Amazonia

This was one of the most special and incredible trips I've ever done. Nature is so beautiful. I saw some amazing things, and it was simply wonderful to be in the Amazon Rainforest away from wifi, phones, TV, news....everything.



We set off on Thursday morning, meeting our group of fellow travellers. We were so fortunate to have such a mixed but lovely group of people. It took a couple of hours to get into the jungle, by a variety of cars, jeeps and boats. We saw the Meeting of the Waters, which was really impressive. It is the confluence between the Rio Negro, a river with dark water, and the sandy-coloured Rio Solimoes. They run side by side for 6 km without mixing. It is due to the differences in temperature, speed and water density of the two rivers. It looks so strange but is really cool!

Very distinct rivers

As we sailed around the Amazon we saw lots of houses on stilts and children playing in the river, women washing clothes, and locals sailing past in various boats.

Our boat for navigating the rivers

This was my favourite house

The jungle was different to how I imagined. We were there at the end of the rainy season, and the river is just so massive. It is so so wide at points. We could see the water line on the trees though to see how much the water had gone down, but it was still metres higher than it will be in a few months. 

Beautiful reflection

There were loads of small outlets that we could sail down, though sometimes the branches would be a bit low which was good fun as we had to duck whilst Paulo, our guide, would use his machete to try to clear a path.



We went piranha fishing, which sadly was very unsuccessful but was a giggle and a chill out!

Victor catching a few rays

Perretz and Ran...not having much luck!

As we sailed around afterwards we saw dolphins. I have never seen them in the wild before so this was so exciting! It made up for not catching a piranha!

Dolphin!

On our way home we had a quick swim and then watched the sunset.









That night after dinner we went out to try and catch a caiman. The stars were incredible. It was so dark. I was terrified. We were in a canoe, in the dark, with our guide standing on the front with a torch, shining it quickly along the shores trying to see a caiman's eyes. We would then paddle close and he would try to catch it! We caught a baby one....before our guide got a bit fed up with the noise of the boat and the caimans running away! I was rather relieved when we went home with just a baby and not a full grown adult!

The next morning we got up at 5.30 to go and watch the sunrise, before going jungle trekking.



The walk was beautiful. It was hot and humid but bearable. We saw so many cool trees and plants with various medicinal properties. I also saw my first tarantula in the wild!

The Walking Tree. It can move a few metres (slowly) to get to sunlight and space

Tarantula!

Emma, AKA our very own Jungle Mowgli

The Queen Tree. It is hollow and so fills with water which it then uses to water the surrounding area in the dry season. 

I ate a dragonfly nymph! Very proud of this! I made Paulo just pop it in my mouth as knew that if I held it I would chicken out! There was a lot of flapping about, and water thirstily drunk afterwards, but I chewed and swallowed! Woo! It actually tasted quite nice, kinda coconutty, and better than some of the fruits or tree sap that we tasted!

Paulo had to cut the branch and then pull one out

Yum!

Sadly we didn't see any macaws close up....despite scouring the trees for hours!

We saw some fly away but if it wasn't for Paulo we wouldn't have known what they were! I did spot a toucan though, and it was a different type than we'd seen at Iguazu so that was cool.



Our second night was spent in the jungle. We slept in hammocks with mozzie nets, cooked around an open fire, and got a few bites!

The night's shelter

Cosy!

Our bathroom!

The noises of the jungle were amazing! Sadly, the crickets were not the only sound that kept us awake (despite ear plugs!). Emma and I chose our hammock positions carefully.....the guide on one side, and the three chivalrous Tarzan esque Israelis on the other! The Israelis were amazing! Tough, macho, and ever so caring, we got on so well and laughed so much. Sadly though, no one is perfect, and their major flaw was their snoring. They slept in the room next to us on the first night, which, granted had an open ceiling so was in no way sound proof, but we were shocked by the loud snoring. It was like a symphony! My hammock was so close to theirs-I felt every turn Eran made as it made my hammock swing back and forth.....and the noise....ahhh!! Emma took a recording on her phone...she was a metre from me..... None of us slept too well that night! Morning coffee was so good!

Turn the volume up loud and check out the snoring symphony above the crickets!

Why fan the fire when you can fan your face?!

Our noisy but lovely Israelis, Perretz, Eran and Ran with a sleepy Emma and I

On our way back to the lodge, we stopped in a small village and looked at some special fruits and trees in their garden. They had a pineapple plantation which was amazing. I had no idea that pineapples grew like this!

Bananas!

One pineapple per plant!

I also saw the greatest ever tree, the acai tree!!

Best tree ever!

Rain forest life....well, the jungle shop.....this was hilarious! We had to stand behind a counter and ask for things (sometimes we would just venture in....). The selection was so bizarre! It was great for getting cold beers and sodas on the long boat rides, and chocolate biscuits! Every time we passed it, we would beg Paulo to stop and let us get goodies! We were fed so well at the lodge, and had lots of delicious fish and ice cold caipirinhas, but the shop held so much excitement (and Western sugar!)

Buying goodies

Jungle hair....this was a major concern! Not showering for a few days, having to go to the toilet outside, eating bugs...well all this proved ok! But coping with greasy hair when there are so many photos being taken.....tricky! Not forgetting the ever changing weather...boiling and sweaty, then really rainy, then super humid.... Fortunately Emma is awesome at plaiting hair, and was happy to do mine every morning. I also loved how young it made me look! Hahahaha

Bites...yes, I am rather itchy, but nothing like what I was expecting! Relief! I was also rather happy that we didn't see any snakes!

Me and Perretz, one of the sweetest and kindest men ever

A very happy and giggly few days

Our lovely group and guide