Thursday, March 1


What a totally fantastic day!! This morning we saw the confluence of the Rio Negro (which really is black water) and the silty, yellowish brown Rio Solimoes (aka the Amazon which is the name downstream from here). The two rivers remain distinctly separate for almost three miles before their waters mix.


In the afternoon, I went up to the port terminal here in Manaus (using only my canes, but I did take the shuttle up the slope of the floating dock they have here). That felt like a real accomplishment, but it wasn’t a patch on this evening!


Just as it got dark, I boarded a river boat which crossed the Rio Negro to Lake January where we transferred to 8-person canoes and went looking for caimans. What an experience! Floating almost silently along waterways in the flooded forest, with a full moon overhead and a young man with a flashlight on the bow spotting caimans. After several misses, he actually caught a young one, and I even got to pet it! Add in some amazingly good star-viewing (despite the full moon) when I got to see the Southern Cross, and it was an awesome evening.


Tomorrow I’m going back to Lake January in daylight when the canoes will take us actually into the flooded rainforest. I’m totally skipping the city tour here...seen enough cathedrals and opera houses already.