January 3, 2015: As excited as we all are to be in Brazil, sleep was the order of the morning, as everyone was passed out until mid-morning. The group regathered in the lobby again to flush out the plans for the day. The main point being a boat trip down the Amazon River and Rio Negro. The cool thing about the convergence of these two rivers is that there is a definitive line separating the two (pictured to the left). This is due to the different densities of the rivers, and the different sediments present in the waters as well. The Rio Negro, or Black River, got its name for its distinctly dark water, while the Amazon River is primarily brown due to the corrosion along the banks of the River upstream. During the boat trip, we were approached by poachers, an unfortunate byproduct of tourism. The locals gather rare and exotic animals native to the area, but usually unseen on these types of ventures. The poachers had a baby Sloth, a 6 food Anaconda, and a baby Alligator, and were charging 5 Reals to hold each one. While this is a problematic situation, it is the reality of this kind of life. The boat proceeded to travel downstream to a local village living on the river. The cool thing about this village is that due to its location on the river, they learned to embrace it, and built their society on floats, allowing the houses to rise and fall with the tide. After seeing the town, we proceeded to go stop at a little restaurant on the river. Before eating, we went on a walk about behind the restaurant. Walking down the shaky wooden boardwalk, we saw a massive tree (pictured to the left), and attempted to take a photo of us around the tree, but it was far to wide for that. The food in Brazil is pretty much exactly what you'd expect it to be, a medley of proteins, starches, and some veggies. After lunch, we all piled back onto the boat, and started our return trip, with the exception that we stopped at a local village, who did their welcoming ceremony. It was pretty cool getting to see an actual native tribe doing native tribe things. We walked around their camp for a little while before getting back on the boat to head back to Manaus. When we got back to the hotel, we debriefed on the day, and relaxed with some good group bonding time. We then headed back out to the mall in search of food. After eating we got back to the hotel and all passed out again. |