A day in the Amazon

Although we started our adventure in a 15-seater van, we were driving through the bumpy streets of Manaus, located in the middle of the Amazon forest, in the State of Amazonas, Brasil. Much of the forest is preserved in this area, unlike in neighboring Para State or in other countries where the rainforest has suffered at the hands of loggers. We are also lucky to be located just a few kilometers from the Amazon River; closest to us is the Rio Negro, which merges with the Rio Solimões an hour down river from the Manaus Port where we boarded our big tour boat. The Rio Solimões and the Rio Amazonas is one and the same river, and one can follow the Amazon from the Atlantic Ocean as it turns into the Rio Solimões near Manaus and cruise upstream all the way to Peru in a large ship, no problem. However, the main feature of our trip was to travel down the black Rio Negro about an hour until the two rivers meet, where the two colors stand out in obvious contrast; the cloudy water of the Solimões--at a different temperature, density and speed to the Nego--running along side-by-side for miles. Our boat chugged along on this "line" for 20 minutes as everyone looked on slack-jawed at the scene for a moment before rushing to take pictures on the back deck. At one point, we were lucky to see a boto river dolphin, and although he was too quick for everyone's cameras, everyone on the boat marveled to see him jump out of the Amazon and head off into the dark waters of the Rio Negro.
As the tour continued, we stopped at a floating dock and took a 10 minute walk to see the giant Victoria waterlilies that sprout in the Amazon every March. At this time of year, the large, round lily pads--which can grow up to 3 meters in diameter--bore no flowers for us to gaze, but were impressive nonetheless. Afterwards, we boarded small 10-seater canoes and proceeded to travel down a small channel into a flooded forest area of the Amazon. Half the year the area is dry land, and from July the waters rise and flood the forest floor, turning it into a swamp where, at night, alligators roam and schools of piranha swarm; luckily, in the early afternoon, neither of these were to be found. On the way back to the floating dock, after buying a fresh coconut with two straws poking out of it, we grabbed the front seats on the canoe and sipped the coconut water as we zipped back through the flooded forest, the canoe operator dodging rubber trees with expertise.
Back at the floating dock, we walked past a pool containing two large pirarucu. They were large for freshwater fish, that is. For pirarucu, they were practically babies, only measuring a meter or so in length and weighing, we were told, about 25 kilograms, or 55 pounds. Pirarucu is one of the largest freshwater fish in the world and frequently grow up to 2 meters in length and over 100kg. We also found out, a few minutes later, that they taste delicious when breaded and fried! We were served a huge buffet lunch consisting of lots of veggies, but also massive servings of pirarucu, tucunare and tambaqui fillets--we took heaping helping of each and devoured it all.
Full from Amazonian cuisine and exploring--not to mention a couple glasses of Skol beer I had with lunch--we couldn't help but snooze for a bit on the big boat back to the port of Manaus. Our day had been truly amazing and will be one to remember.