An unforgettable journey to marvellous Mamori


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South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Manaus
May 24th 2015
Published: May 31st 2015
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After an unconvincing and inauspicious start, today proved to be one of the best travelling days we have ever had and certainly the best so far in Brazil; it was the start of our one week rainforest safari, in an area called Mamori, about eighty kilometres south of Manaus. The journey took four hours and it was stunning. It wasn´t a good start to the day, since we were told that we were being picked up between 7.30 and 8.00 a.m. and we were not picked up until 12 midday; some crossed wires somewhere there!



Our jungle guide, Marcelo, came to pick us up and journey to Mamori with us. First, we got a car to Ceasa Port, then we took a fast boat down the Rio Negro to the “Meeting of the Waters”, which is really as spectacular as promised. The Rio Negro is a slow-moving very deep dark cold river, travelling at between four and six kilometres per hour. The Rio Solimoes is a fast-moving shallow warmer river, light brown in colour, due to the sediment it carries, flowing at between twelve and fourteen kilometres per hour. These two great rivers, one black water the other light brown, join to become the Rio Amazonas, the mighty Amazon. Due to the difference in both temperature and flow, they refuse to mix together easily and stay side by side flowing together for eleven kilometres before they mix to become the muddy dark brown of the Amazon. It is a curious and surreal sight; a huge two-stripe river, half black half light brown, the northern bank bordering the black and the southern the brown.



Our boat crossed the line and travelled down the Amazon to dock at Careiro da Várzea, a small town on the southern bank. From Careiro we took a minivan on a dirt road for about an hour through the rainforest until we arrived at a small village called Araca on the Mamori, a tributary of the Amazon. Here we had to carry our rucksacks over some very wobbly thin planks, partly supported and partly floating above some quite deep water, to a floating pier to await our second boat for the final leg of our journey. We both nearly fell in, but we didn´t! Many the houses are floating houses, others are built on stilts, because the waters rise nineteen metres during the rainy season, which we are in now. The “Igapos” is the name for the flooded forest, and we shall be able to canoe many areas this week in the Igapos, which in the dry season one would hike.



Once in the Mamori, we were delighted to discover how rich in wildlife this part of the Amazon is. On the fifty minute boat journey from Araca to Mamori Lodge, where we are staying, we saw both white and black herons, toucans, vultures and eagles, a sloth, several grey dolphins and an Iguana. We only managed to photograph the herons!



This evening, after dinner, Marcelo took us out in a canoe to go Caiman Alligator spotting. This was far more exciting than the same activity last week. For one thing, instead of fourteen people there were just the two of us, also there are far more alligators here (definitely not a place to go swimming). There are also Jaguar and Anaconda, but we are unlikely to see any, especially since the water is so high. We spotted some really big alligators, then Marcelo laid down on the front of the canoe to grab a few small ones for us to look at. The first one he got was a yellow Caiman, about one and a half years old, female. The age is determined by the length of the tail. She will grow to about two metres when fully grown. The second one was a black Caiman, far more aggressive, male, about five years old. He will grow to a large three to four metres!



What a great first day! There are mosquitos galore here, the showers are only cold water, our lodge is fine and the location is stunningly beautiful. The sunsets are awesome. The food is interesting; basically it is fish and rice! River fish tastes pretty muddy, and Piranha do not look pretty on the plate! Good for the waistline!



Part of our proposed programme includes actually sleeping out in the jungle, However, Marcelo thinks it might be too wet, with the afternoon thunderstorms, and too many mosquitos are hatching out. We shall “play it by ear” and leave it up to him. He is very experienced and knows the forest well. It is great having our own personal guide for the week, we have learnt a lot already. Tomorrow we are going on a canoe safari in the Igapos. Tonight we must rig up our own mosquito nets, since there are not any nets on the windows or fitted above the bed. There is a black frog living in the bathroom, but we haven´t seen any big spiders so we should sleep OK. We are still in the comfort zone. Just!





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"I survived the dodgy bridge!""I survived the dodgy bridge!"
"I survived the dodgy bridge!"

Waiting for the second boat


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