Hey guys!!
Ohhh Brazil…where do I even begin?
Day 1 Tuesday Jan 31st: We got into Manaus around 8:00 in the morning and it was a lot bigger and city-like than I thought it would be. It has a population of 2 million people that live in the city. The first day I didn't have any trips planned so I decided to just wander around the city with a few of my friends. We got out of the port and saw a bustling downtown area. It was really crowded, really humid, and really dirty. I didn't expect it to be as dirty as it was because it is in the middle of the Amazon. We went to a bar at 9:00 am and it was busy with plenty of local people. I suppose they don't they have work on a Tuesday morning. The locals were very friendly, probably because they were drunk, and the rest that were sober were giving us mean stares. So we sat down to drink for a little bit and this one local guy kept trying to talk to one of my blonde girlfriends. We got kind of creeped out so we decided to leave and while we were walking through the market he ran by her and unhooked her bracelet and stole it. She was a little upset but as he probably soon found out right after he stole it, it had her allergies engraved onto it in case she ever needed to go to the hospital in a foreign country on one of our trips. It was a little disturbing it happened within 30 minutes of us getting off the ship. After that though we just walked around the outdoor markets and bought a bunch of knick-knacks. I bought some postcards and could not find a post office to save my life. Brazil is the first country that I could not find anyone that spoke English, they all spoke Portuguese, which sounded like gibberish to me. So, four hours later and I finally found some stamps! (Which were $14 American Dollars) While I was walking around I honestly felt like I was in a zoo. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us as we walked by. Normally it doesn't bother me when people do that because I'm sure I stare at people that look out of place in the United States. However, guys were whistling and yelling "hey baby" and I was wearing a t-shirt, Capri length black stretch pants, ad a baseball hat. I was dripping with sweat and had no makeup on so I think I could have weighed 400 lbs and had on a trash bag and they still would have whistled. I went back to the ship around 5:00 to shower and get ready for my first night in Brazil! A group of 15 of us went to this restaurant called Bufalo. It was one of the most AMAZING restaurants I have ever eaten at. It was a Brazilian style steak house so they have a card that you place in front of you that says stop I'm full or no keep coming. Which means they will bring out meat on a stick all night until you flip it over. The meat (not really sure what meat I ate because no one spoke English) came out on a steel pole and they cut it right there in front of you. I did eat a chicken heart that was pretty good but weird looking. Then they bring out 10 different sides and there was also a buffet table full of fresh vegetables, salad, sushi, rice, pasta, soup, bread, cheese, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It was so good and worth the price. We also got a few bottles of wine for the table and it was just really nice to sit down to eat great food, drink great wine, and be in good company. After a delicious dinner we headed off to the club called Crocodiles Nightclub. It was interesting to say the least. They played good music and the drinks were cheap so I had a blast with my friends. A couple of them got a little too drunk so we had to escort them back to the ship where I showered and was so happy to be in my bed after a long day of walking around, sweating, eating, and dancing!
Day 2 Wednesday February 1st: I woke up at 7:30 in the morning and quickly got ready for my three day trip to the Amazon Ecopark Jungle Lodge. I was so tired in the morning and didn't know anyone going on the trip so I was a little nervous for it. Our group boarded a large wooden boat type thing and sailed down the Amazon slower than molasses. Unfortunately a boat moving that slow to a destination, an hour away, put me to sleep. But alas, the girl sitting next to me, for some odd reason, didn't realize my eyes were shut when she was trying to talk to me. When we finally got to the lodge we were assigned roommates. When I read the trip description and looked at the resort online it said "twin configurations" which means two beds per room right? Well when I was assigned my roommate(s) we walked ten minutes to our actual bungalow to find them putting an extra bed in the room. I got the extra bed and every time you opened the door it head the head of my bed. It was lovely. The bathroom had lots of spiders in it which all of you know I cannot stand. We were not allowed to flush anything (yes, including toilet paper) down the toilets. Therefore our bathroom smelled like poop and pee because we had to throw our toilet paper in the trashcan…. splendid smelling. My roommate situation was…. interesting…to say the least. We met up before lunch to go to a local village in the middle of the jungle. We walked around to see what they used to do to survive, so it was more of a living museum. I thought the way they used to make rubber was really interesting but I went on a similar trip in Dominica so I wasn't that thrilled to be doing it again. We all went back to the lodge where I finally introduced myself to a few girls that seemed nice. We went down the to the "natural pools" which were pretty cool. It was like a cascading series of pools that came from the river but was filtered so there wasn't any debris in the water. It was really fun to get to know the girls and just relax. Then came lunch, which was AMAZING. I wasn't expecting the food to be as good as it was but I was pleasantly surprised. Everything was so fresh and I had some of the best fruit I have ever had in my life. The dessert was also really good and I discovered my love for flan…weird I know…but it was SO good. They also had extremely delicious Brazilian coffee, which kept me going for the next 2 days. After lunch and dinner we went on a night caiman (crocodile) search and I didn't feel like the guides were looking very hard. We were only out there for 45 minutes and didn't find anything, which was a bummer. I went back to the resort and tried to take a shower but there were too many spiders in there.
Day 3 Thursday February 2nd: I woke up at 6:00 am to go on a canopy adventure hike through the jungle. It was a series of rope walkways at the tops of the trees. It was really cool to look down into the jungle and see the trees swaying back and forth from the monkeys and birds. One of my favorite pictures I have ever taken was at the top of one of the structures so I will have to post it along with this massive novel! I went back and ate a lovely breakfast then went on a million hour-long hike which was a struggle. We were told to wear long pants and long sleeves even thought it was like 90 degrees out with 80% humidity. I wanted to be naked because it was so hot in the middle of the jungle but was so happy I was covered up because there were so many insects EVERYWHERE. Grossed me right out, especially when you walked head first into a massive spider web. Our guide told us pretty much every spider in the Amazon jungle was poisonous but it depended on whether or not they could bite. Regardless, I didn't like seeing the eerie webs glistening in the sun. It was a very informative trip and if I ever get lost in the jungle I will know how to survive! We then went swimming and had lunch. After lunch we went fishing for some piranha, which was hilarious. We were all handed huge bamboo sticks with slabs of meat stuck to the end of them. I sat there for an hour and didn't catch anything but a few of the kids I was with caught some. They were really small and it was crazy to me that they can tear apart an animal down to the bone in 30 seconds…crazy! Then we did the coolest thing ever!! We got to feed some wild monkeys. Probably not the smartest thing in hindsight considering SAS specifically said not to pet wild monkeys. Well good news, I didn't get bit and got to see some amazing monkey's up close!
As far as Brazil goes...I am so happy to have had the opportunity to visit and experience something few people ever can. I was hesitant about going to Brazil because I literally had no idea what to expect. BRAZIL IS BEAUTIFUL. Especially the Amazon. Manaus was an interesting port SAS chose to go to. I am curious why they chose is because it really isn't that safe and it was incredibly dirty. It is extremely hard to get to, considering there is one road to go in and out of it. It was very eye opening and having experiences a true language barrier it makes me want to go out and learn every language I can. I hate not being able to communicate with people, but simple gestures such as smiling and learning how to say thank you in Portuguese (obrigagda) went a long way with the Brazilians! Most people were very friendly and excited to meet us, while others were far from thrilled. I like to think that when tourists come to America we treat them with a little more respect than I got in Manaus. I wanted to go out of my comfort zone and try the Amazon trip, which I did survive. I made a lot of new friends on my trips in Brazil and it's nice to see more familiar faces walking around the ship now. I have a respect for the jungle and the millions of plant and animal life that has learned to live there for thousands of years. I envy them because I don't think I could ever last in the jungle. I am still scared of spiders and love to sleep in the air conditioning. It was so beautiful to see the canopy of the jungle and see monkeys and the amazing two-toed sloth. I can't even say how many times that I am one of the luckiest people ever to be able to visit the places I did while in Brazil. I am sitting here writing this happy in my spider less bed with my roommate trying to sleep next to me, but annoyed because I am typing away with the light on so that is all I will say for now!
(I also might miss chipotle just as much)
-Alli
No comments:
Post a Comment