After a gruelling 27 hours of travelling and 4 airports, I arrived in Manaus. A 20minute boat ride and one brief dolphin sighting later, and we arrived at the Eco lodge, where we were greeted with welcome drinks and shown to our room. After some lunch and a shower, I headed out to start my first tour of the trip – to see a local Amazonian tribe.
The tour began with a 45-minute ride down the Rio Negro on a two-storey boat. The scenery was stunning. It’s hard to express the scale of the river, especially when you consider that it is just a small tributary of the Amazon itself. Where exactly the river ends and the land begins is difficult to tell, as the trees at the edge are partly submerged. On past a strange contrast of ram-shackle huts and expensive condos, we finally arrived at a small patch of shore slopping steeply up into what appeared to be dense forest. A few meters through the trees though, and I found myself standing in a large wooden hut, with a dried-grass roof. Inside were a small tribe of authentic Amazonian people. Dressed in grass skirts, with red face paint forming dots and lines across their faces, they proceeded to demonstrate a series of traditional dances with traditional musical instruments. For the final dance a few of the men in our tour were selected, adorned with elaborate headgear made from grass and feathers, and asked to join in. To my dismay, although not total shock, not long into the dance, the tribes men came over to select some women to join in as well, and before I knew what was happening, I was being dragged to centre stage to join in with the dance, which seemed to consist of a mixture of a conga line and the hokey-kokey. If you had told me this morning if I would have been getting up and dancing a traditional tribal dance, I would have thought you were crazy.
After a short break on-land, I returned to the boats for an evening of alligator spotting. In a small, green, roofed canoe, holding about 10 people, we set out into the darkness with nothing but a torch, in the hope of catching a caiman. After about 20 minutes, the guide apparently saw the glint of alligator eyes, and disappeared off into the jungle with the torch for several minutes, before returning, swearing but triumphant, with a small caiman. It was about a foot long, and apparently quite vicious. Photos were taken, and I plucked up the courage to stroke it and eventually hold it. Although its back was very sharp and scaly, its underside was quite smooth and soft. Despite our efforts, we didn’t find any more alligators, but I returned to the lodge feeling satisfied that I had, for the first, and probably last time ever, held a caiman.
The next day we set out in the boat towards the Amazon river, and the point where the clear, dark Rio Negro meets its silty waters. The ride took about 3 hours, and took us past Manaus, the bizarre city set in the heart of the jungle. It is quite a strange site to see skyscrapers jutting out above the dense forest. Finally we reached the ‘meeting of the waters’ a dramatic 30km where the Rio Negro and the Amazon meet, but do not mix. The two rivers take so long to mix fully because they are so different; the Rio Negro is considerably more acidic than the Amazon, at about 4.5pH. It is also slower moving, denser and cooler. So for a short stretch of water, the two run side by side, with the clear, dark waters of the Negro contrasted by the pale, sandy waters of the Amazon.
Here’s a few statistics about the two rivers: at its widest, the Rio Negro is about 9km wide and ranges from 10 – 25m deep. The Amazon reaches 30km wide at its largest point, and up to 50m deep. From its meeting point with the Rio Negro, to the border with Peru, the Amazon supports 8000,000 people, who make a living in part, from the 2,000 species of fish that live there.
We then continued on to a visit a few of the local communities whose homes are on the edge of the mighty Amazon. First, we visited a village of about 200 people, where we were shown rubber trees, and the traditional method for making rubber. We then moved on to another community where we had lunch. After lunch, just as we were leaving the village to return to the boat, a girl appeared as if from nowhere, carrying a baby sloth. I was speechless. The little creature clung to her with its three-clawed paws, and looked out as us, totally calm and relaxed. The pair posed for photos for a while, and then we were given the opportunity to hold it ourselves. Holding the sloth was fantastic. At no point did it show any signs of distress, despite being passed from person to person for at least 10 minutes. Although it looks course, the sloths fur is actually quite soft, and it seemed as though it quite enjoyed being stroked. I was informed by the guide, that the sloth sleeps for about 80% of its life.
On we went, this time in a speedboat, first to sea one of the many floating villages that can be found on the Amazon. Since the water level fluctuates so much throughout the year, a floating house is an excellent way to avoid flooding. We continued on down the small tributaries of the Amazon, to visit a small lake, just inland from the river, where giant Lillie pads and alligators lived. Finally, before beginning the journey back to the lodge, we were greeted by a canoe containing a small girl, a teenage boy, a talking parrot and a baby anaconda. Nobody, including myself, had the nerve to hold the anaconda, although I did stroke it.
Just as we were about to reach the lodge, the heavens opened, and a torrential downpour began which has only just begun to subside now, several hours later. This evening has been characterised by a typical tropical storm. Thunder, heavy rain, and several power-cuts, during which the entire lodge is plunged into total darkness, and I find myself desperately fumbling in the dark for a candle and matches.
My last full day in the Amazon began with a 2.5-hour nature hike through the jungle surrounding the lodge, with our guide, Urey. The walk mainly consisted of him pointing out the variety of interesting trees, plants and fruits which can be found in the jungle, and explaining their medicinal function. One particular vine, apparently can be used to treat insomnia, and prevent diabetes. I would maintain, however, that steering clear of too many sugary foods is likely to prove far more effective. But what do I know?
About halfway through the walk, we stopped and Urey asked us to gather round. From his large bum-bag, he produced a number of plastic tubs and bottles, containing strange concoctions which can do anything from get you drunk, to cure a head-ache, to prevent aging. We tried a number of these. Just before we returned to the lodge, Urey took the opportunity to demonstrate the bow and arrow he had been carrying with him the whole time. Made of wood and string, the bow stood about 5ft tall, and he was able to accurately shoot a couple of feet.
The afternoon’s activity was one that I had been particularly looking forward to – a visit to the Monkey Jungle – a place where monkeys are rejuvinated to full health and released back into the wild. Those monkeys that have been released are still fed, about 20% of their diet, at two daily feedings, which visitors are invited to watch. One monkey, carrying a baby of just 7 months old on her back, came over and sat on the wooden fence separating us from the feeding area, and we had the opportunity to take photos with her, and stroke her. Her fur was a greyish colour, and very soft.
We spent the rest of the afternoon on an almost entirely fruitless piranha fishing trip. One of our group did manage to catch a small piranha, about 3 inches long, but the rest of us were not so lucky. I learned that, as I have always suspected, I have no patience for fishing.