Amazon Rainforest

The first stop on the way to the Amazon Rainforest was at The Meeting of The Waters where the Rio Negro (white water) and the Rio Solimoes (dark water) meet to form the Rio Amazon unfortunatley due to the conditions when I was there it wasn´t really that clear.

The local kids didn´t seem to mind the high water levels as we passed the town of Boa Gelo on the way out to the Amazon Rainforest.

Boa Gelo

As we made our way down the river to our Jungle Lodge we passed a lot of houses that had been flooded - Anthonio our guide told us that the families who normally live in these houses will have gone to stay with relatives nearby and will come back when the water recedes.

There were a lot of these trees in the area though the fruit is big it is not edible.

We arrive at the lodge on the River Arasa and chill out for a while whilst the afternoon sun is too hot - here Anthonio is playing pool with one of the other guides.

I go for a swim to cool down - though the water was a nice orange colour it was really clean and refreshing - and there were no pirhana´s or Anaconda´s about!!

This is the skin of a very big Anaconda that had been killed near the lodge by one of the local farmers when he caught it attacking his sheep!!

Jungle flowers...

Chom Poo Moo gets excited about her first canoe trip in the Amazon - she hopes to see some exciting wildlife.

We stop to do a spot of fishing - first time I have been fishing since I was a kid and went fishing for tadpoles!! Beginners luck though I caught a sardine and two piranha´s - the guides later showed us their pirhana scars - they say everyone out here has some from fishing for pirhana´s!! Anyway there is not much meat on them but they made quite a tasty fish soup.

After dark we went back out to look for some Spectacled Caymen and fgound this little guy - he is about a year old - they are part of the alligator family, they don´t grow as big only 5m but they are more agile and have sharper teeth amongst other differences!

Next day we again went back out on the canoes to see what wildlife we could spot - say quite a few Iguana´s - some of them would just suddenly dive into the water.

Loads of pretty birds - though they were quite camera shy so difficult to get decent photo´s especially on a moving boat.

A big woodpecker.

A Hawks.

Me on the canoe - last time I was in the Rainforest it was dark most of the time because of the tree cover but because the water levels are so high just now then we were more than 10m higher than normal so floating near the top of the huge trees!!

Though the high levels of water made it harder to spot some types of wildlife - less insects/birds & butterflies etc as well as larger ground animals we were able to get close to some of those that live higher up in the trees like this little squirrel monkey.

And this pretty big porcupine.

There were of course still some insects like this funny little spider.

And of course there is always the mosquitoes - they were pretty big and noisy out here.

Of all the dangerous and poisonous things out here I got attacked by a family of these hairy caterpillars - they must have fallen from a branch onto my leg as we were in the canoe as I suddenly felt a sting on my elbow when I brushed it on my leg and realised there was about a dozen of these things on me and they give a burning sensation when you touch them - scarred for life by a caterpillar!!!!!

Not a two headed monster but a mother and cub Sloth Bear - these were the strangest wild animal - they didn´t flinch when Anthonio climbed up the tree to bring her down (even when he accidently dropped her in the water) and when you were holding her she was just solid no sign of breathing and no struggling to get free - the only movement she made was when she clamped her claws onto my finger - and she had some grip.

It wouldn´t be the jungle without some spiders.

Lake Maremro - it was so calm and peaceful here the lake was like a mirror.

I was lucky to end up on a tour with just three other people and Anthonio the guide - Eduardo, Gill and Marten - some of the groups are really big which would make it much harder to spot things out here.

Sunset on Lake Mamora.

We spent the third night with a family from one of the few remaining native tribes - Tupi tribe - though they speak portugese they still retain their native Tupi language and cultures as well. The kids were quite shy to start with but they soon livened up.

Most communities out here now have an electricity supply but these families use a generator so limit their use of it so we had dinner by candle light.

Bedtime....

For me as well my first nights sleep in the hammock.

Not something I do often but I managed to drag myself out of my hammock for sunrise - and it was worth it.

Also a good time for spotting birds - a Scissor Tail.

The family house where we slept.

A very skinny dog.

The boys having breakfast - they were glad it was Saturday as they didn´t have to rush for school - they have a one hour trip on a boat each way to get to school.

The boys come down to wave us goodbye and collect some water from the river.

Some of the houses like this one are made on floating logs - which means they just rise with the water level so avoid getting flooded.

We went for our jungle trekk which turned into a bit of a swim - normally this is dry land!! Luckily it was so hot that we were almost dry by the time we came back here and had to swim back over!!

Anthonio teaches us about some of the plants in the Rainforest that the locals use for various purposes including medicinal. He is actually from Guyana and his grandfather is a medicine man so he was taught all about these growing up.

The Breo tree which has a wax similar to candles.

Brazillian nuts.

Me.

The houses and floating garden where we started our trekk.

The family who stay at the house who find it funny that the silly tourists not only come out here and swim through the water to go for a walk but that we pay to do it!!

More Hawks.....

Everywhere you walk you have to watch where you put your hands - not only for the nasty caterpillars etc but from the trees themselves as many have spikes like this for protection!!

The animals at the lodge are certainly free range they just wander around, play and chase each other when they are not eating (or being eaten!!).

A big butterfly.

It was all too much for Marten who had to have a powernap - like the pillow??

Some fruit that grows in the river.

Dragonflies.

The moon was out every afternoon we were there.

The last night it was just me Marten and Anthonio and we spent the night camping in the jungle - here we are setting up our hammocks.

Getting dinner ready

After dinner and a few campfire stories from Anthonio about Jaguars etc Chom Poo Moo was making sure she was secure in her hammock. I like sleeping in the jungle there is a constant noise of insects etc but it is peaceful (other than the Mosquitoes!!). We were even awakened in the morning by the sound of howler monkeys who were nearby checking out the camp though we didn´t see them.

Someone sensibly built this house high enough up to avoid the rising waters.

Chom Poo Moo on her next adventure trekk through the jungle.

Anthonio teases this tartantula out of her nest - they nest in the ground under trees. He said this was a small one!!! Though not deadly (unless your allergic to them) I still don´t fancy a bite from one of these guys and the 24 hours of extreme pain that follows it!!

Poor Marten didn´t do too well keeping dry on our second hike either as he managed to stumble of this log we had to walk over to cross the river - I just managed to stay dry this time!

The So Va Tree when cut it produces this milk like substance that you can drink - it was pretty sweet - locals used to drink this when they went deep into the jungle to drain the rubber trees.

That´s a massive ant hill behind me.

We got back to the boat to find hundreds of termites - just as well we weren´t there overnight or maybe they would have eaten the boat!!

This little stick insect decided to stow away on the canoe as well.

Local fruits.

A vulture.

Family transport.

We might not have been near the sea but there were still seagulls!!

Kids who shared our boat on the way back from the jungle lodge.

Egrets

Back through Boa Gelo again on our way back to Manaus.

Well I wasn´t feeling very energetic when I left the Caribean and was feeling a little reluctant about travelling around South America - back to more difficult travel after the last few months and having spent so much time recently with friends I wasn´t sure how I would feel to being back on my own for a longer period again not to count the obvious language difficulties and higher risks of travelling in South America.

But so far I have had a great time - the people in Brazil are so friendly even though few I have met speak much English and I speak even less Portugese. It is funny when I tell them I don´t understand Portugese they speak to me even more - it´s a bit like the British when someone doesn´t understand English they speak even louder!!!

One big difference between Brazil and Asia (so far) is that prices tend to be set and you pretty much get charged the same as a local - it´s not as cheap that´s for sure but would be a nightmare trying to haggle all the time given my limited portugese!! Sure there is a few times that the price had been put up a little as I am foreign but not often and not by much...like home tourist stuff and locations always a bit more pricey anyway.

Ok enough for now am already another installment behind as again internet access been limited and not good so will update you soon on my 4 day boat trip down the Amazon!!

Hope all good at home...

Jack xxx