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.