By the afternoon of the first day we discovered a rat beetle the size of my fist on Deck 7! Bummer I couldn’t snap a photo….after that I began to carry my camera with me, on the look-out for all things buggy. Going on bug hunts with the kids proved to be good recess breaks from ship school. We made some awesome discoveries as you can see from the photos. Now I understood why the medical staff insisted we start our malaria meds so early!
There’s a variety of traffic (as you can see from the pictures) on the river, usually light. Every once in the while we’d glimpse some civilization on the shore. Unbelievably, the state of Amazonas is two times the size of Texas! The majority of its population resides in Manaus, our port stop.
On Day 2 I tried out my first power yoga class on the ship, led by a 20 year old human pretzel. I figured out quickly to modify the flow to suit my sedentary-ship-muscles. Looking up from warrior one (a standing yoga pose) and I finally noticed….The Sky. Heavy, silvery banks of clouds hovered high over the earth, protecting all of us from the scorching equatorial sun. In that moment, the sky meant everything. I became obsessed with the Amazonian sky, and still am. Shades of beryl, pearl, pewter, and gold shift as the day languishes by. Ahh…Lovely.
Fact: We sailed at 0- 0.02 degrees latitude our entire time on the Amazon, literally along the equator.
Fact: The Amazon has been remeasured using GPS and is now considered the longest river in the world.
Wow! I knew it was a giant river, but all I had to compare the Amazon to in my mind were the Columbia and Mississippi. Your photos are amazing.
Thanks, Michele!
Loving it Jen! Sounds like a good way to see the Amazon! And great geography and science lessons.
Yep, it’s real-life learning in a way we’ve never experienced!
My Social Studies classes are reading your blog today for our current event. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. We wish we were with you! Nathanael, Ana, and Oscar from your advisory say hello.
The ultimate bug hunt. Can’t wait to share this post with N.