Day 1: The Landing
Let me get this out of the way first. I have not been much of a traveler during my twenty-two years. The longest I was on a plane before this was a four and half hour flight to California, still in country. Anytime I flew it was out of Philadelphia airport, the area where I am from. Flying out of JFK airport was a new experience for me, not only from flying out of a new place, but actually driving through the state of New York with a family friend who knew the area well. Needless to say when I started this trip, I was a home body.
Going through the airport security was a lot easier than expected on New Year's Day (although I should not have brought my laptop on this trip). It did not hit me until I was in line that I was checking in all by myself, getting my own tags for my suitcase and carry on. Once we had gotten through security clearances and processing, it was time to board the flight. Normally I am not a huge fan of flying, much less for nine hours on a "red-eye" flight. Needless to say I had to learn to sleep on a plane for the remainder of the trip. The initial flight was not as bad as I had imagined, though the landing could have been smoother.
Once we had landed, most of us were still wide awake even though we had slept very little. The excitement was kicking in. The frigid cold weather had turned to warm and tropical. We were here, in Manaus, Brazil. Everyone was amazed at the scenery even when we landed. Once we had gathered our bags we were met by our tour guides for the week: Rafael, Marcus, and Tayke . They brought us to our hotel in style in a spacious bus with air conditioning. Once we arrived at the hotel, we got used to our environment and headed downstairs for our first adventure. I walked down to the lobby with an open mind and ready for the start of an extraordinary trip.
Going through the airport security was a lot easier than expected on New Year's Day (although I should not have brought my laptop on this trip). It did not hit me until I was in line that I was checking in all by myself, getting my own tags for my suitcase and carry on. Once we had gotten through security clearances and processing, it was time to board the flight. Normally I am not a huge fan of flying, much less for nine hours on a "red-eye" flight. Needless to say I had to learn to sleep on a plane for the remainder of the trip. The initial flight was not as bad as I had imagined, though the landing could have been smoother.
Once we had landed, most of us were still wide awake even though we had slept very little. The excitement was kicking in. The frigid cold weather had turned to warm and tropical. We were here, in Manaus, Brazil. Everyone was amazed at the scenery even when we landed. Once we had gathered our bags we were met by our tour guides for the week: Rafael, Marcus, and Tayke . They brought us to our hotel in style in a spacious bus with air conditioning. Once we arrived at the hotel, we got used to our environment and headed downstairs for our first adventure. I walked down to the lobby with an open mind and ready for the start of an extraordinary trip.
Day 2: The History of Manaus/Introduction to the Amazon
The traveling day left a good portion of us still feeling weary for those of us were not used to flying. Regardless all 17 of us were eager to start the day with much enthusiasm, including me who started off the journey telling bad puns as per usual. The first steps outside our hotel room did not feel so much different at first glance, still street signs, still many people carrying on with their days like it was any other day. Brazil is known for its Catholicism beliefs so as we look around we see Christmas trees still set up on January 2nd (which would remain up until the 6th). As we look around, Rafael took us down the street to a buffet-style restaurant so we could get our first taste of Brazilian cuisine that was not airport food. It was actually my first time trying fish. There were still some American choices available which I could not help but get a few spoonful’s.
After we were done our meal, the tour began. Conveniently, right down the street from the restaurant and hotel was San Sebastian Square. Here Rafael explained the history of the area, starting with the entrepreneurs who helped build the city from the ground up. Manaus was home to (at the time) an economic game changer: rubber. Eduardo Ribeiro, whom at the time was vastly wealthy and owned a lot of farmland decided to do a complete overhaul of the city. To do this though he had to attract other wealthy patrons to his city. To do this he had to explain the vast amounts of rubber that could be mined from the city, bringing a lot of workers as well as wealthy to the area. Over time however, Manaus lost the number one producing spot of rubber to other countries including Malaysia which is the number one producer in the world today. Ribeiro took advantage of this brief fortune and foundation he had built for Manaus and furthered it by building the profligate opera house which faces Sebastian square to this day. Also the artists and architects he contracted also brought a little design of their own and made the famous Meeting of the Waters design to the tiles seen around the city, a beautiful touch unlike America’s sidewalks which are just boring concrete.
Once our brief history lesson was completed, we were picked up by the tour bus to go see Musa - Museu da Amazônia. This was the introduction to the rainforest we would see throughout the next few days. There was plenty to see as specimens and examples which could be found in the wild: the Tambaqui fish which resided in a few of the tanks, the famous anaconda which resided in a cage, and the crested oropendola’s which made their nests all around the natural museum (my personal favorite). Once I had see all of this wildlife in captivity and in the wild, I felt like my trip had begun, at first this was the reason I came on the trip so I could see these creatures that I could not see anywhere else in the wild. I am an avid bird watcher so seeing these species I had the pleasure of talking about in my experience from the zoo was a delight for me. I have posted my species totals for this part of the trip down below! Next we hiked around the natural museum to make it the tree top tower that was built in 2006. The tower itself took the group as a whole about ten minutes to climb, but once we reached the top, we were all reminded of the beauty that we had only seen on screen savers and PowerPoint slides from class: the Amazon jungle. The green trees stretching as far as the eye could see, the mist partially covering the trees, listening to the sounds of jungle and being at eye level with many bird species.
This was just the first day of our trip and already the gang of 17 from the United States were in awe. Needless to say we were eager for the next day to begin, right after we went back to the hotel and retired for the night.
After we were done our meal, the tour began. Conveniently, right down the street from the restaurant and hotel was San Sebastian Square. Here Rafael explained the history of the area, starting with the entrepreneurs who helped build the city from the ground up. Manaus was home to (at the time) an economic game changer: rubber. Eduardo Ribeiro, whom at the time was vastly wealthy and owned a lot of farmland decided to do a complete overhaul of the city. To do this though he had to attract other wealthy patrons to his city. To do this he had to explain the vast amounts of rubber that could be mined from the city, bringing a lot of workers as well as wealthy to the area. Over time however, Manaus lost the number one producing spot of rubber to other countries including Malaysia which is the number one producer in the world today. Ribeiro took advantage of this brief fortune and foundation he had built for Manaus and furthered it by building the profligate opera house which faces Sebastian square to this day. Also the artists and architects he contracted also brought a little design of their own and made the famous Meeting of the Waters design to the tiles seen around the city, a beautiful touch unlike America’s sidewalks which are just boring concrete.
Once our brief history lesson was completed, we were picked up by the tour bus to go see Musa - Museu da Amazônia. This was the introduction to the rainforest we would see throughout the next few days. There was plenty to see as specimens and examples which could be found in the wild: the Tambaqui fish which resided in a few of the tanks, the famous anaconda which resided in a cage, and the crested oropendola’s which made their nests all around the natural museum (my personal favorite). Once I had see all of this wildlife in captivity and in the wild, I felt like my trip had begun, at first this was the reason I came on the trip so I could see these creatures that I could not see anywhere else in the wild. I am an avid bird watcher so seeing these species I had the pleasure of talking about in my experience from the zoo was a delight for me. I have posted my species totals for this part of the trip down below! Next we hiked around the natural museum to make it the tree top tower that was built in 2006. The tower itself took the group as a whole about ten minutes to climb, but once we reached the top, we were all reminded of the beauty that we had only seen on screen savers and PowerPoint slides from class: the Amazon jungle. The green trees stretching as far as the eye could see, the mist partially covering the trees, listening to the sounds of jungle and being at eye level with many bird species.
This was just the first day of our trip and already the gang of 17 from the United States were in awe. Needless to say we were eager for the next day to begin, right after we went back to the hotel and retired for the night.
Day 3: The Dancing Boat
After the amazing experience we had the previous day, it was clear that the jet lag of being in a new place was catching up to us. Many of us had to miss out on breakfast because we were still getting used to the new conditions. Moving on, today was the day we were going to go on our boat tour of the Amazon where we would have the experience of a lifetime.
To continue where Rafael left off, Manaus had been home to the first huge rubber industry, but once other countries discovered their rubber resources, Manaus had to find another industry that would help their economy. So what did Eduardo Ribeiro do? He turned to the water and the forests, taking advantage of all the resources that would come out of there to help grow the very common markets seen around Manaus today. These markets were broken down by produce, meats, and gifts by section. Every morning, many fisherman would come in and display their haul of fish from their fishing trips in the hopes of selling plenty while the customer base is steady throughout the morning of those wanting to take advantage of the fresh goods. The gifts themselves were beautiful and handmade, surely highlighting the most beautiful parts of the amazon including their megafauna consisting of jaguars, arapaima, and parrots just to name a few. I couldn’t help but pick up a little jaguar statue, my favorite animal.
Once we had our time in the market, it was time to go to the beach to see our vessel that would take us out from morning until night. The boat itself was monumentally bigger than the last trip’s boat (making them jealous) with three floors with plenty of space. Another first for me, it was the first time I went on a boat for an extended period of time, I was worried about sea sickness. On the boat we saw some amazing sights. I was able to add some amazing bird species to my list including one of my favorites that I hadn’t seen before: a common Blackhawk. Getting back to the boat tour, we first stopped to meet a local native tribe in which we had the gracious luxury of getting a small peak into their culture while we watched them perform some of their many dances, one of which we were allowed to join in as the boys and girls of the tribe picked us out one by one to join in the dance. It may have seemed silly at first but it was truly a once in a lifetime experience none the less and we all had an amazing time.
After the native tribe experience, we had a presentation on the boat by one of Rafael’s colleagues Colleen who was studying climate change in the Amazon: "Amazon Basin and Climate Change". The Amazon basin itself is huge, about five times the size of Texas. New knowledge to me: the Amazon River is so large in terms of volume (the biggest in the world) that it influences the flow of the Atlantic Ocean. There are many tributaries throughout the Amazon including the Rio Negro and the Solomones. These two are the rivers that form the famous Meeting of the Waters, meeting but not touching. This phenomenon occurs due to the age of the Rio Negro with more of a slow flow and calm waters. The Solomones, on the other hand, is fast and bustling because of its “youth” at the same time however it carries more weight because of the erosional sediments from the Andes mountains. The Solomones (mainly the Amazon) is considered to be a white (brown) water river, with a visibility of 4-20 inches while the Rio Negro is thought of as more of a black water river with 50-100 inches of visibility. To conclude, she finished by speaking of climate change and how it affects the dry and wet seasons of the area.
Much of this information was also mentioned in the first presentation later on in the night from the first student presentations later that night made by Heather and Georgie who did a fantastic job! (Hope you two read this). Next we stopped at this floating restaurant on our journey with some exquisite food. Behind the restaurant we had another once in a lifetime experience where, thanks to Rafael, we were able to hand feed a troop of Capuchin monkeys bananas. Also one common squirrel monkey was included but it ran away.
Once we left the restaurant it was on to see more amazing sites including watching a demonstration with the famous Amazon pink river dolphins. These dolphins are native to the Amazon and their pinkish color is the result of their blood vessels below the skin which can change color depending on their emotions (much like we blush). Once we were done with the stops for the day, we finally had arrived at the meeting of the waters, truly an amazing site to see the differences in color in the same body of water as we had the opportunity to swim in it. Though I am not a strong swimmer I was not going to give up that opportunity. After all those experiences it was time to head back. While on the boat, our instructor Tait, as well as Rafael, were giving our group dancing lessons in salsa dancing and relaxation as we got to watch the sunset. We had finally gotten off the boat and our way back to the hotel to listen Heather and Georgie extend on Colleen’s presentation. After that, it was time to hit the hay, getting ready for the next day!
To continue where Rafael left off, Manaus had been home to the first huge rubber industry, but once other countries discovered their rubber resources, Manaus had to find another industry that would help their economy. So what did Eduardo Ribeiro do? He turned to the water and the forests, taking advantage of all the resources that would come out of there to help grow the very common markets seen around Manaus today. These markets were broken down by produce, meats, and gifts by section. Every morning, many fisherman would come in and display their haul of fish from their fishing trips in the hopes of selling plenty while the customer base is steady throughout the morning of those wanting to take advantage of the fresh goods. The gifts themselves were beautiful and handmade, surely highlighting the most beautiful parts of the amazon including their megafauna consisting of jaguars, arapaima, and parrots just to name a few. I couldn’t help but pick up a little jaguar statue, my favorite animal.
Once we had our time in the market, it was time to go to the beach to see our vessel that would take us out from morning until night. The boat itself was monumentally bigger than the last trip’s boat (making them jealous) with three floors with plenty of space. Another first for me, it was the first time I went on a boat for an extended period of time, I was worried about sea sickness. On the boat we saw some amazing sights. I was able to add some amazing bird species to my list including one of my favorites that I hadn’t seen before: a common Blackhawk. Getting back to the boat tour, we first stopped to meet a local native tribe in which we had the gracious luxury of getting a small peak into their culture while we watched them perform some of their many dances, one of which we were allowed to join in as the boys and girls of the tribe picked us out one by one to join in the dance. It may have seemed silly at first but it was truly a once in a lifetime experience none the less and we all had an amazing time.
After the native tribe experience, we had a presentation on the boat by one of Rafael’s colleagues Colleen who was studying climate change in the Amazon: "Amazon Basin and Climate Change". The Amazon basin itself is huge, about five times the size of Texas. New knowledge to me: the Amazon River is so large in terms of volume (the biggest in the world) that it influences the flow of the Atlantic Ocean. There are many tributaries throughout the Amazon including the Rio Negro and the Solomones. These two are the rivers that form the famous Meeting of the Waters, meeting but not touching. This phenomenon occurs due to the age of the Rio Negro with more of a slow flow and calm waters. The Solomones, on the other hand, is fast and bustling because of its “youth” at the same time however it carries more weight because of the erosional sediments from the Andes mountains. The Solomones (mainly the Amazon) is considered to be a white (brown) water river, with a visibility of 4-20 inches while the Rio Negro is thought of as more of a black water river with 50-100 inches of visibility. To conclude, she finished by speaking of climate change and how it affects the dry and wet seasons of the area.
Much of this information was also mentioned in the first presentation later on in the night from the first student presentations later that night made by Heather and Georgie who did a fantastic job! (Hope you two read this). Next we stopped at this floating restaurant on our journey with some exquisite food. Behind the restaurant we had another once in a lifetime experience where, thanks to Rafael, we were able to hand feed a troop of Capuchin monkeys bananas. Also one common squirrel monkey was included but it ran away.
Once we left the restaurant it was on to see more amazing sites including watching a demonstration with the famous Amazon pink river dolphins. These dolphins are native to the Amazon and their pinkish color is the result of their blood vessels below the skin which can change color depending on their emotions (much like we blush). Once we were done with the stops for the day, we finally had arrived at the meeting of the waters, truly an amazing site to see the differences in color in the same body of water as we had the opportunity to swim in it. Though I am not a strong swimmer I was not going to give up that opportunity. After all those experiences it was time to head back. While on the boat, our instructor Tait, as well as Rafael, were giving our group dancing lessons in salsa dancing and relaxation as we got to watch the sunset. We had finally gotten off the boat and our way back to the hotel to listen Heather and Georgie extend on Colleen’s presentation. After that, it was time to hit the hay, getting ready for the next day!
Day 4: The Heart of the Jungle
Today is the day, all seventeen of us have an enthusiastic attitude for our trip today: the day we hike thru the Amazon jungle. Rafael had made it possible for us to hike while being guided by two tourists who had much more experience navigating thru the trail we were hiking down. Once we got off the bus we noticed that it started to drizzle and literally rain on our parade. Thankfully as we are getting our introductory lecture, the sky began to clear and it never did much more than drizzle for the rest of the day
The hike itself started off challenging, going downhill to start off with wet conditions definitely was rough on the knees but it was interesting. Rafael had stopped at a few places to point out some interesting plants and other wildlife. One of the plants Rafael pointed out produced the very same chemical present in our malaria medication. Some of us tried it but complained about the bitter taste. Thankfully I was not one of those unfortunate individuals. Then we stumbled across a bullet ant mound. Bullet ants have the most painful sting on the Schmidt Pain Index by far. As Rafael was explaining this he was rubbing a stick against the top of the mound simulating a predator attacking the mound. This drew out the worker ants, these ants were significantly bigger and resembled their wasp cousins more so than ants. We were careful not to get too close to avoid being stung. Once the ants detected no further danger, they back into their burrow to prepare for other actual dangers. As an amateur entomologist, I was amazed to see these ants I had only read about.
Moving on, we kept right down the slippery trail until we had arrived at a significantly carved out sandstone cave. For the dangers of Hantavirus, we were instructed to wear surgical masks to avoid inhaling potential toxins. Wearing glasses was not the smartest idea for that day, as I was breathing, the exhales constantly fogged up my glasses that I needed the guidance of group to see in the dark cave. As we continued through the cave we encountered the most venomous spider in the world: the deadly wandering spider. This spider held the world record in 2010 for the most potent toxin from an arachnid on the planet. Knowing this fact, myself and a few other group members went to take a photo of the spider (which was less smart considering I could barely see or breathe but worth it none the less). The spider is pictured below! As we continue through the cave, the guides pointed our the many different minerals that made up the cave including iron. We continued thru the cave to find a whole colony of bats as we stumbled across the nursery. Hundreds of bats flying everywhere to get their fill of insects for the day to build their strength.
We finally moved out of the cave right intro a knee-deep stream that was rough for some to get through (thankfully most of us had waterproof clothing). Once we made it thru, it was time to make our way back up the trail and head out of the forest. With much of us starving, we happened upon a resort style buffet where Rafael had taken us to eat and settle. Myself and others had noticed many tropical bird species as we took a walk down the river which was fed by the waters we were previously. They took us to a prime swimming spot on the river with a diving board like boardwalk where many of us had jumped in and swam in it. I am not a strong swimmer, though I did join the group eventually, I mostly kept to the sides and did not jump off. This day had been full of relaxing fun.
For our last stop of the day, we were joined by geologists who were doing studies on the rock formations within the geopark. Having had some experience in geology before I could comprehend some of what they were talking about with the formations. There was plenty of wildlife to be seen there as well, some more tropical birds, what appeared to be leaf cutter ants, and one giant individual from the grasshopper family also pictured below.
As we packed up and headed back to the hotel, many of us seemed heartbroken. This was a magical place that we had indeed dreamed about seeing from the Amazon River and Rainforest, to the Amazonian jungle along with the many historical sights and stops. We were all exhilarated and exhausted, but all good things must come to an end eventually. To continue on our journey, please click the Rio tab above to learn about our beautiful experiences throughout Rio de Janiero
The hike itself started off challenging, going downhill to start off with wet conditions definitely was rough on the knees but it was interesting. Rafael had stopped at a few places to point out some interesting plants and other wildlife. One of the plants Rafael pointed out produced the very same chemical present in our malaria medication. Some of us tried it but complained about the bitter taste. Thankfully I was not one of those unfortunate individuals. Then we stumbled across a bullet ant mound. Bullet ants have the most painful sting on the Schmidt Pain Index by far. As Rafael was explaining this he was rubbing a stick against the top of the mound simulating a predator attacking the mound. This drew out the worker ants, these ants were significantly bigger and resembled their wasp cousins more so than ants. We were careful not to get too close to avoid being stung. Once the ants detected no further danger, they back into their burrow to prepare for other actual dangers. As an amateur entomologist, I was amazed to see these ants I had only read about.
Moving on, we kept right down the slippery trail until we had arrived at a significantly carved out sandstone cave. For the dangers of Hantavirus, we were instructed to wear surgical masks to avoid inhaling potential toxins. Wearing glasses was not the smartest idea for that day, as I was breathing, the exhales constantly fogged up my glasses that I needed the guidance of group to see in the dark cave. As we continued through the cave we encountered the most venomous spider in the world: the deadly wandering spider. This spider held the world record in 2010 for the most potent toxin from an arachnid on the planet. Knowing this fact, myself and a few other group members went to take a photo of the spider (which was less smart considering I could barely see or breathe but worth it none the less). The spider is pictured below! As we continue through the cave, the guides pointed our the many different minerals that made up the cave including iron. We continued thru the cave to find a whole colony of bats as we stumbled across the nursery. Hundreds of bats flying everywhere to get their fill of insects for the day to build their strength.
We finally moved out of the cave right intro a knee-deep stream that was rough for some to get through (thankfully most of us had waterproof clothing). Once we made it thru, it was time to make our way back up the trail and head out of the forest. With much of us starving, we happened upon a resort style buffet where Rafael had taken us to eat and settle. Myself and others had noticed many tropical bird species as we took a walk down the river which was fed by the waters we were previously. They took us to a prime swimming spot on the river with a diving board like boardwalk where many of us had jumped in and swam in it. I am not a strong swimmer, though I did join the group eventually, I mostly kept to the sides and did not jump off. This day had been full of relaxing fun.
For our last stop of the day, we were joined by geologists who were doing studies on the rock formations within the geopark. Having had some experience in geology before I could comprehend some of what they were talking about with the formations. There was plenty of wildlife to be seen there as well, some more tropical birds, what appeared to be leaf cutter ants, and one giant individual from the grasshopper family also pictured below.
As we packed up and headed back to the hotel, many of us seemed heartbroken. This was a magical place that we had indeed dreamed about seeing from the Amazon River and Rainforest, to the Amazonian jungle along with the many historical sights and stops. We were all exhilarated and exhausted, but all good things must come to an end eventually. To continue on our journey, please click the Rio tab above to learn about our beautiful experiences throughout Rio de Janiero
Me Overlooking the Rainforest Bullet Ant
Feeding a capuchin monkey Wandering Spider San Sebastian Square
All of us on the boat tour of the Amazon Pink River Dolphin
Sandstone cave Meeting of the Rivers tiling