Today we left Manaus to go on a 5-day expedition up the Rio Negro and the Anavilhanas Archipelago.
We walked down a path in front of the hotel and parked on a small dock, a boat was waiting for us: the Awape. All wooden and very much like the local traditional boats, the Awape is awesome!
There are 11 of us altogether: 5 travelers (counting ourselves), and a 6-person crew. After being introduced to each other, we were shown to our room.
Our guide then called us to the deck and gave us information about the boat, our itinerary, and what we would see. Just as the boat was about to make a turn though, we all stood up to see one of the main attractions of the region: the meeting of the waters.
The Rio Negro has its name because of its color and it is black because of the acidity in the water. I also learned that the acidity kills mosquito eggs, making this place a perfect paradise (I am terribly allergic to mosquito bites).
There are two seasons in the Amazon: the dry season and the rainy season.
We are in July, the end of the rainy season, and what we came to see is the flooded forest, when the top of the trees or canopy is right at eye level.
The boat went slowly up the river, traveling alongside the beautiful canopy and we spent a lot of time just watching the trees, and spotting flowers and birds.
As the water level starts to go down in the dry season, the beaches that are formed around the river islands begin to appear. Suddenly we came across one so we stopped the boat and jumped out for a swim.
When we got back on the boat, lunch was ready: Pirarucu, farofa, and salad.
Hearing about the Amazon fish made me want to get my fishing gear out of the suitcase. I spent most of the afternoon trying to catch a fish, but the only thing I caught was a baby piranha. By the way, piranhas here are a common fish that mostly gets eaten by people, and not the other way around as I used to think.
At the end of the afternoon we arrived at Anavilhanas. Our captain found a spot to anchor for the night but before it got completely dark, we got into a canoe with a motor that came with the big boat, and went for a ride. The canoe is great because you get to be a lot closer to the water and when the guide turns off its motor to paddle it gets really quiet.
A loud noise of birds screaming started. “Booker!” my mom called, pointing to two macaws directly above us. It was magical.
