We left São Paulo last Sunday evening and arrived in Manaus after midnight. We crashed in the airport because we had to leave on another flight in the morning for Tefé (west of Manaus). Kevin was pretty excited to pull out his bright orange mattress pad so he could sleep on the floor. I was the paranoid one and half slept while sitting in the very uncomfortable airport chairs (at least they had some padding). Turns out, there were two other Americans camped out in the same area awaiting the same plane. This airport was incredibly busy between midnight and 3:30 a.m. Neither of us could believe how many flights there were so late at night. Needless to say, the very loud announcements didn't help our sleeping situation either.
Morning finally arrived and the airport was dead. Normally, you would think that it was after midnight becuase it was so dead. In just about every other airport, it would start to be very busy by 7:00 a.m.! But then again, I've decided Manaus is just strange anyway. Kevin & I decided to go to the second airport in Manaus in order to catch our flight. Many cities we have visited so far have two airports (national and international airport), so we weren't too surprised to find out that we had to go to another airport and figured it was across town somewhere. So, we got into a taxi (we were told it should cost about $5) to get to the second airport. We quickly discovered that the "second airport" was just around the corner. We could have walked! It was the 2nd Terminal of the Eduardo airport and it was called Eduardino.. hmm... little Eduardo?
We finally flew to Tefé where our hosts for the Uakari
Lodge and Mamiruau Reserve awaited our arrival. They quickly whisked us off to the docks (after we paid of course) to board the speed boat that would take us to the Uakari Lodge. We were both a bit skeptible about our mode of transportation. The boat motor kept quitting. I should have felt just like I was at home because it was a common occurence with my Dad's boat when I was growing up! Anyways, we finally made the 1 1/2 hour trip to the Lodge and stayed fairly dry despite the downpour on the way there.The Lodges were absolutely wonderful. So far, they have surpassed any of the hostels we have stayed at yet... and there were even little cockroaches in the lodge. The cockroaches are really quite common in the Amazon and is definitely not a sign of a dirty place. They did an excellent job of keeping things clean and tidy (they take great pride in good hospitality). Apparently, they live in the straw roofs and sometimes come out at night. Kevin only had to capture two of the buggers before we went to bed. We also had some bats hanging out underneath the eaves. We both liked to see that, the more bats, the less mosquitoes!
We decided to visit the Mamiruau Reserve and stay at the Uakari Lodge becuase it is an EcoTourism destination. The reserve was set up to help save the natural habitat for the Uakari Monkey (only found in this part of the Amazon) and to help the inhabitants learn how to live sustainably within the reserve. All of the money for the trip goes to the reserve and they only hire employees that live within the reserve. So, it all goes to a good cause.
We went on several canoe trips through the flooded forest. We were both surprised to see that we were in a jungle that was completely flooded. The Lodges were all floating and several villages had homes built on stilts so they wouldn't get flooded during the rainy season. During the dry season, the channels narrow and there is more dry land. Apparently, one can experience a completely different set of wildlife during the dry and rainy season. For example, right now, all of the fish and inhabitants of the water are spread out all over becuase everything is flooded and all of the land creatures are concentrated in the little pieces of land. We were supposed to go on a night hike on one of the small exposed pieces of land. We didn't becuase earlier in the week, the guides saw three poisonous snakes within 100 meters. I was so grateful they wouldn't let us on the trail.. Kevin was severely disappointed.
We saw several different kinds of monkeys (including the rarely seen Uakari Monkey), hundreds of birds, caimens (a type of alligator/crocodile), a rarely seen river otter (some of the guides haven't even seen those!), and so much more. It was breathless. The only bad part about the whole trip was one morning we spent five hours in a canoe, no where for a potty break, and no snacks. My stomach started to make noises just like the loud howler monkeys we heard all day.
One of the highlights, was our opportunity to fish for Piranhas. Our fishing was quite successful! Kevin caught several and I caught a few. We were able to take two back with us to eat the next day. Our guide also speared, yes speared, and Oscar. It was the coolest thing watching him spear the fish! We got to eat the Oscar and the Piranhas the next day. They were both quite delicious!
We were both sad to see the trip end on our third morning. It was so wonderful to be in nature and enjoying God's wonderful creations. The people and our guides were so kind and hospitable too! We both highly recommend this experience to anyone interested in seeing the Amazon.
Mamiruau Reserve: http://www.mamiraua.org.br/ecoturismo/ing_index.htm
Animals in the Flooded Forest: http://floodedforest.com/ff-photogallery
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