Today was the next most incredible day of my life.
The day began at 8 am on a riverboat bound toward the Meeting of
the Waters, the place where the dark water of the Rio Negro joins with the
brown water of the Rio Solimões to form the Amazon River, with a sharp line
distinguishing the two tributaries.
Almost immediately after boarding, several students fell asleep in their
chairs or on the floor, heavily hung over from the night before. There were three riverboats on the tour, and
we were on the party boat. We then
turned around and a short while later pulled up to a sandy dock made of
precarious plank bridges built into the water.
We walked the planks all the way up to the settlement of a few houses
built on stilts. We passed tall trees
whose barks showed the water level of the rainy season, some 3-4 meters above
the ground. When we approached the
buildings we saw a couple locals passing around three-toed sloths. At first I was thrown off by their ET-like
face and peculiar demeanor, but it took me about five seconds to think they
were the cutest creatures in the world.
They really do move very slowly, and they like to wrap their three toes
tightly around fingers and shirts and arms and don’t let go. We passed the sloths around and were
reluctant to leave them when it was time for our rainforest tour.
In the rainforest, we came across a rubber tree, and our guide
demonstrated how to extract the rubber.
Brazil was the main producer of rubber before synthetic rubber came into
popular use. The guide carved a diagonal
line into the tree bark, and white goo seeped out, which he collected into a
can stuck under the line. The goo
solidified, and if you pulled on it, it would stretch just like a rubber
band. We also saw exotic plants, like
trees with roots above the ground that were several meters wide, trees whose
barks were covered in needles, and giant Queen Victoria water lilies that were
a meter wide. What we didn’t see were
many bugs; the particularly acidic water of the Rio Negro prevents many species
of insect from laying their eggs in the water, including the malaria-carrying
mosquito. On our way out we passed by
the sloths again and had to have them ripped out of our arms.
The guides distributed a hammock and cords to each of us and
taught us how to make the knots that would secure our hammocks to the beams
above. The hammocks were hung in close
quarters, but they wrapped around you as you lay in them, providing a lot of
privacy. We rocked and swung around and
bumped into each other. There were only
30 of us, but somehow the boat was meant to fit over 70. We enjoyed lunch on the ship using plastic
plates about as sturdy as plastic wrap, then napped in our hammocks during the
3-hour journey to our next destination.
The water was completely opaque, so we couldn’t see the dolphins,
even if they were right in front – or under – us. There was a guide in the water with us who
would coax the dolphins to the surface with a small fish. There were many occasions where one person would
yell, “I’m touching one, I’m touching a dolphin!” and the person beside him,
usually an unhappy girl, would say, “No, that’s my leg.” We could also “ride” a dolphin that was
directly under us and the person right next to us would be completely unaware. Eventually we gathered our courage and tried
reaching out to find the dolphins. They
felt so weird! Their skin is completely
smooth, like touching one of those hairless dogs, but wet. They have strange teeth and a deformed snout
and beady eyes; they are far from cute and cuddly. We kept swimming through the sunset, and when
the sun finally disappeared we got out.
We were covered in dirty water that stuck to our body hairs, making us
look particularly hirsute. There was a
crude shower where we could rinse off the water that was likely infested with
shistosomiasis among other things.
From there we piled into motor canoes to go searching for caimen,
small alligators. Almost immediately, a
fish jumped into our canoe and flopped around back and forth under the
floorboards. Three more fish jumped in
throughout the night. By this time, it
was almost completely dark, except for the bright light of the waxing gibbous
moon, which was ok because caimen are nocturnal. We explored every corner of a large bay,
probably for over an hour. At some
point, our guide asked if any of us had a flashlight, because his had gone out. We saw that our other canoe in the distance
was flashing photos (easy to spot in the pitch black night), so we made our way
over to hijack whatever they found. They
were passing around a caiman, which resembled a lizard more than it did an
alligator. This is what Mulan must have
felt when she found out her ancestors sent her Mushu instead of a dragon. Nonetheless, it was a cool site, and we
passed it around our canoe, too, before releasing it back into the water.
We
wrapped up caiman hunting and headed toward a beach luau. We didn’t know where we were going, but we
soon saw lights off in the distance.
Around the lights it was pitch black for as far as we could see, and
again we felt very isolated. The lights
kept getting bigger until we pulled up to shore. We found rows of lights and chairs and, most
importantly, the buffet line! There was
ample food, including mashed potatoes, chicken, shish kebabs, and flan. We tried to balance our food on the same
flimsy plates, and enjoyed the food and atmosphere until it was time to cuddle
up in our hammocks for the night.
The day began at 8 am on a riverboat bound toward the Meeting of
the Waters, the place where the dark water of the Rio Negro joins with the
brown water of the Rio Solimões to form the Amazon River, with a sharp line
distinguishing the two tributaries.
Almost immediately after boarding, several students fell asleep in their
chairs or on the floor, heavily hung over from the night before. There were three riverboats on the tour, and
we were on the party boat. We then
turned around and a short while later pulled up to a sandy dock made of
precarious plank bridges built into the water.
We walked the planks all the way up to the settlement of a few houses
built on stilts. We passed tall trees
whose barks showed the water level of the rainy season, some 3-4 meters above
the ground. When we approached the
buildings we saw a couple locals passing around three-toed sloths. At first I was thrown off by their ET-like
face and peculiar demeanor, but it took me about five seconds to think they
were the cutest creatures in the world.
They really do move very slowly, and they like to wrap their three toes
tightly around fingers and shirts and arms and don’t let go. We passed the sloths around and were
reluctant to leave them when it was time for our rainforest tour.
In the rainforest, we came across a rubber tree, and our guide
demonstrated how to extract the rubber.
Brazil was the main producer of rubber before synthetic rubber came into
popular use. The guide carved a diagonal
line into the tree bark, and white goo seeped out, which he collected into a
can stuck under the line. The goo
solidified, and if you pulled on it, it would stretch just like a rubber
band. We also saw exotic plants, like
trees with roots above the ground that were several meters wide, trees whose
barks were covered in needles, and giant Queen Victoria water lilies that were
a meter wide. What we didn’t see were
many bugs; the particularly acidic water of the Rio Negro prevents many species
of insect from laying their eggs in the water, including the malaria-carrying
mosquito. On our way out we passed by
the sloths again and had to have them ripped out of our arms.
Back on the riverboat, we were feeling the repercussions of being
on the party boat. There two other
riverboats had already left and were far ahead.
We were supposed to be among them.
Our guide reprimanded us for taking so long harassing the locals for
beer, especially given the fact that we were not allowed to be drinking. The guys making inappropriate jokes (that
weren’t even funny) and the girl who threw up during our jungle trek didn’t
help our case.
The guides distributed a hammock and cords to each of us and
taught us how to make the knots that would secure our hammocks to the beams
above. The hammocks were hung in close
quarters, but they wrapped around you as you lay in them, providing a lot of
privacy. We rocked and swung around and
bumped into each other. There were only
30 of us, but somehow the boat was meant to fit over 70. We enjoyed lunch on the ship using plastic
plates about as sturdy as plastic wrap, then napped in our hammocks during the
3-hour journey to our next destination.
Three hours later we were gently awoken to swim with the pink
dolphins, actually a variety of whale.
The venue was a couple floating buildings linked to each other in the
middle of the river. There was no other
sign of civilization in any direction.
We were truly in the middle of nowhere, Brazil. We were very excited to swim with the
dolphins, but when it actually came time to step into the water, we became
apprehensive. A few people even sat
out. We had to put on black socks so the
dolphins didn’t think our feet were fish and try to eat them. There was a small platform under the water
that we could stand on, but we were also given pool noodles. We huddled together on the platform and as a
group screamed from anxiety so loud the guides had to hush us to not scare the
dolphins away.
The water was completely opaque, so we couldn’t see the dolphins,
even if they were right in front – or under – us. There was a guide in the water with us who
would coax the dolphins to the surface with a small fish. There were many occasions where one person would
yell, “I’m touching one, I’m touching a dolphin!” and the person beside him,
usually an unhappy girl, would say, “No, that’s my leg.” We could also “ride” a dolphin that was
directly under us and the person right next to us would be completely unaware. Eventually we gathered our courage and tried
reaching out to find the dolphins. They
felt so weird! Their skin is completely
smooth, like touching one of those hairless dogs, but wet. They have strange teeth and a deformed snout
and beady eyes; they are far from cute and cuddly. We kept swimming through the sunset, and when
the sun finally disappeared we got out.
We were covered in dirty water that stuck to our body hairs, making us
look particularly hirsute. There was a
crude shower where we could rinse off the water that was likely infested with
shistosomiasis among other things.
From there we piled into motor canoes to go searching for caimen,
small alligators. Almost immediately, a
fish jumped into our canoe and flopped around back and forth under the
floorboards. Three more fish jumped in
throughout the night. By this time, it
was almost completely dark, except for the bright light of the waxing gibbous
moon, which was ok because caimen are nocturnal. We explored every corner of a large bay,
probably for over an hour. At some
point, our guide asked if any of us had a flashlight, because his had gone out. We saw that our other canoe in the distance
was flashing photos (easy to spot in the pitch black night), so we made our way
over to hijack whatever they found. They
were passing around a caiman, which resembled a lizard more than it did an
alligator. This is what Mulan must have
felt when she found out her ancestors sent her Mushu instead of a dragon. Nonetheless, it was a cool site, and we
passed it around our canoe, too, before releasing it back into the water.
We
wrapped up caiman hunting and headed toward a beach luau. We didn’t know where we were going, but we
soon saw lights off in the distance.
Around the lights it was pitch black for as far as we could see, and
again we felt very isolated. The lights
kept getting bigger until we pulled up to shore. We found rows of lights and chairs and, most
importantly, the buffet line! There was
ample food, including mashed potatoes, chicken, shish kebabs, and flan. We tried to balance our food on the same
flimsy plates, and enjoyed the food and atmosphere until it was time to cuddle
up in our hammocks for the night.
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