Day 113 - Welcome to the Jungle!

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We managed to fit in breakfast at Pensao Sulista before we were picked up at 8o'clock. Unfortunately my not so good stomach from the day before continued and it was time for some Immodium to pull me through! Pedro from Amazon Gero tours drove us to the port, stopping along the way to explain the city and favela redevelopment. Whilst his English is non-existent, same as our Portuguese, another opportunity for Sophie to speak Spanish was appreciated. The road leading up to the port was lined with a fish market selling all manner of different fish from 3 metre pirarucu to the Amazon mud fish, always sold alive!

We headed down to our little speed boat and met Otsun our guide for the journey, and Harry and Ghia, an Indian couple from Chicago. The tour really started here. Our first stop, the meeting of the rivers. The Rio Negro travels 1000km from Colombia at 2km/hour, 27 degrees and dark in colour, meeting the River Solimoes, 3500km from Peru, 22 degrees and light in colour. The two don't mix due to the differences in speed, viscosity and temperature, but instead form a distinct split in the middle of the Amazon. The meeting of the rivers stretches for 7km and is 20-30m deep and 5km wide.

Then the boat paused so we could watch two fishermen reel in about 100 metres worth of net collecting huge dorado. Expensive fish, they will sell each one for upwards of £20 and then restaurants will probably sell each steak for that price. The journey to our lodge in the jungle consisted of an hour long speedboat ride, transfer to a VW minivan for an hour and a half on bumpier and bumpier roads, then another speed boat ride up river. Like the rivers in Venezuela, the rivers around the lodge create a perfect plate glass appearance, reflecting the beautiful jungle scenery around.

We had opted for the cheapest accommodation, hammocks in a shared room for 3 nights; a new challenge! After a buffet lunch we were treated to our first wildlife, capuchin monkeys approaching the camp in search of bananas! The best thing is you can see the trees moving long before you see the monkeys; tracking their movements despite their best efforts to be stealth. We had to laugh at the guilty way they grabbed at the bananas and stuffed their faces, one of them putting food in his mouth, under his arms and in his hands so that he could not then re-climb his tree! This was amazing, especially as we have met a lot of people on our travels who have been to the jungle and seen nothing.

Our activity for the afternoon was a canoe trip out into the sunken forest. Due to the wet season having just been, the water level had risen, and instead of walking you can paddle around the forest. On our way to the sunken forest our guide Elso spotted a boa constrictor high in a tree. About 2 metres in length, it was coiled around some branches not moving until our guide shook the tree to prompt it to stretch out to its full length. Our fun however did not end there, and we had a trip beyond our wildest dreams: dolphins in the river near our boat, parakeets, capuchins, macaques, squirrel monkeys (which clean themselves with their own pee!) and what we think were tamarin monkeys swinging through the tree tops. We also spotted more iguanas, bizarrely nestled in trees, until startled by the approach of our boat, resulting in them plummeting into the river below to swim away. Hilarious to watch them fall from the sky..

Trip over for the afternoon, after sunset over the river, we enjoyed another buffet and reflected on the fantastic first day in the jungle. wildlife beyond our expectations.

How Sophie Sees It

The jungle was hot!! Sweat streamed down my face, neck and back throughout lunch - not ideal when introducing yourself to new people! We were relieved when a storm broke out soon after, and cooled the air for our afternoon canoe trip. After being the last person to spot the boa constrictor, I became the token retard, one who Elso always asked "Can you see it Sofia? Are you sure?"

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Photos

Pirarucu
3 Metre Long Fish