So far, it has rained every day, but it didn't actually cause a problem until today.
We got up at 5:15 (!) to go on a boat ride to see the sunrise on the river. I was sooo tired. Once we got up, they explained that it was raining and cloudy so we probably wouldn't see any animals and we definitely wouldn't see the sunrise - but those who still wanted to go could. Yeah right.
So we slept until our next excursion to see the river dolphins. It was still raining pretty heavily, so we had to wear out full body ponchos and keep our heads down on the tender ride.
The pink dolphins were in the Novo Airão region. The people there are known for their expertise in boat construction. They used to live in the town of Airão, but ants invaded and completely took over, so the whole town had to be relocated.
I knew the pink dolphins wouldn't look just like the salt water gray ones everyone is used to, but I wasn't quite prepared. These things were so weird and ugly looking!
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| a monster. |
They looked to me like zombie dolphins - like if you left a dead dolphin out to bloat in the sun for a while. They had tiny beady eyes, weird hair growing on their snout, and they looked lumpy all over.
That being said, it was really fun! They were very friendly and playful. Everyone got a chance to pet them. They were very soft and smooth. Manda and Andrea were afraid, but touched them anyway.
Our guide told us a local legend about the dolphins: people say that the dolphins turn into men during the full moon and hypnotize village girls, sometimes impregnating them.
Thankfully, the rain had let up a little while were visiting the dolphins, so we didn't get too wet.
Then we visited a local tribe at the Cuieiras river. The rain had finally stopped, so he had a beautiful blue sky for our visit.
When we first landed, there were some kids waiting for us on the beach. I felt kind of wonky and awkward because everyone was having them pose and take pictures with them - it felt kind of zoo-ish. But then George explained why they visit this village and I felt better. Iberostar used to use the forest near the village for some of their trekking routes. About 3 years ago when they were going through that trail, some of the village men were waiting for them. They said they wanted to share their culture and also that it wasn't fair for Iberostar to use their lands without contributing in some way. So now the cruise always takes their tour groups to the village to learn, and for the tourists to buy the handicrafts the people make.
George told us a little history while the English speakers were gathered in their small church. This tribe was actually originally from Colombia. But when gold was found near their original village, gold diggers accidentally poisoned the river with mercury. Their shaman didn't know how to cure them, so many of the villagers moved south along the river until they reached Manaus. The Brazilian government then granted the tribe their current lands.
The children performed some of their ritual dances for us. They were adorable.
George showed us around more of the village. He said that even though the tribe is basically Christian now, they believe that when people die, their souls go into the forest. If you were a basically good person, you get to be a cool tree like acai. Basically bad people turn into poisonous mushrooms.
It's not an impoverished tribe, just a simple one. They have houses, a clinic with a nurse, and a school. They also have a generator for electricity which they turn on for 3 hours each day. They have 2 TVs for the village - they only like to watch the news, soap operas, and of course, soccer. The school was interesting. They learn Portuguese as their first language, but in school they are also learning the dialect and culture of their tribe. Traditionally, theirs is not a written language. So one man from the tribe is trying to basically write everything down and turn their language into one that is written so they can better preserve their culture.
Then we went to the village market to buy their crafts. Mom bought something from every stall since they said each one was run by a different family. Manda and I got necklaces with sloth claws on them.
I loved being in the village. It was such a beautiful place. The people seemed so happy and their kids were super playful.
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| and beautiful :) |
We got back to the ship at the perfect time to watch our last sunset from the upper deck.
Then we had the Captain's Farewell Dinner, which was spectacular. They had a lot of very beautiful displays of food.
I finally got to eat some Tambaqui, which was delicious. But then they also offered lobster, which I got, which was also fantastic. I ate way too much.
After dinner, we had a folk show called Boi Bumba. It was dance routines that illustrated important rituals or animals in the forest. One of the rituals they showed was terrible - in one tribe, in order to become a man, a boy must stick his hand in a glove with 20 stinging ants and dance around for an hour. But if that wasn't bad enough, they have to do it 20 times! I'm not sure what the time frame of that is. Oh yes, and the ants are poisonous. So the ritual also serves to grant the boy immunity from that poison in the future. In the meantime, their hands swell up awfully from all the stings they receive.
The whole show was really cool.
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