Manaus, Brazil

Sea Day, January 14

It started with a bit of a trauma. I had washed my shoes after hiking through the forest and went out on the balcony this morning to put them on. I slid in the inserts, inserted my feet - ready to go. A few minutes later I felt something - it couldn't be. I pulled off my shoe and out hopped a 2 inch cricket! Terror. It was hopping around, I was trying to capture it and it escaped under the sofa. Disturbing. But, I get hold of myself and head down to catch the tender. As I am walking I feel something in the other shoe. It can't be! I pull off the other shoe and here come dozens of tiny, tiny bugs crawling out followed by a big cricket which I immediately smash. I pull off both shoes and am standing there shaking all over. Jim rounds the corner and sees me shaking all over. Oh no, what has happened to her, now - he thinks. He tells me to sit down and he takes my shoes. Banging them together, many more creatures exit.

Some of the creatures living in my shoes.

Today we are in Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas, a city of 2 million people. It was the economic center of the rubber boom. Once an opulent city in the jungle. In the indigenous language, Manaus means Mother of the Gods.

Views of Manaus from the boat.

Cathedral

                                This bridge reminded me of the Indian River bridge in DE.


                                              Beaches along the Amazon river.

We opted for a river tour today. We started with a tour of an indigenous tribal village. The people fly a white flag if they will accept visitors that day. They live very much as they did a thousand years ago. This village is a nomadic group of 36. Throughout the year they move around, often returning to the mother tribal area on the Columbia/Brazil border where thousands of natives call home. They performed several small portions of their ritual dances. The dances are very much a part of their current culture. They are performed for a continuous 24 hours when visiting tribes come to visit. We were also invited to their kitchen and tasted their foods. A colorful macaw watched over us.

The Chief welcomed us.

Flying macaw

Jim tasted the bugs, I passed.

We both ate the manioc flour and fruits.

Jim (McGyver) needed floss so he broke off a twig,

pulled out his penknife, and solved the problem.

Our next stop - swimming with the pinks dolphins! They start out gray and turn pinker as they age. This is an uncaged area of the river, Dolphins have learned that when people are in the river, fish are available so if they notice us, they choose to swim over, Dolphins went under me, hit me with fins and tail - they are strong- and let me pet them. So very soft. For more information: https://www.aquaexpeditions.com/blog/amazon/facts-amazon-pink-river-dolphin/

I was thrilled to have this experience. No way was Jim getting in the Amazon River.

Our guide on the river. His grandparents were Black, Spanish, Portuguese and Indigenous.

Lunch. We tried the pirarucu and acari fish.

Meeting of the Rivers.

The Meeting of Waters is the confluence between the dark (blackwater) Rio Negro and the pale sandy-colored (whitewater) Amazon River, referred to as the Solimões River in Brazil. For 3.7 miles the waters of the two rivers run side by side without mixing. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Manaus.

This phenomenon is due to the differences in temperature, speed, and amount of dissolved sediments in the waters of the two rivers.

The meeting is a very clear line!