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September 10
After waking up from a good nights sleep in the jungle, we set out from our campsite on a 2 hour hike. We had a man from the local village lead the way with a machete while our tour guide, Fabio pointed out certain wildlife, plants, and other interesting things along the way. We did not see any animals or snakes on the hike though...I know, what a bummer!! The guide pointed out certain medicinal plants. He showed us how the spines from one of the trees, when placed in water points north and acts as a compass. A certain vine retains a lot of fresh water and when cut, can be used as drinking water. To be honest, it tasted like dirt. The hike was very interesting a neat to go deeper into the forest, but didn't meet my expectations as far as seeing neat snakes and birds.
After the hike we made our way back to the boat. We set sail again heading back down the river toward Manaus. Breakfast today was lame, no eggs, just bread, jam and bacon. We all took nice naps in our hammocks after an exhausting morning. We anchored at another beach for lunch. A couple of girls and a few of the Brazilian tour guides/crew all found a wooden walkway suspended 20+ feet above the ground and followed it. This was probably not the best idea being as parts were falling down, but it was an adventure none-the-less. We fought our ways through swarms of ants and bees and decided we did not want to walk back. To of the crew members were the ones who ran the tree climbing, and the younger ran back to the boat to get all the equipment and such to repel off the walkway! He came back in a motor boat with all of the stuff. Ari, Lacey, Carly (who's brother played hockey with me on the Minutemen) and I all repelled down off the walkway. The guides showed off by jumping head first off of it and doing neat tricks, but the normal way was thrilling enough for us. We took the motor boat back to the bigger boat and made everyone else jealous of our little excursion.
We all took the motor boats to a near by waterfall to swim. This was our last hurrah as a group so we made sure to take plenty of group pictures while enjoying a cooling swim in the stream. We then took the boats on a last little fishing excursion, and sadly I was the only one to catch two huge catfish! Afterwards we got back on the boat and headed back towards Manaus and thus ended our Amazon adventure.
I really enjoyed this trip and all of the fun/interesting things we got to see and do. I expected the forest to be more moist with more vines and huge trees, but it was just like the forest around us with a tropical twist (if that makes any sense at all). We did not see any snakes, which really bummed me and the other guys on the trip out. I would have to say the highlight of the trip was alligator hunting and getting to hold the gators for as long as we did. Piranha fishing can also be included in that, even though I only caught catfish. Overall the trip was a success and nobody was seriously hurt other than some bumps and bruises, and no malaria or dengue fever...that we know of! . Next up, Namibia!!!
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