The Amazon - just the name itself conjures up all sorts of
fascinating exotic images. Jaguars and anacondas jumping from trees, getting
shot at by half naked head-shrinking indigenous tribes with bows and arrows
while crocodiles and piranhas lurk in the nearby river. There was no better
place to begin my South American escapade than bang smack in the middle of the
world's most massive rainforest and largest (but not longest) river. It was
also, geographically speaking, the most practical place to start as I always
find it easiest and most economical to start in one place and travel my way in
one direction, rather than going back and forth. Seeing that my trip was to go
from the jungle and work my way down to Patagonia, it made sense to fly into
the Amazon and gradually make my way south from there.
I flew into
Manaus, the capital and most populous city of the state of Amazonas. A
cosmopolitan city lying right on the heart of the Amazon River, Manaus boasts
sights and attractions such as the exquisitely decorated Teatro Amazonas,
museums, a park where animals roam freely and many interesting river walks.
However, these are never a traveler's reasons for really visiting the city.
It's the flora and fauna of the surrounding jungle and river are what really
draw most visitors to this region and Manaus is probably one of the most
accessible places to arrange this. In fact, I was confronted by touts from the
moment I stepped out of the airport but after a looking around town, finally
booked a 4 day/3night jungle trip with a company called Amazon Explorers.
The morning of the first day of the trip,
we stocked up on jungle necessities such as a hammock, mosquito net, flashlight
and a couple of cases of beer before heading off on the boat down river. I was
joined by a young Spanish man, two Scandinavian girls and a Brazilian family of
three at first. As it turned out, travelers came and went with each day - all
on different packages and itineraries. The first stop was the "meeting of the
waters" - a unique natural phenomenon that occurs as the 'dark' water of the
Rio Negro meets with the 'white' water of the Solimões River. However,
despite the confluence, the two waters do not mix and instead form quite a
fascinating visual effect as the flow side by side. The difference in water
color is caused by differences in velocity, temperature and sediment levels.
We made our way to our accommodation up the
Rio Negro, stopping by for a short hike through the jungle to see some
impressive water lilies. Our accommodation was a floating green lodge on the
river. There was no electricity, but that actually wound up adding more to the
experience. The first night's adventure was a camping trip into the jungle.
After a short boat ride across the river and hike through the jungle, we made
it to our campsite and set up our hammocks, fully covered by mosquito nets. I
later learned that night just why exactly we didn't use tents. The Amazon
rainforest is absolutely teaming with insects and other creepy crawlies! One of
the most awe-inspiring experiences about camping in the jungle is just laying
in the hammock at the dead of night while everyone else is asleep, with one eye
open in wonder, the other maybe in dread, and just listening to the deafening
sound that is the symphony created by the world's largest concentration of
biodiversity! It wasn't exactly what I'd call a free concert though as when I
woke up in the morning, my body was covered with bites by just about every
insect on the planet. It didn't seem to matter how much insect repellant was
sprayed on, or layers of clothing I wore, these pests were
insatiable!
Although I have no regrets about camping in the jungle and
wouldn't ever recommend anyone missing out on the experience when in the
Amazon, I was pretty glad to find out we were spending the second night on the
floating lodge. Especially after the second day's first activity, a longer,
guided hike through the jungle. The highlight of this was probably the giant
tarantula our guide managed to dig out of a hole and then actually pick up. I
realized just how important the forest is to the indigenous people that live
there as our guide was constantly pointing out various tree saps and plants
that could be used as herbal remedies for the natives. The second activity of
the day was piranha fishing. The elusive scavengers turned out to be pretty
frustrating to catch, constantly biting around our bait. It took us a couple of
hours to only catch about a handful. The day's final activity was crocodile
spotting at night, and even though we were unable to find one, going out into
the flooded boat at night turned out to be quite an experience in itself.
We woke up long before sun came up on the third day to take a boat ride
to see the sunrise and after breakfast back at the lodge, headed out to see
Amazon river dolphins, yep - that's right, I said dolphins! These endangered
pink dolphins are found in the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers and we had to take a
very long boat ride to their sanctuary. The dolphins were being kept in a
little bay along the river and we were able to feed and play with them.
However, it wasn't exactly SeaWorld as the dolphins got pretty aggressive the
minute they sensed you had a fish in your hand. Perhaps the only disappointment
of the trip was the night's stay at a "native's house" which was actually just
a locked-up and run down abandoned cottage in the jungle, where we had to sleep
in. The one thing that made the trip fun was the playful baby monkey which
lived there and seemed quite used to the attention and food of the tourists
that passed through.
Despite the disappointment of the nativeless
native's house, we did manage to get a great sample of local culture on the
final day of the trip at the local indigenous village. The natives put on a
show of dancing and face painting and I managed to pick up a piranha-tooth
decorated poison dart blow pipe, which I was sure, given Rio de Janeiro's
notorious crime rate, would come in handy later on in the trip. We also had a
stop over to see how many of the Amazon's inhabitants are living today at our
guide's village, where we finally caught a glimpse of a baby caiman, or
Amazonian alligator. And that was that, I said goodbye to the jungle and the
other travelers whom I'd met on the trip and caught the boat back to Manaus.
I may not have seen any anacondas, jaguars or headshrinkers; however,
the jungle trip was most certainly one of the most memorable experiences I have
had on my many travels. With that said, I'll admit I was pretty glad to get
back into a hotel room. Due to the bizarre world that is airfare economics, I
saved a considerable amount of money, about $300 by leaving a day later so I
wound up having two days as opposed to just one back in Manaus. That was
probably one day more than I needed in the end. Manaus is a fine place to
stroll around for a day. The colorful Amazonas Theater was well worth a visit,
as were some of Manaus's many museums, including the Palacete Provincial and
Museo Amazonico. I also really found the riverfront at the end of Parque
Senador Jefferson Peres particularly photogenic. For my second day, I decided
to venture out of the city to see the Bosque da Ciencia, which was sort of a
fusion between a zoo, a museum and a mini-rainforest, with many animals walking
around in the open. I then made my way back to the city to catch my flight onto
Rio de Janeiro.
