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| the beginning of our hike! |
Hoy (that’s hello in Portuguese for all you Americanos)! It’s the start of the day 2 in Brazil! I am not sure I ever went to the bed the night before. Between the quiet buzzing of the mosquitoes, the equatorial air that stayed locked in my wool hammock, and the anything-but-synchronized hum of 40 plus people sleeping in a confined space, it was not happening. That did not stop our 6 o’clock wake up! As tired as I was, my day was redeemed upon eating the amazing breakfast that was spread out for us downstairs. We had fresh fruits like papaya, bananas, pineapple, and oranges, fried plantains, scrambled eggs, the best cornbread I have ever had, and pancakes made out of tapioca. Even the coffee was amazing since it was grown right here in Brazil. After breakfast, we left for a 3-hour hike through the rainforest.
We were told to dress so that we were showing as little skin as possible to be extra cautious about any malaria ridden bugs we may encounter. I was surprised to meet our guide, Manual, and notice he was wearing shorts and wasn’t even pretending to wear anything on his feet. What a hoot he was! Somehow I ended up towards the front of the line of people and had quite the heart to heart with Manual. He only spoke Portuguese (which is the official language of Brazil, FYI) and knew a couple words of Spanish but that didn’t stop him from rattling off his life story to my 4-semesters-of-college-level-Spanish self. I didn’t understand over 75 percent of what he was saying but that didn't phase him. I mind as well have been a native speaker. I was able to get by reading his facial expressions and decoding his hand motions. After each word he spoke, I became more convinced that Manual had to be the inspiration for some Pixar character. He had too much chutzpa to be a real person. Our hike ended at a tributary to the Rio Negro and our boat met us there. We walked a little upstream to some rapids, then, got back on the boat to go to an indigenous village for the afternoon.
The indigenous village was interesting. Only 150 people lived in this isolated habitation along the river. Yet, it seemed as if they were very used to seeing tourists and even had built a little hut for the sole purpose of selling jewelry and trinkets to visitors. We played soccer with the children and were smoked by a team of players under 4'5''. They had built their own little school for the younger kids and a school boat, like a school bus, dropped the older kids off from a school a little bit upstream. It was a great time but, as we left, I wonder about how much they were catering to us, letting us observe and inherently disrupt their daily lives.
After the village, our boat took us to a trail a little ways up the river where we left for a hike to our campsite for the night. About 5 minutes into our hike, the sun went down and we were left to the disposal of all the creatures of the forest. At one point, we had to cross a small creek on a log as Anand G stood in the water and guided us across. My favorite part was when Anand G looked down as I was crossing that log and noticed an electric eel in the water. That was funny. Not.
Finally, we reached our campsite, where Manual had constructed posts to hang out hammocks. The guides immediately set to work building a fire to roast chicken on that they had skewered on sticks they found in the forest. When the chicken was done, each of us were told to find a leaf, stick it over the hot fire to disinfect it, then load it up with some rice and a piece of chicken. That chicken was one of the highlights of the trip. Did its preparation pass FDA standards? At one point, Manuel found a baby alligator in a nearby stream and held it over our chicken as it peed all over it. Not to mention, right after I got my piece, it fell on the ground and there was not enough for me to get another piece. I ate it anyways. I am not sure if that added flavor or what, but I do know it was some of the best chicken I have ever had. Hands down. My mouth is watering thinking about it now.
That night we went to bed in our hammocks tied to trees in the forrest. Mine did not have a tarp over it to block it from the rain so I got rained on a little.
Looking back on the hike and this entire day, now, it doesn't seem that bad. I had a place to sleep. I didn't get bitten by any tarantulas or anything. I got to go in the water, which is kind of like a bath? But, I wish I could have written this post at the time and seen how different my morale was. Then my attitude was "I have been a good sport, but I am about to loose it," now it is "I did that, now I can do anything."
The indigenous village was interesting. Only 150 people lived in this isolated habitation along the river. Yet, it seemed as if they were very used to seeing tourists and even had built a little hut for the sole purpose of selling jewelry and trinkets to visitors. We played soccer with the children and were smoked by a team of players under 4'5''. They had built their own little school for the younger kids and a school boat, like a school bus, dropped the older kids off from a school a little bit upstream. It was a great time but, as we left, I wonder about how much they were catering to us, letting us observe and inherently disrupt their daily lives.
After the village, our boat took us to a trail a little ways up the river where we left for a hike to our campsite for the night. About 5 minutes into our hike, the sun went down and we were left to the disposal of all the creatures of the forest. At one point, we had to cross a small creek on a log as Anand G stood in the water and guided us across. My favorite part was when Anand G looked down as I was crossing that log and noticed an electric eel in the water. That was funny. Not.
Finally, we reached our campsite, where Manual had constructed posts to hang out hammocks. The guides immediately set to work building a fire to roast chicken on that they had skewered on sticks they found in the forest. When the chicken was done, each of us were told to find a leaf, stick it over the hot fire to disinfect it, then load it up with some rice and a piece of chicken. That chicken was one of the highlights of the trip. Did its preparation pass FDA standards? At one point, Manuel found a baby alligator in a nearby stream and held it over our chicken as it peed all over it. Not to mention, right after I got my piece, it fell on the ground and there was not enough for me to get another piece. I ate it anyways. I am not sure if that added flavor or what, but I do know it was some of the best chicken I have ever had. Hands down. My mouth is watering thinking about it now.
That night we went to bed in our hammocks tied to trees in the forrest. Mine did not have a tarp over it to block it from the rain so I got rained on a little.
Looking back on the hike and this entire day, now, it doesn't seem that bad. I had a place to sleep. I didn't get bitten by any tarantulas or anything. I got to go in the water, which is kind of like a bath? But, I wish I could have written this post at the time and seen how different my morale was. Then my attitude was "I have been a good sport, but I am about to loose it," now it is "I did that, now I can do anything."
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| manuel and his baby alligator. |
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