Yesterday I received an email from a good friend wondering where I was. She had not heard from me in a while. No Posts, nothing. I have been feeling overwhelmed and a bit stuck.

My two weeks on the Amazon were amazing. Mixed in with that trip was the notification right before and right after the trip that two good friends had died. And during the trip half of the group became positive for Covid, including me. I am preparing for the next part of my journey to New England and the Maritimes while recovering from two weeks in the Amazon.

Where do I start? I decided that the Amazon River trip is a good place to begin.

I spent two wonderful weeks exploring the Amazon River and the Rio Negro a major tributary to the Amazon River in Brazil. It was everything I expected and more. There were surprises along the way. None of them are bad, just interesting.

I traveled with eighteen other people from all over the United States and Canada. There were couples and singles, men and women. Some of us knew each other and others were new friends waiting to be made. My roommate, Mary, and I have been friends for a number of years. When she was looking for a roommate she thought of me. We got along well. After twelve days of traveling together, I am glad to say we are still friends. I look forward to more adventures with her.

I like adventure travel and I really like soft adventure travel. Soft adventure travel includes good food and a place to stay. Even better is when someone takes care of all my needs so I can focus on exploring the world I am in and taking photographs, of course.

Our Boat & Faithful Staff

Amazônia Expeditions did a superb job of meeting my needs.

• Comfortable and air-conditioned bedrooms.
• Food, really good food. Fresh fruit, fish from the river, vegetables from the market, and amazing desserts.
• Knowledgeable and kind guides and staff. They even did our laundry. If there was something that any of us needed all we had to do was ask and the staff made it happen.
• Our days were busy and well planned with a variety of experiences that kept everyone interested.
• Swimming on the warm afternoons.

Each day we disembarked our floating hotel the Dorhina and explored the river and the jungle in smaller boats that held eight people and two guides. The river was high, really high. The area we saw was often in the tree canopy. I wonder what it looks like in the dry season, although they say there are both the rainy and very rainy seasons. I realized that for some of the cutter ants and other little bugs, their whole migration can be up and down one tree. The trees are very tall.

As we bushwacked our way through the canopy, yes our guides had machetes to keep us comfortable as we explored, I saw monkeys (Howler, Squirrel, and White-faced), sloths (two and three-toed), a few snakes, flowers, interesting and unique trees, and birds galore.

On a typical day, the boat would go quiet around five a.m. There would be a half hour of quiet time and then all were awakened by Pavoratti singing “Brindisi” from the opera La Traviata. Some of the passengers tolerated the music but for us opera buffs, it was a delight. There would be a half hour for coffee and light snacks then we would board the tenders to leave and explore the River.

We went out on the tenders two to three times each day. Each day was a little different. It made my anticipation stay active. I was ready for each boat ride. I was ready to see what each trip would bring. My camera was by my side because, as you may know, I love photography.

At the end of the day, our tours on the tenders were not over. We often would leave on two-hour night tours. After dark it was quieter except for the frogs. The guides actually caught Caimans. I even held one. By watching for the sparkle of eyes in the lights our guides held we found Great Potoos in the trees. At night we did not see as much, yet it did not seem to matter. It was often cool and quiet on the river and very relaxing.

Here are some of the unique things we did.

• Swimming with the freshwater Pink Dolphins on the Rio Negro
• Swimming in a waterfall. It actually was the top of what would have been a major waterfall in the low river season.
• Fishing for Pirranahs.
• Spending a morning in the large city of Manaus exploring the Fish, Vegetable, and Craft Markets. We also got to see the Grand Opera House. What a beautiful place.
• We visited two Native tribes, watched dances, tried native foods and, of course, bought mementos. One tribe even invited our group to dance with them.
• Experience the full moon over the river.
• Fed Squirrel Monkeys and enjoyed their antics as they climbed all over me.
• We had dinner one night at a beautiful hotel and enjoyed their swimming pool.
• One night we went on a Tarantula hike. I did not hold one of them.

It was a grand trip and the telling is not over yet. Over the next month, I will dedicate a few posts of mostly photos to share more of this trip with you. Once my website is completely updated I will share the site with you.

I hope you will come along for the journey.

And remember…Click on the photos to enlarge them and click on Brindisi to listen to our morning wake up call.