Brazil Days 7, 8 and 9: The End

I got a little busy with relatives visiting, group meeting stuff, research, and beginning the grad school application process. So...

Day 7 (July 12): Leaving the Amazon

In the morning we went and visited the local rubber man. Currently most of the world's rubber production is in Malaysia since the trees were exported out of Brazil and production is cheaper there. Throughout the morning he scratched trees and collected the rubber. To make his various items (ranging from wallets to gloves to condoms), he would layer the rubber sap on the molds one at a time and dry them over a fire. After a short while we went around the area to sample some local wild fruit and to just wander around a little.

Collecting sap from the tree (Click to Enlarge)

Drying the layers (Click to Enlarge)

To finish the morning we went to the local school, which children arrive using a school boat. The first thing I noticed was the soccer field next to the school-even by the river, soccer is a huge part of the life.

Soccer field at the school (Click to Enlarge)

The school itself consisted of about 10 rooms, and the school served many people. Young children attended classes during the morning, teenagers attended during the afternoon, and adult classes were in the evening. There were a few computers but for the most part the education was pencil and paper-based, which is a refreshing departure from our internet-dependent society.

The local schoolhouse (Click to Enlarge)

After returning to our lodge, we had lunch and prepared for the journey back to Manaus. It was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but all good things do come to an end. After arriving in Manaus in the mid-afternoon, we hung out in town until dinnertime, when we were taken to the airport. In the airport, check-in for a flight usually doesn't begin until about 2 hours before the flight, and since we had a 3:30am flight, we had to bum around the airport for several hours. After checking in (and 2 gate changes within 15 minutes of departure), we boarded the 4-hour flight returning to Rio.

Brazil Day 6: Jungle Adventures

Day 6 (July 11): Jungle Adventures

It was already light out when I woke up past 6am, and outside we were greeted by this lovely pair of small birds.

Birds outside the lodge in the morning (Click to Enlarge)

After breakfast we headed up the river to go for a jungle hike on a trail. However, we ran out of motor oil so we had to take a slight detour to an unmarked area. At the beginning we found an ant nest, which locals use to mask their scent (especially from the hornets). You let the ants crawl up your arms before smashing the ants and spreading their guts all over.

Chao spreading ants on herself (click to Enlarge)

For our hike, our guide took a machete and essentially sliced a trail through the jungle, cutting through foliage along the way. The jungle was quite dense throughout, and there were a lot of neat things to see. Our guide showed us many twigs and branches that the locals extract from for medicine. We also found some brazil nuts, which have a nice crunch to them. One of our fellow travelers also tried a bug that's found in a fruit, saying that it basically tasted like the fruit.

The jungle is dense stuff  (Click to Enlarge)

A furry caterpillar (Click to Enlarge)

After a few hours of going through the jungle, we returned to the boat to head back to the lodge for lunch (slowly of course, since the motor was going pretty slow).

Brazil Day 5: On the River

Back to writing! The GREs are over and now it's time to start looking at grad schools.

Day 5 (July 10): In the Amazon

We got up around 5:30am to pack up and head back to the lodge. The previous night was mostly uneventful for me, as I was one of the first to fall asleep and wasn't bitten by any mosquitoes during the night. Some of the others had a few issues with mosquitoes and the humidity and had a slightly rocky night. The sun was rising over the river on our way back, and it was definitely quite a sight.

Sunrise over the river (Click to Enlarge)

Early morning from the lodge (Click to Enlarge)

After breakfast we took some canoes out on the river. Since the water was at a high level, we could canoe through parts of the forest, which was really cool. Along the way we saw some massive ant and hornet nests (around one foot long) on the trees. On the way back Chao tried to swim back against the river, but after a few minutes she had made very little progress. Very soon afterwards the boat was rocking due to people shifting their weight too much when they were changing their paddling sides, causing us to take on too much water and sink. Unfortunately for me I lost my glasses and my point and shoot decided to take a little bath in the river (which means no more pictures for the rest of the day on the river).

After lunch we went piranha fishing, which, like any other fishing, is an exercise in patience and persistence. We fished in some quiet forested areas, and used a very basic setup of fishing line attached to the end of a stick. Our bait was pieces of chicken on the end of the hook. Catching the piranha was a little tricky, as they like to nibble away at the food and then swim away. To catch a piranha, you have to pull the line up as soon as you feel the nibble and hope the hook catches the fish. After a few hours, the seven of us caught six piranhas-the guide caught five and I caught one. We almost got a couple more, but the hooks didn't quite catch the fish well enough.

Sunset from the lodge (Click to Enlarge)

Before dinner, one of the dogs became really hyperactive and started humping people's legs. After dinner we went caiman spotting. They're not easy to spot (at least for me), but the one thing that stands out is their eyes, especially when you shine a flashlight at them. Out guide even reached into the water and pulled out a caiman, which measured about 50cm. It was a relatively young one (they grow up to 5m), so it wasn't very large and heavy. Afterwards it was off to bed before the jungle hike in the morning.