amazon day 3

On our last full day in the amazon, we traveled by boat to see the encounter of the waters.  Two rivers meet together and there is a distinct line between the waters since they do not mix. One is the Rio Negro, or the black river and the other they call the white water (which is more clay color).  These two rivers are different densities, different temperatures, and move at different speeds and all these factors prevent them from actually mixing. In the clay colored water, there are grey dolphins and we saw a lot of them when we got there.

Afterwards we traveled along the amazon river to reach a restaurant where we planned to have lunch. It was amazing going down the river. We saw so many homes that unfortunately had to be abandoned because of the floods.  We did see many homes there and I just couldn’t imagine living there.Our tour guide said that there are anacondas & aligators in this region and that anacondas will eat dogs, chickens, even small children.

After arriving at our destination, we walked out to see these giant lilypads. It’s hard to tell from the pictures but these lilypads were huge! Two people could probably sit on one together.  This placed used to be filled with lilypads but because of the floods many of them died.

After eating lunch, we took some fruit and fed the monkeys! There were a ton of baby monkeys and they are the cutest little things ever. All you had to do was stick your hand out with some fruit and they would come right to you and just grab it out of your hand. It was so fun to be able to feed baby monkeys! 

Afterwards, we left to visit a little house on the river that had an anaconda.  It was such a tiny little wooden house on some planks over the river. We stopped our boat right on the house, and only a few people could go out on the house at a time in fear it would sink or break.  This young boy, probably around the age of 14/15 came out with a anaconda.  They had barely caught it like 3 days ago, but apparently they always keep an anaconda in the house to eat the rodents and stuff. It literally lives cage free in the tiny little house with them, a wild anaconda..They keep it for a little bit and then put it back in the wild and get another one.  It was insane. So the boy let us all hold the anaconda while he held the neck. (except jordan insisted he hold the anaconda all by himself and he did..he even put it next to his face. I about died.) The family also had a pet sloth, and I was so excited to hold the sloth! Ever since we saw sloths in Costa Rica I have loved them. They are so cute. 

Afterwards, we came back and rested for a while. After dinner, we had our goodbye party as a group. It was a ton of fun, but i’m sad to be leaving Manaus. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity that we had. I’m so grateful to have been able to get to know the country that I have loved my whole life. I never saw Brazil outside of the South. It’s a whole different world up here.  Brazil has so much to offer. So much natural beauty. I really would love my mom to be able to see all this..this is her country and she has no idea what it’s like besides the south that she’s used to. Brazil is so amazing. I wouldn’t trade these two months for anything. I have seen so many incredible things that I will never forget. I’ve been able to do things I never thought I would. I’m just so grateful. I am so happy that Jordan and I were able to do this. We love Brazil so much.