we had a great time with them. (Note, they are all about 23-27 years old).
Then pretty late at night we all loaded into the canoes and headed into the jungle for the night!! Fabio and Luciendo had already set up camp in the jungle with our hammocks and a tarp and everything. So we were all bundled up to keep protected from the deadly mosquitoes and insects. Fabio told us some really great stories about the spirits of the Jungle and just different stories he had from being a guide for several years which was really interesting and they led to more and more stories. I only got about 3 hours of sleep that night because we woke up at 6am to go exploring into the Jungle for a few hours!! We unfortunately didn’t see any real great wildlife, but it was AMAZING to see how resourceful those who know the jungle can be. It seems like each different plant and tree has different functions. There is a palm tree that is used to shelter, a vine that when cut you can drink the water from it, a tree that you can use as a means of communication because it echoes for miles, vines that can be used as ropes, bark that can be used as a healing medicine, etc. He was also able to make a blowgun using different branches and leaves etc as well as a compass from a few different plants. It was just really, really neat to see how useful the jungle can be if you really get to know it. And I also have no idea how they knew their way around the jungle because it was so dense that we were just trailblazing the whole time with a machete and I feel like we were randomly walking, but luckily they knew where they were going!
` When we made our way back to the boat, they had breakfast all ready and prepared for us and we just hung out for awhile, took some naps, played some cards and relaxed until we got to another beach where we went exploring and a few of us wound up repelling off of a bridge because Mr. Valencio said we should! So that was fun! And then we went to a mini waterfall/swimming hole which was refreshingly cold (because the river is actually pretty warm) and we hung out there for a bit and the boys were jumping out of trees and whatnot. Then we had duck for lunch which was great. I don’t know if we did anything noteworthy that afternoon- but late in the afternoon we went fishing again and also just exploring in the canoes- we saw some monkeys and neat birds, and then while we were fishing Luciendo fell in the water because he was trying to grab on to a tree for us to tie up to and clearly was unsuccessful- so that was a bit of excitement that unfortunately caused us to miss the sunset, oh well. But we didn’t catch anything, a few people caught some catfish, but not my boat =(
We then proceeded to the boat for the last meal on the ship which was very sad. As we were pulling up to the dock, we overlooked the city of Manaus while it was dark which was absolutely beautiful. We all just sat around talking and really bonding over a few departing drinks with each other and the team and packing up our hammocks and everything else. This trip was unreal and so memorable. Life on the Amazon is so simple and peaceful. It is just a beautiful region of Brazil with so much to offer and so much rich culture surrounding it. Our tour guide and his team were some of the nicest people I have ever met and the language barrier seemed minimal by the end of the three days that we spent together. We found ways around it and really got to know each other well and had a fantastic time together.
We cut it a little close with our flight back to Salvador due to some delays and complications, but we made it back to the ship on time- and even though I missed our tour boat and the Amazon in general, it was nice to have a bed to sleep in and a nice shower. We all REAKED of bug spray and general grossness- I felt bad for the people who had to sit next to us on the plane. I went through more bug spray in those 3 days than I probably have in my whole life. I think we sprayed ourselves down with Deet about every 15 minutes. Fabio had only gotten Malaria 3 times, but the captain had gotten it 27 times in his life! So we were trying to avoid Malaria, Denge, and all other gross diseases from mosquitoes. So far so good, and no one got sick on our trip !! (knock on wood)

I know this is unbearably long, but hopefully you got through it and got a sense of the amazing experience that I had in Brazil. It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to see Rio or much of Salvador, but we were only here for 5 days, so we had to pick and choose, but I am SO glad with our trip. It was so fulfilling and a GREAT way to start off our journey around the world.

Now we are en route to Namibia- we will get there on Friday. But it is a little rough because we are heading directly East, so we basically have a time change every night for about 5 nights- this is the 3rd one in a row for us, which is not so fun, but oh well- not much we can do about it!

Classes are going OK, but it is hard to get back into the swing of it after such a great time in Brazil. Guess we will have to get used to these transitions though. Things with my roomie, Dani, are still great and the food on the ship is still bad!
Hopefully I will write again before Namibia, and whenever I get to an internet café- either in Namibia or South Africa, I will be able to post some photos up here!!
Thanks for reading, and I miss you all a lot and think about you every day and pray that you are safe and sound back in the US!
Chao from the Atlantic Ocean!
Love Ari