RAINforest

Manaus, Brazil

Friday February 21, 2025

Today we got to sleep in a little bit, have breakfast and relax for awhile, before heading down to the ship's theater to check-in for our excursion. The excursion staff checked us in, gave us a number and directed us to the area where we would wait until it was time to go to the gangway and board our riverboat. So we waited, and waited some more, and then we were told that our excursion was being delayed because it was raining so hard outside. Once the rain subsided a little we got on our way; however, the rain followed us around most of the day, What did we expect? It is a rainforest!! Rain and heat are the norm!

Our excursion was a boat ride on the Rio Negro to some out-of-the way settlements along the river. We would be learning about the rainforest tribal cultures and their histories. Rio Negro is a large tributary to the Amazon. The river got its name because the water appears dark as it flows toward the Amazon. Actually the water is clear, but the river bottom is dark from all the leaves and branches that sink to the bottom and turn black as they decompose. This does make the river water more acidic and warmer.

While there are no bridges crossing the Amazon, due to the changing shore lines, there is a fairly new, long bridge that crosses the Rio Negro and links the city of Manaus with the small town of Iranduba in the state of Amazonas in Brazil.

Along the Rio Negro there are a few beaches, and some colorful red cliffs.

The culture in this area is to live by the river. Fishing sustains families and almost all fish are considered edible.

Our first stop was a rubber plantation that was no longer in use, since the rubber business is no longer profitable. At this plantation the indigenous workers processed the latex from the trees and then created batches of rubber in barrel shapes to be shipped. As the guide passed around a rubber piece to show how bouncy it was, Tom decided to try some basketball moves with it!

The workers had very simple, open homes; while the Rubber Barons lived in very nice homes. Guess which houses are which below????

Did you notice anything unusual about the clock? Look at the number 4. The servants couldn't read roman numerals, so the owner had the 4 written as four lines to help them figure out the time.

While we were here we watched a thatch roof being created, and took a walk deeper into the rainforest to look at the wildlife, plants and animals.

This is our path into the forest, and the picture on the right is the very unusual trunk of some type of palm tree.

Next, we went to an Indigenous Village, and were entertained by their dances, and by the Blue and Yellow Macaw that also flew in to watch.

And finally we went into the kitchen hut and looked at some of the most common foods the people in the village eat. Many of the fruit and vegetables were familiar, but the bowl of roasted ants (bowl, bottom right) was new (and I didn't try them). Be sure to hit the play button on the video to really appreciate one of their snacks!!

The rainforest is such an amazing place that I thought I would share this description from the "The River of Doubt" by Candice Mallard.

Far from its outward appearance, the rain forest was not a garden of easy abundance, but precisely the opposite.  Its quiet, shaded halls of leafy opulence were not a sanctuary but, rather, the greatest natural battlefield anywhere on the planet, hosting an unremitting and remorseless fight for survival that occupied every single one of its inhabitants, every minute of every day.  Though frequently impossible for a casual observer to discern, every inch of space was alive – from the black, teeming soil under Roosevelt’s boots to the top of the canopy far above his head - and everything was connected.  A long, linked mat of fungi under the soil consumed the dead and fed the living, completing an ever-changing cycle of remarkable life and commonplace death which had throbbed without pause for millions of years…

We are spending two days in Manaus; so, tomorrow's excursion is called, "Off the Beaten Track: Amazon Jungle Trek and Survival Guide." We just hope we make it back to write the next blog. Wish us luck!