Meetings All Day..waters, children, monkeys, dolphins, and Indigenous people

Swimming with a Pink Dolphin

Tuesday, March 8, 2016, Worrall Travel R Day (WTRD) 60

Today is our last day in Manaus, and everything we haven't yet done, we are doing to day.  It is action packed and filled with meetings.  Luis picked us up at 9:00 am, and we traveled down to the municipal docks where we met our boat captain Tei II  on his small covered speed boat.

Luis asked if we would mind being in a promotional video for his tour company, so in addition to our threesome today, we also had a videographer accompany us on our adventures today.  Jerome the videographer was running late.  While we waited for him to join us, Luis took us around the harbor so see local sites.  The harbor is a busy place of boats going and coming, passenger boats, freighters, fishing boats.  People were loading and unloading.

The water level is extremely low.

Water is below the low water marker.

It is even lower than the 1826 high mark.  High water though is not expected until May or June.  The Amazon region is now just entering the rainy season.

Even with the low water boats still have plenty of liquid to run.  Usually, the boats are tied to the upper walk ways when the river is full.

Meeting of the Waters.

When Jerome meets up with us around 11:00, our first destination and meeting is at the point where the Rio Negro and the Amazon meet.  The Rio Negro comes from a low section in the Andes.  It is slow moving about 4 kilometers and hour without a lot of drop.  Vegetation and jungle mulch filled with tannin continue to decompose on the floor bed of the slow moving water.  The decomposition and tannin create a very low ph (high acid) environment and it turns the water into a clear brownish black color like a rich tea.  The water color absorbs the heat and it gently moves along.

Fortunately for people, the acidic conditions kill mosquito larvae and there are little to few mosquitos around the river.  Unfortunately, the same acidic water is not to the liking of a lot of wildlife.  Therefore, wildlife photographs are mostly of birds and migratory monkeys high in the trees and out of photo range.  The jungle lodge we stayed in was on a tributary to the Rio Negro, so no mosquitos.

All of the harbors, markets, floating communities, biggest cities, and shipping areas are on the Rio Negro where the water currents are slower, warmer, and habitable because of the lack of mosquitos.

The Amazon on the other hand comes from high Andes passes with lots of vertical drops.  The speed of the water up to 20 kilometers an hour during rainy season, washes away everything.  There is no time for decomposition, or for the water to warm as it moves to the sea.  The mosquitos on the Amazon are reportedly fierce, and the types of activities we have been doing on the Negro would be next to impossible  unless we were covered from head to foot in deet and protective netting.  

The mouth of the Amazon river is 4 times the length of the English Channel.  The volume of water is hard to fathom (pun).  By the time the the Amazon reaches the Atlantic, all the waters are well blended.  But today black meets brown, warm meets cold, slow current meets fast current, dense water composition meets light water composition, acid meets base neutral waters.  The meeting of the waters is distinct and dramatic.

Roz Meets With the Waters

Meeting the School Children

After our meeting of the waters, our next stop is to a floating village community, where Luis has made special arrangements for us to meet the school director, teachers, and children.  This is always a highlight for both of us.  

Our boat travels up a slow moving tributary past homes, a community center, and a church on our way to the school house.  It is lunch time between classes and age groups at the school.  The teachers are out front fishing for their lunch, and there are a few students who are either early or late hanging around.  Early elementary students come in the morning, middle school students early afternoon, high school students in the evening.

We arrive during the lunch hour....Teachers are catching their lunch

Head Master

Teachers share their curriculum...consumable workbooks.

There are about 160 students altogether.  Classrooms are clean but ill equipped.  All of the instruction is prescriptive, sequential page by page and workbook based.  There are science experiments in the science books, but no supplies for students to do any of them.  Children learn little if any English in the early grades, and then may choose between languages in the upper grades.

We wonder around the school and find some kids in one of the classrooms hanging out during lunch.  I had spotted a globe in the supply room (apparently there only map), and Russ and I begin a conversation with the students, with Archie and Luis translating.

At first the students are shy, then they warm up to us and become interested in the globe.  Where do you live?  This is where we live?  Where have you traveled?  Where in the world would you like to travel? (Some of the aspiration travel is great...Thailand, some is smaller...Sao Paulo)   On Russ's little camera which he has in hand, he still has Antarctica photos of penguins.  

We turn the globe upside down and tell the kids we just returned from Antarctica and share the penguin and seal photos.  The photos are small, but these youngsters have good eyes, and they are really hooked.  It was really great to be with these young people.  All too soon we say goodbye.  Wish we could have stayed longer.

Meeting of the Fish, Monkeys, and Dolphins

Before we leave the floating village, we make a stop at fish farm to catch a glimpse of the these giant fish that can be caught and are often caught in the wild.

They are a large fish with tiger stripes and big mouths.  I asked what the name of the fish was, and was told big fish.  So look that one up!  We got to feed the fish by dangling bait on the end of a sturdy line.  The fish would surface and almost simultaneously with a loud cracking and popping sound snap at the bait. Very fascinating to watch. We wouldn't want to be in the water with them as they have a vicious bite and got rather testy with one another when would get the bait and the others would not.   There was a lot of swarming and thrashing going on in the tank.

From our fish adventure, we moved on to a restaurant for lunch and then took a little hike up the cat walk with a bag of bananas for the little monkeys.

Luis warned us that if the monkeys jumped on us, not to pus them away or they would bite.  Hmm!  Ok Luis, you carry the bananas.  I had no desire to be jumped by a monkey that could possibly bite me.  Luis walked ahead of us with the bananas.  I hung to the back to take photos from a safe distance.

One of the little monkeys though snuck up behind Luis and grabbed the bag of bananas, all of them, and scooted up the catwalk with the other monkeys screaming and chasing after the first little thief.  We still got some good photos, and I was personally relieved that the monkeys are not remotely interested in you if you have no food.  There were two types of monkeys here, both very cute, and not scary like the Wizard of Oz monkeys of Rio.

We took the catwalk from the river to the lake where we enjoyed gazing at the giant water lily pads and the egrets.  

Luis was anxious to move on as it was now nearly 2:00 and we still had two meetings to go and to get back to Manaus before dark.

Bye Bye Monkeys.

Meeting of the Dolphins

It was time now to drive the speed boat way up stream in brackish Amazon and Negro rivers, perhaps 20 kilometers.  As we headed west, a black storm cloud was moving our way, sending fresh breezes and wind waves against the current.  The ride was rough.  The boat slammed up and down against the waves.  Having ruptured a spinAL disk in a similar experience many years previous, I used by quads and lifted my fanny above the seat and pressed my back against the seat back.  My quads took the jarring and not my spine.  That worked out fine.

Our boat turned into the lee of a peninsula and another tributary into calmer waters.  A family owned barge with changing room and feeding platform, fed free range dolphins.  We were able to jump into the water with these pink, bottle nose dolphins while one of the feeders enticed the dolphins toward us.  They were swimming all round us, mostly under water.  Their soft skin brushed between our legs and feet.

The feeder did not want to attract the larger more unruly dolphins toward us, so she tossed bait further from the platform.  The younger dolphins (who were already heavier and bigger than me) came to eat from her hands.  The dolphins have more teeth than I thought, and we were content to let her do the feeding while we got close enough to pet and pat the mammals.  She told us that she had been bitten several times.

One of the dolphins she was feeding had some huge slash scars on its back, and some raw wounds on its nose.  She told us that the dolphins are not netted in and come and go as they please.  This particular youngster disappeared for several days and returned with these wounds.  They suspect she had been caught in a fishing net and got the wounds while trying to escape.  

We spent about half and hour in the water with the dolphins.  The water was very warm and black.  When we got out, the wind was picking up and it cooled us down which was a good thing as the humidity was 100% and temperature in the 90's!

Meeting of the Indigenous People

Our last stop of the day was up another tributary to an Indigenous village where the people still live traditionally, but are required by the government/church to wear clothing outside of the ceremonial hut so that we visitors are not offended.  It is unnatural that the religious can so easily be offended by the naturalism of humanity...nudity and sexuality.

Rain and rainbows come and go while we visit the large ceremonial hall.  We along with two visitors from Sweden are the only people here.












The residents share with us two of their ritual dances and then invite us to join them in the dance.

The two Swedes are too shy or unwilling to participate.  I have been selected to dance with the leader as I am the only woman visitor.

The men, women, and children are traditionally dressed or undressed, and can do so in their ritual hut while performing ritual dances.  The Catholic church however has enough influence on the local government to insist that outside the ritual hut, that these people cover their nudity because it is offensive, provocative, and they will go to hell otherwise. Religions are so into other people's business, even when they are not Catholic.

These indigenous people have their own religion and their own traditions that are being trampled  by others dogma.  Apparently, some tourists have been offended by the nudity, and the Catholic church is horrified by nudity, that could lead to eroticism and sex.  What if everyone came to understand that sex not virginal conception is what created pregnancy?

After the rituals, we are invited to meet with the families, take photos, buy traditional handcrafts, wander about the village.  We do all of these things.

The people are warm and generous.  While in the ritual hut, I take some photos of the families and share the photos on my camera with them.  I bend down to show a little girl about 3 or 4 the photos.  She is wearing a small grass skirt and is learning the traditions of her family and village, but she is already in the 21st century, and immediately swipes the camera screen to see the next photo.  Haha!

Russ gets an anklet.

It is surprising how much we are reminded of Vanuatu here in the Amazon.  Even the men's dance with the nutshell stamp clicking and thatched houses are similar.  Unlike Vanuatu, this village is much closer to 21st century civilization.  We wonder how long indigenous people living only 12 miles up river from Manaus with access to technology and influence from religion are going to maintain their traditional life style.

Dusk is setting in on the river as we say our goodbyes and head back to port.

It has been a fabulous day.  All of the days have been wonderful, but today, the day of the meet ups have been the best!

All is Well With the Worrall Travel Rs in the Amazon - Tuhiri!

Tres Piranha with Big Teeth

Monday, March 7, 2016, Worrall Travel R Day (WTRD) 59

We awoke to another overcast day.  Everyone was hopeful last night that the sky would open up and the rain would come and bring some relief to the dangerously low river.  The peacock bass wait until the water is high to feed and spawn.  When the water is high and flood the forest on the banks, the falling fruit feeds the fish.  The happy fish then spawn, and when the water recedes, the fisherman come for the catch while the bass are still in the area.

The water level is very low, and the El Nino, does not portend a wet year.  The rain storm of the night before that chased us off the river while we were fishing, lasted less than 20 minutes and was very localized. Our guides felt bad that we had not caught any fish, so this morning we are going out again, not only to fish, but to see the flooded forest area where the bass like to spawn when the water is high.

Alcides changes tactics today, hoping we will catch rainbow bass.  He attaches lures to three poles, and Russ, Archie and I are given the poles with instructions.  Archie doesn't really need to be instructed but  Russ and I do.  We will not be casting out and reeling in, but trolling at a first fast pace with the lures 20-30 metes trailing behind the boat.  

We troll for 10 minutes, and I am the first one to get a hit.  I reel it in and have caught a large piranha.  

Russ is the next one to catch a piranha.  

Alcides decides the lure that Archie is using is not attracting hits, so he and I trade poles, and Alcides attaches a different lure for me.  Soon Archie gets a hit, and he too has caught a piranha.  

Tres piranhas.  Yeah!  I thought we were fishing for bass today?  Luis says that that we will be having piranha soup for lunch.  Doesn't sound good to me, but Arch is ready for the soup.

We each take pictures with our fish and are happy not to be in the jaws of these vicious little fish.  Piranhas are caught and eaten.  Most of the bass that are caught are catch and release.  It would have been fun to catch a bass, but we are not disappointed with our fishing experience.  We proceed to the spawning ground where the trees are still in the middle of the lake  When the water is high only the green leaves are above the water and the trunks are not visible.  Now, the trunks are visible.  Some straight, some angled.

The quiet water provides us with great opportunities for reflective photography and glimpses of wildlife.  Too soon it is time to turn around to the lodge and to get the piranha cooking.  Our friends from the bar barge wave to us as we pass by.

When we return, Alcides cleans and prepares the fish for cooking. He saves and cleans the teeth for us as souveniers.   Maysa is napping in a hammock.

Marta takes over to make the soup.  Fortunately for me, this is only a side dish to the lunch she has already started for us.

There are two other men at the lodge with another guide for a day trip to the river for fishing.  They have great photos of a bass they caught and released.  Thank goodness there are digital cameras to support the fish stories. While we wait for lunch, we get our bags packed, drink beer, and relax.  As we have now grown to expect, Marta has prepared yet another wonderful lunch.  

I try a bit of the piranha.  It's not fishy but very dry, almost like a sword fish, and it is very boney.  Russ and Archie seem to be enjoying the big chunks they have served themselves.  I am content with the braised beef, potatoes, and spaghetti. 

By 2:00 pm we say our goodbyes to Marta and Maysa (Myeeza), 

climb in the boat and head up river from where we started.  We arrive back at the market where Luis has parked the car at 3:30, give our thanks to Alcides for his hospitality and terrific river and fish guidance, and head home.  It will be another couple of hours before we arrive in Manaus.  Our jungle lodge experience has been terrific.

Tomorrow, we will be boarding another boat to head out to where the waters of Amazon and the Rio Negro meet.  The time has gone by so fast, it is hard to believe that we will now be leaving Brasil in a few days for the next leg of our trip.  Archie will be heading back to California.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Amazonia.