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Published: October 23rd 2006
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Sunset from the Acajatuba lodge
sunsets along the amazon were a sight to behold. My journey through Brazil begins with a trip to the Amazon. There I have visited the city of Manaus, a large city that sits far inland along the Amazon river. Manaus was a boom and bust city, with the boom being the harvesting of rubber from the jungle that occurred decades ago. At some point the rubber industry decided it was better off taking the rubber trees elsewhere and so the city hit some economic troubles. Today it fairs somewhat better with many industrial factories having established themselves here for cheap labor and tax breaks from the Brazilian government.
Outside of Manaus the Amazon and its tributaries stretch out for countless miles. Somewhere about 60 kilometers west of the city there sits a jungle lodge called Acajatuba, my ultimate destination in the area. After a somewhat confusing night in the city(no one spoke English and my chosen hostel was closed! I took a cheap hotel instead) I was picked up and transfered to a floating dock for my riverboat trip to the lodge. I was the only passenger on the boat!. I got layed down on the hammock and sat back to enjoy a four hour trip down the river.
A parrot
one of the lodge locals First impressions of the Amazon are that it is both overwhelmingly beautiful and peacful. With land only visible on the distant horizon, the river boat trip feels something like a long ocean journey. Only there are no large waves to rock the boat and the water is fresh so there is no salt water smell.
Eventually I arrived at the lodge where I stayed for 3 days and 2 nights. The lodge itself is very rustic. The room I stayed in is basically a hut built from local building materials in the local building style. There is a battery powered light in the room and cold water. Thats pretty much it for amenities. Also, insects occasionally make their way into the room, a fact that surely disturbed some of the other guests when they found a tarantuala crawling across their door.
But for me all of that was quickly forgotten. Excursions occurred three times a day and included activities like parana fishing, spotting of local plant and wildlife, and short hikes through the jungle. There were so many marvels of nature that its hard to describe all of them. When piranna fishing one basically hooks a small
Our guide holds a caiman
It was a small one. at full size they can be a meter long chunk of meat onto a hook and tosses it into the water. Within a minute or two you feel fish biting... if your lucky you can pull them up before they eat all of the bait. I caught two. Our canoe driver fished with us... and pulled in something like 15 fish!
Caiman( cousins of the crocodile) spotting was also memorable. We didnt see too many caiman the night we went out, but our guide was able to stop the boat and walk out to catch a small one. The little things about the night trip were even more impressive than the caiman. The night sky showed more stars than I think I have ever seen from anywhere in the states. On the way back to the lodge dozens of fish were leaping out of the water. Some were landing in the boat or even hitting us in the arms and shoulders. These were not small fish, some were a good 8 or 9 inches long.
Some other things worth mentioning: there are fresh water dolphins in the river, we occaisionally saw them poke their heads out. There are a good amount of people who make their lives
A suirrel monkey
There was a suirrel monkey and a regular monky that were semi-domesticated. They were free to roam the jungle, but mostly hung around the lodge to play with residents and get some free food. living in the area. The are mostly decended from the rubber workers or native Indians. Today they have a tough time making ends meet, but they are a fascinating culture of people.
The most striking thing about the trip was my jungle guide. He is 3/4 native american and 1/4 East Indian. Hence his name: Hare Krishna, which comes from his Indian ancestry. He was more knowledgable about life on the Amazon than I could imagine, speaks 4 languages fluently(despite no formal schooling), has a personal history thats like something out of Last of the Mohicans, and runs a survivalist program in the jungle in which survival nutes pay him money to trek them through the jungle for as much as 30 days. He was certainly one of the most impressive people I've ever met. I recomend seeking him out if you ever decide to visit the Amazon.
All in all the jungle lodge experience is one I'll never forget. If the rest of my Brazil trip is even 1/10th as interesting I'll be happy. For now, its on to Natal in the Northeast and from there Fernando de Noronha, an island archipelego renowned for its ocean life,
A tarantula!
One of the many cool sights from the jungle hikes. scuba diving, and pristine beaches
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Richard Redlund
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Sounds Great!
Sounds like you are having an awesome time there! Keep us updated on your trip, the pictures are great too.