PART 2 - THE JUNGLE POSADA

---

PART 2 - THE JUNGLE POSADA

Off we went on the boat to see the “meeting of the waters” where the black Rio Negro, meets the yellow Soa lemoines to form the great river Amazonas. The tour guide only spoke Portuguese and the tourists only English, so as usual I became the official translator- dammit!! I say that these discounts are well deserved!!!

It would be too cumbersome to describe all the tourists, but most of them, lovely faces from lovely places, except this one carra de cannon- a girl that couldn’t stop frowning and looking at me with distain- she finally blurted out she was jealous because I spoke 5 languages, and she only spoke 4... my god- get a grip girl! Who the hell cares... It was because I was obviously speaking Portuguese most of the time, and than she heard me speaking Spanish with one of the other guides, and then Polish with some of the other tourists, and of course I spoke English with her and in my translations... anyways, I don’t understand why some people spend so much energy being unhappy rather than happy, but oh well…

I spent the rest of the boat ride talking to the captain (since I was the only one who could speak Portuguese) afterwhich I had a nice pleasant nap. I watched the sunny river landscape drift into my dreams. Awww… so realaxing… Such a beautiful day, such a nice ride, watching the beaming white beaches cusping the black river, along with the thick green jungle behind. When we finally arrived at the posada, which was a floating boat house, that was very cool and really nice, the captain told me to talk to Joshua. He said that he was the best guide and that he could set me up with maybe seeing the pink dolphins and no extra charge (which had not been included as part of my tour and which were located far away).

Joshua was an excellent guide. We nicknamed him the "pirate Indian", because he was an eighth indigenous (although wishing he was a hundred percent), and although an excellent guide in the forest and water, he couldn’t stand the heat, the sun, or the mosquitoes, and always complained about it. It was hilarious!!

So Day 1

After meeting of the waters and lunch at the posada, I ditched my tour group and went with Joshua’s group, because I was suppose to sleep in the posada but he was going to the jungle, and that’s exactly where I wanted to be. Who needs posada when you’ve got jungle!!

So that afternoon we took the boat up river, but before reaching the point where we would camp, of course we had to make a stop at the “liquour store”. Personally, I didn’t want to. I wasn’t there to drink or party or get wasted, but rather “be one with nature”etc. However, my group consisted of two poles (fantastic polish girls, Dorota and Agnieska), and a Brit (Steve), so obviously booze was on the list. They got a 24 of beer and a bottle of cashasa!! My god men (or rather women)!!!... However, the beach where we stopped to pick up the beer (which came in an ice filled cooler, this is afterall Brasil, amazon or no amazon! -meaning that beer is ALWAYS ice cold, no matter the place, even if there is no electricity!) The beach was absolutely stunning, and I took advantage having a gorgeous sun set swim, while the others started to drink.

I can say that night that I had hardly anything to drink, unlike the others, but nonetheless I had fun. Dorotka and I started this fantastic drumming session using giant logs and trees- it was kind of like a very loud, slightly smaller, jungle version of stomp, hehehe… I was really happy that someone else shared my enthusiasm for drumming. I really enjoyed my group, because not only were they hilariously funny, but I also felt totally free and relaxed to be myself around them. Unlike other tourists that can be uptight and nitpicky, they were relaxed, easy going, and just fun loving.

That night Joshua showed me how to set up my hammock in the jungle and mosquito net without using rope, just two small sticks. It was neat. He also made a table and spoons, and bowls, out of leaves and branches, which was cool too. Joshua was a really nice guy but also annoyingly totally into me, so when he asked if I had a boyfriend, you bet your ass I said yes, (even if I didn´t) and I invented a whole story, which is not something I normally like to do.

That night I got no sleep because there were like 3 mosquitoes in my net that I couldn’t catch, biting the crap out of me all night. -and I also wasn’t use to sleeping in a hammock quite yet. I finally fell asleep after sunrise for like an hour, and so I was pretty exhausted when Joshua woke me for breakfast.

Day 2

After a short boat ride we docked and started our 2-3 hour jungle hike. It was beautiful and Joshua really knew his way around the forest, despite there being no path. He ploughed forward with his machete (you always need a machete in the jungle - man are those things ever useful, you can do anything and everything with one, from opening cans to building a home, I want one now). We passed by lagoons and saw monkeys and strange animals until finally reaching the site where the French survivor series was filmed. There were a couple of these giant trees and it reminded me a little of BC, but not quite as magical.

Anyways, we hiked back, and motored back to the posada for lunch (as was the custom to lunch there everyday, mmmmm delicious). Then time for a relaxing swim in the river, diving repeatedly off the dock. Awww… Heaven….

We always had lots of time after lunch as Joshua didn’t like to head out before 3 pm, usually resulting in us setting up camp (hammocks and mosquito nets) in the dark and eating dinner between 10pm and midnight (nut bar! -maybe he figured the beer and casasha was enough, or maybe he was just drunk, lol).

So that afternoon, we were heading back to the jungle again!! Yay! But this time we were going way further up the river because we were going to see the dolphins the next day. (The rivers here is filled with pink and grey dolphins, but the grey ones are smaller and way shy). After making our pitstop for beer and casasha (which I really could have done without) we motored up into the sunset. It was magical, reflecting off the serene black waters… like a postcard.

We arrived to a family-runned, restaurant boat house, where we would spend the next 2-3 hours waiting on the dock for Joshua to make dinner… The night was beautiful and there were a ton of stars in the sky. I enjoyed the Brasilian music playing in the background for a change, but I was really hot and the only thing lacking was a swim. I was hesistant to ask for fear Joshua would say no, so Dorotka and I just jumped into the black water. It was heavenly warm and refreshing, but we were further up river and in wilder country, and I was growing concerned about not the alligators but the caiman in the water, which could and would hunt and kill us. Maybe we should have asked permission??? Agnieska!! Could you ask Joshua if its ok that we are swimming??

No!!! Get out! The caimans can be dangerous at night! Oups… -but actually I don’t think this was the case, but nevertheless we got out.

After a delicious dinner (like at midnight), we had our alligator spotting tour.

The canoe glided silently between the mangrove like trees… so silent, so dark with the moonlight barely peering through the multitude of vines around my head and face (man where there spiders or snakes that I was missing… creepy, but cool) … the canoe eased its way back and forth, as if it wasn’t even disturbing the water, and the silence was relaxing and captivating at the same time. Then all of a sudden Joshua froze… he slowly crept out of the canoe and into the water barefoot, and honestly it was amazing because despite the utter silence, I could not hear a single sound as he entered the water, nor as he walked through it. Not a single sound!! It was almost as if he transformed into some kind of smoke that drifted over the water, and his indigenous side was really beginning to show. (I was proud of him, lol). He disappeared into the darkness, and a few minutes later he returned with a small alligator in his hands. We all took photos and pet the little creatures as Joshua gave his Steve Irwin speech before letting the little darling go.

By the time we reached camp that night I was totally pooped and ready for sleep. Unfortunately, the girls had been drinking all evening and were just interested in partying, which meant loud yells and giggles next to my hammock for the next 2 hours… ahhh… nothing like sweet jungle noise accompanied by the sound of drunken tourists… I loved those girls, but at that moment I wished a log would fall on their heads knocking them unconscious. FINALLY they went to bed, I lulled off into a land of vivid dreams, accompanied by the loud comforting jungle sounds…

Day 3

We woke and went straight back to the restaurant boat house to have breakfast, but even before breakfast I went swimming. -And there they were, the pink dolphins all around me!! The people working at the posada were feeding them fish to keep them coming closer, and I got to pet their soft blubbery skin. So cute they were.

Later I went and swam in the middle of the river (which appeared like a lake) and I really enjoyed the serenity and silence of the moment there. The only thing that occationally broke the silence was the magical experience of dolphins surfacing around me to breath. Psshuutt.. psshutt.. One even brushed up against my feet, twice!! It was awesome!

I felt so good, so happy, so free, on the boat ride home. After stopping on an island to go pee and climb a tree, I spent the rest of the journey back dancing and doing taichi on the bow of boat. (Yes, I’ve developed a new way of doing taichi with only 1 meter of space on a thin board that bounces up and down with the waves- it really helps improve my sense of balance and is quite fun.) -and like I said, I really enjoyed the company of my new friends. I didn’t feel the least bit self conscious about just going about, and doing my own business at the front of the boat. They didn’t care and seemed to just enjoy me for who I am… It would be a little sad saying goodbye that afternoon, as their tour had come to an end…

Later that afternoon I tagged along with Joshua to drop off a couple from Belgium who wanted to spend the night in an indigenous community. We got to Tupe just before sunset, a small community of less than a 100 people, with a couple of “stores”, “restaurants”, and “bars”, all that came in the form of people’s homes who were known for selling stuff. Electricity ran only for part of the day, and ice that was shipped in from Manaus to keep things cool was a rare commodity, mainly used to keep beer at the Brazilian ice cold standard.

The gorgeous white sand dune beaches of Tupe invited us to take a bath in the 30 degree plus Rio Negro, before the sun set, and before heading up to meet the Indian tribe that lived just past the top of the hill at the end of the community.

The Indians occupied a rather large part of beach front land. Their houses were set up on top of a 30-40 m cliff that bordered a spacious beach with their private boat access. Up top (a little higher and into the woods) they also had two “malocas”, dance houses to perform traditional dances for tourists, which in recent years has become their primary source of income. The tribe was composed mainly of one Docena family (name of an Amazonian tribe originating from high rio negro, more than 1000 km north). There were two brothers that didn’t interact much, each with separate “malocas” and families, with grown children, respective spouses, grandchildren, cousins, and a few others. The families had migrated south over the last 20 years from the tri-boarder region of Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela, stopping in various communities along the river downstream, until finally settling in Tupe, 20 km outside of Manaus by river, in 2002. Some spouses were from other tribes, such as Tucana and Tuyuka (also from high rio negro). Because it is against Indian tradition to marry within the tribe, husbands chose and brought their wives from other tribes. So it is the tradition for men to stay within the family/tribe, and women to leave, accompanying their husbands (but there are exceptions to every rule). All expect a few young kids were 100 percent pure blooded Amazonian Indians.

Anyways, after our luxurious bath, we went up, and that’s when I met Raimundo (or Kissibi), the head of the family, chief, and also reputable and widely known medicine man or shaman. Raimundo, 61, was an interesting, generous, good-natured, calm, soulful, and surprisingly funny man. He appeared as what you would expect a typical shaman to look like, older, graceful, with long silvered black hair, wise eyes, and a weathered, muscular, thin body. And when not in his pink speedos, he was dressed and painted in traditional Indian garb.

When I saw him, I thought, although he was an older man, he was handsome with a strange beauty. Then his daughters came out one by one, and I was struck by their unique beauty. The first thought that came to my mind was, wow, do they have a brother for me??? Lol. But it was not one minute later when a young man steped into the door way of the house. Regi (or Mirupu), was their older bother, 29. I was taken aback by his handsome gaze when I saw him, and did all I could do not to blush. Luckily he disappeared less than a minute later so I didn’t have to deal with the uncomfortable feeling a young school girl gets when she has a crush…. I figured he was probably married with like 4 kids so whatever- and besides I was leaving the tour the next day back to Manaus so….


We didn’t stay long, and in a short few moments Joshua and I left the Belgium couple there to spend the night, and said goodbye to Raimundo. The sun was beginning to set and we wanted to make it all the way up river to see the thousands of swallows do their daily flight back from one island to another. -And indeed they did. Hundreds of black swallows covered the sky and flew not only above my head as I sat in the boat but also beside it too… it was really cool (I took a video).

The sun set and off we went back to the posada for dinner, mmmmm….

Elmo (another guide) was going for a night alligator spotting tour with another group of tourists, among which were 2 Brazilian guys I had made friends with earlier at lunch that day, so I decided to tag along, but not for the alligators but rather for the stars in the glorious night sky.

The “tour” was hilarious because Elmo was a really piece of work - kind of like Wally from crocodile Dundee. Normally when you want to spot alligators you pan your flashlight across the river bank, and their glowing orange eyes can be spot a mile away with ease (everybody knows that!!)- but the lazy bastard barely even took his flashlight out. He just complained the whole way, ….oh this time of year… this part of the river… its so difficult to see alligators… ya almost impossible… PLEASE! I picked one up the other day, but with a REAL guide. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally laughing about it. Elmo, although super nice, was a joke and a rip off as a guide- so lucky he wasn’t my guide… Anyways, it was getting really late (around 10 pm -which is very late for jungle time) and he gave up all hope. He asked what we wanted to do and I sugested we park our boat in the middle of the river, floating away gazing at the stars- we were doing so anyways. Luckily the Brazilians were on my side, because one whiny German didn’t see the point in watching the virgin sky full of bright dots that could never be seen though the bright gloom of city skies.

We laid there in the boat watching the silver painted sky, as small waves lapped along the side of the boat, the crickets, and frogs bustled with sounds, and breathed the life of the forest all around us. After about 10 minutes the little German started to peep. Ok done relaxing?? And the Brits needed beer. Bora! (means go in Brazilian terms) -so on the motor went and the warm wind began to rush through my hair once more. It was late and I was tired, growing sleepy I curled up into a little ball on my bench and let go of everything. I fell into a world of soft jungle sleep… and woke in what seemed to be hours later. But how was that possible… It was misty and dark, fog all along the water, and the river, didn’t appear to be a river anymore for the boarders had left, and it appeared more like a lake or ocean whose shore could no longer be seen. The next thing I knew I had to duck as Elmo ran over a tree growing in the water and its branches practically struck me in the face. The weather had changed and it was colder now, and despite my long sleep, my drowsiness had now grown into exhaustion…. Where the hell were we? We had only gone 20 minutes out…

I asked my fat Brazilian friend, whose name I no longer remember, where were we, and how long had I been sleeping. He said I was sleeping nearly 2 hours and that we were completely lost. LOST??!! How was this possible… ELMO! We had headed up river 20 minutes, no turns or nothing, all we had to do was come back, there were only two directions, back and not back, even a goat driving the boat could not get lost!!

And what the hell was up with this ocean, the only place the river looked like this was near Manaus- not the posada!! That would mean we were down river- we would have had to have passed the posada to come here… I couldn’t believe it, but found the situation hilarious. I wasn’t cold cause I was a backpacker and fully prepared as usual. Despite the temperature being normally in the high 20s to 30s I had my jacket and pants on, and I needed it. Elmo, elmo, elmo… only you could get lost here... It turned out he did go practically back to Manaus- he went very far up river to find a channel to go down river to head towards Manaus to go back to our river to go back to the posada because it was the only way he knew how to get back…. Whatever. 10 minutes later we were back and I gratefully plunked myself in my hammock that was set up in the hall way between all the doorways and beside all the other hammocks….
Awww…. Good sweet night…

Day 4

“pssssit…” “Viviana…. Viviana quier ver o nacer do sol??”’ Joshua was waking me for my sunrise canoe ride, dawn was breaking, and so was my body with slumber… uhhhhh… sleepy…. Lazy… no not really… ok… but being indecisive, curious, and awake within 10 minutes I was creeping and crawling all through the posada looking for him. Joshua… Joshua… ok I want to go. Oh man!! Now… the sun is already up!! So what, let go.. ok.

Off we went and the sun was just rising but yes it was up. Nevertheless it was beautiful and we got to see monkeys doing their monkey type of business above our canoe in the trees as we drifted with the motor off. It was nice. Coming back we had breakfast, and for foolish entertainment I decided to take the morning jungle hike with Elmo’s group. Lol. I suppose it was only because my Brazilian friends had paid for him to meet with a local in order to find tarantulas, and I wanted to see them.

We got to the guys boat house, but he was not there so we went to his brothers house, who was not there either, BUT, his wife said we could walk in the jungle and her husband would come find us in half an hour upon his return. Ok… Elmo was hesitant and hilarious because he was nervous and kept saying he was going to get lost and didn’t know his way. Come on man, you are the guide dude!! I said, look, there is a trail for Christ sake- I will lead the bloody way!

The forest here was crappier being secondary but whatever… After about half an hour the lady’s husband, Daniel came, and within minutes we were digging up holes all over the place and teasing giant tarantulas out of their homes. It was cool to see them, and comforting to know that despite their abundance, they were definitely extremely people shy and didn’t pose a threat. The crazy Brazilian’s guys (one a biologist the other a spider enthusiast) both picked up the tarantulas. All in all it made for a full morning and we made back in time for delicious lunch followed by tons of refreshing dives into the heavenly warm river water that you needed to soak in a good hour for to cool your body slightly. (Can you believe some people didn’t swim in this delight, just because of the piranhas, alligators, electric eels, and anacondas!! -all of which were either really really rare, or not there, or not a threat).

After lunch and my swim I was SUPPOSE to go back to Manaus… but… back??? So soon…. After only 2 jungle nights… All the way to the Amazon and only 2 nights in the jungle …. NO!

Joshua, I want to stay, lets go to the jungle… and after I think I want to stay with the indigenous family, you think they would let me stay for free as your friend? -Hmmm…. Ok, maybe, lets see… Tonight the Brazilian guys are going deep in the jungle and its right by the community, so you can come and then we will see. -Ok, sounds good.

We got to Tupe in the evening, and to my surprise visited the same indigenous family again, where we had dropped the Belgium couple. I could hardly suppress my delight when I found out the handsome son of chief Raimundo, Mirupu (or Regi), would be accompanying the 4 of us (Joshua, the 2 Brazilian guys, and myself- just my wonderful luck, me and 4 guys in the jungle, hehehe).

We started our walk into the jungle after sunset, with flashlights we went off into the night. Mirupu led the way, and I have to admit I tried to fight my way to the front just so I could watch his ass as he walked, he had a seriously amazing ass. But what was more impressive were his legs!! I had never seen muscles like that… They could best be compared to those of a horse, like one of the ripped race horses I use to watch during my days at the track. -man, it souns like i was a gambler or something... i wasnt, hahaha..

Anyways, like a school girl, I spent the night trying to sort of talk to him but he seemed quiet and didn’t talk much to me- I wondered maybe he didn’t like me…

Joshua was all over me as usual, which made things annoying, but I tried my best to spray Joshua repellant all over (as usual), reinforcing my made up boyfriend story (that I didn’t let Regi overhear). One of the Brazilian’s was also hitting on me, but luckily became more involved in spiders and drinking than hitting on me, and the other one, who I thought was gay, I found out later was also apparently interested in me as well, but I suppose was more reserved in his approach to hitting on women. Typical- the only man I wanted didn’t seem to want me…. Lol.

Anyways, the boys got so drunk they didn’t make dinner till 1 am, so I said fuck it- cause I didn’t want to drink and went to bed hungry around midnight- and I wasn’t really pissed, just annoyed with their drunken noise as they polished off two 40 ouncers of cashasa. I would have preferred to appreciate the sounds of nature of this beautiful and majestic forest but whatever, no point in dwelling on what ifs, I was fine.

Day 5

Delicious jungle breakfast of simple eggs, bread, and coffee, mmmmm…. -couldn’t ask for anything more. amazing what starvation does... -kidding!! But seriously food had become a welcome commodity in whatever form by this point of my travels. We packed up and Joshua offered to take me back up river and into the jungle for several days to swim with dolphins etc. for free, “without compromise”. Sure… only the compromising of him hitting and doting on me every 5 minutes. Nice guy, awesome place, but… no not part of the plan. Sorry Joshua, thanks, enticing, but no thanks. I want to stay in the village for a couple days, so arrangements were made that Mirupu would drop me back at the posada in 2 or 3 days time and I could stay as his guest with the indian tribe.

During the hike back through the jungle to Tupe, Regi and I finally started to talk, and there it was- the first and sure sign all men make. So…. Are you married? Boyfriend? No…. You? No… silence… with giggling delight underneath. Hehehe. Then it was the normal, how old are you, bla, bla, etc.
We got back and the Brazilians and Joshua left Tupe before midday.

My life on the aldea was about to begin….

---