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.
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