Day 8: Leaving The Amazon

Our last day in the Amazon was a day spent meeting a lot of interesting people. In the morning we visited one of the few people who still collected latex and made goods, as the tree was exported and most rubber today is produced in southeast Asia and western Africa. Generally new incisions are made each day and the latex flows into collection buckets.


Cutting the tree to collect latex sap


Collecting latex

The rubber man also demonstrated how he made his products by making a wallet that morning. He pours the latex over a mold to sufficiently covering it before drying it over a heat source (in this case burning the outside of a local fruit) before repeating the process to get the desired thickness.


Where the rubber man makes his goods


Drying a thin layer of latex

Afterwards we visited a local school next to the river. The school serves all students in the local area. The ten-classroom school serves younger children in the morning, older children in the afternoon, and adults during the evening. Instead of school buses there were school boats, and some kids would travel over an hour and a half each way to get to school. There were very few computers in the school and learning was primarily done using pencil and paper (I don't think they had many calculators either).


A soccer/football field next to the school


The school itself


A small general store next to the school selling everything ranging from snacks to motor oil to swimwear

Unfortunately this would conclude our journey, and after returning to the cabin for lunch, we said our goodbyes and embarked on our three-hour journey back to Manaus and modern civilization. After returning to the city we lounged for a while before being driven back to the airport, where we had dinner.

Days 9 and 10:Travelling Home

Our flight out of Manaus back to Rio (MAO-GIG) was scheduled for 3:30AM. What I hadn't realized prior to Sao Paulo was that airports in Brazil tended to fly 24 hours a day to operate at desired traffic volumes. We weren't allowed to enter the terminal at MAO until 1:30am because there were very few gates at the airport and there were many flights departing. The plane-side terminal area was very crowded even at 1:30am. Our gate also managed to change three times in the 5 minutes before departing and we eventually ended up at the one gate where they were boarding three flights at once (with three separate buses outside) to board our TAM A320. (I've heard there were renovations done to the airport for the World Cup to make it a little less of a crazy experience).

After returning to Rio and making our way back to the hostel, we grabbed lunch at the Nectar restaurant and relaxed on Ipanema beach. Unfortunately in the late afternoon it was back to the airport to catch my flight home (and go back to the lab). My first flight was from Rio to Brasilia (GIG-BSB) on Gol (G3). The lady at the check-in counter wasn't sure what Los Angeles was, but she was nice enough and made some small talk (which I haven't seen in several years). At Brasilia I was stopped for extra security at the gate before I boarded the Delta 752-apparently they thought I may have been carrying suspicious goods.

I arrived in Atlanta's International Terminal the next morning (I also arrived and departed through the terminal on my way to Rio), though early enough that the shops hadn't opened. I'd have to say ATL's international terminal is one of my favorite terminals since it's relatively large and not very crowded. After breakfast, I lounged in the terminal until my 8:30am flight back to LAX and work.

I'd have to say going to Brazil was one of the most exciting adventures I've ever had and I'd really like to go back one of these days. With the World Cup coming to Brazil this year it would be an excellent time to return. Unfortunately I won't be going back then, but returning is always an option (especially with that 10-year visa). However I might have a trip report to another destination in the late summer, so keep your eyes open!


The overall journey

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any comments/questions or if you want any of these pictures at larger resolution