Rio

 We arrived in Rio de Janeiro super early in the morning, and since we couldn't check into our hotel until later we were free to check out the city on our own for a couple hours.  This is the famous Ipanema Beach.  The beach we stayed closest to was Copacabana, which was really pretty as well, but this was my favorite.

I went slacklining on Ipanema Beach!

Jardim Botânico stands as the most beautiful garden I have ever visited in my life.  It is enormous, and you have to pay to get it, but it is worth every penny.  There were even wild birds and monkeys that would come to the garden at certain hours of the day. 

The garden has existed since the empire, which was in the 19th century.  In fact, it was founded by the emperor himself, at the beginning of the century.  The garden is kept beautiful year round, and we saw tourists from all across the world coming to see the variety of plants and trees.  The botanical garden is a must-see for everyone going to Rio de Janeiro!

This is pau-brasil, the tree that gave Brazil its name. 

Amazon Jungle 2

 We got to go piranha fishing on the Black River with little pieces of raw beef.  Brian caught this one right off the bat and our boat guide stuck it on a stick.

 This is our boat guide with the piranhas we caught.  He was very pleased with today's catch.

 Terry caught a caiman using a bright light.  He shined the light on the caiman and its eyes reflected the light, shining red like cigarette buds.  He had the boat sneak up on it, and when he was close enough, he leaned over the edge of the boat and grabbed it.  He then taught us all about caimans, including interesting facts such as that two thirds of the muscle in its jaw is for shutting, and only one third is for opening.  Therefore, holding its mouth shut is easy, but getting it to open back up after its bitten down on something is very difficult.

 Terry used a rubber band to keep its jaw shut while he let us take turns holding it.  I wasn't afraid.

 All the piranhas that were caught were delivered to be made into a soup.  They are very bony, which don't make them difficult to eat, but the people in the area are fond of the taste.

 This is a famous point in Brazil.  Its the point where the Rio Negro (Black River) meets the Rio Solimões.  Due to a difference in density, temperature, and velocity, the two rivers don't mix right away, forming this wavy line in the water, with one side a murky brown and the other a deep black.  Terry said that another reason is that the people on one side of the river only drink their coffee with milk, and the people on the other side drink it without, which was of course a joke.

 A wild monkey.  This one loved bananas, it literally ate about 7 that we fed it.  I don't know how--it must have been pretty hungry.

 The huge lily pads of the Amazon can at times hold up to 20 kilos.

 Terry took us on another hike late at night, and he stuck a stick in a hole underneath a tree, making this spider jump out.  We didn't get to see any tarantulas, so it was cool of Terry to get this one to jump out.

 Rubber used to be a central industry on the Amazon, and rubber was usually sold in these units.  This block of rubber bounces like a basketball, literally.  The process of getting the rubber was very long and strenuous, accumulated from little drops of the sap of trees, which started out as white, before it was smoked to give it its dark color.  It had to be smoked to keep it together, otherwise it would crumble up and be rendered worthless.

This is a natural açaí plant, right there in the Amazon.  These little dark berries--its incredible how something so small can be the cause of such great joy.

 Our last big hurrah in the Amazon was a place we visited where we could swim with the endangered pink dolphins (botos).  They probably came for the free fish, but we like to think that they came to swim with us.

Amazon Jungle

 The best part of the trip began with a little ferry ride across the Black River to a little resort called Tiwa.  The Black River is technically the Amazon (the "Amazon" as most people refer to is actually a long set of several rivers all linked together, forming one long body of river from the Atlantic to the western regions of South America), but only a section of it.

 Leaving behind civilization as we know it to set foot into the wild of the Amazon. 

 Well, maybe it wasn't TOTALLY wild.  The huts we stayed in were actually very nice, with electricity and water-heating showerheads and even mini-refrigerators.  But it was still awesome.  This pool is alligator-infested.

 Right after arriving, our guide Terry had us put on our jeans and tennis shoes and took us immediately into the wild.

 Our machete-wielding guide Terry was incredible in every way, shape, and form.  He knew the secrets of the Amazon rainforest, how to get certain bugs to come out of their hiding places, and the special features of certain native plants.  When we were entering the forest, he told us that he was responsible for taking us into the jungle, but we were responsible for getting out.  This turned out to be something very significant to our group, and became a theme for our trip.

 Terry used his machete to make this tree bleed.

 Terry also invited us to put our hands on a large ant nest, which seemed like madness--but since we don't ask questions with Terry, I obeyed.  The ants were too small to inflict any real pain, but the cool thing was he had us rub our hands together and the ants actually had this really cool cedar scent.  I never would have imagined that ants could be used as a natural perfume.

 Terry also chipped some amber off of a tree and stuck it inside of a seed pod, and then lit it on fire.  It burned like coal.  Terry said that it was used by the natives for building fires.

A small alligator living outside our huts and myself.

This parrot was crazy.  Apparently it was "tame," as it had been living around the tourists for a long time, but it actually turned out to be a relentless terrorist.  Its massive claws and razor-sharp beak actually ripped chunks out of this chair, and did considerable damage to other things it could find.  It ripped through the mosquito net on one of the huts windows and entered the room, to the great surprise of Vanessa's sons who were sleeping therein.  Also, it would shriek and follow in great swooping motions whoever it decided to attack.  We found out later from Terry that its wife had previously been killed and eaten by a boa constrictor, which may be the cause of all its rancor.

Manaus

 Traveling to Manaus was the epic climax of our voyages throughout Brazil.  The capital of Brazil's largest state, Amazonas, the city of Manaus is on the Amazon River, and it feels like a totally different country than anything I had ever experienced in Brazil.  As we flew in, I had the overwhelming feeling that this was going to be the best part of my trip, and I wasn't disappointed. 

Before heading crossing the Black River into the depth of the Amazon jungle, we spent some time in the city.  We visited the famous Amazon Theatre, constructed in the year 1892.  The building is the home of the Amazonas Opera Festival, held once a year in Manaus.

 

Inside the theatre, there was a very interesting ballroom with this mural on the spacious ceiling.   Our guide pointed out that if you walk from one side of the room to the other with your eyes fixed on certain parts of the painting, they change.  For instance, if you watch the little girl as you go from one side of the room to the other, she grows, and if you look at one of the women, she moves her arm and opens her eyes.  Its really crazy, but true.

We got to visit the nearly-finished temple of Manaus!  I'd never seen a partly constructed temple before, and this is located right on the river! (You can't see it from this photo, but the river is on the other side of the fence.)  The temple is supposed to be finished by the beginning of next year, so its dedication should be coming up soon.  So many members of the church will be blessed to not have to take the several-day voyage to the São Paulo temple once this one is finished.

Salvador

 Salvador was a lot different than I had expected.  There were so many tourists!  I had no idea that the city was such a hot spot for tourists from all around the world.   This elevator costs 15 centavos, and it takes you from the higher level of the historic Salvador to the lower level, and it is the only 2-floor elevator I have ever paid to use.  Well worth it though.

Salvador is the oldest city in Brazil, and a lot of what its colonists left remains today.

 There is a lighthouse ("farol") located on the southwest tip of the city, where visitors are allowed to pay a fee and go to the top to get a better view of the city, as well as the ocean.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't so good during our stay.

 The city is located on the coast of Bahia, a state that is in the northeast of Brazil.  Though Bahia is considered "nordeste," it was very different from anything I'd ever seen in Fortaleza or Recife.  Recife, though unique, reminded me a lot of Ceará, but Salvador was a city completely of its own.  The culture had a lot more African influence than I'd seen in any other part of Brazil, due to the fact that it was a central port for importing of African slaves during the years of Brazil's colonization.

A view of the city from the top of the lighthouse.  

 One night we decided to treat ourselves to a real Bahian meal, which of course means seafood.  The traditional Bahian dress was worn by the waitresses at the restaurant, though I got the feeling that they just wore it to please tourists (I'm still skeptical about how common this type of wear is today).

 The meal included every type of seafood you can imagine, including a few that you can't imagine.  There was a few types of crabs, some lobster, shrimp, fish, and several types of shellfish.  My favorite was the type of soft-shell crab that is native to the region.  You eat it with the shell and everything, pretty crazy.  But good.  The best part of Bahian food, in my opinion, is the pimenta (hot sauce).  Their pimenta is some of the greatest stuff I have ever eaten in my life.

Praia dos Carneiros

We woke up early the next morning and got a ride from our host's brother-in-law's taxi driver to the hotel that he runs.  Really, its more like a mini-paradise with huts you can stay in.  We didn't get to stay there (though I'm highly considering it for when I can one day afford it), but they let us use the facilities to hold our stuff while we spent the day on the indescribable beauty of Praia dos Carneiros.

Our first sight upon walking in on this hidden paradise were the wild turkeys running around everywhere.  There were also monkeys running around and climbing up trees, and a big peacock prancing around.  My thoughts, "Is this the real life, or is this fantasy?"

Monkey.

Peacock.

I wanted so badly to lay out in that hammock, but the fact that I hadn't paid the hundreds of dollars that everyone else had paid to be there kept me from doing it.

The weather was absolutely ideal. What a comeback from the disappointment we experienced at Porto de Galinhas! 

I didn't get this off of Google images.

Nor this.

Between the sand and the water there was a stretch of reef filled with sea urchins, sea anemones (I admit using spell-check on that one), little fishes, crabs, and hermit crabs.  Jaren and I spent some time on the reef trying to catch tiny fishes and crabs, and then feeding them to the anemones.  It's still fun.

Jaren and I took a little exclusive excursion on a boat, who showed us what there is to see at this wonderful beach.

The boat stopped at a little secret spot where the sand was filled with pieces of what they call "white mud," though its really more of a clay, that you can rub on your skin.  Legend has it that the clay has healing effects.

I didn't think that I could ever be whiter than I already was, but I guess I was wrong.

At the end of the boat ride, the guy let us borrow his snorkel gear (for a reasonable price) and we got to go around the natural pool in the middle of the reef.  Luckily I didn't get the girl mask (the guy said my head was too big for it).  Amongst the coral were lots and lots of fish, and it was really cool to stick your head down there and watch them inside the little caves.  Some of them were really colorful, and when they hit the sunlight that came through the reef they would glow bright shades of blue or yellow.  You had to be careful not to get poked by the sea urchins, which everyone says are poisonous enough to send you to the hospital.  

Also, I'm not sure what the other two snorkelers in the back of the photo are doing.