Amazon Riverboat Adventure

Before I left for this trip we were instructed to sign up for trips. I chose a couple trips that I thought would be fun, exciting, and well organized. This jungle adventure was one of them. And here is my story…

Day 1
I met my Riverboat group at 9:00am in the union (main auditorium) for our 3 day, 2 night adventure. We boarded a double-decker boat and set sail to see the meeting of two waters and then to our first destination. On the way there it started to rain…then pour!! I was thinking to myself “if it’s like this the whole time, I’m not going to have a lot of fun because I will be wet the whole time”. But in the back of my mind I was thinking, “It’s a good thing Nana gave me that nifty green poncho and I have an umbrella!” We got to our first stop, had lunch, and it stopped raining! Our guides told us that we were going to go on a walk…I was pretty tired and not feeling a walk but I went anyways. I brought my poncho and umbrella because getting wet is not how I wanted to spend my day. We walked down a long path to a sea of water lilies. There were also alligators in the water and our guides brought some meet to throw out to them. It was pretty cool to see our guides lure in the alligators.

We walked back to the boat and then to our next destination. Once there, we boarded canoes and went to a little floating house to go fishing for piranhas. We fished with a bamboo pole, a fishing line, and a little hook with meat at the end. After waiting and waiting…I CAUGHT A PIRANHA! It was so much fun catching one. We were standing in the sun, baking and sweating…it seemed as though my patience had finally paid off. So, I’m holding my pole and another student on my trip decided to flick my fish and see it wiggle while on the pole…dumb idea. It wiggled off and back into the water without me getting a picture. I was a little bit upset. I’m all about the picture and I didn’t get one. Oh well. Life goes on.

After fishing we took our canoes back to our boat where our hammocks were set up for us. We each picked a hammock and took a nap. Some people had said that it would be difficult to sleep in a hammock but I, however, slept just fine. After our nap we had dinner then headed out on our canoes to see if our guide could catch a Cayman (crocodile). Our guide used a flashlight to spot the crocodile, we got up really close, then he bent down and caught it with his bare hand (Yes, he used just one hand)!! I was sitting right in the front of the boat and had the best view out of everyone. We each got to hold the crocodile and take pictures with it. We took our canoe back to the boat, stayed up talking then headed to bed.

Day 2
Woke up and had breakfast on the boat. It was alright…nothing to fancy…the local stuff…but I would prefer a bagel haha. Then we took canoes over to the jungle and went on a 3 hour hike through the forest/jungle. We got attacked by bees. They do not have stingers but they are attracted to hair. I, wearing my oh-so stylish and always classy messy bun, attracted all the bees. So gross. We had to run through the jungle to escape them. We got to swing from a vine and drink from the branch of a tree that has water in it. Pretty cool experience I’d say.

We took canoes back to the boat and then had time to swim in the Rio Negro. This river is black. All of our waste from the boat, the villagers, and anything else that makes its way to the water is floating around in there somewhere. I, usually would have said NO WAY and stayed on shore. But, instead I said what the heck, I’m in the Amazon and got in. I washed up a little bit then got out for lunch. Some people said that they felt so refreshed after going in the water but for some strange reason I didn’t have the same reaction hahaha. After that we had lunch and then took naps. I haven’t had a scheduled nap-time in years and let me tell you, it was a welcomed treat.

After naptime we took canoes to a local village. It was so cool to see how they make canoes and how they live such a simple life using natural resources and surviving off of what they have. The village people’s clothes are so simple, they rarely wear shoes, and seem to have few cares in the world. They had a little market where I spent the remaining Brazilian money I had and then we had time with the children. One little boy used my camera to take pictures and before I knew it, he had taken 200 pictures. Most were super close ups of his hand, feet, and other children taking pictures with others’ camera, but some were really good pictures! The male SAS students played a game of soccer against the local boys and men then us female SAS students played a game with the local girls and women. I was on the team with the locals and we won! I even scored a goal…with my left foot. We said good-bye, or chow in Portuguese, and headed by canoe to our boat. We arrived to fireworks and a beautifully set-up dinner on the beach. They had music and were grilling a bunch of chicken and beef for us. After dinner we played a couple games: limbo, musical chairs, and danced with our guides. They made a campfire for us and we sat around chatting for a bit before heading to bed.

Day 3
Woke up today not feeling the best but wanted to make the best of the last day on this trip. Had some watermelon for breakfast then we all headed to a local plantation/village. Once there our guides showed us how they make corn meal out of the root of a tree. It is a lengthy process to those of us who live in a society where we buy everything almost pre-made and complain when the internet is slow, but for them it’s no big deal. They showed us how to crack open a huge coconut-like nut that is filled with Brazil nuts. Side note: the locals/villagers use a machete for everything (to make a path in the jungle, to cut anything and everything, etc)!! The nuts have an almond-like substance in them but you use a machete to chop off the edges. I tried and it took me probably 10 minutes to get to the white almondy part….mind you, I was scared that I was going to chop off a finger the whole time.

After experiencing life as a villager we had the option of going on another hike through the jungle. Being that I didn’t feel good, it was raining, and I had already been on one hike…I opted out and went with the group heading back to the ship. It began to rain harder and harder, lighting and thunder filled the sky, then the downpour came. I had never been more proud of my decision to stay on the boat. I stayed in my hammock all of the way back to the ship. It took us about 2 hours to get back to the ship and once there I went straight to bed.

The amazon jungle and riverboat adventure was an adrenaline rush, a great way to spend my time in Brazil but a tiring experience to say the least.

I forgot to mention the best part…our guides spoke English and I didn’t have to struggle to communicate anymore. Simply Amazing!