Adventure is out there!
This morning we got up for breakfast a little after 7, which was delicious. It had traditional pancakes and fried bananas, which I combined together. There was also fresh cheeses, fruits, juices, and breads. We got suited up in our hiking pants and boots and took a quick ride over to a part of the jungle with a trail. They no longer stray off the paths to preserve the forest and each trail is only big enough for single file.
We first came to a wax tree which had both fresh and dried wax. The fresh wax smelled like essences and could be used to make candles. It is flammable so many people melt it then dip sticks in it to make torches. The smell from the wax is so strong that some people use it to huff and get high. Next we came across a nest of army ants that was about 5 ft long. Leandro showed us a technique he used with his tribe. When hunting, animals can smell the humans sweat (with 90% humidity it’s hard not to) so the hunters must mask it. By placing your hand on the army ants nest, they swarm it. You pull your hands away and rub the ants in like you’re putting on lotion. The smell was actually pretty good! Next Leandro gave us a leaf to bite. The flavor is so bitter just biting it, not even breaking a piece off makes you twinge. He explained that locals believe the more bitter inside of you, the healthier you are. Many locals make a tea out of the leaves once a week to drink to use to fight off malaria and other sicknesses. He gave us each a pretty yellow flower to eat and said nothing else. We all popped them in and realized what was happening. Our whole mouths were numb! Leandro explained that this flower was used when you had a toothache and needed it removed but you would have eaten many more flowers. The feeling was different than novicane and aftertaste it left in your mouth made the air taste weird. We encountered many termite mounds, we learned which ate living trees (more aggressive), which ate dead trees, and which lived in the ground. The large ground termites have massive pinchers which locals use as stitches. The have the termite bite the wound closed and then rip of the rest of their bodies, leaving the mouth and head. We saw a fluorescent green caterpillar with bright blue belly and red joints. This was a fire caterpillar and the exact reason why we need to look at branches before grabbing them. The “fur” on it’s back inflicts a burning sensation like a sting for each tiny hair.
Next Leandro gave us a Home ec 101 lesson on living in the rainforest. He showed us how to make a house, weave plates, create decor (if you were so inclined in the middle of no where) and how to start a fire! He then started chopping up small coconuts to retrieve the grubs inside, which we then ate. There is a species of bettle which drills a hole in the coconut and puts its egg inside. The larvae then eats the coconut on the inside and grows to fill the shell. I honestly didn’t think they were bad! The only thing the grub eats its entire life is coconut, so it really just tastes like coconut milk. I was the only person who ate two raw ones!
Our journey really started yesterday but we only flew to Miami and stayed the night there. It was this morning at 4:30am that we all woke up and got down to the lobby of the hotel to catch the 5am shuttle to the airport. We got through security with hardly any trouble since our luggage was packed in Boston. Of course because I only packed a carry on I had the most stuff and was searched but everything was fine. Our flight to Manaus Brazil was around 5 hours and I thankfully had an aisle seat and sitting next to a girl on the trip. It was so different being on a flight where english is not the main language because in Brazil they speak Portuguese. The safety video was hilarious animations Corrine and I narrated (because it was first played in only Portuguese) you had to be there but “does anyone want this? Alright I’ll wear it” was a funny line from the lifejacket scene. I tried to watch Sherlock Holmes once I finally found the English channel but it was too hard to follow along. I slept most of the way. Clearing customs took forever, another 2 hours of just standing in line waiting to get our luggage “tapped” by some guy.
We finally got out and met up with Leandro, our guide. His driver pulled up and we hopped into the van for another 3 hour drive. Driving in Manaus, we passed what I think were the slums. It was so beautiful though and wished we could have stopped to take pictures. Every hut/shack was a bright color with them teetering up the hillside. Of course I didn’t have a camera ready but I will when we get back. The roads looked smooth but boy was it a bumpy ride, I’m glad I took Dramamine. The scariest part was crossing a 4km long bridge that was just recently built to replace the long ferry ride. Because we were a van, the police had to come and check us all out and make sure we weren’t smuggling anything. Along the way, almost every driver flashes lights, turns on their blinker, or waves to all passing cars as a little hello. They also pass each other a lot and get what us Americans would think of as dangerously close to pedestrians, but the people think nothing of the van whizzing past.
We finally traveled down a long dirt road into Anahilvanas ecolodge where we would be staying. We had welcoming juices made fresh from passion fruit and guava (no other ingredients at all) and got a tour of the lodge which is AMAZING. I will be honest thought it is very luxurious for being out in the amazon rainforest. We checked into our rooms then headed to dinner which had anything and everything. They had fresh fish and fruit and other main and side dishes. I tried everything like the beet soup, milk pudding, and passion fruit mousse! I can’t decide if I will loose weight eating all this healthy food or gain weight because I’m eating so much! After dinner we waited in the lounge for everyone and I played a game of pool with Krystina and Leandro.
We then got suited into our life vests and got into a motor boat. I sat in the front seat obviously. The absolute darkness once we were on the water with no lights was insane. To show you how bright it was, a planes lights were blinking in the sky and it’s reflection on the water made you have to turn away. The sky was brighter on one end which Leandro said was where downtown Manaus was located. Leandro used a spot light while another man controlled the boat as we looked for the reflections of eyes in the trees or water. We first saw eyes which Leandro thought would be a snake but it turned out to be a moth the size of my hand! It got scared and started flying everywhere dive bombing our head and hitting the water. Leandro was just like Get in the tree!! We then saw some night jars which are always with one another cuddling and many caimans. I had just been telling Rachel and Leandro how the number one thing I wanted to see while I was here was a sloth and sure enough we pulled along side a 3 toed female sloth hanging from a branch. The smirks they make are so cute as she tried to climb away slowly. We stood there gawking at how pretty she was for a long time and finally decided to move on. We all thought we should name her and Leandro said we should name it Natty, because I had been the one hoping on seeing a sloth!
Right after that Leandro somehow spotted eyes deep in the trees as we rode our boat with branches whipping us, having to grab and pass back to the person behind us. He had somehow spotted a small tree boa on a branch and he let us all touch if we wanted to (uh yeah I wanted to!) As we sat watching the snake we heard loud splashes which made some of us look around worried, but it’s actually just fruit falling from the trees as animals pick away at it. It’s about 11:30 here now (no time difference from home which is awesome) and I am about to pass out listening to god knows what animals are outside my screen door. Krystina and I already found out just because we have a door doesn’t mean animals won’t visit since we saw a tree frog on our wall which is lost somewhere in the room when we tried to get pictures. Oh well, another long day tomorrow!
Now that I am finally settled back in the state, I’m going to be posting some pictures/my journal from while I was in Brazil for family and anyone else interested. Enjoy!
