We left Manaus a couple of days ago and should be in the open ocean by nightfall tonight. My time in Brazil was far more than I could of hoped for. Some of it were things I probably wouldnt have chosen to happen but probably made me a better person for it.
When we arrived in Manaus I did not expect such a large city to be in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. Manaus has a population of about 1.5 million people. That number is crammed into a bustling, chaotic, rich city which bombarded my senses into the ground. A mountain girl from a quiet small town is more than overwhelmed by a large American city much less a foreign one. The streets of Manaus in most places are dirty, uneven and littered with garbage. The people are sketchy and try to con you out of your money or else pick pocket you. I made precautions against these and wasnt robbed but I know a significant amount of people who were. The boys of the city like to run around with knives and cut the camera strap around your wrist or neck and run off with your camera.
Other than that the people of Manaus are rich in culture and pride. They have many types of dance which I observed. I will make sure to show you some videos when I get back. There are a lot of sketchy people but there are just as many kind generous ones.
Anyway I got so sick of the city that I was super excited to finally be entering the Jungle. I had imagined going to the Amazon Rainforest since before I can remember. It was much more than I imagined. I got a lot of hands on animal experiance. I got to handle three-toed sloth, black Anaconda, and multiple types of small alligators or Caimen. (as seen below)
I did a night out in the jungle which consisted of anacondas, alligators, lilly pads the size of dinner tables, waterfall swimming, interaction with a poor family on a floating house and sleeping in a hammock with squirrel monkeys running about. It was only 100 Reals which is about 80 USD but I got far more than I thought. The family on the house boat we stayed with had 3 kids all under 7 years and only one room with no insulation or air conditioning. No electricity either. It was a long night that lasted from 5pm to 8am and only 3 hours of sleep. It was tough to deal with the cultural differences and shocks when you are so tired you feel like you are going to relax. Its easy to forget how some people live while in the comfort of an american home.
After that night I needed a whole day of sleep and recovery. But I eventually went back into town and got some amazing pizza, items to be disclosed in the next post and snacks for the long haul to Takoradi Ghana.
Tonight I have an "extended family" dinner. It is a group where the older inhabitants of the ship are the mom and dad and they have a family of adoptive students. Its an optional support group sort of thing. I should probably leave and go do that now. I will post again once we arrive in Ghana. I will post Feb. 7th. Zach if you are reading this you better check it on your b-day. I will post a pic of your present!!
Genevieve
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