We had an early flight out of Rio to Sao Paulo (the smaller airport). We got to the airport early and got bumped up to a flight that was leaving an hour earlier. It was mostly uneventful, except for the fact that there was food, which is common among non-US-based airlines (tried Guaraná for the first time!). I'd also have to say there was more legroom, but it wasn't noticeable since I'm pretty short.
Upon arriving in Sao Paulo we took a taxi to Ibirapuera park, where we more or less wandered around for most of the day (without Evan, who went to his conference). It rained on and off, though that didn't seem to deter the many runners and bikers in the area. For lunch, I tried something called an açaí frooty, which resembled an açaí frozen yogurt covered in bananas and granola. In the afternoon we went to the nearby planetarium, where we had no idea what was going on and we ended up falling asleep. I still don't think I know anything about astronomy in Portuguese.
Later in the afternoon we went to the other airport in Sao Paulo to catch our flight to Manaus. At the airport I tried a salgado (a meat-stuffed pastry) for the first time, and I'd have to say it was pretty good. Our flight at 11:30pm was nothing unusual in Brazil, as most airports fly 24 hours to increase volume. This was also the first time we learned that Brazilian airports tend to change gates of planes a lot (only once this time).
Day 4 (July 9): To the Amazon!
We arrived in Mauas, the capitol of the Amazonas region, at around 2:30. We slept in the airport until 6:30, when we were picked up by the agency (Iguana Tourismo). After a couple of hours in Manaus, we headed out to the Amazon. After we reached the port on the Rio Negro, we took a boat through the mixing of the Rio Negro and the Amazon to the far bank. The pycnocline formed between the two rivers was quite a sight, as it ran as long as the eye could see.
The confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon (Click to Enlarge)
After arriving on the other side, we took an hour-long car ride to a tributary of the Amazon, where we got on a boat for another hour-long ride upstream to the Rio Juma, near lake Juma. After we settled down, lunch was served. Most meals consisted of rice, meat, veggies, and fruit, all of which was very delicious.
Out lodging in the Amazon (Click to Enlarge)
View from the lodging area (Click to Enlarge)
After a while, a group of us headed out to the jungle to camp overnight. The first orders of business were to cut firewood and to set up the hammocks with mosquito netting. After a while we had enough firewood for the night despite having one machete between all of us.
Cutting firewood (Click to Enlarge)
Hammocks (Click to Enlarge)
After everything was ready, Demion, our guide, started cooking the chicken over the campfire we had build. Dinner was pretty simple-rice and chicken. During that time, it had gotten dark and the mosquitoes were out in full force. After dinner we took the boat out to the lake for a while to escape the mosquitoes and to look at the night sky. The night sky was very dark and clear, and the stars lit up across the entire sky. Being three hours from the nearest city allows for the night sky to be as beautiful as possible.
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