Amazon Hotel (Day Two)

It was another wild day in the Amazon rain forest, and more new adventures to report. This morning we took a long boat ride to what is called the "Encontro das Aguas" (Meeting place of the waters). It is where two branches of the Amazon river, the Rio Negro and one other river, come together to form the actual Amazon river. Like I said earlier, Rio Negro is close to a black color because of the high acid concentration, and the river that met up with it (which originates from a spring in Peru) is brown because of the sediment in it. Where they come together is extremely interesting. They don't mix together immediately because of the difference in temperature and acidity, so there is a distinct line in the water where they meet. Our tour guide joked around that the fish who cross over have to show their passport to cross the border from one side to the next. After we saw this spot, we went to a floating restaurant further down the river to get some lunch. Right next to the restaurant was a huge swamp land which we explored. The coolest thing we saw was a whole family of monkeys, who got up close and personal to us when we gave them some bananas. It was incredible to watch the monkeys take the banana, and peel them with their little hands faster than I could ever imagine possible before they ate it. We also saw some enormous lily pads, which can hold up to 40 kilos and get up to 2 and a half meters in diameter. We went through some narrow channels in our boat to get back to the resort here, which felt like I was in the movie Anaconda. Tonight we had an exciting adventure as well before bed. Our guide took Nick, me and two other guys on a night hike through the jungle with nothing but our flashlights. We saw some cool wildlife like spiders and some enormous poisonous frogs on our pathway. One of the best parts was when we would stop, turn off our flashlights, and just listen to the noises of the jungle and the wildlife around us. I have never heard so many bugs and animals making such a loud noise before, it sounded like an orchestra. The whole adventure was a little scary, I felt so lost and turned around in there, but to Terry the rain forest is like a second home so I knew he would get us out in one piece.

Pulling up to where the waters meet.

In these pictures we were right on top of the line, it is really easy to see the contrast of the water of the two rivers in these pictures.

The cute little monkey right after he peeled his banana we gave him.

In the swamp lands of the Amazon river.

The biggest lily pads I have ever seen!

Some more swamp lands, our guide said that it is very possible that there are anacondas in those waters, there are definitely piranhas. 

Hanging out with the monkeys.

This was a Mommy carrying her baby on her back.

Cruisin' through the Amazon.

Smooth sailin! I think I would have made John proud with my navigational abilities.

A wicked spider that we walked past.

This is a hut that we ran into after about an hour of hiking around. You may notice how shiny my arm is, that is from the many coats of bug repellent that I put on.

On the wild trail with flashlight in hand!

The enormous poisonous frog we ran into.