Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The day started a little earlier than usual as we were getting on a smaller boat to take a day trip up the Rio Negro ( a tributary) to both an Indian Village and the Amazonia Eco Lodge where we had lunch.

The trip up the river and back was the best part of the day IMHO… just getting to experience some of the diverse “looks” of the river.  In some places it is quite beachy and they even bring in white sand to create a nice place to swim.  (the sand, however, gets wiped out every year during the rainy season and has to be brought in again when the river recedes).  In other places it is extremely remote and is all jungle lining the banks right up to the water.   Then there are areas that look more like wetlands complete with wading birds.  Certainly the Amazon is full of surprises… every extreme… from  remote jungle to cell towers and high-rises…

Our outing today included the opportunity to experience some dancing rituals by a group of Brazilian Indians (I don’t know which group(s) they represent) and lunch at an Eco-Lodge… followed by an extremely realistic display of a rainy season downpour 🙂

When we got back to our ship at about 4 PM one of the group leaders (Emma) and I headed out into the market place that is nearest the dock.  We only had an hour ’til all-aboard but we were both fast walkers and covered a lot of ground in a short time.  We saw vendors selling the whole range of items geared for tourists (like crafts and T-shirts) plus car parts, kitchen items, clothes and pretty much anything you could ever need.  If I’d had more space in my suitcase I would have bought a couple of the gorgeous hand-made baskets but I settled for taking photos instead.