Wild, wild, wet

Wake-up call at 5:30 was brutal. But Sylvia and I were ready by 6:00 to see some animals. We saw quite a few birds and one sloth. So a bit less than last night but still impressing.
We returned to the boat at 8am for breakfast and started at 9:30 with the jungle tour. The picture is from the beginning of the tour when I still thought we had the ultimate experience ahead.

Personally, I hated it. The rainforest is full of large mosquitos, no animals as far as I could see and 100% humidity (in my opinion). The sweat was running in little rivulets down my back. The repellent was mixing with the sunscreen and made sure everything was super sticky. We could hear the rain in the forest but due to the humidity didn’t feel a difference. All in all the rainforest experience is overrated in my eyes. Once we stepped back on the canoe it started raining in earnest.
When we arrived at a local farmer who produces manioc flour, we were wet. We looked around and during the long winded manioc production explanation we started to dry a bit. Lots of happy chickens, starving dogs and little pigs were running around at this place. We also saw a tree with the cupuaçu fruit.

You can see the manioc root in it’s original form on the boat.

Back on the canoe it started raining once more. By the time we reached the boat for lunch, we were wet again. A praying mantra jumped on the guy’s arm behind me and I got a close-up with my camera.

Lunch was a tasty affair and then we had some free time due to the cancellation of swimming in the Amazon. I would have gone, just so that I can say I did it. But the water looks disgusting and I don’t want to know what kind of diseases are lurking in there. Anyway, all cancelled due to strong currents.

After a long afternoon nap

we woke up to sunshine and blue sky. Piranha fishing was on the program. We found a nice and shady spot with the canoe in the brushwood and started to put beef (or cat or dog) on the hook. The piranhas are swimming close to the ground so have to be careful to get your line just above ground. I could feel them nibbling away on the line, but when I took the line in, the meat was gone and no fish.
We changed twice the fishing spot, still no success. One of the guest’s caught a mini catfish though which he let free again. Then we changed to a spot without shade cause in between the sky got overcast. Just a minute later a downpour started and we were drenched to our bones within minutes. I was so miserable that it started to be funny again. At least it was not cold.
With no fish but soaking wet we decided to return to the boat.
After changing in dry clothes it was time again for night watching the animals. This time we met with less success. Just one sloth and a couple of birds. I think also the lamp on board of the canoe was weaker cause the animals were not enough illuminated for me to take pictures.
At 8pm we had dinner and an interesting conversation with the American-Indian guys.

I finished ‘Between shades of grey’ by Ruta Sepetys and started with ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn. I really loved the book by Ruta Sepetys. I was not really aware that the Baltic States lost one-third of their population in the annexation and the following ‘cleansing’. What a dark chapter in Russian history. It is a very powerful and emotional story, but leaves you feeling at peace and forgiving. Maybe because this is the sentiment the author projects.
Until tomorrow, Pollybert

Some more pictures from throughout the day

Ship ahoy

We survived the night in our little windowless closet. In the end it was not so bad. Nobody has died so far from bad smell. And it really smelled bad in our room. My contact lens cleaning solution leaked during air travel and my pants were soaking wet. Plus the repellent spray for the clothes seemed to have opened since my back bag now reeks of it. At least I don’t have to spray anymore.
So we were pleasantly surprised by our breakfast here. A large buffet with lots of fruits in a light and almost (the windows don’t open) airy room.

We are starting our ‘luxury cruise’ today with Rainforest Cruises on the Amazon Clipper. The meeting point is ‘Hotel Tropical’ to which we wanted to take the bus. The hotel clerk advised us against it and recommended a cab instead. This is individual travel at it’s finest.
We took the advised taxi to the Hotel Tropical and arrived there around 1pm. We were told to wait in the reception area, the cruise people would come to get us. Shortly before 2pm we met our guide, Wolf a guy from Germany. He spoke some kind of Genglish to put it mildly.
We really did book a luxury cruise, because our boat was correctly named ‘Premium’.

We were picked up from the small port by a canoe and brought to our boat. We are only 15 participants on this cruise. Sylvia and I are by far the youngest. There are some American-Indian guys with us who are about the same age, but these are the only ones. The rest of the group seems to be retirees.
Right after arriving we met on the upper deck for a welcome drink and a short introduction to the boat, mealtimes etc. A ‘survival’ soup was provided for us since most people missed lunch. We also have some bananas on deck which are just so tasty. They don’t look like much but are excellent.

After lunch we enjoyed the deck and the scenic view. We saw the meeting of the Rio Negro with the Amazonas, but will see it even better on Wednesday.

At 5pm we had another meeting to get all details for the next days. This will not be a relaxing cruise, cause we have wake-up calls the next two days at 5:30 and we will start at 6am.
Tonight dinner is at 7pm and after that a night canoe ride to see our first animals. Will let you know if we do.

While waiting for dinner the sun was setting. Look at this incredible sunset which is picture perfect. Already I can smell dinner. Sumptuous spice smells are wafting upstairs from the middle deck where the dining room is located.
Dinner was quite excellent for such a small cruise, but a quick affair. The desert btw was very interesting, an ice cream made from cupuaçu (a kind of cocoa plant).

This is how it looks on the tree.

We had to be ready by 8pm to start with the night tour. Putting on our swim vests, we looked quite adventurous.

The boat had stopped for the night on some kind of lake. We used the canoe to get around. When we saw our first cayman there was a lot of excitement on board, not just from the girl next to me. The second one brought even more excitement cause he was caught and brought on board for everyone to see and touch. By the end of the tour they were just ‘inflationary’. We’d seen around fifty. We also saw lots of different birds, kingfishers and so, and some sloths (which I only identified as something with brown spots on a tree). We saw some chameleons and spiders. Honestly, even I got excited. Sylvia next to me was almost orgasmic. She is constantly watching some kind of animal planet at home and felt ecstatic. Everything was photographed, zoomed in and the watched in detail on her camera.
We have now returned to our boat and I am the only one still sitting at the bar, listening to the frog concert going on and drinking a caipirinha. I bid you all a good night and talk to you tomorrow.
Yours, Pollybert
PS: Wake-up call at 5:30

Ship ahoy

We survived the night in our little windowless closet. In the end it was not so bad. Nobody has died so far from bad smell. And it really smelled bad in our room. My contact lens cleaning solution leaked during air travel and my pants were soaking wet. Plus the repellent spray for the clothes seemed to have opened since my back bag now reeks of it. At least I don’t have to spray anymore.
So we were pleasantly surprised by our breakfast here. A large buffet with lots of fruits in a light and almost (the windows don’t open) airy room.

We are starting our ‘luxury cruise’ today with Rainforest Cruises on the Amazon Clipper. The meeting point is ‘Hotel Tropical’ to which we wanted to take the bus. The hotel clerk advised us against it and recommended a cab instead. This is individual travel at it’s finest.
We took the advised taxi to the Hotel Tropical and arrived there around 1pm. We were told to wait in the reception area, the cruise people would come to get us. Shortly before 2pm we met our guide, Wolf a guy from Germany. He spoke some kind of Genglish to put it mildly.
We really did book a luxury cruise, because our boat was correctly named ‘Premium’.

We were picked up from the small port by a canoe and brought to our boat. We are only 15 participants on this cruise. Sylvia and I are by far the youngest. There are some American-Indian guys with us who are about the same age, but these are the only ones. The rest of the group seems to be retirees.
Right after arriving we met on the upper deck for a welcome drink and a short introduction to the boat, mealtimes etc. A ‘survival’ soup was provided for us since most people missed lunch. We also have some bananas on deck which are just so tasty. They don’t look like much but are excellent.

After lunch we enjoyed the deck and the scenic view. We saw the meeting of the Rio Negro with the Amazonas, but will see it even better on Wednesday.

At 5pm we had another meeting to get all details for the next days. This will not be a relaxing cruise, cause we have wake-up calls the next two days at 5:30 and we will start at 6am.
Tonight dinner is at 7pm and after that a night canoe ride to see our first animals. Will let you know if we do.

While waiting for dinner the sun was setting. Look at this incredible sunset which is picture perfect. Already I can smell dinner. Sumptuous spice smells are wafting upstairs from the middle deck where the dining room is located.
Dinner was quite excellent for such a small cruise, but a quick affair. The desert btw was very interesting, an ice cream made from cupuaçu (a kind of cocoa plant).

This is how it looks on the tree.

We had to be ready by 8pm to start with the night tour. Putting on our swim vests, we looked quite adventurous.

The boat had stopped for the night on some kind of lake. We used the canoe to get around. When we saw our first cayman there was a lot of excitement on board, not just from the girl next to me. The second one brought even more excitement cause he was caught and brought on board for everyone to see and touch. By the end of the tour they were just ‘inflationary’. We’d seen around fifty. We also saw lots of different birds, kingfishers and so, and some sloths (which I only identified as something with brown spots on a tree). We saw some chameleons and spiders. Honestly, even I got excited. Sylvia next to me was almost orgasmic. She is constantly watching some kind of animal planet at home and felt ecstatic. Everything was photographed, zoomed in and the watched in detail on her camera.
We have now returned to our boat and I am the only one still sitting at the bar, listening to the frog concert going on and drinking a caipirinha. I bid you all a good night and talk to you tomorrow.
Yours, Pollybert
PS: Wake-up call at 5:30

Into the wild

Our cab driver was right on time. 4:30am sharp and we were off to the airport. Had a very interesting flight to Manaus. Thereby going first to Recife, then Fortaleza, then Belem and finally Manaus. On the first flight I was in seat 24C next to Sylvia, for the second I had to change to 23F, and the last two legs of the journey I could stay in 24C. Online check-in via phone is killing me.

Here are some aerial views from the Amazon.

At 1:40pm local time we finally arrived, having now a time difference to Vienna of 5 hours. Took a cab to our hotel, the lovely Boutique Hotel Casa Teatro. It is in a prime location, right next to the theater,wifi is working excellent, modern and clean room, but super small. Ours is like a walk-in closet with NO window.

So no privacy at all here.
We took in all the sights in the afternoon. There is not a lot to see. Besides the theater, a market from Eiffel and some customs office building that was built in Scotland and then brought stone by stone over to Manaus. The last two sights are next to the port. Really not a place where you should be after dark. Already at daylight I didn’t feel too comfortable.

Even there a nice smile is important.

We went back to the theater, which is beautifully renovated and the square around is the single nicest thing in Manaus. Sooner or later you see most tourists from the plane there.

We had a late lunch at an open kitchen on the street and went after for a ‘suco’ and a beer.

Some more impressions from Manaus will have to tie you over until I have wifi again. Tomorrow we will be boarding our ship for the Amazon cruise and I am pretty sure there will be no wifi.
Yours, Pollybert

PS: I finished ‘The art of racing in the rain’ by Garth Stein on the plane. Quite embarrassing cause I was crying my eyes out. Very emotional story and such a quick and entertaining read. Have now started with ‘Between shades of grey’ by Ruta Sepetys. A story about the Lithuanian annexation by the Soviets. Super interesting!