The Monsons Take On The Amazon

Jordan and I made a bucket list of the places we would like to see while living here in Brazil and because the Amazon made the top of both of our lists we decided we needed to make it happen. Luckily, last week was Carnival and the kids got the week off of school so it was perfect timing to plan a little Amazonian Adventure.  

For our first day, we booked an all day excursion by boat. Here we are getting ready to board- complete with goofy sunhats and everything :)

Day 1:

The Rio Negro is such an interesting body of water. It is the largest black water river in the world and it gets its color from the Humic acid in the water. At one point on the trip we went swimming in it and it was as if we were swimming in a gigantic cup of tea! Supposedly it is one of the cleanest bodies of water in the world as well because it doesn't have sediment in the water.

Here are my little ship mateys! Grace wasn't convinced this water adventure was to her liking. Of all of my children she is more guarded and takes her time when it comes to something new. The other three were all smiles!

Our first stop was an Indian tribe that live similarly to the reservations we have set up the U.S. The government owns the land they are on but they live and work on the land and keep up their ancient traditions and culture. It was beautiful to watch them dance and teach us about their way of life.They reminded me of a  mix between the Native American culture and the Polynesian  culture. At one point they invited us to dance with them and Thais said that was her favorite part of the entire trip. 

Our next adventure on the tour was swimming with the pink dolphins. All of us eagerly jumped in the water to see these amazing creatures up close except for Gracie who was happy to just watch safely on the dock :) We could feel them swim against our legs and knees and then they would jump out of the water to collect the fish they were being offered. Poor Thaisy cried as we were leaving the dolphins because she wanted to touch one so badly but didn't quite have the courage to do it. It was a little overwhelming to see just how big they are and have them leap out of the water right in front of you.   They were Beautiful though. Grey on one side and pink on the other. 

So, I am pretty sure I need a pet sloth! This darling animal gives the BEST hugs! It just melts on you and wraps its arms tight. We are all big Ice Age fans so we named this sloth Sid and we fell in love with him. Seriously how adorable is that face?!? It's smiling! I also understand why we use the word slothful as a synonym for lazy. They truly make movements at a snail's pace and when it wasn't being held it just laid on the ground not moving. Skyler googled for me if it is possible to have a Sloth as a pet and the answer was a little ambiguous. I think that means there is a chance ;)

We stopped off at a little wildlife house where they catch different animals for tourists to see and then release them back into the wild a week later. Jordan was pretty stoked to hold the baby Anaconda and Caiman (little gator).

After lunch we took this bridge to look at some beautiful water lilies. Almost like in a movie, the bridge started becoming overrun with monkeys! They followed us all the way up the bridge entertaining us with their acrobatics. 

 This little Mama monkey had her sick baby on her back the whole time. The baby's leg was bleeding and it didn't look like it was going to make it :(

Here we are at the top looking at the beautiful lilies. They are flowers that turn three different colors before becoming the green lily pads. They were so beautiful! 

We passed through a little village that is called the Venice of the Amazon. The residents go by boat to the local store and school which are also on the water. Apparently it is very prestigious to live here and somewhat political in terms of being allowed to join the neighborhood. I don't know that I could do it. Our guide said the two- year -old kids swim around the neighborhood like little fishes. I love it! To each their own!

The last site of the day was what is refereed to as The Meeting of the Waters. This is where the Rio Negro and the  Rio Solimões meet.The reason why the waters don't mix right away is because each body of water  has a different temperature, speed, and water density. The tour guide had us put our hands in the water and we could feel the temperature difference as we crossed over the different rivers. Cool stuff!  

DAYS 2-3:

For the rest of our trip we went to a place called the Tariri Amazon lodge. It took us two hours by bus and then, while in the middle of pouring rain, we were told that we had to get out and take a 30 minute boat ride to the lodge. Oh what fun! We scooped up kids and suitcases and ran down the path to the boat.

The kids weren't sure at first if this risky boat ride in the middle of the jungle was going to be a good idea. We have Skyler on video saying, "I am going to die and now I will never  have a wife!" That may just make the wedding video someday!

The long trip paid off,  because when we got to the resort there were all sorts of enchanting surprises.

Our room was this cool little hut equipped with fans and running water. Score!

 The best part however, were all of  the little "pets" running around the place. The kids were in heaven (except for Gracie who took off running in terror every time a monkey came near her...see video below!)

The two activities the kids were looking forward to the most at the Tariri lodge were piranha fishing and Caiman hunting. Thais was our little fisherman and caught three fish!

 She thought it was especially cool that the chef cooked up the piranha she caught and we ate them that night for dinner. They were pretty tasty!

Here is Sky holding the caiman. The look says it all...Pure Awesome! 

Our last day at the lodge Gracie warmed up to the monkeys and even announced she was going to hold one. This little monkey liked our cabin and would come visit us through the window.

The Amazon lived up to everything we could have imagined. It's beauty is living proof that God truly is an artist and we were so grateful to see all of His beautiful masterpieces. It's a trip we'll never forget!

Tchau Tchau