Amazon Rain Forest

One of the greatest experiences and privileges of my life was visiting the Amazon rain forest with my husband. This behemoth of a forest is lush and green and bursting with life.  Our journey started at Anavilhanas archipelago, the world's largest archipelago with over 400 islands.  We stayed on the banks of the Rio Negro (black river), the second largest river in the world at the Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge. The Rio Negro is famous as it is very acidic and the water is apparently fantastic for your skin and hair. Also, the acidic nature of the river repels mosquitoes who can't spawn in such waters. This is a huge bonus as there is a reduced chance of catching malaria (our guide said there was none, but I would err on the side of caution.

We  arrived at the tale end of the rainy season, and the banks of the river and the trees beside it were completely flooded.  The river also assumed a glassy, clear mirror like quality that was simply beautiful. Our guide advised that the best time to visit the Amazon was actually the dry season (October/November) as animals tend to be more about and caymans easier to spot. However, being a rain forest, it tends to rain throughout the year.  We were lucky enough to be in the company of two splendid guides.  One was a local named Robb and the other was born in the jungles of Guyana (where there Amazon also spreads) but of Indian descent and named Krishna.  Krishna was an impressive fellow who once walked from Boa Vista on the border of Brazil to his home in Guyana. He told us he used the slant of certain trees in Guyana to get his bearings.  If he got lost in Brazil, he would climb a tree and wait for dawn to see which direction the sun rose to find east.  I wish I spent more time in the forest to listen to more splendid stories from these chaps! There are still local Amazonian tribes living in the forest. We saw some of the Wahiri people who, however, live in the town but have not completely assimilated.

 The Amazon: trees on the flooded banks of the Rio Negro. You can see the glassy, mirror like quality of the river.  The leaves touching the river are actually on tree tops, and in the dry season you would see alot more of the river bank forest.

 

This was taken from our boat. The water is so still, flat and clear it is like traveling on a mirror. I, being of the sea (and all motion) sick persuasion was incredibly grateful for this calm, serene river where I could enjoy a good boat ride.

The river darkens with the shadows of the forest as we move closer to its banks.

In the thicket. We were lucky enough to go on a little hike. The Amazon is full of a variety of trees and plant life, and not just the huge trees that you see in movies. Hollywood directions usually film only the large tree to make it seem like Amazon is covered with them. 

 

A bird eating spider.  This is the largest spider in the world, and was making threatening gestures at us after we found and disturbed its nest. If it doesn't look so big in the picture, remember, it eats birds.

 A giant tree whose branches comprise the canopy of the Amazon.

 A lizard in the undergrowth.

 This plant, when chewed, prevents a person from contracting malaria for at least ten days. There is a reason that all the Indians in the Amazon didn't die from Malaria (besides those living on the banks of the Rio Negro). The Indians know the properties of every plant in the jungle and how to exploit it. I chewed a bit of its leaves and felt confident enough to stop my malaria prophylaxis. Needless to say, I lived.

 

The roots of this tree are used to make milk of magnesia. The roots extended at least ten metres around us and were a fantastic red colour.  Milk of magnesia is apparently used to clean the blood and the Indians take it once a year.

Monkey ladder tree, called so for obvious reasons.

A poisonous mushroom used to make the deadly hunting poison - curare. This mushroom, when combined with the oozing yellow root of another tree, creates a poison deadly enough to kill a person in 40 seconds.  Curare mainly used to by the Indians to kill animals. Krishna told us that when he worked in the plantations, he once tried to eat this mushroom but then spat it out without swallowing as it was bitter.  That was enough to make him vomit blood for an hour. Lesson learned: don't eat Amazonian mushrooms.

A plant growing through a leaf :)

A strangler fig tree killing another tree.  The strangler fig will suck the nutrients out of its host until it kills it and use the dead host to prop it up.  It will then look for another tree to cast its roots to suck it dry.
 

A termite's nest (and Krishna).  These termites will jump on you to protect the nest if you get within 30cm of it. The Indian use these termites to mask their scent before they go hunting. The termite's bite is not so painful and when they are crushed provide a pleasant odour.

 

 

More forest.

After our hike, we had to kayak back up the river to our lodge. Luckily we managed to do it, or we would have been stuck on the river!

There were so many other wonderful things that we did that I don't have pictures of.  We saw two sloths, some caymans, two rainbow boas, a giant iguana up a tree, a wolf spider, an Amazonian tree boa, cappuchin monkeys, squirrel monkeys and a crazy afternoon spent piranha fishing. I caught one, first fish I ever caught. :)