Day 6 – Jungle Othon Palace

Another early rise today marked the last day we stayed at the Jungle Othon Palace. Another play-it-safe breakfast was eaten by me, in preparation of going on my jungle walk. I went with a group of French and Italians, none of which tried in the slightest to communicate with me or my father while we were there (save Max and Nancy, and a German woman who said hi to me). I felt a contempt from them aimed at me, but paid little attention to it, as it made me realize that I love the United States.

Anyway, on the jungle walk there weren’t many animals to spot, as I had stated before most of them stay out until the night. The trees and shrubs are amazingly dense, as the bark is covered in what looks like painted camouflage and the trees reach high into the sky. Not a heavily worn path, the walk through the jungle was anywhere from a ½ mile to a mile, and I got to see some great things up close.

One thing Moreno found (it was just him and I, since no others in the group had the best guide for the jungle) was a sort of bamboo looking tree. We walked through some dense forest to try and find it, and he used his machete to cut through vines and overgrown things that were blocking our “path” (which didn’t exist). Along the way he told me to watch for “razor grass” and showed me what it does. As I was walking along, I happened to brush my arm past a couple blades of this grass, which could be called blades in a literal sense.

The blades stick to your skin, so I did what anyone does: drag your arm away from it, trying to free your arm from it. Not only does your arm get free, but the grass slices your arm as you do so, leaving you with nice reminders of what it’s capable of. It’s wild stuff and I’ve never seen anything like it. Throughout the walk I had a couple blades stick to my clothes but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I still have healing scabs, and as of this writing I took the tour 6 days ago.

Back to the bamboo looking tree. Moreno looks at it and asks me if I know what it is. Yeah, I say. Okay I lied, because obviously I had no clue what it was. He began to shake it back and forth, which revealed long, thin leaves that had been compressed into it. He explained that such leaves can be woven for baskets or hats or things of the sort. Amazing.

Along the walk we encountered a huge tree, which had flying buttresses for support instead of the typical root systems underground. In one of my videos you can see me “look up” with the camera, as it’s absolutely huge. These trees, if a person is lost, can be used for communication by whacking one of the buttresses with a large stick, which can resonate for longer distances than anyone could hear someone yelling for help. Also we encountered trees which had different types of sap, used for different things. A white sap could be used for ointment or as aspirin. A black sap can be used for firewood, even when wet, and is used for incense as well. A tree with a red type of sap and bark can be scraped and has sticky properties, which can be used as a type of resin or sealant. The place is amazing if you know where to look for what you need.

We encountered a bug (98% dead according to Moreno) that was huge. Imagine a beetle that is about 4 inches long and about 3 inches tall. It doesn’t sound like much, but I wouldn’t want one of those 98% alive and near me. Also I saw an ant colony which was 2 ½ to 3 feet long, hanging on vine or root of some sort.

The light differences between areas of heavy forest and light forest were like night and day. As we approached an area that was logged many years before, there was a curtain of darkness for our area of woods, and looked as if you were looking through a TV to a different world. The logged area exposed the white sand underneath, and I asked Moreno how many years it would take for that part to grow back. He looked at me and said “It will never grow back. What’s done is done, no other plants can survive here the way they used to.” Pretty sobering, in a sense.

The walk concluded with a boat ride back to the hotel, and we entered through a canal (as seen in another video clip) and where Max and Nancy had swum through the previous night. Again, not a place I’d want to explore at all.

Right before lunch a tropical rainstorm came through. With lightning bolts close to our hotel, and pounding rain for about 20 minutes, it was a sight to see. The water running off the roof and into the river, and the droplets formed from the downward rainfall was intense and high powered. It was great to see a tropical rainstorm, and it was the only one we encountered.

In the afternoon we went Piranha fishing. Max had a couple good bites but no snags, I had a few bites but no snags, and my father had the same as I. Nancy sat this trip out, as she was still a bit shaken from the previous night. In total, 4 Piranha’s were caught by Moreno, and 2 Sardines by Francisco, our boat driver. It’s like the 15th time I’ve been fishing, and I still have never caught a fish. It makes me never want to fish.

This evening marked our last at the Jungle Palace, and it was the night my father and I went on our jungle night tour. Well, by boat. Fortunately our boat was made from metal and had a motor, so rest assured we wouldn’t have the same situation that Max and Nancy had to face. Moreno moved the high powered light with great precision, and told us how to spot the animals: by their eyes. For reptiles, they had red eye reflections. Blue meant things like deer and jaguars, and I forget what green was. Anyway, he spotted something in a tree, and I could see it, halfway to the sky, with its reflective eyes. Francisco rammed the boat into the bank, causing it to hold its position, while Moreno jumped out (in sandals) and went through the jungle to find this snake. He finally got it on the ground and was bringing it back (while my dad almost jumped in the water, his fear was so high of that snake). Halfway to the boat he stepped on some thorns and fell backwards onto the ground, all the while making sure he didn’t lose his grip on the snake.

It was an Amazon Tree Boa, and he told us it was not poisonous. I touched it and Moreno proceeded to lock it up in a compartment on the boat, to take back to the hotel and show Max and Nancy. We then continued on our way, and spotted some Caymans by their eyes, but most were gone before we could get close. We spotted a tree frog or two, and a poisonous toad. There was a point where we spotted a couple of animals, and were unsure what they were, until it was determined that they were deer. We saw 2 of those, but not too clearly. Along the way we stopped the motor and listened to the night sounds and took it all in. It was pitch black and amazingly removed from everything, even though our hotel was only ½ a mile away or so.

After this we went Cayman hunting. Sans hunting. We finally found a baby one, 2 years old and about 18 inches long. Moreno grabbed it (again, Steve Irwin’s relative?) and told us a little bit about it. I had my picture taken with it and he brought it back so that Nancy and Max could have a good look as well.

After our return, we called it a night and realized that the night tour was by far one of the coolest things ever, as Moreno knew what he was doing and I am convinced he’s one of the few people I’ve met who genuinely has a deep passion for what he does. The world needs more people like him.

Day 7 – Jungle Othon Palace to Manaus

This morning marked our last at the Jungle Palace and we took the boat back to Manaus. It was good to see a familiar sight as we got off the boat and took our stuff into the hotel. Then we went as a group of about to downtown Manaus, so that we could catch a boat out to the meeting of the waters. This is where the Rio Negro and the Rio Salimoes (?) meet but do not mix. It technically does not form the Amazon River, as then it would only be about 1,000 miles long, when in actuality it is over 4,000 miles long. The waters don’t mix for 3 reasons: temperature differences, speed differences, and ionic compositions. It was cool to see, as one is brown and one is black and they run side by side. We even caught a few dolphins in the brown river (Salimoes) that were dark, so the contrast was great.

As the clouds gathered though and the sun went away, you couldn’t tell so easily which river was which, as they both had different surface textures but no color difference. Amazing what a difference the sun makes.

After this excursion my father, Moreno and I went to a very nice restaurant near downtown and had a very nice lunch. After this, we were dropped off at our hotel, and said goodbye to Moreno. For the afternoon we hit the beach once more, but the bees annoyed me and drove me away. We hung around and did some last minute shopping and packing, anticipating the flight home the next day. We made it an early night and I had spaghetti from the restaurant once more.

Day 8 – Manaus to Miami

The day was spent mostly at the airport and we left Manaus around 1 p.m. and got to Miami at about 6. On the plane ride, we flew over the northern part of South America, which I snapped a picture of. Eventually we flew over Cuba and I got a chance to look down to there too. We checked into the airport hotel once more, and Burger King never sounded so good. It was great to hear English from the customs agent, as Moreno and Prakash spoke it, but apart from that we didn’t run into one native English speaking person (as a first language) on the whole trip. It was far removed from everywhere else I’ve been, where at least you can converse with others, but it was only my father and I, and our guides at times. Even the heat in Miami was tolerable compared to our previous location. Thankfully we had rooms to ourselves (more for his sake than mine), and it had a nice king sized bed and I watched “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and ate my greasy American food. It rocked.

Day 9 – Miami to Denver

The next morning was early as we checked into United at 5 a.m., and we were in Chicago’s airport several hours later. We arrived in Denver around 11:30 a.m. and it felt great to be home, knowing that the day before I had the opportunity to be in a place that few people get the chance to visit. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity, and it’s surreal to think that I was down there so recently.

You can access the videos I've assembled for Peru and Bolivia (via YouTube) at the following link:


http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1E045A63D8ACEC1B


If it doesn't work, as always - let me know.


Brazil posts (from 9/06) to follow in the next couple of days.