Exploring the Amazon Rainforest

We spent 5 days out in the Amazon Rainforest and had an amazing time. The plane from Fernando arrived in Manaus at 11:30 pm and by 7 am the next morning we were on a bus to the mouth of the Urubu river. From there we took a boat up to Amazon Antonio's jungle lodge. It's located right on the water edge and is used as a staging ground for many adventures.

Upon arrival, our guide Francisco asked us if we wanted to leave immediately for a 3 day backpacking trip in the jungle. Of course! So we packed up and headed out to the sweaty jungle. We stopped by a local farm and set off into the woods. 

We went on the hike with a lovely French brother sister duo: Fabien and Capucine. He was kind enough to send us the photos (since our camera suffered an untimely demise). The trail itself was not very well-traveled and Francisco was constantly helping clear the way with his trusty machete. As we made our way through the brush, Francisco would stop to show us cool things around the forest. A tarantula, drinkable water from a vine, medicinal trees, and various types of ants.

After about 3 hours of hiking we arrived at our campsite: A very small clearing with a fire pit and a place to sling our hammocks for the night. We started roasting chicken along with rice and potatoes over the fire. It was truly a delicious meal! I think the smoke of the various woods used in the fire really lent a good flavor to the chicken. 

The next day was spent exploring the jungle more, searching for elusive animals. It's quite hard to see animals as they're either high up in the trees or hidden by the foliage. Nevertheless Francisco was able to get us close to Spider Monkeys and Red Macaws.

We also had fun exploring more on the forest floor. Long twisting vines hung from the canopy, so we had fun climbing up them. We also found a frog that was laying very still on a leaf, almost all of us had walked by the frog before Capucine spotted it!

Next morning we hiked out and took a boat back to the lodge and set off for another excursion: dolphin spotting and piranha fishing. I'll break from the normal chronological narrative here and just go through some of the highlights:

Piranha fishing was more fun that I thought it would be, since they nibbled away at the bait almost as quickly as you could throw a line in. Through a combination of perseverance, timing, and luck Rash and I were able to catch a few which made a tasty soup!

Caiman spotting in the evening was an experience out of a Crocodile Dundee episode. As night fell we boated out to a shallow swamp area. Francisco looked around with his light and then jumped out of the boat and into the water. He sloshed away, then plunged his hand into the water. A few thrashing moments later and he comes up with a caiman in his hand! The ones in the area tend to be smaller but it was still very exciting to see it up close.

We spent an early morning paddling along the calm river and tracking dolphins. The Pink river dolphins tend to be shyer than ocean dolphins and were constantly moving about. Every so often they would breach and we'd catch a glimpse of fin or belly. Although we didn't get a full view, it was a very atmospheric experience to be out there in the morning with them.

Francisco helped us make some local items as souvenirs. A set of Jacaranda spoons was first carved with his machete from a downed log. we spent time sanding it down and oiling it and I think it will be a piece of kitchen-ware that we'll use for a long time. I also had a chance to make a miniature blowpipe and darts out of the local plants. It was amazing to see the many uses of plants as tools in the whole process.

Finally, perhaps our most memorable portion of our time out in the Amazon was simply our hike behind the grounds the morning we were to leave. The first excitement was a rustling in the leaves that sounded like a sharp vibration. We had just enough time to see the shaking end of a snake tail before a pit viper dashed away into the forest. Later on, as we walked back, we heard a loud crashing in the bushes nearby. The three of us froze as we saw 2 tapirs, a mother and child, were only 15m away from us. It was hard to see them, but they continued trampling through the brush directly at us! The pair stopped about 5m away (close enough to these LARGE creatures) before sniffing the air and promptly turning away. It was slightly scary as they are very big animals, but it was a very rare sighting. Francisco even mentioned that it was the closest he had gotten to Tapirs in his 15 years of guiding! We were very lucky indeed!

Fernando de Noronha: Paradise!

After some mishaps with flight bookings, we finally made it: Fernando de Noronha. We had read a lot about this island off the coast of Brazil and were very excited. This tiny island (7.1 sq. miles) is a marine sanctuary, with very little development and a limited number of tourists that arrive each day. It boasts Brazil's most beautiful beaches (in a country with many beautiful beaches), and an abundance of marine wildlife: wild dolphins, turtles and sharks swim about the many coves.

Our first view of the island: The 2 brothers formation

It's difficult to condense everything we did and saw, but I'll throw a lot of pictures in and add some commentary. We stayed with a sailor on the island named George, who had an extra room in his cabin. He was very friendly and gave us a lot of tips on how to get around the island and what to see. We also cooked some delicious meals while we stayed there (restaurants were super expensive).

Our bedroom in the cabin

Cooking breakfast in the kitchen

Upon arrival, we rushed out to the top of an old fort to catch the sunset.

We swam around the port the next morning and could see and hear dolphins playing in the water in the distance. Our clicking noises in the water were of no interest to the dolphins though and they never came any closer.

Later that day, we wandered along the many beaches of the island. The beaches are blissfully clean and quiet as they do not allow development near the beaches. No hawkers, no stands selling things, no high-rise hotels, just soft sand, clear water, and very few people! It would be uncommon to see more than 4 people on the same beach at any time!

Does this shot look familiar?

The next day we took a boat ride around the island to see some of the areas that are not easily accessible on foot. I actually didn't know what to expect from the ride, as the whole tour was in Portugese, but the people were friendly and patient with us. Dolphins swam up very close to the bow of the boat and played around nearby.

The next picture bears some explanation. At one end of the island, the guide stopped the boat and pointed up at the top of the rocks and explained something in Portugese. In unison, everyone went "ohhh" and I figured he was pointing out a formation that was named something. I told Rash it must be the "Panda using the vending machine"

Panda using the vending machine

An unexpected surprise ending to the boat trip was the 'passeio.' Essentially you take a kickboard, string it along to the back of a boat and get dragged along with a snorkel mask. It's like snorkeling on speed. This in itself is kind of cool, but the REAL neat part was being able to dive with the board. When I discovered I could dive with it, it felt like flying, or what a dolphin must feel like in the water. I couldn't get enough of diving up and down rhythmically and watching rays, turtles, and sharks go by underneath. Definitely a highlight!

Looks touristy, and it is. Still a lot of fun!

We snorkeled at various spots around the island. Praia Atalaia had very good visibility in a tidal pool. We saw a nice eel and an octopus in that pool. 

Praia Atalaia

Some other very nice snorkeling was at Praia Sueste. It's a controlled area because many turtles gather there, but we were able to explore it a little and saw many turtles of different sizes. The largest one was the most calm, just slowly watching us from on a few feet away. We got to observe the turtle going up for air and browse through the rocks for food. While in Sueste we also saw small sharks that swam away very quickly.

Praia Sueste

Fending lizards away from our lunch spot at a lookout

Another true highlight of our time on the island was Praia Sancho, supposedly Brazil's most beautiful beach. It's a horseshoe shaped bay with clear water, soft sand, and very few people. It was so nice we went there a total of three times! While snorkeling we saw a ray and various tropical fishes. 

Praia Sancho

Taking the ladder down

The last picture our camera took before we dropped it; it's final breath was with this sight.

We had an amazing time out in Fernando de Noronha, but soon it was time to hustle back to the mainland and go deep into the Amazon rainforest! Tune in soon!

Rio de Janeiro

Ola!

We arrived in Rio in the afternoon of Sat, 5/19/12. After a very quick ride in a taxi, we arrived at our hostel and got settled in. We stayed in the hills above centro (downtown Rio), giving us great views of the downtown area.

Up the street from the hostel in Santa Teresa

Looking out over downtown Rio

The purple-lit building actually changes colors through the night

Due to a ticket booking error by our travel agent, we were forced to spend a few more days in Rio. We made the most of it by hitting up the local beaches. It seems that Brazilians go to the beach to be seen. I've never seen so many fit people on a beach at once. Men in tight speedos and bristling abs kicked soccer balls around and slacklined around the beach of Ipanema. Ladies in small thong bikinis lazed about soaking up the sun.

The beach out at Ipanema

We also strolled around the downtown area of Rio. Street vendors clumped together in large open-air markets. Out in Brazil, per-kilo lunch buffets are popular, so we decided to check it out. As part of the buffet we had to talk to the BBQ operator to tell him what kind of meat we wanted. Not speaking much Portuguese, I pointed over at a corner and he pulled out some strange looking meat. It turned out to be grilled chicken hearts...Not the nicest cut of meat, but I ate it anyways because I didn't want to make him put it back. Rashmi opted not to eat any of the chicken hearts.

The purple temple-like structure in the photo above actually is a temple of sorts! It's the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio. Shaped like an alien space ship or temple, the inside is filled with long beautiful stained glass artwork. It was quite a relief to step inside and contemplate the cool serenity for a few moments.

Metropolitan Cathedral

Nearby our hostel, an artist has been hard at work for years decorating a flight of steps with multi-colored tiles. The artist, Selaron, started this as a tribute to the people of Brazil. People from all over the world now have sent tiles to him to be added to the steps. Before we knew of these steps, we were asked a few times by other tourists whether we knew where the steps were. "You know, the steps that were in Snoop Dogg and Pharell's music video?" We didn't know what they were talking about, but once we found them we were astonished.

Escadaria Selarón

People send these tiles in from all over the world

It turned out we were staying near the heart of the night music scene in the city: Lapa. Every Friday night, the police shut the streets to cars, and locals come out to dance in the streets to samba, bossa nova, and whatever else the bands and clubs are playing. We tried to check it out our last night in Brazil, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and rain dampened the dancers spirits.

Out near the Lapa Arches looking for music (and a drink)

Rashmi on top of the arches in the day time.

For a sneak peek at our other photos (we're still compiling them!) you can check this link out.