(Jungle Day 1) Arriving at the Uacari Floating Lodge

With our vacation 1/3rd complete, Claire and I prepared to exchange Pipa's ocean breeze and tropical drinks for the Amazon Rainforest's stagnant, humid air and tropical drinks.

Located as far from Pipa as San Francisco is from Pittsburgh, Pousada Uacari is rated one of the best ecotourism spots in Brazil. From my understanding, this means they don't burn down the trees to give you a good view of flaming monkeys.

Reaching the Reserve

First, we flew from Natal to Forteleza, which happens to have a very sad World Cup Fan Shop:

The boxes are full of sadness

Next we flew to Manaus, flight being the only way to get to Manaus in Brazil (Claire notes: via boat is also an option, albeit one that takes MUCH longer). Despite having 1.8 million residents, they can only drive to Venezuela. Still, Manaus is a really interesting city. Like Pittsburgh, it exploded during an industrial boom (rubber instead of steel) and has since struggled to find balance after losing the industry that built it. Also, all major flights to and from Manaus somehow arrive at 2am. We spent the night in a hotel:

Not pictured: 100% humidity

From Manaus we flew to Tefé, a town so small your boarding pass doesn't bother listing the gate (there is only one). Here we were greeted by the resident Uacari biologist, who's name I will now misspell as "Aleeni."

After a brief car ride, our luggage was loaded on a speedboat and we were off to the lodge from Tefé.

Leaving the Grid

The Uacari (sometimes spelled "Uakari") Floating Lodge sits in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, between two major tributaries of the Amazon River. Only the locals refer to each tributary by a different. Everyone else just calls them "The Amazon River" and clocks out early for lunch.

Below is a picture of where the Rio Solimões (i.e., The Amazon) and the Rio Tefé (i.e., The Amazon) meet. The Rio Tefé (Amazon) is a blackwater river. The mountains that feed it are very old and don't deposit much silt. The Solimões (Amazon), is much younger, muddier, and cloudier. The lodge sits on the Solimões (Amazon).

The Rio Solimões (top, brown) and the Rio Tefé (bottom, black).

Fish apparently love it when two differently named rivers come together. They love it so much they celebrate by getting eaten by the Boto, a pink, fresh-water dolphin. 

Unlike marine dolphins, Boto can move their neck independent of their body and eat fish in water with zero visibility. Their vestigial dorsal fins and infrequent surfacing mean you take a lot of pictures of water ripples instead of dolphins.

Despite being a wildlife preserve, thousands of people live in this area and take part in its conservation. While many can trace back their heritage to indigenous amazon tribes, many more moved here during the rubber boom and could not afford to leave after the bust. 

All along the river you see houses and docks. They're on stilts because the rivers can rise by as much as 40 feet (!) each year. The water was still quite high during our trip, but was quickly dropping.

Those who choose to live here instead of the city must deal with the massive shifts in water level. They farm and fish, but must plant and harvest quickly. Sustainable fishing is a real challenge, as are seasons with too much or too little flooding.

Kids going to school

Since we're near the equator, all the satellite dishes point up. I still find this interesting.

Pousada Uacari

We reached the lodge after about 90 minutes on the boat. It sits entirely on the water, cannot be reached by road, and the only power available is either solar or diesel. It also has Wi-Fi and a bar (one needs creature comforts).

The lodge is staffed by researchers and people from the local communities. The locals are trained and employed only temporarily so as to not become dependent on the lodge for income.

The man in the yellow shirt was teaching English to the guides during our visit.

At the center of the lodge is a large, two-story common area. Here we could find electrical outlets for charging camera, drinkable water, and the bar (important). All our meals were included (even breakfast!), so there was no need to take a boat in search of a Denny's.

Our room was basic, but impressive given the general lack of solid ground or a nearby Bed Bath and Beyond.

The fan is powered by the solar array on the roof. Note that the fan is outside the mosquito net.

The view from our balcony includes hammocks.

All the water came from the river with minimal filtering. The white carafe contains boiled water that is safe to use for brushing teeth.

The woodwork was impressive. The green areas on the wall are simply spray-on fiberglass for waterproofing.

The two valves control the hot and cold water. The hot water runs out fast, but its hot enough that the cold water feels nice.

Our bathroom came with a complementary bug. I think room service will replace it with a fresh bug upon request. This one is about dead.

This was the walkway from our room to the common area. We didn't see them on our first day, but the water is full of caiman (sort of crocodiles).

Our four days at the lodge were planned via chart. The pictures were very helpful.

We settled in to our room, tossed out the bug (it had died), and prepared ourselves for our first afternoon activity.

Day 1 Afternoon Activity: Boat Tour

This trip had a lot of boats. Maybe it was the river's fault, but we definitely spent a lot of time on boats in Pipa too. As I said before, there aren't roads, so boats it is. All boats. All the time. I think when the water is lower you get fewer boats, but there are always at least some boats.

So, we got on a boat to go look for animals in the trees along the river.

The first animal we spotted on our official boat tour was a red howler monkey. These little guys have the uncanny ability to sound like a jet engine taking off in the distance. They are very loud. You'd think the best way to call a jaguar would be to make a lot of noise, but somehow these guys stay alive long enough to make a serious racket. Here's a youtube video of one howling.

Next we saw a pair of Amazon Parrots (papagaio). You could always pick out the parrots because they were always in pairs of two or groups of three. They bond for life, and despite being excellent mimics they tend to make only one sound. Its as if they're saying "I'M HERE, ARE YOU THERE?", followed by the other parrot saying "I'M HERE, ARE YOU THERE?" over and over.

Next up was a tree full of Capuchin monkeys. The red pods growing from the trees are possibly a fruit. They don't look or feel like any fruit I ate in the Amazon. The red seed pods turn into big balls of fluff when they burst, so if they are a fruit they aren't particularly juicy after a while. Anyway, monkeys love the suckers.

They monkeys seemed to be having a busy day, because we next saw a bunch of spider monkeys. The name seems like a bad choice in my mind. They only have 5 limbs total, plus they are extremely adorable. I dare someone to find me a cute, 5-legged spider.

Finally, we saw a pair of Hoatzin. These are one of the few species of chicken-like birds to evolve a powerful survival technique: tasting terrible. The birds smell very, very bad and apparently taste just as bad. Why the modern chicken hasn't figured this out is anybody's guess.

Wrapping up

We ended the day with a nice dinner and a presentation about the lodge. The local researchers do an amazing job of given the locals the right incentives to make sure they fish responsibly and help maintain the local ecosystem.

After being about 93F with 100% humidity during mid-day, the temperature at night dropped a a more reasonable 72F with 100% humidity. We slept with the fan on, which is a shame because the sounds of the jungle at night are amazing.