Manaus Day 3: Pink dolphins and blow darts

The last day of our jungle adventure started with visiting a couple who lived a few tributaries over to see how they traditionally grow and process manioc. From grating to pressing to baking flat like a pancake on a large, flat, circular metal surface, it was an interesting process and we got to try some at the end (fairly bland, but the butter helped). 

Making manioc pancakes

We also took a brief stroll to see what crops they were growing. But the real reason we visited was their gift shop. My colleague had mentioned offhand that he wanted to buy a bow and arrow as a souvenir, and this was the place. I’d easily passed on buying jewelry and knick knacks to that point, but it was a little harder to resist buying a blow dart. While we had fun testing his 4-foot one on a cardboard target, in the end I selected one for myself and each of my brothers.

On the way back, we visited the pink dolphin center. These freshwater dolphins travel openly up and down the river (we even saw a few from the porch of our lodge), but they recognized a tourist opportunity for the boats to dock and a handful of tourists at a time to sit on a submerged platform while a staff member feeds fish to the dolphins. Our group had mixed feelings about this, but in the end most of us chose to participate. It was cool to see them so up close, but seeing them suddenly appear out of the dark water and flash all their teeth so close startled me a little. I knew they only cared about the fish, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Another area on their dock had a fenced off fish that reminded me a little of the eels in the “Princess Bride.” It was a massive black fish swimming in nearly black water, and they let you feed it by lowering meat tied to the end of a rope tied to a stick. All I know is that as soon as the meat was just low enough that it was hard to see what was going on, the stick in my hand got jerked down so hard it became hard to hold on to. Again, I felt totally safe on the dock, but a little startled and really starting to wonder how many other fish were like that in all the areas we’d been swimming in over the weekend.

Pink dolphins!

And just like that, our jungle adventure was over. We went back to the lodge to collect our things and enjoy one last lunch before cruising back to larger and larger rivers before taking the smaller channel back to the car that would drive us back to the hotel. In reality we were probably a few hours from this big, modern city, but for the past few days we’d felt quite remote so it was a bit of a readjustment for me as we returned to our hotel in Manaus.

Wanting to make the most of our remaining free day, we went to the old city for a tour of their Opera House and I attempted to wrap my head around what that time period was like when that was the rubber capital of the world. Manaus was so wealthy from the rubber industry that they wanted to be the “Paris of the tropics,” complete with an opera house to rival any in Europe. Roofing tiles and chandeliers from Italy—no expense was spared. Only one problem—they’re in the middle of the Amazon! So just getting performers to come to somewhere so remote and only accessible by boat was a challenge. On top of that, performers would succumb to tropical diseases. And seeing photographs of them in their heyday, I can’t imagine wearing the modest European fashion with all of its layers in a crowded building with no AC. How did they do it? All that aside, it really was a lovely and impressive building. The mural on the ceiling was supposed to be looking up from underneath the Eiffel Tower, and signs on the wall honored the world’s famous writers, poets, and composers of their day. Touring the lobbies and dressing rooms also provided a glimpse into what life would’ve been like back then, but we didn’t have to imagine so hard about watching a performance there. Apparently that day was national children’s day, and in celebration they were having a final rehearsal of the show they’d be performing that night. Back outside, the number of entertainers and activities catering to families with small children in the plaza made a little more sense.

'Merica!

Manaus Opera House

Inside the Opera House

We chose to eat dinner at an outdoor restaurant in the plaza, and enjoyed the people watching while enjoying our meal—more fish, but this time we saw just how many options there were and we had to select one. Dessert was just around the corner, at a small shop known for flavors of all the tropical fruits of the Amazon. We sampled a few, but in the end my choice was fairly traditional. In all, a very full day that helped me appreciate where we were so much more.

Manaus day 2: Jungle survival day

Today we took a hike in the jungle to learn survival skills if we ever got lost. We learned which roots were poisonous (good for blow dart tips), how to drink water from cut liana vines, the need to use vines to make something to sleep off the ground (to avoid the ants), practiced weaving palm fronds, and even how to eat some larvae that live inside a palm’s nut. Wandering through a maze of verdant green while doing this, my main takeaway was that I don’t ever want to get lost in the jungle. Honestly, other than upstream of Manaus on a tributary of a tributary, I had no idea where we were. 

Our host and captain cuts a type of coconut open with a machete for us to eat the contents

gag reflex kicking in while attempting to consume live larva

drinking from liana vines

palm frond weaving--an art, not a survival skill

On our way back to the lodge, we stopped at a dock so we could go for a quick swim in the river to cool off. The water wasn’t that much cooler, but it still felt nice. Lunch at the lodge was another type of fish and rice with fruit, etc. before spending the afternoon napping and relaxing.

group swim

Towards sunset, we headed out again to a different part of the river to fish for piranhas. The boat stopped near some mangroves and the guide handed us bamboo poles with bits of raw chicken to attach to the hook. Lowering my line into the dark water, I quickly felt a gentle tug but there was no fish when I yanked it back up. This occurred several times until the meat was gone. I learned they’re nibblers and pretty fast at it, too. When I finally did catch one, it was mostly bone with nasty teeth! We easily used more meat than we caught in this endeavor, but the one question I never got answered was how the piranhas knew to swarm in that part of the river, but not in the part where we’d been swimming earlier.  Mildly disconcerting, but we were safe so they clearly knew what they were doing. Going back to the Rio Negro and safely away from the piranhas, we docked on an island with a white sandy beach to enjoy swimming a bit more before it got dark. The swim ended with a rain shower, and we learned how effective the rain tarps are for keeping the inside of the boat dry.

showing off my catch

That night, we were treated to two types of local wildlife. The first was going out in the boat to spot caimans. Being out in the pitch black and shining our spotter light from the boat into the brush, searching for a reflecting pair of eyes, brought back memories of when we did that on the front lawn as kids, pretending the neighborhood cats were lions. Thankfully the bigger ones were at a distance, and the little one we got to hold was…little--also probably a little stunned by the lights.

Max with a caiman

The other species were some local fisherman, who’d paid to stay on the lodge’s porch overnight and were a little too obvious in their (failed) attempts to impress the ladies in our group with their strutting around in their vibrant underwear after enjoying too many beers. Instead, we enjoyed some hearty rounds of Uno with a young couple from Russia.

Manaus day 1: Into Amazonia

Arriving at night, it was hard to appreciate the context of Manaus, Brazil. We saw the stadium from the recent World Cup en route to the hotel, but otherwise it looked like many other cities. You’d never know we were surrounded by the Amazon rainforest for hundreds of miles, or that most people and goods must arrive here by plane or boat. Thankfully, we arrived a few days early to get that perspective.

The guide picked us up at the hotel the next morning and we drove through the city to the river, crossing it on a fairly new, expansive bridge. What I didn’t realize is that this was one of the narrow parts of an Amazon River tributary. Seeing the new road we were driving on being widened gave me an appreciation for the enormous task of clearing jungle for this infrastructure. We passed some small villages, and after a while pulled over after crossing a “normal” river and drove down to its banks. Here we were met by a small boat to take us and our gear to our lodge in a real-life jungle cruise. It was a cozy fit for the seven of us and our luggage, and like most aluminum fishing boats without keels, it didn’t feel that stable getting in or out.

On our way

As we motored along the river, we saw a few wooden huts way up on the hillside and a plastic bag clinging to branches overhead. What I’d later learn is that we were there during the dry season when the river is at its lowest; the rains combined with snowmelt from the Andes would raise that river nearly 30 feet! It was too loud for a conversation over the boat’s motor, but the guide and captain were able to point out a few gorgeous birds and we even saw some iguanas along the riverbank. After a while, we reached the end of this river where it joined the Rio Negro, a river so massive I think it deserves a different name—maybe “uber-river.” It was so wide that in parts we couldn’t see the other side; any land that we could see across the water was an island in the river. The name translates to black river, and sure enough the water had the dark tint of root beer—no suspended sediments, just lots of tannin. We turned up the next tributary and eventually made it to our lodge. It was a bit of a hike up the dirt bank but I’m told it is right by the water in the rainy season.

 

The lodge had palm-thatched huts connected by a raised boardwalk, and a main dining hall where we enjoyed some local fish and rice for lunch. We relaxed through the hottest part of the day in hammocks on the shaded porch overlooking the river, admiring the occasional bird and even some pink dolphins swimming by in the distance.  

the main lodge

Our hut at the end of the boardwalk

Dolphins!

That afternoon, we took the boat to visit a local community that had lived there for a few generations to see how they lived and worked. One of the main businesses was making and repairing wooden boats, from a small fishing boat a teenager was buying as his first boat, to a two-tiered passenger transport vessel in for repairs. They had their own school, church, and even a rough soccer field on the largest flat bit of land where the local women were playing. This was especially impressive to watch, given the heat and that some were barefoot. It was also interesting to see their handicrafts shop where they turned jungle plants into jewelry and purses.

tapping a tree for rubber

villager demonstrating how they build canoes

dinner back at the lodge

While it was cool to feel like we were in the middle of nowhere, I was grateful they had electricity to power small oscillating fans in our rooms. As it was, the heat was nearly unbearable until the coolest part of the night, just before dawn. I was also grateful the gap under the door to our room was too small for visitors after discovering a frog in a shower near the dining room.

Pre-flight Parisian pastries

This day’s weather was not as nice, but I was staying at the base of Sacre Couer and was determined to get the most of my stay. It was a very early hike up to the church, with so many stairs that they offer a funicular, and my legs were still complaining about the exercise the day before (the funicular hadn’t yet opened for the day). At the top, I was rewarded with views of…clouds, and a few unrecognizable buildings. But the inside was lovely, albeit dark.

Dawn at Sacre Couer

From there it was a short stroll to Grenier à Pain, so short that I arrived before they opened. Thankfully the bistro next door was setting up for the day, and the manager kindly let me sit under their awning while I waited for his neighbor to open. Apparently I’d lucked out, as that day was the bakery’s first day back from vacation. When it did open, I walked in and was overwhelmed with options. The kind women helped me (in English) select a few to take with me, and with that I had to run back to the hotel for my luggage and head to the train station. Along the way, I saw a fruit shop and picked up a few pieces to round out my meal, which I ate while waiting for my flight to arrive. The architecture I’d seen was great, the pastries were delicious, and I got to ride a bike all day. Hard to keep a grudge against a city that has all that going for it.

my Parisian breakfast