Our time in the jungle was supposed to be one of the Brazil highlights and sure it was. There are various ways how to explore Amazon jungle: you can take a boat on the river, stay in one of the lodges or buy the whole package with one of the companies in Manaus. We booked a tour with Amazon Backpackers in advance which included everything we needed for 5 days trip: transfers, accommodation, food and all activities. That was really convenient as you don‘t need to worry about anything and that really helps as program was pretty packed. The whole package cost 110$ per day for both of us.
We were very lucky to get awesome guide for our trip – Ralf who lived in the jungle for his whole life. Funny, but he is 30 and his wife is 26, exactly the same as us. However when comparing our lives it‘s so different: they are married for 10 years and have two girls: one is 6 years old and another is 9, both of them know so much about nature, however not that much about technologies like mobile phones or internet etc.. There is even no cellphone reception in the jungle, so Internet is also far away. They never traveled further than Manaus while we are trying to explore the world. It‘s interesting to see completely different way of living however we can‘t imagine ourselves living in their conditions. Wouldn‘t say that it‘s bad, just not for us. By the way, Ralf speaks fluent English which he learned by buying an old computer and English CDs.
A little bit about our amazing experience:
Group
It was quite a small group which consisted of 8 people: us, 3 Chinese girls who study in LA and a couple from Sao Paulo. This couple spend only one night and left the next morning. Chinese girls were like Chinese, always making pictures, saying lots of „wow“ and really scared of insects. However they still wanted to spend the night in the jungle sleeping in the hammocks and were happy about it. The girls stayed two nights which left us two more night for just two of us – like a private tour.
Transfers
Amazon Backpackers picked us up early morning and after gathering all group brought us by car to the port where speed boat transferred us to another side of the river. There our guide found a van which brought us to his little boat further in the Amazon. All other trips were made by that small boat or even smaller one when there were only 3 of us left.
Food
Fish, fish and fish. As the main food provider is river and you can catch a lot of different fish there. What the locals eat usually it‘s fish or chicken and manioc flour which is a gluten-free flour made from the root of a manioc plant. Not sure why they like it so much and we couldn’t get used to it. For the tourists they usually prepare something more, our lunch and dinner usually consisted of: fish (of course), chicken, rice, pasta, beans, vegetables (which they don’t eat at all), watermelon, pineapple and some desert. For breakfast there were usually some eggs, bread and coffee. So in total we were really happy about the food as we always enjoy eating fish.
Accommodation
A couple of nights we spend at the Ralf‘s place. He has two little houses for tourists and is building one more. Currently he can accommodate 8 people, but in the future he hopes to expand a bit more. Furthermore one night we spend in the jungle sleeping in the hammocks and the last night we visited Ralf’s parents who live 2 hours away up the river. Actually, the feeling was similar like living in a village somewhere in Lithuania as if we would take out the river everything else was really similar.
Activities
The program was really packed: usually we were getting up at 6-7am in the morning, having some activities, then lunch at around 11am, some rest and then other activities till the sun goes down. All program consisted of:
- Visit to the meeting of the water where we stopped on the way to the jungle. The Meeting of Waters is the confluence between the Rio Negro, a river with dark (almost black colored) water, and the mud-colored Amazon River or Rio Solimões, as it is known the upper section of the Amazon in Brazil. For 6 km the river’s waters run side by side without mixing. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Manaus, Brazil. This phenomenon is due to the differences in temperature, speed and water density of the two rivers. The Rio Negro flows at near 2 km per hour at a temperature of 28°C, while the Rio Solimões flows between 4 to 6 km per hour at a temperature of 22°C.
- Tour through the Amazon by boat watching wild animals (monkeys, dolphins, birds, snakes), water lilies and other spectacular nature.
- Fishing piranha that wasn’t so difficult and quite fun. Donatas caught 1, Ieva even 2 piranhas.
- Amazing sunsets in the evenings when we stayed at Ralf’s place.
- Spotting Caymans. These are small crocodiles which can be found in Central or South America. We did this experience when it was already dark as it’s the easiest way to find them. You just simply need to hold your torch above the water and see where their eyes reflect the light. Caymans get blind after that and it’s very easy to catch them. Therefore we were able to hold one of them with our hands.
- Getting early in the morning together with nature and going to see a beautiful sunrise
- Hiking in the jungle. Ralf showed us various medical plants, insects and survival tips during 2,5 hour trek
- Sleeping in the jungle. It was a bit similar to camping in Lithuanian forest – e.g. cooking food on fire, cutting small trees for fire etc. However other part – sleeping in hammock – was really different. One of the most surprising things was that it was pitch black around, so if you open your eyes nothing changes. That was the first such experience for both of us. And also sounds sounds sounds – frogs, insects, animals – true rain forest experience.
- Visiting local people and their native house. They have pineapple plantation and also sell jewelries made from berries (like acai)
- Canoeing into small creeks in flooded forest. Ralf showed us how to put net into the water and found quite a lot of fish in it on the way back. Furthermore he caught a fish with a spare! Unfortunately didn’t hit the big one.
- Seeing how manioc flour is made. Ralf’s family showed us the whole process and we were able to try everything as well.
- Fishing at night. Donatas joined Ralf for late evening fishing from the boat with spares.
We really enjoyed spending our time in the nature. It’s amazing when the only way to reach everything is by boat and how much forest is being flooded during rainy season. We got some rain, but it wasn’t that bad. It was still quite hot all the time and we were trying not to get bitten by mosquitos. Ralf said that during last 2 years none of the locals caught malaria. Each year government organizations come to the amazon and spreads something that kills mosquitos which carry malaria. So hopefully this disease won’t be the one to be afraid in the future.
Highlights:
- Flooded forest
- Piranha fishing
- Cayman spotting