Brazil

Well, after four days in Brazil we are back on the ship and heading to Ghana. Brazil was an amazing country, but man alive it was hot, hot and wet, and to anyone who knows me that is not a great combination. So try as I might I could not stay hydrated in this extreme climate! Heat aside the Amazon is really mind blowing. The first day we were here we got on a river boat and went to where the Rio Negro and another river meet, this place was unique because the Rio Negro is a very fast moving river and is highly acidic while the other river is much slower and is full of mud and debris. As a result when the two rivers meet the water doesn’t mix until about 12 miles further down the river, so there is a clearly defined line right down the middle of the river where one side is muddy brown and the other is jet black. After that we went further up the river and boarded these small speed boats and went cruising through the shallow jungle water and we saw several monkeys, salamanders, and a lot of tropical birds. Then we had a native style lunch in a floating building that was an interesting mix of modern and native tech, after lunch we went on a hike through the forest and found a few more monkeys. By this point it was about 3 in the afternoon so we went into the city and saw the Opera house and a few other landmarks that were near the docks but we were pressed for time so we headed back to the ship so that we could eat dinner and head to Rio!!!

The trip to Rio was about as bad as a flight can be, It took us over two hours to check in at the airport and because of this we nearly missed our flight, which was a red eye, and then we were delayed at the second airport by about 45 minutes. However, we did get to Rio, and even though we were totally burned out we immediately went to the Babalonia Favela, which is a poor community that is fairly typical in Rio, and took a hike to the top of the mountain that the community was built on. The views were amazing. After we finished the hike we headed for the Hotel where we showered and got ready to go to dinner. For dinner we went to a Brazilian steak house which was one of the best dinners I have ever had. You pay a flat rate and then go to a buffet, and after you sit back down servers come around with HUGE cuts of meat on what I can only describe as forks, and if you say you want it they will cut you off as much as you want!!!! It was so good and I had beef, pork, chicken, and even ostrich! When we finished dinner we went to the Copacabana beach and walked about 6 km back to our hotel. It was a great day but it was only day two!!!

Day three donned but a few of the folks in my group didn’t, so we left them at the hotel and went loaded up into jeeps and went heading up into the rainforest that sits in the middle of Rio. When we got to the end of the road we hiked up to a series of waterfalls, which were cool but were nowhere near as interesting as what we got to see next. The jeeps drove us to the tram that takes you up to the Christ the Redeemer statue. This was the highlight of Rio. This massive statue stands at the top of a mountain and can be seen from nearly every part of Rio. Also on a fun note we met two Norwegian girls that are traveling around the world for a semester, and it was really cool to get their spin on Rio and hear about the interesting places they had already been and then where they were going. After the statue we made our way back to the hotel, and after a quick change a few of us went to beach and then we went to a Samba dance club and stayed there until about 2 in the morning. By the time we got back to the Hotel we only got about 2 hours of sleep before we had to be up and ready to fly back to Manaus. The flight back was uneventful but was much easier than the flights to get out there. By the time we got back to the ship it was nearly “on ship time” so we didn’t have a chance to explore Manaus at all. So that was our adventure in Brazil. Now the next land it will be the coast of Africa!!!!