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.
Upon arriving in Rio we returned to Hostel Harmonia to put down our stuff and rested for a little. We headed back to Nectar for lunch, and I once again just ordered something random-and it turned out to be pretty good. Afterwards we hung out at Ipanema beach before I had to return to the airport to fly back to the US. Flying from Rio the Brasilia in the evening was mostly uneventful (except for the part where they were boarding 3 flights through one door), as was the flight from Brasilia back to the states (except for the part where they kept stopping me and asking me questions as if I was a terrorist or something).
The week I spent in Brazil was definitely pretty awesome-I would definitely like to go back again. I would recommend it as a destination for anyone, especially for the adventurous type that would also like to go to the Amazon to explore the rain forests while they are still around. Rio world cup or olympics anyone?
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