In to the Amazon Jungle

Rio Preto de Eva

Saturday, March 5, 2016, Worrall Travel R Day (WTRD) 57

We are both excited, and me a little apprehensive, about our jungle adventure.  The more we know about our guide Luis, the more at ease I feel. I think we are in good hands. Luis spent 12 years in the jungle with the Brazilian Army learning how to survive in the jungle and fighting Columbian drug dealers.  His main concern is to keep us safe in what can be a potentially dangerous environment.

Russ and I pack our "jungle stuff", deet, long pants, boots, hats, mosquito nets, a few clothes into small bags.  Luis picks us up a little after 9:00 am.  We stop at a market and purchase, beer, wine, and a few snacks, then we drive north for about three hours to a small town Rio Preto de Eva.    As you can see on the photo below we are only 31 miles as the crow flies to Manaus, but we aren't crows, so it took us a little longer to get here by car.

There is a market in town where we meet up with Alcides,,(pronounced Alsidges) our river boat pilot and owner of the jungle lodge where we are headed.

Alcides and his family are descendants of indigenous people of the area.  He his tanned brown, barefoot, wears shorts, and a T-shirt that is a bass tournament souvenir.  The jungle lodge is a base camp for bass fisheman.

We pick up some fresh fruits and fish at the local market,

load the aluminum boat and head down river and small tributaries for an hour and a half.

Downstream we travel

When we return, the trip will be slower as we head back up river, but our trip to the lodge is speedy.  It is amazing how Alcides reads the river and navigates us through the trees and sandbars.  We see a few birds, but it is hot, steamy, and most of the wild life is sleeping or hiding.  Luis says if we think Alcides is great reading the river with twists, curves, snags, currents, and low water sandbars during the day, we would really be impressed with his midnight piloting.

Around 1:30, we come into a large clearing on the river, more like a lake and the lodge sits up on a hill, the Tucuna Rio Preto.  Alcides' four year old daughter Maysa (Myeesza), bounces down the hill to welcome home her daddy.

We are introduced to Alcides wife Marta and then shown to our cabana, which is a large room with six single beds and two bathrooms with showers.  There are screens on the windows.  Alcides, closes the wooden shutters and turns on the air conditioning for us.  Archie is a few cabanas down the board walk.

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I am vey much relieved when I see our beautiful accommodations and not a mosquito or spider present in our room.  The lodge is only about six years old and in excellent condition with paintings, jungle motif reliefs, and carvings.  We are the only ones here.

Immediately, we take cold showers and wander down to the outdoor dining area.  We are served fresh fish, beans, rice, salad, and tropical fruits.

Marta is an excellent cook.  As we finish our lunch, wild boar is set up to smoke for six hours on the bar-be-que.  Russ and I return to our air conditioned room.  I lay down on the bed and fell fast asleep.

It was quite warm and humid when we awoke.  Initially, we were going hiking, but the weather conditions indicated that perhaps we do something different.  Large black clouds were on the horizon and it looked like rain would soon be upon us.  Luis and Alcides decided to take us to a floating barge/bar where we could cool off and relax.  

We boarded our little boat about 4:30 and headed this way and that up different tributaries for about 20 minutes.  No sooner had we got on our ride, when the clouds opened up.  I had just enough time to put on my poncho and protect the camera.  The cooling rain felt wonderful, and we were thoroughly drenched within 2 minutes.  We were in the rainforest after all.  It rained hard for 10-15 minutes and let up just as we arrived at the barge.  We were reminded of the soaking rains in Samoa where on a daily basis we could shower on deck with a bar of soap, clean the decks, and completely fill our water tanks within a few minutes!

The (indigenous descendants) family-owned barge is a bit of eveything, bakery, gas station, general store, and bar.  Grandfather is a fisheman and chats with Alcides, along with the son-in-law, and another friend who has come for gas.  Grandma is baking bread, their daughter, and mother of three is busy nursing the nine month old then washing and hanging laundry.  

The eldest son is disabled with one blind eye and a body that is very quiet, perhaps partially paralyzed.  There are three dogs, one of which is a fluffy puppy.  Cute now, but he is certainly going to suffer in the heat and humidity with his thick coat of hair.

 We sit down in the open air area and drink beer as the sun sinks into the jungle. The daughter has three children.  The middle child stays in his room. The older son is the caretaker for the baby and his little brother adores him.  Another child, a blond boy is perhaps a cousin.

The barge and its inhabitants reminds us of Polynesia and a simple happy livelihood of family community.  We enjoy spending time with them and watching the sunset.

By the time dusk was falling, we were back in the boat heading to the lodge.  Alcides was navigating by starlight.  A meteor streaked across the sky.

Luis was shining a flashlight along the shoreline looking for alligator eyes.  We spy something red shining along shore and glide toward the reflective eye.  Alcides runs the boat on shore, and Luis quietly gets out with his flashlight.  We wonder what he is doing as he looks into a fallen tree trunk.  He returns to the boat with a five year old alligator in his hands.

One hand grips the alligator around the neck and the other supports the body.  He climbs back in the boat, gator in hand.  I'm tense having a gator in the boat with us.

He explains to us that alligators, unlike crocodiles, do not have tongues.  They must come up for air and must keep their mouths closed while under water.  When the gator attacks its prey, it can close its mouth and dive slapping the victim back and forth before drowning it.  The gator that Luis has in hand is less than a meter long.  When fully grown, the gator could be up to 3 meters in length. She (Luis shows us how to identify males and females) is a beautiful specimen, very feisty, and he says very angry,  Her mouth is wide open and she is ready to bite.  Female gators do not lay eggs until they are 16 years old, and can live to 100 years.

After our gator lesson, Luis very, very carefully, lays the gator on a boat paddle and releases her into the water off the boat paddle.  See ya later, alligator.

We continue along the river back to the lodge where smoked, and crispy crunchy wild boar awaits us for dinner.  We enjoy the evening, listening to frogs, crickets, and night birds.  It's been a full and fascinating day.  Tomorrow we are trekking through the jungle.

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All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs in the Amazon Jungle.

From Jungle to Opera House - WTRD 56

Friday, March 4, 2016, Worrall Travel R Day (WTRD) 56

Manuel presented us with a typical Amazonia breakfast this morning.  I can't remember the names of some of the fruits, but we had tapioca rolls filled with fruits and salty cheese.  It was certainly a departure from granola and yogurt, but very good.

After our breakfast, Luis picked us up at 9:00 am.  We made one stop at the ATM then headed many miles towards the outskirts of Manaus.

We arrived at an area that was once out of town, but now is incorporated into the town.  One of the government officials set aside a large tract of land as a nature preserve, and it has now become an outdoor museum with exhibits of reptiles, fish, plants, trees, and frogs,  The museum guides were knowledgeable, but spoke limited English.  Both Luis and Archie served as our translators.

The Amazon is bio-diverse with unique plants and animals.  We had the opportunity to see a prehistoric fish living in the aquarium.  It is the "bridge" animal between fish/gill breathers and air breathing reptile/amphibians.

The fish does not have gills but a nose that sticks out of the water to breath.  It holds fresh air in its intestine and can stay underwater for up to 45 minutes, absorbing the oxygen and carbon dioxide.   It does not need to exhale.  The fish, also has what appear to be small little legs.  A very interesting animal.

We were also able to see an oil eating aglae, that thrives on oil, and naturally cleans up oils that seep from the ocean floor.  Originally, a marine aglae, it has evolved to being a fresh water algae.

Of course, there were many other exhibits and things to see at the eco museum, butterflies, snakes, anthropological information of indigenous people living in the jungle.

Indigenous fishing nets and traps

Looking up searching for monkeys.

A sticky fruit

Viney Root Art

Dragon Fly

The last thing we did before leaving the park was to climb a 40 meter tower high above the tallest trees in the jungle.

The view from the top, looking down on the canopy gave us a bird's eye view of the jungle.  We had hoped to see some monkeys, but it was so warm and midday, they were undoubtedly taking a siesta in the shade hiding from the silly people climbing the tower in the sun.

After our learning experience at the museum, we had a leisurely lunch, followed by a tour of the old Opera House in the Historic section of Manaus.  This building was constructed in the late 1800's. All the materials with the exception of Brazilian wood used to make the furniture, were shipped over from Europe.  In fact, the beautiful artwork on the ceilings was painted in France before the building was completed.  There were many European immigrants to Manaus who wished their new city reflected European culture and it was imported here.

What is remarkable about Manaus is that this large cty is in the middle of the Amazon jungle where the only transportation for building materials (other than wood) was originally by boat and now also by plane.  There are still no continental roads into Manaus.  Cars and trucks are both imported and produced by major car companies here in Manaus.

Black and White Mosaic represents the meeting of the waters - Rio Negro and Amazon

 We were too late to go to the market, so we went to down the river and watched the fishing boats and the sunset before returning to our accommodations.

All is Well With the Worrall Travelers in the Amazon

Manaus on the Amazon -WTRD 55

Our Manaus Accommodations

Thursday, March 3, 2016, Worrall Travel R Day (WTRD) 55

Tharrya picked us up about 8:45 am from our accommodations and delivered us to the airport around 9:15.  It has been wonderful having suWe flew to Brasilia at 12:55, and the boarding time on our transfer was also 12:55.  The last boarding call was being announced as we disembarked from the first flight.  No time to buy any lunch. 

There were minimal snacks on the flight to Manaus.  By the time we got off the plane at 4:15, we were starving.  We worried about our luggage as there was so little time to transfer bags in Brasila, but no worries, our luggage arrived with us.  Pretty efficient and fast bag transfer in place.

Once we gathered our bags and exited baggage claim, we spotted our guide for the next week.  His name is Luis.  He was recommended to us by our AirBnB host, a botany professor, as the best, most knowledgeable Amazon eco guide he knows.  Russ made connections with the guide, and he will transport us wherever we go, and has made arrangements for five days of tour guiding, including and a trip to a jungle lodge for two nights by boat.

We spot Luis, and we are off.  Luis speaks excellent English and Portuguese, and is the owner of Tuhiri Tours, which means in an indigenous language, Living in the Forest (Jungle).  See our Trip Advisor Review.  He is rebuilding his current website.  But he also is on Facebook
.

Luiz Magalhaes

He brings us to our accommodations, a vey old and rustic home of a botany professor, in a neighborhood that has seen better days and looks a bit sketchy to me.  I am not sure it will be safe, but the house is gated and looks comfortable inside. Luis drops and picks us up at the door.

Manuel is warm and welcoming. He has lived in this house for 25 years.  He and Luis attended high school together.  Members of Manuel's family live upstairs.  He lives downstairs.  There are five bedrooms, 3 with ensuite bathrooms, two with a shared bathroom.  The common areas do not have air conditioning, but the bedrooms do.  Thank goodness.

Manuel is a Botony Professor, specialized in seeds. Note the seed work in the doorway of dining area.

He rents out rooms through AirBnB to mature individuals.  He and Archie Robert (Rob) are the same age, only 16 days different and they bond easily.  But every one warms up to Archie Rob easily.  His big smile, laugh, and Portuguese are endearing.

After meeting our host and dropping off our luggage, Luis takes us to a local restaurant where we finally can feed ourselves on steak and vegetables, and then to a supermarket, where we buy cheese, snacks, beer, and wine.  By the time we return to our casa, we are ready to take showers.  Unfortunately, our bathroom has a plumbing problem.  The toilet works, but the running water in the  sink and shower do not.  Our threesome are the only guests, so we use another of the bathrooms off the rooms that are setup with bunk beds.

Russ cranks the temperature down in our room and we fall into a fitful sleep in a new environment.  The bed reminds me of the one we had in Las Brancas in Mexico.  The mattress has a slippery plastic covering, and the sheets are not cotton but a slippery polyester nylon fabric.  With just a little body movement, it doesn't take long before everything slips around and off and the sheets are tangled all around us and our bodies are on the plastic mattress.  We remake the bed a couple of times during the night and try to sleep like a corpse, perfectly still.  Ha!

Tomorrow, we will be going with Luis on a scientific tour in the morning and historic opera house in the afternoon.

All is well with the Worrall Travel Rs in Amazonia