Today I set a 6am alarm to wake up for the jungle - my next adventure awaited. Not a couple minutes after I pulled up my jungle pants and put on my backpack, were we on the road. It was a familiar route towards port - I think that after a couple more drives, I could probably navigate this route on my own. It's like Manaus is becoming my own city. Anyway, today's trip to the jungle wasn't to tour any clients, this was a surveillance trip. The land that Jaguar works on is also an area that they protect (from poachers, loggers, etc.) and routinely, they set out on hikes through the land to make sure nothing is happening. We arrived at the port to meet up with the rest of Jeffson's staff: the two that I had done my first tour with, and two that I hadn't done anything with. We all jumped on the boat and headed away from the marina. It was already turning into a beautiful day, however I knew that soon enough, it would be a hot one! Our first stop was actually to the old man's house on the edge of the jungle. If I didn't already explain, turns out that this man used to be part of a native tribe and lives with his family away from the city. He is an expert of the land and a mentor to even these experienced guides. And it turned out that today, we'd be having breakfast in his cool little jungle shack. We ate a fish soup (of course accompanied by a healthy serving of manioc flour - which accompanies everything here), bread and coffee. It was a good meal and afterwards, we were ready to go. To my surprise, the old man (he was actually in his mid-60s but looked 80 years old) was going to come along with us. It didn't look like he was built to hike, but I was sure wrong about that! The whole day, he was up in front setting the pace for everyone else to try and keep up. I guess growing up in the jungle really builds you up tough. This time, we didn't enter the jungle via canoe; there was actually a hidden entrance in behind the lodge we always pick up people from. We started our hike and it sure was a much faster pace that when We hike with tourists. I felt like part of the military with all these guys suited up in military vests and camo pants. We hiked through trail after trail and many of them weren't even trails at all. The terrain was tough too - super steep inclines and declines. This would be fine except you couldn't grab onto any of the trees because half of them had spikes sticking out of them. My hiking boots held out very well considering all the abuse they went through today. They even held up through some jungle wetlands when my feet sank into a few puddles. Most of the hike, I wasn't even thinking about wet feet though - I was thinking about wet everything! I was accumulating some sort of mixture of dew, humidity and sweat (no idea how much of each) all over my clothes. Half way through, I was soaked inside and out and even dripping for most of it. I don't think I could have gotten any wetter if I jumped in a swimming pool! Every stop we'd make, I'd wring about a half-litre of water (at least) out of my shirt. The biggest annoyance about it though was that it made my clothes so much heavier. I guess I have to look at it in the sense that I got a much better work out. The whole hike overall was about 8 or so kilometres: but at military pace and with jungle terrain, 8 km at home is nothing like 8 km here. We made some pretty good time too. When we finished, we departed back to the old guy's house and had lunch there. Jeffson brought along two whole chickens so we had it prepared in two different styles: campfire grilled and in soup (just like the fish soup this morning). The arrival here was also nice because we got to swim in the river and wash off all the sweat. I think a lot of it was sweat, because when we finished, everyone joked around that it must have rained over only me. In Manaus' hot sun, my clothes partially dried so it was a bit more comfortable. We made for home after everything was done. There was another soccer game about to start just as we arrived back home: Brazil vs. Uruguay. I quickly showered the jungle stink off of me, then joined the family to watch. It was an amazing close game with Brazil winning 2-1. Needless to say, it was an exciting atmosphere. After the game, I was able to facetime home to be with my whole family in wishing my grandpa a happy birthday. It made me really happy that I was able to be there as he opened his presents, and talk to all the relatives just as if I was a part of it. I rested for a little bit, then accompanied Jeffson to the store for café de tarde items. We picked up bread, cheese, drinks and lastly, from a vendor on the street, we bought a couple pineapples. Now, at home I have never been much of a pineapple fan, but again this jungle fruit has blown me away! The best pineapple I've ever tried (big ones for only about $1 each!). We ate fruit, bread and cake this evening, then finished it off with a bit of language studying. It was a packed day and really fun. Definitely going to enjoy sleep tonight though!
Breakfast
The view on the boat
The crew
With me this time
A lizard at the lodge
Termites on the road to the jungle
In the bush
They speared this flatfish. Apparently it has a poisonous barb on its tail that can leave you hospitalized in excruciating pain for 20 hours. Good thing i didnt fall into that river!
Protected area
More jungle
We stopped here for a bit. Two locals were working on their boats...not sure why they were here though.
My boss and our guide
We exited the jungle at this random soccer field
The marina
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