Our Trip to the Amazon...Manaus, Brazil-Saturday

Saturday November 5th, about 3am, we arrived in Manaus, Brazil. To say our tour group was exhausted would be an understatement. We made it easily through Customs, thank heavens, and loaded onto a bus to go to the Tropical Executive Hotel in Manaus, Brazil. 

We got our keys to a room on the 9th floor. We would need to be back downstairs at 9:30am for our day-long excursion. We got to the 9th floor, the elevator door opened, and there were NO lights. None, Nada, Non-existent. I felt like we were Indian Jones and needing to take that Leap of Faith. We stepped out into the lobby of the 9th floor into utter darkness. In a few seconds, the lights came on. They are sensitive to movement to save on electricity. Whew. As we walked down the hall way, the lights slowly came on to get us to our room. 

Upon entering our room, one of the first things we did was take our adapters for Brazil out to charge our devices. Well, that did not go well. Our adapters were completely wrong. They were 3-prong but the prongs were further apart and much larger than the outlets in the wall. This means we had a vacation to participate in but no way to charge cellphones, Kindles, the camera or Claude's hearing aids. Not good. Not good. Ironically, I ordered them off of Amazon and they specifically said "For Brazil". Fortunately we each had a USB port at the base of the lamps on our nightstands. We used those to charge things while at this hotel. But...what would the boat have? Ugh.

We rested for a few hours, then got up and showered and were back downstairs for a quick breakfast before setting off on the days excursion. Here are views from our room of the Rio Negro River.

Time for Saturday, November 5th to get going. We were in Manaus, Brazil. Right in the middle of the Amazon. Manaus actually faces the Rio Negro River which flows in a generally southerly direction into the Amazon. The Amazon starts way up in Peru and crosses South America to the Atlantic Ocean. In the early 1900's, trees were discovered that yield rubber. No where else in the world was this found. Manaus was started because of the rubber industry. It became a large city, with some very wealthy people due to rubber. Later, someone realized you could take rubber trees and plant then in other countries closer to where they were needed. This collapsed the economy in Manaus. They had to remake themselves. They have done this with offering tax incentives to manufacturing. That sustains Manaus today. There is a huge disparity in income. Many very poor indigenous people come to work and live in very poor conditions. People were brought to work in the rubber industry and they never made it to that wealthy stage and they live in very poor conditions. There are almost 400 different indigenous peoples throughout Brazil and the Amazon, each with their own language and customs. I cannot even imagine how you govern that diversity. While we were there, they had just had an election. The man that was the president had been found guilty of several things and served time in prison. Someone else was elected and served as president. In this most recent election, the former president was out of prison, ran and won. The people were protesting this election in earnest. It was felt this election was done illegally. There are layers of difficulty in managing this very large country. 

Here is a map of the Amazon region. Manaus is the red dot in the middle. The Negro River flows into Manaus and then to the Amazon. 

Our day would be an six hour boat ride up and down the Rio Negro. It would be a full day. Especially for 14 travelers who are older and haven't had enough rest. But, the aging can surprise you with their tenacity. We only had one couple who didn't participate this day. The wife, Meryn, had a big problem with sciatica and would take two days of laying down with meds to get back so she could participate. The plane rides nearly did her in. 

The rest of us headed out on the bus for our six-hour boat adventure. Part of our adventure was to swim with the pink dolphins. We needed towels to dry off with. We had two in our room but they were wet after drying from our showers. I asked at the front desk if we could have two more towels. We were given a resounding NO. Back to the room and we took the one hand towel we had. Ugh!

A few pictures of the drive through Manaus to the dock.

We reached the dock and had to walk down stairs to get to water level. Then we boarded our boat for the day. This is significant. We were in Manaus at the lowest water level for the rivers. November is when their rainy season begins. Within a couple of months, the water in the river will rise 36 feet! The steps we went down and the walk across dry ground will be completely covered. The wall in the picture will be under water. 

The next picture is the police boat that patrols the dock area. Every boat that leaves has to stop and present their papers to the police before being allowed to continue on the river. Our boat did not pass. It seems the papers expired a few days before and the new papers, which had been applied for, had not been received. Our boat turned around and headed back to the place it stays moored at night.

This would afford us a view of the river at the low level. Big boats on dry ground will eventually be in water, but are not right now. Homes that float on the water were on dry ground or very shallow water for now. A barge full of garbage was interesting. You see, people toss trash in the river. When the water recedes, the ground is covered in this litter. The dry season is spent collecting the trash and disposing of it before the rains come and the river floods. This barge would be destined to take the trash to be disposed of. 

We boarded another boat just like the first one we were on, back to the police, papers now approved, and...we were off for our day long adventure. A unique thing we observed was the floating gas stations on the river. We would go under the Manaus Bridge and a little further north to the opposite shoreline from Manaus.

Here we approached a floating business. This would be where we could swim with pink dolphins. Claude would swim. I would take pictures from the platform. There were actually two platforms. The main one which the family seemed to live on and sell their crafts from and a smaller one with life vests for those swimming with the dolphins. 

There were two bathrooms for changing on the larger platform. Our group took turns changing into their bathing suits in these bathrooms. I took a picture of daily life on this floating business. The daughter had her little brother in a hammock where he was fast asleep as she played with her cellphone. A gentle breeze blew. Not a bad life. 

All the swimmers had to put a life jacket under their arms before going into the water. The water is well over your head. The swimmers would gather around the older daughter of the owner. She had a fish in her hand and was luring the pink dolphins out of the water. The swimmers would have dolphins under the water bumping against them while they enjoyed the one trying to get the fish. These dolphins start out gray and turn pink as they age. They really don't use eyes. They have a bump on their heads that is sonar to help them navigate. They are gentle and used to the people being in the water. Claude had a great time and I loved watching and taking pictures. 

After this fun, clothes were changed. Claude managed to dry off with a face towel!! And, my clever hubby remembered to bring a gallon Ziplock bag to put his wet clothes in. 

On to our next adventure. We would enjoy lunch on another floating platform. Local foods and freshly made fruit juices. We tried two of the fruit juices. The white one is cupuacu. The orange one is tapereba. We favored the tapereba. The cupuacu tasted like it had alcohol in it. It did not but we don't drink and that the flavor was not something our taste buds appreciate. I learned that these people love beans and rice. I grew up on beans and rice. I would have beans and rice at least once a day for the remainder of our trip. Yum! Can you tell which plate was mine? It was a delicious meal and much appreciated.

As we rode down the river, we saw an interesting metal structure. Claude looked at it and said, "They must have really big life guards here!" 

Our next site was "Encronto das Aguas" or the "Meeting of the Waters". We were at the place were the Rio Negro and the Amazon meet. The Rio Negro is dark in color and has a PH of 4.6. The Amazon is a muddier, lighter color and has a PH of 6.8. The fish that live in the Rio Negro cannot survive in the Amazon. The dolphins have learned to herd the fish to where these waters meet. The fish can't breathe and jump out of the water trying to get back to the right kind of water for them. As they do this, the dolphins catch them and have a feast. The other thing of note is that these waters really don't mix so you actually see two different colors and the waters bump into each other. Also, there is a 30 degree temperature difference between the two waters. The Rio Negro absorbs sunlight because of its darker color so it is warmer than the Amazon, which reflects sunlight. Our boat would move back and forth between the waters allowing the people sitting on the sides of the boat to put their hands into the water to feel the change. Claude was on the outside and put his hand into the water. He could tell instantly when they moved from one to the other. Amazing.

We had one more thing to experience before returning to our hotel. Another floating platform with a building on top. This was owned by indigenous people who came to Manaus. They share their language, clothing and dance to those who visit them. While they perform, some of the ladies paint faces of guests for a small tip. The people paint their faces but do not do tattoos. The paint is from native plants. They performed several dances.

We got a group pictures when they finished with these performers. 

Then they brought out their animals. Again, for a small tip, you could have your picture taken with them and/or their animals. Claude and I asked the medicine man to have our picture taken with him. Then we also took pictures of Claude holding the baby sloth. Claude was now the Sloth Whisperer. I find it amusing that Claude and the Sloth have the same expression in the last picture!

Time to go back to our hotel for the evening. We purchased water and some dried fruit like one of our fruit drinks at lunch for our room. We enjoyed the sunset from our room on the Rio Negro River. 

This day we learned to speak two things in Portuguese, the language of Brazil. First, everyone say "Bon Dia" (pronounced like a J instead of a D) as a greeting. Second, Obregado, if you are a guy, and Obregada, if you are a girl. This is thank you.

It was a good first day in the Amazon. Loved everything we saw and did this day. Well, except going down those stairs to the boat and then having to climb back up them to get back to the bus at the end of the day. My knees do not like stairs.