Much of what they make starts with a poisonous root. They grind it, squeeze the juice from it, and heat it in order to extract the poison. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the root is called and all of the different things they make from it, but when I get in touch with Leon again he'll help me out. I do remember that they eat a lot of tapioca here, and it's a by-product of the poisonous root.
Because of the natural surroundings and diet, the life expectancy of the native people is much longer than us regular folks. There was a 68 year old man that looked no more than 55, and he was working hard in the hot sun hammering posts into the ground with a large block for a new pier.
The tiny acai berry grows in the tops of trees in the Amazon, and we got to see some. (Turn your head to the right to look at the pic below.)
After we got done at the native village, we went to swim with some pink dolphins. They're pink because of the color of the water in the Rio Negro that feeds into the Amazon River. I guess we didn't swim with them as much as we stood on an underwater platform and touched them as the professionals lured them up out of the water with fish. Regardless, it was a brand new adventure for me. (I'm the one in the hat.)
On the boat ride back for lunch, we saw lots of white cranes and some hawks in flight and in the trees.
After lunch, we gave it another go on the piranha fishing. There was a family with two young boys on the boat, and they all caught fish while the rest of us were basically just feeding the piranhas. We got plenty of nibbles, but those sneaky little fish would just rob us blind of our bull hearts! At least I didn't get a hook in the hair this time though.
We went back to the towers for a very special Amazon dinner. The chefs cooked up the piranha that were caught during the day. There was fried piranha and my favorite, piranha soup.
Believe it or not, there wasn't a stong fishy taste at all. It tasted like vegetable soup, but the downside was that you had to look at and pick away at an entire fish in your bowl.
Afterwards went caiman spotting. Caimans are Amazon alligators, and they're awesome. We went out after dark around 8pm in our little fishing boat with a spotlight to look for them. (Ben, you would LOVE this!) You can spot them when the light shines in their eyes that are just above water level. Their eyes are really reflective and you can see them from tens of yards away. The guides on our boat look for the eyes that shine red. When their eyes are red, they know they're the younger, smaller ones. So once we found a pair of red, reflective caiman eyes, the native guide jumped into the water after the caiman. Once he caught it with his bare hands, he swam over and brought it into the boat. I know what you're thinking and yes, it IS as insane as it sounds.
What could be more insane than that you may ask? Me touching the caiman and holding him by myself.
I was warned that he may try and squirm loose as I held him, and I was instructed to do whatever it took to hold on to him very tightly and not let go. Sure enough, he flailed around violently and thank goodness I held on. A loose caiman in the boat would be very bad news. Thanks again, Lauren, for the awesome photos and trusting that I wouldn't let a wild reptile jump in your lap.
Our guide, Leon, said that he almost had a run-in with a caiman that was 6 meters long. Now that's a bad day! Leon held our caiman and explained its features to us. Then we set it free. After that, they turned off the spotlight and let us be silent and listen to "the song of the Amazon". I was trying to pick out how many different noises I heard in the night, and I could only pick out 4. It was a combination of bugs and frogs. The unfortunate part about that experience was the woman behind us on her Blackberry. Yes, an American woman was on her Blackberry in one of the coolest nature experiences ever. She didn't even turn it over when she was done to hide the light from the screen.
Once we got back to the towers, we saw a big white owl perched high upon a post. It was beautiful, and this picture doesn't even do it justice.
Today was our last day at the rainforest, and we literally experienced the RAINforest. We took a jungle hike, and had to take a boat ride to get there. On the boat ride, the clouds were looking pretty ominous. Sure enough, the heavens opened up and it poured down on us. Lauren and I were prepared with rain gear, but the family with the mom with the Blackberry didn't have any ponchos or anything. The mom was wearing all white from head to toe, so the rain didn't really help her cause much at all.
We got into the forest and Leon pointed out the plants that cure athlete's foot and malaria. We also saw the root that's used in Ben Gay and Vicks vapo rub. We smelled it, and sure enough, it had that distinct smell. The rain eventually stopped and I was able to get a few photos. I really wish my camera was waterproof though.
If you look closely you can see a few of my many mosquito bites on my forehead. Once that rain stopped and the sun came out, you would've thought someone had just released millions of mosquitoes right on top of our group. I sure hope those malaria pills work.
On our way back to the towers, we pulled off to see one of the biggest trees in the Amazon, the suma uma. Sure it looked huge as we were approaching it, but to actually stand next to it really put things in perspective...
After the jungle hike and lunch, we had to say goodbye to the Ariau Towers and our new friends we made in the Amazon. Jeannette and Daniel from New York are one of the happiest, sweetest, most generous, vibrant, and brilliant couples I've ever met. I really hope to stay in touch and see them again.
Now Lauren and I are in Manaus, and we had one of the best dinners of the trip tonight. We went to Banziero and enjoyed every delicious bite of the fish for me/steak for her, rice, mashed potatoes, and banana dessert. After eating the same jungle food for so long, we were stoked to have something different.
Tomorrow morning we'll just be killing time until our flight at 2:40p. We'll fly from Manaus to Brasilia to Atlanta to Baltimore for me/DC for Lauren. It'll be a long 20 hours that's for sure, but boy has it been worth it. The journey has been far more than just traveling miles across the world and exploring a new continent, it's definitely involved getting to know myself and meeting new people to get a fresh perspective on life as well. Oh, and the work part was cool too I guess. Lauren has been an excellent friend to travel with. Thanks again for coming with me, LK.
Tchau, South America. It's been fun.
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