Internacional Palace Hotel Recife

After finishing the adventure in Mamiraua we had to stay one night in Tefe before we took the fast boat to MAnaus.
The city was not special and nobody was in the street from 19...but we still had a look arround.

The next day a fast boat in the amazon took us to Manaus back.

Sorry for the title, but this is the best place I have ever been. This is not a normal amazon logde, this is a place which only allows few people per week. To reach this place we had to take a plane to Tefé (in the middle of the Amazon) and from there 1.30 h boat.
The natural reserve has still comunities and they still can do the activities like fishing or agriculture in a susteinble way.
We did day hikking with visit to the comunities (they ...

... which was a bit scary knowing that there were piranhas, caimans and eels in there!

We had a siesta after lunch, and then did a bit more piranha fishing, before our dinner. After falling asleep early again, we got woken up in the night to torrential rain. Impressively, the palm roof we'd constructed at the start of the trip held well, but poor Ceciliano who had been sleeping under the stars got soaked!

... stories about the jungle to pass the time, but I think we were both content just listening to the sounds of the rainforest, which comes alive at night. The loudest things were the many types of frogs and the screaming of howler monkeys. A number of times we heard some loud rustling noises close to the camp and our guides got up a few times to investigate, but we survived the night, in part due to Ceciliano's loud snoring probably scaring the animals away!

... between buses (which after all these months was SO much more than a pillow. He had become.. my friend :( )
I sat down, teary eyed (and hugely uncomfortable) and began the long part of the journey.
I was sitting next to a weird chap (I affectionately refered to him as `Eyes everywhere´).
Got woken up by 3 drunk Brazillians chattin at me in Portugese and almost falling in my lap.
I was trying to keep a low profile but being the only `gringa´ on the bus means ...

... with the right Cachaca (the local spirit made from sugar cane), but also told us about a slice of beach paradise, Paraty, which is now on our must visit while in Brazil. Our Piranha fishing buddies, Shayna and Jim, from the USA, where the girls kicked ass in the fishing competition, much to the boys disappointment. And finally Alfonzo (Spain) and Leade (Israel) who were apparently on their unofficial honeymoon with the wedding yet to happen - bizarre. Amazon Piranha fishing score: Alanna 5: GT 3

... Wildlife is illusive and tends to move away quite quickly. The guides are brilliant at spotting whatever is there. Binoculars were a necessity to get a decent view. Happily, with a 06h30 breakfast start for 07h00 activity, and with the oppressive heat of the middle of the day, there was 3-4 hours off around lunchtime - to lie in the hammock contemplating the lovely scene (or to fall asleep). Overall, this leg of the trip was the first we ...

... in a nice spot where there were lots of birds and views and we could relax. I rallied myself for a night in the jungle. I had missed some of Alan's info so awoke at 5 the next morning wondering if it was possible to have arctic-style winds in the jungle. Only at breakfast did I discover that it was not an Amazonian yeti but howler monkeys. Amazing sound! We visited a local family and saw how they live and make the manioc flour. The youngest boy was playing with a baby ...

... of the wet season just passed, with the river is still relatively high (having dropped only a couple of feet of the close to 40 feet that it will drop, and it covers close to 135,000 square miles. Generally the channels we were on seemed to be no more than a mile across, but some wider sections can get up to 28 miles wide, and the Amazon eventually releases up into the Atlantic Ocean up to 30 million cubic feet per second ...

... late. It's been nice not thinking about eyes and optometry for the past few weeks, but I had a wee reminder last night. We took an after-sunset boat ride in search of jaguars and caimans. The local guides have an enormous flashlight which they use to see retinal reflexes. Apparently, the jaguars have a yellow reflex, and the caimans red. We weren't lucky enough to spot any jaguars, but the ...