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Published: July 27th 2008
I´m back in Manaus and so many great things have happened I have no idea where to start.
First place to start is my amazing guide and friend Elso Lima. If it hadn´t been for this guy I wouldn´t have seen a fraction of the things I´ve seen: I would have put my hand on the pink-toed tarantula that was hiding behind a leaf on the tree I was about to rest my hand on at our base camp in the jungle instead of putting his machete through it: I would have been completely and hopelessly lost in the dazzling mazes of canals and mysterious flooded forests, but Elso always found a way back to the camp by some fundamental guide power, in the dead of night with only a dull flashlight beam, the countless stars and the echoing music of the forest to help him.
I have had the help of guides in many parts of the World over many years, but it is safe to say that Elso is one of the finest I´ve travelled with: his knowledge of the plants and animals was first class, his survival skills astounding. When he was in the army, they dropped him
in the middle of the jungle with a rifle, a map and a compass and gave him three months to make the rendezvous. Having seen the guy in action, I can see why he made it!
So here´s how it all went:
We left from Manaus passing by the Meeting of the Waters, where the muddy brown Solimoes river meets the black water of the Rio Negro and from there is called the Amazon. Elso tells me all about it and we press on to the dock and a bus ride down the Trans-Amazonas highway, to a small boat for a gorgeous hour long ride to the Lodge on one side of Marimar Lake.
It´s a tremendous spot. We make fast friends with a group of Brazilian tourists there and accompany them that night into the flooded forest in a boat to spot alligators and Caimans. Elso literally leans out the front of the boat and snatches one out of the water with his hands! We get to hold it, find out about it, as Elso coaxes its mouth open to show us the lack of a tongue. It´s really cool out there at night, mysterious sounds echoing, the reflected
flash from hidden eyes.
Back at the lodge we all play cards till late in the night, a great British card game called ´´Poophead´´ (the polite name for the game).
The next day was action packed and brilliant: Elso paddles us silently into the flooded forest, which is a stunningly hypnotic and beautiful place. Elso spots a three-toed sloth in a tree, climbs the tree and brings the mother and baby down for us to hold briefly - then returns them to the tree, where the mom instantly goes to sleep. Next, we see an anteater, and not for the last time, Elso tells me I´m lucky (he says we saw more animals and birds in nine days than a tour twice that long usually does). Next we see pink river dolphins cresting and breathing. Beautiful. And that was all before lunch!
Back at the lodge an interesting chap, also a guide, a rastafarian named Sami shows up back from a few nights in the forest. Very entertaining chap. The Brazilians leave but not before unfolding a giant anaconda skin for a photo op!
In the afternoon, we intend to go piranha fishing, but we decide instead to drive on
across the gorgeous, shimmering late afternoon water. We cut into the flooded forest where Elso takes me to see the gigantic Mother tree, and I snap away. We hear a rare and strange sounding macaw. Elso finds an island of giant lily pads and we see grey dolphins dancing and jumping out of the water alongside the boat. We drive over to the fantastic Island of birds where thousands of cormorants and herons hang black and white from the trees. It is going dark and the camera struggles to capture the sight. But it does capture a beautiful sunset.
In he dark now navigating through mazes of canals thick with caiman, alligators and who knows what else, Elso guides us and paddles us.We get stuck in the weeds for twenty minutes , but we dig our way out by dragging the boat across the weeds by hand. This was high adventure for a while! Eventually, thanks to Elso, we make it across the moonless, starfilled Mamori lake back to the lodge, back at the lodge in time for rice, fish and beans.
What a fantastic start!
And it just got better and better from there.
I´ll write part 2 of
this in the next couple of days: I have a 3:00am flight to Cuiaba tonight, and I´m exhausted from the big village festa adventure we had last night.
You´ll have to wait to find out about that, I´m afraid!
See you on the flypaper.
mike
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Wow.
Maybe I am the lucky one to first see this entry? Probably because I have no life. Anyway.....WOW and WOW. Very impressed at what you've seen and done! Can't wait for more. We've missed you :) xo, Suze