Amazon Rainforest- Day 1
An early start with a long drive (with a short stop for some chocolate milk and a wee), followed by a boat trip into the jungle. We arrived at the lodge, which was overlooking the water and had a wander, lunch and beer.
Headed out on a canoe for Pink dolphin spotting (saw loads, don’t think we managed to get a single good photo though- they’re rather camera shy). We then went fishing for the first time in our lives. I caught 1 and didn’t know what to do with it, Leo caught 4 and was much more in control of the situation and her face.
We watched the sunset from the boat, which was stunning, and the jungle came alove with sound. Every time I tried to get a clip of the sound sof the jungle, our guide Wellington would tell us there was a bird somewhere, or the french couple we were with would say something French.
We then went out Caymen spotting, saw a baby close up and the glowing eyes of a couple more in the distance.
Amazon Rainforest- Day 2
Early start for a sunrise canoe trip, the water was nice and calm and there were lots of jungle sounds.
An hour-or-so walk through the jungle learning about the different uses of plants, followed by the two of us taking a canoe out for a paddle. We tried to stay in the shade, which meant lots of getting wedged in between trees
Breakfast at camp then short boat trip to start a walk through the jungle learning about different uses for plants.
We then packed and prepared to spend the night sleeping under the stars, a few miles further into the rainforest. We met a taranchala and learnt a few bits on the walk to the camp. Made fire, put up hammocks, saw some frogs, whittled a spoon, weave palm leaves, ate dinner cooked over the fire.
Each of these things (other than seeing the frogs) was incredible difficult, we are not built for such activities, but they were all good fun and we learnt lots.
We had a shower (tipped bucket of water over our heads from a steam), during which we nearly lost Leo (and even more nearly her sandal) to the forest.
We sat by the fire, the relaxed and eventually fell asleep in our hammocks. Stars, jungle sounds and good chats.
Amazon Rainforest- Day 3
The novelty of sleeping in a hammock had worn off at some point in the night, but we both slept reasonably well.
Breakfast by the fire, followed by hollowing out some bamboo to make a blowpipe. Plenty of target practise (we refused to do anything else until we’d hit the target leaf pinned to a tree)
We then packed up camp and headed back to the lodge for a shower, followed by lunch. We said goodbye to our French friends who were leaving, and then went out on a boat through a channel, which was nice and cool and smelt wonderful. We spotted a few more pink dolphins and lots of birds. At dinner I actually ate fish (Arapaima) for about the first time in my life, then we had a few beers and a cocktail and watched the stars. This trip is the first time we’ve properly seen the milky way.
Amazon Rainforest- Day 4
Pineapple for breakfast, then straight out on a canoe for some unsuccessful piranha fishing (we both caught a tree and multiple twigs, no piranha). Spotted some birds- black and white ducks and vultures. Then we visited a riverside family and saw their smallholding, had coffee with tapioca and tried some of their plants. They had 2 friendly dogs and a cat.
Back to the lodge to pack up and eat lunch, before 30 minute boat trip and 2 and a half hour drive back to Manaus. We managed to have some sort of conversation with the driver, who was thrilled to hear I drove a 26 year old Honda Civic. I think the only European language he had on translate was German- so he translated from Portuguese to German, then we nodded/ signalled/grunted to communicate back.
