Rio Negro is really spectacular. I woke up around 5 and headed to the top deck where I could see the glassy surface of the waters around us before anyone had a chance to disturb the surface. It was extraordinary. We headed out at 6 for a morning bird watching session. Along the way we heard the cries of howler monkeys but never saw them. We saw a number of parrots and vultures. I love seeing the half submerged trees in a submerged forest. There were also so low hanging clouds which formed a nice hazy background to the serenity of the morning forests.
We came back for breakfast and then tucked our pants into our socks (to prevent any invasion) and headed out for a jungle hike. There were surprisingly few mosquitoes but other little bugs. We had a special guy with us who wielded a machete and showed us the way. He showed us how you can make DDT from a plant stem and we saw a bug land in it and instantly die. Apparently, locals used to dump this liquid into the river and catch all the fish that suffocated from the poison which they then treated by drying or boiling for long periods to remove the poison. He also taught us how to spear a jaguar and how to make a blow gun. Along the way we saw 2 toads and a large tarantula. We drew sap from a rubber tree and a gum tree - which I tasted and it was sweet and sticky. We didn't get bitten by ants but saw fierce colonies of bullet ants and combat ants.
 |
| common toad |
 |
| Bullet ants |
 |
| Tarantula |
After lunch the boat moved further down the Anavilhans archipelago. The narrowing water ways with elongated islands were gorgeous. We parked at the tip of an island. The view from the boat is everything I imagined from a riverboat on the Amazon - serene waters, trees abutting our boat with narrow waterways on all sides - magical Amazon beauty.
We went for a boat ride around the archipelago in the afternoon into evening. In addition to the great views of the water and trees, it was the trip of colorful birds. We must have seen at least 5 macaws, 6 toucans, and a few parrots. We also saw a sloth moving about! It was actually climbing along a tree limb and upright grasping on with his arms and standing on his feet. We also saw some hawks and an eagle. Despite all that we saw, the best was still just the sheer sight of the riverbanks and the reflections in the mirror like waters.
 |
| toucan |
 |
| 2 Toucans |
After dinner, one of the tour guides - Christophe - gave a lecture about the Amazon including its history and cultures and current environmental conservation issues. I thought overall the talk was good but had several complaints. First of all, the dude was German and used all German slides for an English speaking tour group. He said he was just using it for the pictures, but how hard is it really to translate a couple slides when you're an English speaking tour guide? My other issues were content based so I won't get into it. In any case, I thought it was interesting that they put together a lecture, but it should have been optional.
No comments:
Post a Comment