Brazil Nuts

Oh where to begin on this post? We are wrapping up five days in Manaus, and I've put some pictures below of some of the highlights. The first day we went on the Amazon Explorer trip, which I detailed in a previous entry. The second day we had to ourselves, so we decided to go to what we thought was a fun beach with amusement park, etc. When we got dropped off by the taxi and paid our 20 dollars we quickly discovered that the whole place was under construction. It seems that Manaus is going to be home to some world cup soccer games in 2014, and the city is trying to spruce up for this big event. After wandering around for twenty minutes and finding nobody or nothing to do, we got another 20 dollar taxi ride back to the ship. The afternoon we spent walking around the city. We went to a big opera house, bought some groceries, and generally immersed ourselves in the mass of humanity that is the downtown area. As the pictures show Manaus is a busy city, so busy that the government is building a big bridge to encourage people to expand away from the downtown. The city has a mix of poverty and new development, and has more street vendors than I've ever seen.

On day #3 in Manaus we took the kids to a new park in town. The area of the park used to be a slum with stilt houses, but the government demolished them all and put in a beautiful park with play equipment and a half mile running path. The kids had a great time in the morning playing on all the equipment. It was a mile walk to the park and with the heat and humidity it was a challenge but fun. Later on day #3 we went to the Dance Fusion workshop with college students. Jen was the trip leader, and we rode a nice bus about twenty minutes away to a modern dance studio. William didn't shake a leg, but played his DS the entire time, but Jen, Vivian and I did a little dancing and learned some of Brazils dances.

On day #4 , today, we had another trip. This trip involved taking a 2 and a half hour boat ride up the Rio del Negro to a place where you can swim with the dolphins. We arrived to the location and waded onto a platform. The locals feed the dolphins herring and as you stand near you can pet the dolphins. Next you float out in the river and the dolphins bump into you from time to time. William decided to pass on this whole thing, and to explain this, the river is black and has such a low density that it's difficult to swim in. They gave us noodles to help keep us buoyant. The river is so black that you can't see the dolphins below, but can feel them bumping into your legs, etc. I briefed Vivian about this, but unfortunately when she and I got out into the water she ran into some floating grass under the water. She started shrieking and yelling like only she can, and I frantically tried to paddle her back to the dock. She was flailing away and it took all I had to get her back to the dock. Upon reaching the dock I decided to grab a brew and relax for a while.

We left the dolphins and rode about ten minutes to a village along the river for lunch. This village had been remodeled by the Brazilian equivalent to "Home Makeover." As we finished lunch I asked a local about playing a little soccer on their field. After a few minutes a few boys showed up and William and I followed them to the soccer field. The came out of their house with an old soccer ball and the four of us played a little soccer. Soccer is the sacred sport in Brazil, and boy could those boys play. William was going all out and had a great time, and even scored a goal on one of them. This was the highlight of Williams day for sure, and a memory I'm sure he won't soon forget.

We are leaving Manaus tomorrow, and will have nine consecutive days of travel before reaching Ghana in Africa. We have all learned a lot about Brazil, and have had some incredible experiences here.

I have been able to get in three runs. Two with some fellow shipmates, and one on my own. The run on my own was in the heat and humidity of the afternoon. I went six miles around town dodging cars, people, dogs, and the like. I sweated like crazy, and when I returned my face was as red as a beat. It's a different experience to run in this kind of tropical humidity. I am thankful that I was able to get a few miles in, for the next nine days it will be Mr. Treadmill and I. Take Care,