Amazon River, Brazil, South America

Today had a rough start, but it turned into an absolutely perfect day. I didn’t sleep much at all out in the jungle last night. I was in my hammock by 10pm, and I know I laid awake until at least 3am before nodding off a little bit. It was hot and sticky, and the rain was so loud that it made it really hard to fall asleep. I woke up just before 5am and was awake when a couple of Australian women got up and were getting ready to go back to the lodge at 6am. I decided to join them, so I got up and got my stuff together just as the boat was arriving.

It was still pretty dark when I got in the boat and headed back with the Aussies and the guide Antonio. I have no idea how he could see where he was going on the way to us, but he was a great driver. It was about a twenty minute ride back to the lodge, and he was flying. I was pretty happy to find that even though we got back at 6:30am, they had a single cabin waiting for me when I arrived. I dropped my stuff in my room, and then went down for breakfast at 7am. The breakfast consisted of some cake, bread, fried eggs, and fresh fruit. It was a very good meal, and I was starving. The meal last night had been very good, but not quite big enough.

I had a little time after breakfast to get a shower in my private bathroom, which was really nice. There is no hot water (of course), but the cold water shower felt great. I’m also surprised at how few mosquitos there are here. I thought I would be covered in them, but they’re really not that bad. So after I got a shower and felt a lot better, I headed out with Antonio and another group of people to go visit a local family. It wasn’t exactly what I expected though, because we hardly saw the local family at all. We walked around their property with Antonio and he told us about all the different kinds of plants they have and what they use them for.

While we were there, Antonio got stung in the back by a wasp or a spider, and he was in some serious pain. He said the pain spread from his back, where he was bitten, up over his shoulder and around the front of his body. I’m guessing that he’s either allergic to wasp stings, or that was a horrible little spider that bit him. Those things are so sneaky! We finally met the local family at the end of the walk and we bought some homemade chocolate that the family made at their home. We left the family at about 11am and headed back to the lodge by boat. Luckily Antonio started feeling better just before we headed back, otherwise I was going to learn how to drive this boat just to get us back here! I also saw my first caiman on the way back to the lodge, so that was cool. We tried to stop and get a closer look, but as soon as we slowed the boat down, the caiman disappeared.

We were able to catch up to one animal though, and I have no idea how Antonio ever saw it. He spotted a baby sloth in a tree, and it was so well camouflaged it took me a couple of minutes just to see it sitting in the tree. Antonio brought the boat over to the tree and tied it off so he could climb the tree. He said he was going up to get it, and I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. He climbed right up the tree, and easily caught up to the sloth that wasn’t really trying to get away very well. Antonio couldn’t reach the sloth because the branch it was on was a little too thin for him to climb up to. I thought the adventure was going to end there, but it didn’t. Antonio shook the branch until the sloth fell off the tree, and caught a lower branch on the way down. They may not be quick, but they have great claw strength when they need it. Antonio was able to get over to this branch and get a hold of the little thing and bring it down into the boat.

I was really surprised at how unfazed the sloth looked when he was in our hands. We were each able to take a few pictures holding it, and the sloth actually looked like it was smiling. For all I know, the sloth was completely freaking out, but it is impossible to tell because they don’t move quickly for anything. At one point the sloth got a hold of my little finger and thought it was a tree branch. I got to feel the strength these things have in their toes and I couldn’t believe how strong it was, especially for being only about six or seven months old.

We put the sloth back in the tree and made sure it was climbing up again before we left and headed back to the lodge. We got back in time for lunch at 12:30pm, and it was fish again. I’m starting to see a trend out here. After lunch I had some time to just chill in my room and take a little nap, which was much-needed after last night in the jungle. At 3pm I went out canoeing with Antonio, and it was a nice surprise to find out that it was just the two of us, so I had a private guide for the afternoon.

We took out this huge canoe that can seat at least eight people, and it was just the two of us paddling. The boat was made of a single piece of wood, so it was incredibly heavy, but also pretty stable, so it was good. Antonio knows this forest like the back of his hand, so we kept going in and out of the trees to places that you couldn’t get to with a bigger motor boat. The first time we went into the trees I heard a big splash in the water and it sounded like a branch falling into the water from a tree. I asked Antonio if that’s what it was and he told me that it was an iguana jumping in the water from a tree. I didn’t believe him until we went into another tree covered area and sure enough, I saw an iguana jump out of a tree and land in the water. Once they hit the water, you never see them again though. They instantly sink and then swim away, so it’s a pretty good survival technique, except for the huge splash that gives them away.

A couple of times we got stuck in really shallow water, and tried to carry the boat over the land to get back to a bigger part of the river. I didn’t realize that the level of the river changes from dry season to wet season by up to 20 meters (60ft). So this place is ever evolving. A huge island that you might see in the dry season, would be completely covered by water in the wet season and you can take a boat right over it. This is about half way between the dry and wet seasons, so the water has about ten more meters to come up. Sometimes I guess Antonio thought the water level would be a bit higher than it actually was, so we got stuck. There was absolutely no way that he and I could carry that boat on our own though. It must weigh about 400 pounds, and it’s a very awkward shape, so there was no easy way to grab onto it. We tried for about 15 minutes and then had to give up and get back in the water to go a long way around.

We got really lucky with the timing though because we ended up back in Juma Lake, which is right near the lodge, just in time for sunset. It was perfectly quiet, and one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen on this entire trip. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were. I was also really happy that I had brought my big camera out on the boat with us, because I got some great pictures of the sunset. It was a great way to end one of the best days I’ve had traveling in a long time.

We got back to the lodge and had dinner at 7pm. There were only six of us there for dinner, which was really nice. Everyone else had either gone back to Manaus today, or had gone out to spend the night in the jungle. I’m glad they got a nicer night than I had last night, at least there is no rain. But it’s a shame they would have missed the sunset because they would have to get to the campsite early enough to set things up in the light of day. Too bad for them, but very lucky for me! I’m heading to bed now and it’s only about 9pm. I’m exhausted from not sleeping last night, and I’m looking forward to being in a real bed tonight with a fan on me. Hopefully that will help.