Obrigada, Brazil!

Obrigada (thank you) is the one Portuguese word I used consistently (and pronounced correctly) throughout our 5 day stay in Manaus, Brazil. I’d like to thank Brazil for educating me and stretching my mind and heart in a way that a new destination hasn’t for a long time!

On our third morning Jason and I decided to walk the kids to a park we’d seen on an early morning run. About 30 minutes away on foot, the route goes by the Manaus market, a busy flurry of commerce wedged between downtown and the Rio Negra river.  Noisy trucks haul in the catches of the day and unload their freight directly at the undercover market, as well as fruit and other produce. The fish market itself is in a separate garage-type structure. Talk about a barrage on the olfactory senses: pungent fish, garbage, fuel, heat (yes, heat has a scent in Manaus), and the occasional whiff of sweet pineapple! I wanted to take more photos and explore the market but the aromas were too overpowering.  We witnessed a lot of poverty on this walk, from homeless people resting on the sidewalk, to families living in dilapidated (maybe abandoned?) boats down below on the shore. Across a littered ravine loomed a favela, the type of ghetto we warned to steer clear of.

The park is a strange modern oasis smack in the middle of the crumbling downtown core. We heard it was once a destitute apartment building that the government razed to develop this manicured setting. We strolled through precise landscaping, paved paths, and garden art, until we found what we were seeking: play equipment!  The only other people we saw were several uniformed park rangers, including one who informed me in Portuguese I wasn’t allowed to climb on the play equipment since I was an adult! Another S.A.S. family showed up later so the kids were happy to have a playmate.

That afternoon was our last field trip, a Brazilian dance fusion workshop. We spent 2 1/2 hours at the Ritmo Quento Dance Academy learning dances like the Lambada and Samba The upbeat music and capable instructors immersed us in the rhythms for a fun and energizing afternoon! (My calves were sore for two days!) We learned how dance is such an integral part of Brazilian culture; people begin dancing when they are toddlers and love to dance whenever and wherever as an expression of their joy. Brazilians love life! In fact, I later heard from some college students who stumbled into a samba street dance (perhaps a “rehearsal” of sorts for carnivale?) and the dancers folded them into the dance all night like they were long-lost friends!Our final day in Manaus was a short one since our on-ship time was 3:00. On-board ship time is always two hours before we sail and oftentimes there’s a line to get back on, due to the ship’s security searching bags, etc. Our plan was to take a taxi to Bosque da Ciencia, which translates to the Forest of Science. Our taxi driver kindly offered to stay there and return us to the port when we were done (must have been a slow morning!) Again, it was surprising how much you can communicate with a language barrier!

The Forest of Science was essentially a small scale zoo in a wooded setting. The main animals featured were lots of turtles, eels, manatees, and alligators. There was a large, unenclosed pond where we tentatively searched for the alligators, only to see more enormous turtles and a baby caiman on the shore.   The Forest of Science typified much of what we observed in downtown Manaus: most exhibits were shabby with faded signs and old structures. In general, not a lot of maintenance. It didn’t matter – the place was shady and quiet and we had a blast looking at the exotic animals, especially the alligators. We found them tucked away in an unmarked corner, lounging safely behind tall chain-link fences. Their “pens” weren’t super big, so we enjoyed close up views of these giant reptiles.

We had a few minutes to kill before it was time to meet the taxi driver. And we wanted to spend the remainder of our Real $ (ree-al) currency. The kids easily found a couple of souvenirs in the dinky gift shop! William chose a painted, wooden riverboat, and Vivian chose a berry-red beaded necklace; both were handmade. They are posing with their mementos in front of the manatees.

We were all basking in the smoothness of the pleasant morning. By the 5th day, the edgy newness of the city had worn off and this was a great way to end our stay. Then things took a turn, as they often do in this life! As the taxi driver pulled up to the port terminal, Vivian realized she didn’t have her camera. Her Brand-New, Christmas-Present, Favorite-Toy-Ever Digital Camera.

We quickly made a plan: 1. Withdraw more currency. 2. Vivian and Jason took a new taxi back to the Forest of Science. 3. William and I headed back to the ship for lunch. 4. Sent prayers to St. Anthony, the saint from my Catholic upbringing who often helps us find lost objects. I was confident they would make it back before 3:00.

Almost 2 hours later Vivian and Jason delivered the dejection. No camera. Not surprising given the situation and the fact that petty crime is sky-high in Manaus. It was a depressing note to end on and a hard lesson for her to learn. But we all were safe, healthy, and together.

This visit to Brazil confirmed what I’d learned in books about the disparity between the rich and poor. Most of Manaus’s 1.7 million population we’d consider the working poor. There’s a very small middle class in Brazil (it’s even more pronounced in the north due to factors like education and health care) and the richest 10% control 60% of the wealth. Brazil has a 25% tax rate, but the government is fiscally corrupt.

Through my own American lens I found myself humbled throughout this experience. Not knowing Portuguese and confounded that so few Brazilians speak English reminded me of my limited experiences. Navigating the sweltering, dirty, crowded, city of Manaus made me thankful for my hometown in the cool and sparkling Pacific Northwest. The vastness of Amazonas and its rivers, the untamed beauty of the jungle, the simplicity of the villages….all of these were awe-inspiring.

What a wide world we inhabit. The magnitude  of this voyage reveals itself layer by layer through each port.

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Swimming with the Dolphins

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! 

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. 

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!!!

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Getting to know Manaus

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Our second day in Brazil was wide open. Independent travel can be intimidating and exhilarating, often in the same moment. Add kids to the mix and the measure of unpredictability gets multiplied! To prepare for this day, I’d done a bit of research using a Brazil guidebook (the ship’s library allows you to check out these books for 2 hours at a time), perused a cartoonish map acquired at the terminal where our ship was docked, and listened in on a few Portuguese lessons courtesy of a professor on board. I’d also attended the Explorer Seminar presented by a Manaus university student and the preport lecture facilitated by the deans. Needless to say…I felt unprepared. Within minutes of leaving the ship the oppressive damp heat and the sounds of traffic and Portuguese (the only people who speak English are tour guides) swirling around us had me sweating bullets.

It’d been my idea to spend the day at Praiha da Ponte Negra, as described in the literature: “This neighborhood is located 13 km from downtown, with the river coastline completely urbanized with sport sand courts, biking lane, playground, medical post, and a wide promenade of shops, restaurants, and snack bars.”

I smile as I type this; it sounds like some beach in Southern California from my college days. But at the time I was convinced  it had all the makings for a day of family fun. I circled it on the map and showed  it to the taxi driver. He nodded Sing (yes) and after a 25 minute whiteknuckle ride (no seatbelts) we tumbled out of the cab at Ponte Negra. The sun seared down and within seconds both Jason and I couldn’t ignore the strange vibe of emptiness. It was ghostily dead. Sure, there were outdoor cafes, but they were closed up tight, plastic chairs leaned into grimy tables. Yes, there were sport courts, but with ripped nets and rusted out goals. There was a beach…down a steep hillside via a 20 foot rickety ladder. A few scattered umbrellas dotted the dirty sand. We combed both directions to make sure we weren’t missing anything, noticing no buses or taxis happened to be driving by. The photo is taken by the one open restaurant that seemed too sketchy to even buy a soda from.

The kids were practically melting within 20 minutes. We managed to find shady relief at some faded play equipment. Across the 4 lane boulevard a few attractive high rise apartments comforted us that we had landed in a decent section of town. Everything was eerily quiet compared to the crazy hustle-bustle of downtown. A bit of anxiousness was creeping in but I was determined to stay calm. Miraculously, as soon as we said out loud to the kids it was time to go back to the ship, a taxi drove up! It was an unmetered taxi ride, mind you, but at that point I had to look at it as an expensive city tour and that we did our part to support the local economy!

We came to find out later that Ponte Negra is under “reconstruction” and will be “reopened” next year. Travel lesson learned: don’t simply rely on the guidebook and tour maps. Ask questions and get personal recommendations when possible!

After lunch, back on the air conditioned MV Explorer, we regrouped and tackled the city center on foot. The kids were troupers! Downtown Manaus is filthy, loud, and crowded. Trash clutters the streets and and the river near the port and shore. The buildings and roads are old and not maintained. Street vendors clog every sidewalk, as you can see from the dingy orange and red umbrellas. It’s a wonder how the stores get any business with their entrances practically blocked. Capitalism seemed to be alive and well in Manaus; if vendors don’t have an umbrella, they simply lay out their wares on the sidewalk. As you can imagine, there was lots to see but it was difficult to meander and cross the streets.

We made our way to the Opera House, about 8 blocks from the port. This architectural beauty is the crown jewel of Manaus, built with imported materials from England, France, and Italy in the late 1800’s. It’s an active venue that hosts concerts and cultural events every week. We cooled off and enjoyed an informative and private tour with our English speaking  guide. Manaus residents are extremely proud of the Opera House. Every taxi driver pointed it out and even the surrounding grounds seemed to be sacred. It’s a curious respite from the downtown intensity just a block away.

After the Opera House we hunted down Police Square (supposedly an interesting family attraction) only to find it fenced off – under reconstruction. Of course. We did hear throughout the week how Manaus is working to get spruced up for 2014, when Brazil is slated to host the World Cup. Even though we struck out a second time, we stumbled onto Care Four, a 2 story grocery store. We decided to stock up our mini fridge with drinks and snacks so we don’t run up our shipboard account. I actually love the cultural experience of grocery shopping in foreign countries! Care Four’s checkout process made Winco’s lines seem minute. There is only one line that’s so long it snakes through the narrow store, then feeds you into one of the check-out lines as one opens up. We had to pay close attention, as it wasn’t clear to see when one became available.

After the sweltering trek back to port, our backpacks loaded down with provisions, we were grateful for our tiny shower, ice-cold cabin, and dinner service! What a day.

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The Real Jungle Cruise

(For some reason, the slide show is at the end of my post today. And I warn you, it’s a long one!)

Our first full day in Brazil found us on the water yet again, but this time in an authentic way. We cruised on a double decker riverboat (see photo) up the Rio Negra. These riverboats are common all over Manaus for tours and according to our guide, most of them are owned by families who contract with tour companies to drive tour groups. I noticed that the bottom level looked a bit homey with hammocks and a small kitchen when we climbed on. Later on Vivian and I were poking around and realized that an  entire family was hanging out on the bottom level. The driver (who I assume was dad) graciously allowed me to photograph him and his children.

Back to the river trip. At the beginning we passed floating gas stations, stilt houses, and other ramshackle homes cobbled together on the cliffside of Manaus. The run-down neighborhoods are called favelas, otherwise known as ghettos. Crime is extremely common and some of the favelas are so dangerous, even the police won’t go in them! After about an hour up the Rio Negra, we came to the “Meeting of the Waters.” This is a curious encounter where the Rio Negra and Amazon meet, but don’t immediately blend. As you can see from the photos the dark cola-brown Rio Negra contrasts with the coffee-and-cream Amazon. The Rio Negra, aka the black river, is warmer (about 72 degrees) and denser, thanks to an abundance of sediment and pollution. Eventually it mixes into the Amazon after about 10 km and takes on the lighter, mud-brown color.

From there we headed into a marshy tributary which carried us past remote floating villages. These basic homes are designed to rise with the water level during the rainy season. It was a strange paradox to peek into the lives of these rural Amazonians who don’t seem to be  phased by tourists cruising practically through their “front yards.”  I asked our guide if they considered it invasive and he said no. The tourism is their big economic livelihood. Being a teacher, I naturally inquired if the kids go to school. They do have village schools, but oftentimes kids have long canoe rides, up to 3 hours one way. Our guide noted that having access to a motorized canoe is a real necessity for the villagers.

By almost 1:00 we were getting hungry. I was pretty certain the 7 hour trip included lunch but I hadn’t seen any box lunches from the ship loaded onto the riverboat. Soon enough we docked at a “restaurant” far from civilization except for about three floating houses. Our guide mentioned this village had gotten electricity just 2 years ago. The restaurant resembled a spacious covered picnic shelter with several long tables. As my senses were piqued, I remembered the cautionary advice during the preport lecture on the ship about where and what to eat. I looked at the fresh cut pineapple and watermelon, smelled some fabulously tempting dish…and grabbed a plate without hesitation.  We feasted on beans, rice, chicken, fish, salads; there was at least 2 choices of each on a mile long buffet. The meal was absolute YUM from first bite to last. And, all of our digestive systems stayed happy the whole day!

After lunch we hopped on motorized canoes for more exploring. Each of the two stops included a short hike. The highlight of the day was seeing a baby cayman (yup, you guessed right from the photo – a cayman is similar to a crocodile!) AND a monkey in the wild. Talk about thrilling! The monkey was scampering waaayyy up in the branches so I couldn’t nab a photo. Luckily we spied it through the leaves a few times. The rotund mud-like blob on the tree is a termite nest, which we saw several of. And aren’t those giant lily pads fascinating? The pink and red water lilies (hard to see in the photo) bloom only at night and close up tight in the sun.

Other notables of the day were seeing the tallest tree in the jungle (the Samana tree), drinking fresh coconut water from the source, and fishing for piranha with bamboo poles (we didn’t catch one, but a couple people in our group did.)

What an unforgettable day. The kids loved it, too! As we were waiting (and waiting) to climb onto the canoes, William commented that it was like waiting for a ride at Disneyland. He’s used this comparison more than once since we left, but always emphasizes we’re don’t get to go on a fun ride at the end of our wait (his way of complaining about the wait!) At this moment he was full of anticipation and we made the connection to the Jungle Cruise at D-land, which was one of his favorites. He decided that our Amazon Explorer day was like a real jungle cruise!

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The Almighty Amazon

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As I clicked through three days of photos from cruising up the Amazon River, it occured to me this was a story meant to be shared. At first I was so relieved to not be seasick since we were leisurely sailing in calm waters. I didn’t pay much attention except to notice the muddy brown waters that rolled out as far as the eye could see. 

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.

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