Into the Amazon

I went to the Amazon!!

It was amazing and indescribable. I will try to convey my experience on here as best I can in future entries. I am just so happy that I got the opportunity to go there. It is paradise on earth. I stayed on a boat for four days on the "Rio Negro" and slept in a hammock. I only took a shower on the boat once (it was together with the toilet!) and the other two times I bathed in the river in my bikini! The water was really dark, reminding me of coca-cola. I got to see where the Rio Negro flowed into the Rio Solomon and they together create the Amazon River, (rio is portuguese for river). It was so cool to see the two colors melting into one another creating the largest river on earth! It looked more like the ocean than a river.

One night we went into canoe type boats and went alligator spotting. Our guide Allan dove into the water and submerged with a baby alligator! she was small enough for us to hold and take pictures with. She seemed so frightened of us she barely dared to move. Everyone's question was the same; where was her mother? Allan said that if her mother had been there she would have swam away the moment Allan's body made contact with the water. She would have been warned by the sound. Even so, I would not volunteer to enter the water anytime soon.

Another day we went piranha fishing. We had these simple wooden fishing rods and used cut up steak as bate. It took a really long time but the first one to catch a fish was my Austrailian friend Jet. She just didn't know what to do after the fish was dangling in the air, it was pretty funny. Allan showed us how the piranha could use its razor sharp teeth by putting a leaf in its mouth. Altogether our boat caught about three, me not being one of the lucky ones. When I boat returned to the bigger boat the guy gave me all the fish and then I just walked around for a bit holding them. People from the other boats thought I had caught them all. I assured them I wasn't that talented at fishing for piranha. Later that night we ate fish, I asked if it was piranha and they said no. Too bad.

We also had a day where we learned how to survive in the Amazon forest. We got into our canoe boat things (they have a name in portuguese) and went along the river and through all the trees that were growing out of it. Unfortunately for Clarissa (a woman working for the tourism agency) she got stung at least 6 times on the outside of her face and even on her tounge and inside lip!! It was this type of wasp thing that looked like a giant mosquito. It also bit some exchange students but their reactions were normal. With her, her bottom lip swelled to a comical size!! I know it wasn't funny but it was a real sight to see. One girl from Denmark went back to the bigger boat and she was reduced to tears because she has a dangerous allergy to wasps and that sort of thing.

We finally got to some firm land and left the canoes where a "jungle man" (for lack of better words) lead us to the start of our survival journey through the Amazon. I think about five spiders managed to fall on me along the way, after a while my friends stopped pointing them out to me and just let them be. Which was such a relief when they told me. Hehehe. He showed us how to make fire, get water, find food, and create shelter. The water part was really cool because there is this type of wood that filters the water and you can drink out of it kind of like a straw, the water stays inside. The first thing he showed us to eat was a larvae!! at first I joked and said I would eat it (not knowing they would actually try to make me) but then I refused and a boy named Michael from Germany did. When I asked him what it tasted like he said it had been sweet. Then the jungle man (or G I Joe, whatever you prefer) found some Brazilian nuts for us. They were so delicious, they were juicy!!! I wanted more but couldn't because the other people needed some too. He then showed us many different ways to weave together leaves and such to create adequate shelter. It was really cool the different kinds of materials that can be used, some of them are really strong like rope! You know the kind that you can see in movies? Well, that was pretty much it. WE had to wade through lots of water and I asked him if there were snakes, he said, "we are in the house of the snakes, the house of all the animals, we are in the amazon!" Typical jungle man response. It was inspiring. I felt like so primal getting all dirty and making my way through all the vegetation. Afterwards we ate lots of fruit and chicken, using a big leaf as a plate. I felt like some sort of jungle cat.

Another day we went to hike through the forest and had another guide telling us different facts about it. I had to be careful not to grab a tree to steady myself well I walked through all the mud and leaves because there were spikes on them! Huge ones! It's not like walking through a forest in Canada. We came to some waterfalls and also some caves that had bats in them. There was water on the ground, again I was afraid of some sort of snake grabbing me from below. Nothing happened of course. I was also one of the only two people who wore open toed shoes after they had specifically told us not to. At least I am learning how to deal with my irresponsible choices. Lol. I was so scared that I was going to step on something venomous and die. Me and my over-active Canadian imagination. My friend from Austria had worn sandals too and in the end we decided that we weren't completely stupid because at least we didn't get our runners wet by wading through all the muddy water. I should mention that I saw a huge spider in a hole in the trunk of a tree, I am sure that my Dad in Canada would be delighted to hear that. I will show him the photo I took.

After words we went to a river with really dark water and lots of algae (which made it darker). There were strong rapids that would pull people along like a water slide. Except the rocks underneath acted like a cheese grate against my bottom. Not the most pleasant feeling but it was fun nonetheless.

Another day we swam in a type of hydro-electric lake that had pink amazon river dolphins!! I did my dolphin noises and they actually came closer, but then they left. They came back later though. They were so beautiful! ANd it was so breathtaking to see them with their rosy color. On another day we went to a sort of rehabilitation center and saw some manitee. They look really strange with their tiny eyes that close when they are above the water. It makes them look like they don't have any! There was a baby one who was drinking milk out of a bottle. Later I will put pictures of them up.

Anyway, that is all for today!!

Até mais! Beijos

Emily <3