Our second all-day field trip was titled Swimming with the Dolphins. There are two kinds of native dolphins in the Amazon and Rio Negra rivers, the pink dolphin and gray dolphin. We’d glimpsed them a handful of times from the ship and riverboat on our first field trip.
Fortunately we found out in advance that it was a 2 1/2-3 hour (each way) jet boat ride to the “swimming hole.” The kids came prepared with a backpack full of things to keep them entertained and did really well. We cruised upriver (the opposite direction from our Amazon Explorer field trip) and it wasn’t as scenic of a route. We did cruise under the amazing R$ 1 billion dollar Rio Negra bridge, set to open sometime this year. This impressive 2.5 mile long bridge aims to spur development away from crowded Manaus and connect rural counties to the city. They hope it will encourage the higher socio-economic city dwellers to the river villages.
We finally arrived to our dolphin “sanctuary.” In reality it was a family’s private residence! There was an open-air living room of sorts where we hung around waiting to swim. It led to a deck right on the river. Our group waded in in two different shifts, first standing on the lower level deck where the dark water rose to about 3 feet. Two young Brazilian men jumped in and dangled herring just above the water’s surface to attract the dolphins. You had to be quick to pet the dolphins as they went for their bait! Their skin was surprisingly smooth, even slick, and their fins were muscular! After standing on the underwater deck we swam out farther with noodles to stay afloat. The inky Rio Negran made is hard to see them, but if you were lucky, one might nudge into you!Â
The Rio Negra is warm as bathwater and according to our guide, naturally clean enough to swim in that far upriver. In all, we “swam” with the dolphins for about 30 minutes. Most of us were disappointed that it didn’t last longer, but hey, we can say we have officially swam with the dolphins now! Pretty memorable.
Before we boarded the jet (relative term!) boat, our host graciously gave each of us a handmade bamboo necklace. These intricate ropey creations featured a rubber seed or fish scale shell as a pendant. Vivian was thrilled because she’s hoping to collect a necklace from each port.Â
We headed upriver for a short time to a river village for lunch. This village is home to Pousada Jacare, a jungle eco-resort (also a relative term) that was the recipient of Building Dreams, Brazil’s TV version of Extreme Makeover home edition. Just completed about 2 months ago, Pousada Jacare has been basking in its expansion and remodel. It’s modest by American standards with plain bunk rooms and toilets that barely flush. But it’s a gorgeous setting and the hospitable villagers had prepared a terrific buffet lunch for our group. The recording of the Building Dreams show played continuously throughout lunch on their new flat screen TV. Being selected for this transformation was obviously a huge source of pride for this village! One of the workers brought over a grasshopper to to give the kids a close up look. Again, no one spoke English, except for our guide. It’s surprising how we learned to communicate enough to get by using hand gestures, facial expressions, and a few Portuguese words.
William was feeling a little bit antsy at this point (he chose not swim with the dolphins and didn’t find the lunch to his liking; hey, he is only 6!) so Jason had the guide ask someone if they could borrow a soccer ball. This created quite the cultural opportunity! A few of the village boys naturally wanted to play their national sport. Soccer is huge in Brazil; I think I mentioned in my last post they’re hosting the World Cup in 2014. At Pousada Jacare, the full-size soccer field (complete with new bleachers) lies in the center of the village. William had a blast playing with them!
Our afternoon concluded with a demonstration of extracting rubber from a rubber tree. Today most of the world’s rubber is exported from Malaysia, but Brazil was king until about 100 years ago. The village chief showed cut a slice of bark from the tree, then collected a milky substance in a cup. He dropped a bit in our palm, instructing us to rub it between our fingers. Within seconds, the heat from our skin congealed it! The chief then demonstrated the ancient method of heating the rubber “milk” over a fire to transform it to rubber.
The same fantastically fluent guide led both our field trips. Luis speaks Spanish and Italian in addition to English and Portuguese! I asked him for a recommendation to an inexpensive, authentic restaurant where Jason and I could go out to dinner, preferably with an English menu. He sent us to Canto da Peixada, famous for their fish. Virginia (our dependent children’s work-study student from the U of O!) agreed to babysit the kiddos, so we took another insane taxi ride uptown to this place. Jason was convinced it was the same driver who drove us to Ponte Negra, and I had no reason to doubt him! As the taxi careened around buses and shot through intersections, I gripped my Med-Ex card, and thoughts flashed: I hope we see the kids again and I’m glad we upgraded our health insurance!
We encountered a few familiar S.A.S. faces at Canto sitting at the outdoor tables, and that was comforting. The menu wasn’t inEnglish and our server only spoke Portuguese. He found another worker (she couldn’t have been more than 16) to patiently answer our questions and translate. She didn’t know many words, but it all worked out as you can see from the photos below! I know, I know…you don’t have to tell me my next career may be as a food artist from the looks of that picture of my dinner!!!
Are you going to China?
Yes, Ceidric. We will go to Hong Kong and Shanghai at the end of this month!
Just realized that this month’s issue of Ranger Rick has an Amazon dolphin on the front cover 🙂 We’ll save the article for your return (titled A Different Dolphin) – Ethan and Sophia were excited to read it and know that William and Vivian had seen them in person!
That’s awesome! Thanks
I always look forward to reading about your amazing adventure …sounds like it will be quite the memerable experience for all of you. Love the pictures….keep them coming. I will continue to pray for your journey 🙂
Thank you, Heather!!!
Hi Guys,
We just got caught up on all your exciting adventures. We enjoy reading about all the interesting places you are visiting. Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Thanks, Rebecca! How are all of you doing?
Life is great! We might be lacking a little excitement when compared to your daily events, no recent alligator citings her in Sherwood. Jessica is busy with her new dairy position and college life, Makenzie is working on narrowing the college choices down we went to visit Gonzaga in Spokane last week, it was impressive and expensive so we will see how that package turns out. Courtney is working on a summer internship application at Meridian Park, she wants to explore the medical field, and Madison is singing and dancing to her hearts content. She is practicing for her upcoming Mulan performance which is scheduled on our birthday.
Have you thought of being a travel guide writer? Your posts are so much fun to read, thanks for taking us along!
Thanks, Rebecca. Glad to hear all is well with your family. I LOVE getting newsy updates. We miss family and friends so much and it’s really hard not being able to TALK to anyone back home! Oh yes, travel writing is my dream career. I’ve been dabbling in it a bit for a few years now, but have only published articles locally (I have monthly gigs with The News Register and the website Discover Yamhill Valley.) Although I did get an article published late last fall on a website called 52 Perfect Days. I hope to pursue this more in the future. Thanks for your encouragement!
Arrived home last night at midnight (after being “unplugged” for 10 days); up this morning at 7:00am and the first thing I do is make a cup of tea and settle in to get my Experiential Passage fix!!! So many adventures for you guys in the last couple weeks – from the nerve-wracking ones to the exhilarating ones! Thank you so much for keeping up the regular posts – I feel so connected with your trip and like I’m not missing out on any of the details! We, too, drank fresh coconut water from the source and it was amazing. Miss you bunches and can’t wait for the next story! xoxo
Miss you, Molly! I want to hear all about your trip and see pictures!
Awesome that William was able to connect in his own way with folks in the middle of the jungle – perfect. A day that you’ll all remember 🙂 and I’m so impressed that you two adventured out for dinner. So brave – and it obviously paid off. Bravo for your persistence!!!
What a memorable day! We never saw this part of Brazil so it’s fun to hear your experiences. Keep them coming. I forward your blog to Dave and the kids and we love to hear all about it! You never told us your cabin number–just wondering if it’s the same.
Thanks, Heidi! We are in cabin 4060 and the kids are in 4062. Our cabin steward is Joseph. We love Mezraim and Mardy in the dining room!
What an experience! I am impressed with how well the kids are doing their best to get the most out of this adventure. I am loving your stories. Thank you!
You’re welcome. And thanks for reading!
I am so impressed with your consistent posts! This sounds like a great day.
Thanks Katie! I am trying to keep up, plus I enjoy doing it.
Amazing! I can’t wait to show Pruette the pictures. I’ve always wanted to swim with Dolphins…
Thanks! It was pretty memorable!