Manaus: Day 2

(Riverboat-Day 1)

Our second day in Manaus, we boarded a riverboat and headed to see the meeting of the waters. The meeting of the waters is where the Rio Negro and the Solimões River meet up but do not mix. We then headed to an island where the Solimões River started for a hike in the rainforest. Some of the group had the opportunity to hold sloths and we saw the Giant Water Lilies.                

The guide told us a story about how the water lilies came to be…He said long ago there lived an Indian woman who had white skin. Another Indian fell in love with her and tried almost everything to pursue her, but time after time she continued to refuse him. He became angry and very jealous. One day while she was standing by the edge of the water, he came up behind her and pushed her in. She could not swim and she died in the water that day. Turned out she was a Goddess and in the spot where she died, a giant water lily grew. Angry with himself that he had killed her and could not see his love anymore, the Indian turned himself into a beetle only able to see his love when he pollinates the flower of the water lily.

We had not yet set up our hammocks and had a 4 hour boat ride downriver in order to reach the dolphin sanctuary. Tired and worn out from the day before everyone passed on the concrete floor on their backpacks. All of us sleeping on the floor were awoken when the winds picked up and the thunder sounded. Lightning bolts and rain fell out of the sky with a ferocity that can only be seen in movies.

We arrived at the dolphin sanctuary after our 4 hour boat ride up the Amazon. I decided not to swim with the dolphins. Instead I watched and took photos. I did not want to get wet, the dolphins were seriously creepy looking, and I didn’t want to chance the waters.

Next, we boarded a canoe and went out to go caiman spotting in the dark. I ended up sitting with a bunch of the guys and we were spotting more caimans than the guide. Our guide eventually caught a small caiman and we all had the opportunity to hold it and take pictures. While we were cruising around in the canoe, we were only a couple inches from the water. Fish were jumping out of the water and into the boat…not kidding. I got hit in the face 3 times by different fish. The guide said they were piranhas but I think he was joking…hopefully. Afterwards, we headed back to the beach where we met up with the other boats and a Brazilian barbecue awaited us.

At the beach, I had the opportunity to hold another caiman and was invited to dance with one of the guides. I thought more people would be dancing with us, but turned out it was just the two of us dancing with everyone sitting around watching. Kind of awkward but it was a lot of fun. He spun me in every direction and so fast that I could not see what was happening around us.

After the luau on the beach, we headed back to our boats where we were rocked to sleep in our hammocks while listening to the sounds of the Amazon.