An Amazon Adventure
May 3, 2014 | 4:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
An Amazon Adventure
A story from my pre-FT days...this is my first TR so let me know what you like/dislike!
A couple of years ago in 2012, while I was a poor undergrad (and now am a poor grad student), some of my friends asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Brazil. The initial premise was that one of my friends was going to an academic conference in Sao Paulo and wanted to extend the conference into a vacation. My other friends were able to take 3 weeks off while I only got to partake for about days. Since we were all students or recent graduates, our spending money wasn't too abundant and we tended not to do nice and fancy things
Sidenotes: If you do plan on going to the Amazon, don't forget to get the necessary vaccines and medications. I've never had a vaccine make my arm as sore as the one for yellow fever did. Also, I packed everything into my backpack for light travel and my camera was under everything, so there aren't pictures of everything (and no pictures of my friends for their privacy)
So without further ado:
Day 1: To Brasil!
I kayaked this round-trip and ended up with Delta LAX-ATL-GIG (Rio) (in economy of course). I was actually surprised that the second leg was at most 60% full-it almost felt like a 1-2-1 config on a 767-and I was able to get a second dinner. It's DL's Y food for long-haul, but food's still food.
Day 2: Arrival and Exploring
I landed early in the morning, before 9am. After clearing immigration I took the nibus to the Hostel Harmonia in Ipanema (note: just don't take it back to the airport, as there is no guarantee the bus will stop for you...). While waiting for my friends I watched Federer beating Djokovic at Wimbledon ^
Inside the hostel
After my friends arrived we went out for a quick lunch and headed out to Sugarloaf mountain via bus. In Rio you board the bus, buy the ticket from someone sitting next to the door, and pass through a turnstile before finding a seat. Sugarloaf is reachable via two cable cars, the first of which stops at a lower plateau. My friend had the idea that we could walk up to the first plateau and off we went.
A beach at the bottom of the hill
Sugarloaf
The way up
We got up to the first level around dusk, and at that point we decided that we had accomplished enough and that we weren't going to pay for the cable car ride to Sugarloaf (the alternative was rock climbing, which was out of the question), so we stuck around and took some pictures. During that time the sun had set and we couldn't seem to figure out how to buy a ticket to take the cable car back down, so we ended up walking back down without much light (oops). After we made our way back down we took the bus back to Ipanema, ate dinner, and had an early night.
View from the first hill
Christ The Redeemer
The cable car from the first hill to Sugarloaf
Day 3: Tijuca National Park
After a simple breakfast at the hostel we tool a taxi to Tijuca national park, which is west of Ipanema. We weren't too sure where we were going, so we had the taxi drop us off somewhere near an information area where we picked up maps and hopefully not get too lost. Essentially the entire day consisted of wandering around this national park and its hills and not getting too lost.
What most of the place looked like
Eventually we reached a clearing where we could see over the city
Rio!
Christ the Redeermer and radio towers
Eventually we made our way down from the park and hailed a taxi (this was relatively difficult since taxis don't normally go far into the park if at all).
Coatis we ran into on the search for a taxi
We returned to Ipanema in the late afternoon and spent some time at Ipanema beach. That day there was some kind of LGBT gathering and there was a lot of excitement-I'm not exactly sure what is was since my Portuguese was really terrible.
Beach!
After dinner we went to bed early since we had an early flight out of Rio the next morning.
Coming up...the Amazon (I promise!)
A couple of years ago in 2012, while I was a poor undergrad (and now am a poor grad student), some of my friends asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Brazil. The initial premise was that one of my friends was going to an academic conference in Sao Paulo and wanted to extend the conference into a vacation. My other friends were able to take 3 weeks off while I only got to partake for about days. Since we were all students or recent graduates, our spending money wasn't too abundant and we tended not to do nice and fancy things
Sidenotes: If you do plan on going to the Amazon, don't forget to get the necessary vaccines and medications. I've never had a vaccine make my arm as sore as the one for yellow fever did. Also, I packed everything into my backpack for light travel and my camera was under everything, so there aren't pictures of everything (and no pictures of my friends for their privacy)
So without further ado:
Day 1: To Brasil!
I kayaked this round-trip and ended up with Delta LAX-ATL-GIG (Rio) (in economy of course). I was actually surprised that the second leg was at most 60% full-it almost felt like a 1-2-1 config on a 767-and I was able to get a second dinner. It's DL's Y food for long-haul, but food's still food.
Day 2: Arrival and Exploring
I landed early in the morning, before 9am. After clearing immigration I took the nibus to the Hostel Harmonia in Ipanema (note: just don't take it back to the airport, as there is no guarantee the bus will stop for you...). While waiting for my friends I watched Federer beating Djokovic at Wimbledon ^
Inside the hostel
After my friends arrived we went out for a quick lunch and headed out to Sugarloaf mountain via bus. In Rio you board the bus, buy the ticket from someone sitting next to the door, and pass through a turnstile before finding a seat. Sugarloaf is reachable via two cable cars, the first of which stops at a lower plateau. My friend had the idea that we could walk up to the first plateau and off we went.
A beach at the bottom of the hill
Sugarloaf
The way up
We got up to the first level around dusk, and at that point we decided that we had accomplished enough and that we weren't going to pay for the cable car ride to Sugarloaf (the alternative was rock climbing, which was out of the question), so we stuck around and took some pictures. During that time the sun had set and we couldn't seem to figure out how to buy a ticket to take the cable car back down, so we ended up walking back down without much light (oops). After we made our way back down we took the bus back to Ipanema, ate dinner, and had an early night.
View from the first hill
Christ The Redeemer
The cable car from the first hill to Sugarloaf
Day 3: Tijuca National Park
After a simple breakfast at the hostel we tool a taxi to Tijuca national park, which is west of Ipanema. We weren't too sure where we were going, so we had the taxi drop us off somewhere near an information area where we picked up maps and hopefully not get too lost. Essentially the entire day consisted of wandering around this national park and its hills and not getting too lost.
What most of the place looked like
Eventually we reached a clearing where we could see over the city
Rio!
Christ the Redeermer and radio towers
Eventually we made our way down from the park and hailed a taxi (this was relatively difficult since taxis don't normally go far into the park if at all).
Coatis we ran into on the search for a taxi
We returned to Ipanema in the late afternoon and spent some time at Ipanema beach. That day there was some kind of LGBT gathering and there was a lot of excitement-I'm not exactly sure what is was since my Portuguese was really terrible.
Beach!
After dinner we went to bed early since we had an early flight out of Rio the next morning.
Coming up...the Amazon (I promise!)
Last edited by steveman518; May 5, 2014 at 12:28 am
May 3, 2014 | 5:40 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
To The Amazon!
Day 4: Short Detour
When this trip was being planned, we kayaked (cheapoair to be specific) the round-trip to the Amazon and ended up transferring in Sao Paulo (which coincidentally was where we left our friend for his conference).
Our first flight was an 8:15am departure SDU-CGH on TAM (this was before I thought much of airline programs and forgot to credit all the TAM flights to UA...). We ended up at the airport early enough for the check-in agents to change our tickets to the 7:15am flights, with no SDC fee(!). On this flight I tried Guarana (the soft drink) for the first time after hearing rave reviews about it, and I was pleasantly surprised. Guarana is a soda flavored with the guarana fruit. I describe it as being a slightly apple/berry/fruity version of ginger ale (which doesn't really do it much justice).
After leaving our friend at the airport under the rain, the remaining three of us traveled to Ibirapuera park, where we wandered around the attractions (and noted the large Japanese population). To pass the time before our flight (from the other airport in Sao Paulo) we wandered through the Afro-Brazilian museum and sat in on an planetarium show (in Portuguese, so we just took a nap instead).
An artifact from the museum
In the late afternoon we made our way to the outer edges of the park to take a taxi to Sao Paulo's other airport. Our taxi driver had the Fla-Flu game (basically the biggest football/soccer game between two Rio rivals) on a small TV in his taxi, which we (and probably he) watched during the ride.
Our flight from Sao Paulo to Manaus (again on TAM), the capital of the Amazonas priovince, (GRU-MAO), was scheduled for for an 11:05pm departure, arriving in Manaus at 2:30 the next morning. This wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact we weren't scheduled to get picked up from the airport until 6:30am
Day 5: Actually To The Amazon!
Note: This trip to the Amazon was one of those crazy things you see on TV-we didn't set off by ourselves and camp throughout the wilderness. We used a reputable agency and had regular meals and a bed to sleep on and some semblance of running water, so don't get it into your head that we're crazy wilderness survivalists
After wandering around Manaus and grabbing breakfast from a street vendor, we departed from the port of Manaus to the cabin run by the agency.
On a boat that schedules service for crossing the river
A typical house on the banks of the river
After another hour of driving and another hour on another boat, we reached our home base for the next few days in afternoon. The cabin is located on the Rio Juma, which is a tributary of the Amazon.
Inside the cabin-everything I brought was packed into that red backpack
Outside the cabin
There was a small building near the cabin that had toilets, showers, and sinks with running water, though I feel like the running water was probably just river water. Alternatively you could also wash up in the river (and do laundry too, as I only packed clothes for 4 days)
This is what being 3 hours away from the nearest city looks like
Late in the afternoon we set out for our (one and only) overnight trip into the Amazon. After landing in a relatively secluded area we set about collecting firewood to make our dinner of chicken. Since it was the winter season in Brazil, the sun set during dinner time. We set up cots and covered them with mosquito netting before sleeping pretty early (especially being out in the middle of nowhere since there wasn't really anything else to do after the sun set).
The beginnings of our firewood pile
Parts of a chicken
When this trip was being planned, we kayaked (cheapoair to be specific) the round-trip to the Amazon and ended up transferring in Sao Paulo (which coincidentally was where we left our friend for his conference).
Our first flight was an 8:15am departure SDU-CGH on TAM (this was before I thought much of airline programs and forgot to credit all the TAM flights to UA...). We ended up at the airport early enough for the check-in agents to change our tickets to the 7:15am flights, with no SDC fee(!). On this flight I tried Guarana (the soft drink) for the first time after hearing rave reviews about it, and I was pleasantly surprised. Guarana is a soda flavored with the guarana fruit. I describe it as being a slightly apple/berry/fruity version of ginger ale (which doesn't really do it much justice).
After leaving our friend at the airport under the rain, the remaining three of us traveled to Ibirapuera park, where we wandered around the attractions (and noted the large Japanese population). To pass the time before our flight (from the other airport in Sao Paulo) we wandered through the Afro-Brazilian museum and sat in on an planetarium show (in Portuguese, so we just took a nap instead).
An artifact from the museum
In the late afternoon we made our way to the outer edges of the park to take a taxi to Sao Paulo's other airport. Our taxi driver had the Fla-Flu game (basically the biggest football/soccer game between two Rio rivals) on a small TV in his taxi, which we (and probably he) watched during the ride.
Our flight from Sao Paulo to Manaus (again on TAM), the capital of the Amazonas priovince, (GRU-MAO), was scheduled for for an 11:05pm departure, arriving in Manaus at 2:30 the next morning. This wouldn't have been too bad except for the fact we weren't scheduled to get picked up from the airport until 6:30am
Day 5: Actually To The Amazon!
Note: This trip to the Amazon was one of those crazy things you see on TV-we didn't set off by ourselves and camp throughout the wilderness. We used a reputable agency and had regular meals and a bed to sleep on and some semblance of running water, so don't get it into your head that we're crazy wilderness survivalists
After wandering around Manaus and grabbing breakfast from a street vendor, we departed from the port of Manaus to the cabin run by the agency.
On a boat that schedules service for crossing the river
A typical house on the banks of the river
After another hour of driving and another hour on another boat, we reached our home base for the next few days in afternoon. The cabin is located on the Rio Juma, which is a tributary of the Amazon.
Inside the cabin-everything I brought was packed into that red backpack
Outside the cabin
There was a small building near the cabin that had toilets, showers, and sinks with running water, though I feel like the running water was probably just river water. Alternatively you could also wash up in the river (and do laundry too, as I only packed clothes for 4 days)
This is what being 3 hours away from the nearest city looks like
Late in the afternoon we set out for our (one and only) overnight trip into the Amazon. After landing in a relatively secluded area we set about collecting firewood to make our dinner of chicken. Since it was the winter season in Brazil, the sun set during dinner time. We set up cots and covered them with mosquito netting before sleeping pretty early (especially being out in the middle of nowhere since there wasn't really anything else to do after the sun set).
The beginnings of our firewood pile
Parts of a chicken
Last edited by steveman518; May 4, 2014 at 7:15 pm
May 3, 2014 | 6:07 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
Out On The River
Day 6: A Day On The River
We managed to wake up around 5:30am, right when the sun was rising. After striking camp, we headed back to the cabin for breakfast, which consisted of some breads, jam, fruits, and cold meats.
A fisherman beginning his day early
Our guide looking like a boss
View from the cabin
That morning we took out a canoe and paddled through the the dense brush along the river. We had to be careful in avoiding huge ants and hornets nests-they were attached to the trees and were the size of large backpacks.
We spent most of the morning navigating through stuff like this-note the hornets nest in the upper left (some of them were water-level too)
Unfortunately on the way back to the lodge we managed to capsize the canoe, though fortunately the area near the cabin is not a particularly dangerous area for being in the water. The bad news was that I lost my glasses (though I had brought a pair of contacts with me). Also, I brought my point-and-shoot camera with me on the canoe trip instead of my SLR, which meant my point-and-shoot was dead, but at least I didn't ruin the SLR.
After lunch we set out to go piranha fishing (sadly no pix-I wasn't bringing my SLR for water-only activities...). We settled in on a few calm areas where tree coverage was decent and set our lines (a line on the end of a stick with chicken as our bait). Piranha fishing requires a lot more patience than any other fishing I've done because of how the fish go for the bait. Instead of biting down on the bait and getting caught in the hook, piranhas swipe at the bait, making it more difficult for them to be caught. Thus, anytime you felt a slight tug, you'd have to jerk the line quickly and hope the hook would get caught in the piranha's mouth. This was more difficult than it sounded as between the three of us I was the only one to catch a piranha the entire afternoon (thought our guide caught six). Most of the time when the line was pulled there was no fish and the chicken was gone. Occasionally the hook would catch, but only briefly, sending the fish into the air only to land back in the water. I also managed to get my line caught in a tree (oops).
After fishing we had dinner (but not the piranha-yet) and set out to go caiman spotting (on the water again-no camera...). Caimans are the alligators of the amazon, and are easiest to spot at night, especially if you shine a flashlight into their eyes. Our guide easily picked several young caimans out of the water for us to hold (definitely not the adults-those are several meters).
Sunset after dinner-getting a clear picture at night was difficult due to the presence of bats-lots of them
---
To be continued later-time to go judge a high school science event
We managed to wake up around 5:30am, right when the sun was rising. After striking camp, we headed back to the cabin for breakfast, which consisted of some breads, jam, fruits, and cold meats.
A fisherman beginning his day early
Our guide looking like a boss
View from the cabin
That morning we took out a canoe and paddled through the the dense brush along the river. We had to be careful in avoiding huge ants and hornets nests-they were attached to the trees and were the size of large backpacks.
We spent most of the morning navigating through stuff like this-note the hornets nest in the upper left (some of them were water-level too)
Unfortunately on the way back to the lodge we managed to capsize the canoe, though fortunately the area near the cabin is not a particularly dangerous area for being in the water. The bad news was that I lost my glasses (though I had brought a pair of contacts with me). Also, I brought my point-and-shoot camera with me on the canoe trip instead of my SLR, which meant my point-and-shoot was dead, but at least I didn't ruin the SLR.
After lunch we set out to go piranha fishing (sadly no pix-I wasn't bringing my SLR for water-only activities...). We settled in on a few calm areas where tree coverage was decent and set our lines (a line on the end of a stick with chicken as our bait). Piranha fishing requires a lot more patience than any other fishing I've done because of how the fish go for the bait. Instead of biting down on the bait and getting caught in the hook, piranhas swipe at the bait, making it more difficult for them to be caught. Thus, anytime you felt a slight tug, you'd have to jerk the line quickly and hope the hook would get caught in the piranha's mouth. This was more difficult than it sounded as between the three of us I was the only one to catch a piranha the entire afternoon (thought our guide caught six). Most of the time when the line was pulled there was no fish and the chicken was gone. Occasionally the hook would catch, but only briefly, sending the fish into the air only to land back in the water. I also managed to get my line caught in a tree (oops).
After fishing we had dinner (but not the piranha-yet) and set out to go caiman spotting (on the water again-no camera...). Caimans are the alligators of the amazon, and are easiest to spot at night, especially if you shine a flashlight into their eyes. Our guide easily picked several young caimans out of the water for us to hold (definitely not the adults-those are several meters).
Sunset after dinner-getting a clear picture at night was difficult due to the presence of bats-lots of them
---
To be continued later-time to go judge a high school science event
Last edited by steveman518; May 4, 2014 at 7:15 pm
May 3, 2014 | 6:09 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
May 4, 2014 | 7:10 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
Day 7: Back On Land!
After the previous day's mis-adventures in the water we spent the next day mostly on land (and armed with the SLR). I awoke that morning to two birds chirping outside on the balcony shortly after sunrise.
Good morning!
After an early breakfast our day began with a trek through the jungle. Though before we entered, our guide showed us a method used by the locals to mask our scents and reduce the chance of being stung by hornets. You place your hand on one of those backpack-sized ant nests on a tree and let the ants crawl up on your arm before smushing them with your hands and spreading their guts all over. You'll be covered in ant guts but you'll smell like ants instead of smelling like humans (a little odd, I know, but let's say we didn't get stung that day).
Anthill/ant house
Armed with a machete, we cleared a small path through the forest throughout the morning. We didn't really get too far, mostly because of how dense the forest actually was. We were also able to find Brazil nuts that hadn't been scavenged by the local wildlife for a mid-morning snack.
Lots of green!
A look behind us-it's a little hard to see where we even came from
A fuzzy caterpillar that elected not to continue the journey with us
For those of you wondering, yes I did eat that piranha I caught the previous day. There were more than enough for all of us (thankfully because our guide caught so many), but of course my particular fish was saved for me.
Lunch!
My piranha was also one of the smaller ones, maybe about six inches long. I'm not exactly sure how I would describe the taste, but my best approximation is a meatier version of a pomfret or any other fish that's really flat.
After lunch we visited a local farm where some of our food was grown.
Look that that amazing fruit
Better than putting lipstick on a pig
In that area, most of the families are self-sufficient. Power is not always a guarantee as it tends not to be reliable, but some families do have generators that they use only after the sun sets. Also, since there aren't many water filtration systems, most families will either boil their water for a while or chemically treat it (or both in some cases). In addition to keeping animals, this particular farm had a very extensive pineapple crop.
A young pineapple plant-it's actually a pineapple growing on a stalk out of the ground
A cashew nut on a cashew apple-bet you didn't know how we got cashews!
A passionfruit flower that we picked and stuck on a boat
Unfortunately it was our last full day in the Amazon, so we celebrated with our guide in the evening. He lost a bet with one of us and had to drink a combination of wine and guarana powder. During the last couple of days our guide also made a fermented pineapple drink, which consisted of covering pineapple peels with water, covering the container with saran wrap, and exposing it to the sun for several days. The drink itself wasn't particularly strong, but it also had a mild pineapple flavor that led to a clean finish. (I've tried to make it a few times but it's been disastrous each time-maybe it's something I should leave to the professionals...)
Right before he consumes his drink
Apparently, according to locals, the joke is that if you consume too much of the guarana, it makes you horny. Now I'm not sure if it's more than a joke, but the dog at the cabin was more than willing to hump your leg.
After the previous day's mis-adventures in the water we spent the next day mostly on land (and armed with the SLR). I awoke that morning to two birds chirping outside on the balcony shortly after sunrise.
Good morning!
After an early breakfast our day began with a trek through the jungle. Though before we entered, our guide showed us a method used by the locals to mask our scents and reduce the chance of being stung by hornets. You place your hand on one of those backpack-sized ant nests on a tree and let the ants crawl up on your arm before smushing them with your hands and spreading their guts all over. You'll be covered in ant guts but you'll smell like ants instead of smelling like humans (a little odd, I know, but let's say we didn't get stung that day).
Anthill/ant house
Armed with a machete, we cleared a small path through the forest throughout the morning. We didn't really get too far, mostly because of how dense the forest actually was. We were also able to find Brazil nuts that hadn't been scavenged by the local wildlife for a mid-morning snack.
Lots of green!
A look behind us-it's a little hard to see where we even came from
A fuzzy caterpillar that elected not to continue the journey with us
For those of you wondering, yes I did eat that piranha I caught the previous day. There were more than enough for all of us (thankfully because our guide caught so many), but of course my particular fish was saved for me.
Lunch!
My piranha was also one of the smaller ones, maybe about six inches long. I'm not exactly sure how I would describe the taste, but my best approximation is a meatier version of a pomfret or any other fish that's really flat.
After lunch we visited a local farm where some of our food was grown.
Look that that amazing fruit
Better than putting lipstick on a pig
In that area, most of the families are self-sufficient. Power is not always a guarantee as it tends not to be reliable, but some families do have generators that they use only after the sun sets. Also, since there aren't many water filtration systems, most families will either boil their water for a while or chemically treat it (or both in some cases). In addition to keeping animals, this particular farm had a very extensive pineapple crop.
A young pineapple plant-it's actually a pineapple growing on a stalk out of the ground
A cashew nut on a cashew apple-bet you didn't know how we got cashews!
A passionfruit flower that we picked and stuck on a boat
Unfortunately it was our last full day in the Amazon, so we celebrated with our guide in the evening. He lost a bet with one of us and had to drink a combination of wine and guarana powder. During the last couple of days our guide also made a fermented pineapple drink, which consisted of covering pineapple peels with water, covering the container with saran wrap, and exposing it to the sun for several days. The drink itself wasn't particularly strong, but it also had a mild pineapple flavor that led to a clean finish. (I've tried to make it a few times but it's been disastrous each time-maybe it's something I should leave to the professionals...)
Right before he consumes his drink
Apparently, according to locals, the joke is that if you consume too much of the guarana, it makes you horny. Now I'm not sure if it's more than a joke, but the dog at the cabin was more than willing to hump your leg.
May 4, 2014 | 7:50 pm
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
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
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
Last edited by steveman518; May 5, 2014 at 12:28 am
May 4, 2014 | 7:53 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
Thanks!
Thanks for reading!
Just posted the piranha lunch! Enjoy!
May 5, 2014 | 11:59 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
Did you have vaccinations?
My mother went to the Amazon in 1978. She got terribly sick with spots in her throat.
No one knew what she had. Finally they called a Doctor in Brazil who prescribed the correct medication.
I caught Hepatitis there. I think it was a fruit juice I bought in Rio on the street.
I loved Guarana. I completely forgot about it.
My mother went to the Amazon in 1978. She got terribly sick with spots in her throat.
No one knew what she had. Finally they called a Doctor in Brazil who prescribed the correct medication.
I caught Hepatitis there. I think it was a fruit juice I bought in Rio on the street.
I loved Guarana. I completely forgot about it.
May 6, 2014 | 1:01 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: EWR
Posts: 2,167
Did you have vaccinations?
My mother went to the Amazon in 1978. She got terribly sick with spots in her throat.
No one knew what she had. Finally they called a Doctor in Brazil who prescribed the correct medication.
I caught Hepatitis there. I think it was a fruit juice I bought in Rio on the street.
I loved Guarana. I completely forgot about it.
My mother went to the Amazon in 1978. She got terribly sick with spots in her throat.
No one knew what she had. Finally they called a Doctor in Brazil who prescribed the correct medication.
I caught Hepatitis there. I think it was a fruit juice I bought in Rio on the street.
I loved Guarana. I completely forgot about it.
Unfortunately guarana isn't easy to come by in the states and when it is available it is definitely quite pricey...