The Amazon

We had booked our 3 day trip to the Amazon via EcoAdventures, the company rated #1 on tripadvisor. The person Neil had been in communication with, Pedro, was who picked us up from the airport the previous evening, and collected us from the hostel this morning. Pedro owns EcoAdventures and produced local documentaries on the jungle. He was enthusiastic about his job, and very early on he insisted that if we did not enjoy our time in the Amazon, we wouldn't need to pay. In fact he refused to take any money from us until the very end. His strong belief in his product made it all the more exciting for us and off we went to start our 3 hour journey into the depths of the jungle.

First we were driven to the port, then we boarded a boat which crossed Rio Negro as it merges with the Amazon river. Rio Negro is called that because the waters are black, it is near enough impossible to see anything below the surface. Where it meets the Amazon river, you see the separation of the black and the brown waters. It's almost puzzling how the colours stay separated, but it makes for great photography.

Next we come to another island, and we are driven across for approximately 45 minutes. In all honestly, I was surprised that there was such easy transportation in the Amazon, it didn't feel very authentic. There was even a fish market and locals, who are referred to as Amazonas. Now I don't know if this was naive of me, but I expected those that lived in the jungle to be more Mowgli from Jungle Book and less regular city folk dressed in their Haviannas and logo tshirts.

Once we'd crossed to the other side of this island, we were taken onto a small speed boat which was to take us to our home for the next few days. The boat driver took us for a detour via his house (a very impressive wooden chalet) to fill up extra fuel, and then on we continued.

Where we think we were... based on Google Maps being correct!

Once we arrived at what will here on be referred to as "the Jungle Lodge" we were greeted by a man who had the longest dreadlocks I had ever seen. His family owned the lodge and rented rooms out to EcoAdventures. As he showed us around, a very modest 4 rooms, shared bathroom, and a dining room which they generously referred to as "the restaurant", the whole experience began to feel a lot more authentic. He advised us that our guide Luci Valdo, was currently out with the other guests, and we should feel free to roam and make ourselves comfortable. It didn't take us long to spot the hammocks and do just that.

Shortly after our guide and the other Jungle Lodge residents arrived back from their morning trek, we were called for lunch. As the awkward vegetarian, I was worried about what I would eat out in the jungle, but they went out of their way to make me delicious meals. I had a tasty omelette, some spaghetti and rice, before I realised I had over eaten and needed a nap.

Luci Valdo, was the main man for the rest of the trip. We were fully reliant upon him during our time there, and he was an encyclopedia of information. He told us we would head out shortly after the rain stopped, which was confusing as it hadn't been raining. Within 10 minutes an Amazonian shower was upon us. Lasting just an hour, we had time for a quick doze, and freshen up before we head on our first adventure.

Our first stop was the home of an indigenous tribe. I think the term "tribe" here is a bit misleading. Yes the woman had given birth to 15 children, but many had moved to the civilisation of Manaus, and there was just 5 of them living in the caboclos (wooden hut). The land they lived on in the Amazon was owned by the government and there were restrictions on how much could be used for building of the caboclos, and a quota of how much manioc grain had to be produced annually.

Luci Valdo took us around the land showing us how previously (tempted to say "in the olden days" here) they use to cut down stalks that stored manioc flour and how they use to process it into the grain state in which they'd either eat or sell it. I've said "previously" as this has reduced significantly. Luci Valdo told us that he had lived in a very similar place growing up and from the age 8 to 15 he had helped his family produce manioc grain. However these days children found the work too tough or too boring, and had high hopes of moving into the city and living a different life. In this area of land we also saw acai berry trees (you know the massive diet fad out at the moment), mushrooms, Brazilian nut trees and cotton trees (this was my favourite, fluffy buds of cotton on

a tree!)

We then went inside to see the caboclos and found the lady had set up a stall where she had made jewellery using items from the jungle and was selling them to tours such as ours. I understand that they did need to make money somehow, and selling to super eager tourists is an easy way of doing this, but something felt particularly off about it, especially when she "accidentally" overcharged us, and her mobile phone started ringing with the good old Nokia theme tune.

After this bizarre experience, we went back on our small motor boat with Luci Valdo and the other residents (5 retired French people) and went on the hunt for pink dolphins. We navigated for a short while before Luci Valdo cut the engine and the boat came to a standstill. 8 people in a motor boat in the middle of the Amazon, and it was pure silence. An amazing kind of silence, where you could hear birds calling, and monkeys chanting, but not a sign of music blazing or car engines revving. Then suddenly, *splassssh* to the left and then another to the right. The pink dolphins began jumping out the river all around us.

Pink dolphins are larger than the grey dolphins we see more regularly and therefore do not jump as high out of the water, but nonetheless we could see them all around us. After several attempts of getting photographic evidence, we gave up hope, and just sat and appreciated where we were and what we were seeing.

Our accommodation

Then we head back to the Jungle lodge, spotting a few monkeys on the way. Once we arrived back we sat with the French travellers and enjoyed some Caipirinhas (Brazilian speciality), and soon found out that one of the ladies had moved from Paris to Recife with her husband, and the other two couples were her husbands relatives and they were doing a small tour around Brazil. As the drinks flowed our conversations developed, with us using our broken GCSE French and them their English and soon enough they were asking for details and photos of the wedding. It was a lovely night, and after filling our bellies we wished them a good night and a safe onwards journey as they were to leave early the next day.

The outdoor shower and bathroom reminded me a lot of what we had experienced at Kruger National Park. As there was minimal electricity available (the generator only came on between the hours of 6pm-9pm) nights ended early and days began early. We slept well that first evening and were thankful the next morning when we awoke with no mosquito bites. That early win was soon to be our downfall.

That morning, after a hot breakfast we set off on a trek inland. This lasted approximately 2.5hours before Neil and I were completely obliterated by mosquitos and other insects and we had to call it a day and come back to the Jungle Lodge. Obliterated isn't even an exaggeration. Those who've holidayed with me before know that no matter where I go, the mosquitos will find me and will try to suck the life out of me (my version of dementors, I'd say) but this was a whole other level. I had somehow been bitten on my eye, which led to mass swelling and extremely poor vision in my left eye. Neil was covered with large red lumps on pretty much every visible part of his body. Not only did these all hurt, they itch like crazy. And all that was after using tropical strength jungle formula - 50% deet!

We decided we couldn't let that stop us, so after lunch, out we went with Luci Valdo on the boat. This time he was taking us fishing for piranha. Neither of us have ever fished before, and the wooden twigs to be used as fishing rods didn't give us much hope. Within 5 minutes of stopping at a piranha hot spot, Luci Valdo had already caught a fish. Within 15 minutes, Neil successfully caught his first ever fish. 30 minutes went by and a location switch and I still had nothing. The fish were too smart for me and they'd eaten my bait before I'd had a chance to yank them out of the water. Then out of nowhere as I was slowly losing interest, I caught my first fish, and it was a whopper. As I struggled to pull it out of the water, I almost hit Neil in the face with it, looking back that would have been pretty comedic. Luci Valdo grabbed hold of it and tried to unhook it from my rod, and the piranha went for him and managed to bite a piece of his finger. There was a fair amount of blood pouring out from the cut, and whilst he put on a brave face, you could tell it hurt. He said it had happened to him on a number of occasions but he then stopped fishing. Regardless he insisted we finish what was left of the bait and when we tallied up the score it was 8-6 to me! As if the vegetarian caught the most fish. It should be mentioned that not all our catch were killed and gutted, many were unhooked and thrown back into the sea. It was just the three largest (2 by me and 1 by Luci Valdo) that were taken back to the Jungle Lodge to serve as dinner that evening.

On our way back, we stopped at a floating bar, which had been created for the World Cup in 2014, when there had been a surge of tourists to the Amazon in between games, for some ice for my ever swelling eye. Unfortunately they didn't have ice, but the lady who lived there had some peppermint oil which she placed on the bites, and whilst it burnt like crazy, the swelling reduced tenfold.

We stopped to see the sunset and then head back to the lodge to show off our catch and have some dinner. For those of you who want to know, Neil tried some of the piranha and the general verdict was that it was a little dry.

After dinner, Luci Valdo had another treat in store for us, he decided to take us out to see the caymans, the only reptiles in the water. He told us they were easier to spot in the dark as their eyes reflected, making them stand out from some distance. With 20 minutes of being out on the boat, with nothing to guide us but a small headlight (scary in itself), we had spotted 3 caymans, attempted catches and Luci Valdo was holding one in his bare hands. Luckily it was only a smaller one at 0.5m, but it's beady eyes and ridiculously sharp teeth made it spooky. Luci Valdo offered it to Neil to hold, who took on the challenge, but then squealed like a girl and almost lost it before giving it back. Then Luci Valdo talked us through the life of a cayman, and before throwing it back in the water, I asked to hold it. There is photographic proof of both these events. After that exhilarating experience we head back to the lodge to rest our heads.

Except upon arriving back in our room, Neil spotted the world's largest spider. Needless to say we panicked and ran out of the room, refusing to sleep in there, and then shifted ourselves to another room. That night not only did we deal with our existing bites but somehow managed to get even more by the morning.

Tired, grumpy and itchy, we were just ready to head back to the clean city living of Manaus, but Luci Valdo had other ideas. After our final breakfast, a slightly less swollen eye, and the moodiest husband, we head out by boat to look for sloths and massive lily pads. The latter was easily found and pleasant to look at, but we were at our wits end, and with no sign of a sloth, we head back, mentally preparing ourselves for the 3 hour journey back to land.

The journey back felt longer than the one in, but when we reached mainland Manaus, Pedro was there waiting with an expectant look on his face "how did you enjoy it?!" - we told him of our impressive fishing skills, Luci Valdo's cut and holding of the Cayman. Despite the blasted mosquito bites we had a great experience, made better by Pedro's good nature and his immediate response to find us a pharmacy for some after bite. He then dropped us off to the Holiday Inn, where thanks to my countless trips to Milton Keynes, we were treated like royalty and IHG member upgrades. A hot shower and AC was just what I needed after three days in the Amazon.

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