Amazon Hotel (Day One)

We left our hotel in the city of Manaus this morning, and took a bus to go to the port where our boat was waiting to take us to our jungle hotel. On the way to the port we stopped by the site where they are constructing the Manaus, Brazil temple. It is close to finished, and it was neat to be able to see it. It is supposed to be done by the end of the year. The boat ride to our hotel was exciting, we crossed a branch of the Amazon river to get here. The branch is called the Rio Negro (Black River). It is interesting because the water is so acidic that it looks like coffee as we are going through it. It was about a half hour boat ride to get to our hotel, and the resort here is absolutely incredible. We are literally in the Amazons here! It is so beautiful, I would definitely consider it a paradise and one of if not the most pretty places I have ever been to. Our little houses are on poles in the water in a lake that has alligators in it! We are surrounded by forest, and there is a parrot that is always flying around. After we put our bags in our rooms, we went on a jungle survival tour with our tour guide Terry. We learned how to use a lot of different plants and trees to survive in the wilderness here if need be. The hike we went on was beautiful as well. All of the meals here are included in the package, and they are delicious. We had a great all you can eat lunch today after our hike, which got me quite full. After hanging out by the pool and taking a little nap, we went on our next adventure. This was one of the coolest things we have done so far. We went fishing for piranhas and hunting for alligators! Our group caught about eight piranhas, some of them were really big. The method of catching them was interesting, the bait was raw meat, and you had to shake the pole around in the water violently for the fish to be attracted to it. Unfortunately I didn't catch one myself, though I think I did set the record for most fishing lines broken in one trip! The sun set on the Amazon river was an incredible sight as well. Once the sun went down, we went boating down the river for a little while to arrive at our alligator hunting sight. This was quite the adventure as well. The method to find them was riding slowly down the river in the boat, and shining a large flash light to try to find the alligator's eyes that would turn red when the light was pointed on them. We found a small alligator, that our guide grabbed with his bare hands and pulled into the boat! To be honest, I was a little frightened at this occurrence, but I'd like to think I kept my cool. This was a small one that we got, but he said that they can get up to 20 feet in length. It was quite the adventure today, I am grateful to be in such an incredible place.

The Manaus temple. The back side of it is up next to the Amazon river, it will be the only temple that has a port for boats to arrive.

The boat right before we hopped aboard.

Arriving at our hotel.

This is one of the trees that we learned about on our hike. This one can be used to put on wounds to stop them from bleeding.

This is the spikiest palm tree I have ever seen!

This is our guide Terry, showing us another tree and it's remedy.

When your hands are covered with these ants, you can rub your hands together and you get a nice smell (I am being serious)

Terry and I taking on the wild rain forest jungle!

A natural vine hanging down, waiting for George of the Jungle to take it for a ride.

The biggest ants I have ever seen.

A Brazilian rain forest tree. You stand with your back against a tree like this if you are being attacked by an animal, because they don't attack from the front, just from behind.

Doing some natural rope climbing!

This is where we are staying. Nick and I are staying in one of the little cabanas in the water like the ones behind me.

There are about 11 alligators like this one who are living in the little lake that we are living on top of, kind of creepy!

Our pool with the Amazon river behind it.

Some of the live music that was playing for us.

On our way to our piranha fishing adventure!

Our guide with a piranha that he had just caught. He was not the nicest creature to say the least.

Me getting my fishing game face on on the back of the boat.

Me with my new piranha friends. We ate them in a soup later on (it was not too delicious, but good enough to eat).

Terry on the lookout for the gators.

Caught one! Once again, not the friendliest creature in the world.

Me conquering my fear and holding the little guy.

Apprentice becomes master. 

Manaus, Amazonas

We arrived safely today in Manaus after a long plane flight from Salvador with a stop in Brasilia. Today and tonight we have been in the city of Manaus, which is very similar to the other cities that we have visited so far here in the Northeast of Brazil. We are staying in a hotel tonight before we head to our jungle hotel tomorrow morning! This afternoon we did take a tour of a famous theater here in Manaus, called Teatro Amazonas. It was a really pretty building, and the inside was nice as well. Unfortunately there weren't any performances tonight, but after dinner we did run into a band playing music outside of the theater. We sat and listened for a little, and I really enjoyed their music. The theater was lit up very nicely, which was a nice sight behind the music. Manaus seems to be a neat place, unfortunately we won't get to see too much of it, but I'm sure it won't be much compared to being in the heart of the Amazons for the next couple days.

Outside of the theater before we took our tour.

The red-carpet entrance.

The ceiling, chandelier, and upper balconies.

On the upper balcony looking down.

This was a ballroom for dancing for the wealthy people after shows.

Some typical clothing that is (or was, I'm not sure) used in plays and performances.

A statue/fountain outside of the theater in the town square. 

A few group members and I on the stairs up to the theater.

The outdoor concert we went to outside of the theater tonight. 

Salvador, Bahia (Day Three)

It was our last day in Salvador, and I'd like to think we went out on top. Yesterday my friend Logan and I were walking along the street and a woman came up to us offering to take us on a day long boat trip the next day. We got her number, Vanessa set it up, and we went on the tour today. We left in the morning at about 9 o’clock and got back in the afternoon at 5. The trip we took today was one of the favorite things I have done so far on the study abroad. The boat took us to two different islands close to the coast here. It took about two hours to get to the first island, called Ilha dos Frades. This was an absolutely beautiful paradise, with only 60 people who live on it (all of which are family I found out later). I really enjoyed exploring the island with Nick and our friend Jaron. We went on a long hike through the jungle and were able to see some beautiful sights of the island and the ocean. The second island we went to was a little less amazing, but it was still beautiful. I went on a horse-back ride that was offered to me by a native on the beach for 7 reais (about 4 dollars). He just had me get up on it and learn on the run, which was a little scary for me. I think I might have ridden a horse in the past, but I don’t remember it really. The thing really had a mind of its own and I was scared it was going to buck me off or take off or something, but thankfully I lived to tell the story. It was a great experience to go horse-back riding on a beautiful, tropical, Brazilian island. As fun as the islands were, I think my favorite part might have been the boat ride. They gave us free fruits, and provided a live Samba band. This was A LOT of fun! I really enjoyed the music, and I went up to the front to dance in front of everybody with Nick. We did some Samba dancing, and we taught everybody an American move called the “Dirty Bird” (translated to Pomba Suja). The band members as well as a man who came up to the front with us proceeded to do our dance move for the rest of the trip. There was about five other times after that when they called me to come back up to the front and by the end of the trip pretty much everybody on the boat knew my name. Basically it was just a great time. This was our last day in Salvador, and I absolutely loved it here. I loved the Baihanos (people from the state of Bahia). They love to joke around and have a fun time, which I discovered first hand on the boat today. It is definitely a place that I would like to come back to someday with Camilia and be able to spend some more time here.

This was the road that went up to our hotel, we had a beautiful view. This was on our way to the big adventure.

Nick and I kickin it with the Samba band before we got our groove on.

Thizz-facin it, that's nasty!

This was our boy trying the Dirty Bird after we taught him, he was a lot of fun to watch!

He's getting the tail feather going in this one.

Dirty-Bird 101 instructors, offering lessons nightly.

Getting some of the delicious fruits that were being passed out.

On the boat, arriving at our first island.

About to go up some stairs of death for the view of a lifetime. 

The top of the stairs with a view of the beach and the bay.

On the only street on the island in front of one of the only houses.

Starting on our adventure hike through the jungle. I love these trees with vines hanging down, they are really cool.

On the wild trail!

The island reminded me a lot of the island in Jurassic Park, it looked just like it. 

Arriving at the dock on the second island. 

Giddy up partner!!

Relaxing a bit on the ride back home.

Arriving back home in the bay.

Behind me is a fort in the middle of the bay.

Right after we arrived with our faithful boat behind me.