Welcome to the Jungle

One of the things I couldn't leave Brazil without doing was taking a trip up to the Amazon. So I flew up to Manaus for the weekend, where I stayed at the Hotel Tropical Manaus, thanks to the Azul "crew member" discount. The hotel was awesome, and had everything you could ask for including its own zoo. My favorite part was the riverside pool, which was absolutely breathtaking and actually looked like an extension of the river. It was paradise. I was also surprised to learn that during the summer when the water is low, a big white sandy beach appears along the river banks. So that combined with the fact that the Amazon is so big you can barely see the other side, I felt like I was on the coast - in the middle of the jungle! I definitely did not expect a relaxing weekend at the beach...how many people do you know can say that they swam in the Amazon?

I also decided to take a boat trip up to see "The Meeting of the Waters", which is where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões meet and where the Amazon technically starts. The two rivers don't mix, just like oil and water, and continue on for miles like that. It was a pretty neat phenomenon to see up close. It was also very cool to sail by downtown Manaus. A lot people think of the Amazon as just primitive Indians and remote jungle lodges, a la Anaconda or Disneyland Jungle Cruise...but Manaus is a huge port city with over a million people.

For the next part of my cruise, they took us to a little Indian community where we ate lunch, and shopped for cheap hand-made trinkets, and took a short hike through the jungle. I was a little disappointed at the lack of wildlife, and was surprised that the jungle wasn't really how I pictured it. Too many Indiana Jones movies, I suppose. I was still impressed by the size and diversity of the plants and trees we saw, and felt a little bit like Owen Wilson in Armageddon, when he says upon arrival in space "and this is only the beginning part of space! This isn't even outer space yet!" Well, I think that's enough movie references for one blog post. Anyway, maybe someday I'll get to come back and go explore a little deeper... see some crocodiles and fish for piranhas...but for now it's back to work.

Videos: 1- River Cruise, 2- Jungle Hike, 3- picture slideshow