Forest and River Tour

So my river tour went really well. To be honest, I was kind of worried about it. I wasn’t worried at all until the night before when Lixin said it would be good if someone else was going with me for safety. Then my imagination started going … what if this guy took me out on a boat, took all my money, and left me in the middle of nowhere?? So I was kind of stressed. Also, I woke up Friday morning to a big storm. Jean Claude, my guide, called to make sure I was still okay with going out in the rain. He said it was safe but I was nervous. We decided to go to the docks and play it by ear. I almost couldn’t eat breakfast, that’s how nervous I was. So I thought, “You should either call Jean Claude and cancel or just stop worrying. Because the trip won’t be any fun if all you’re doing the whole time is worrying. You have no reason not to trust him – his company is legit and the only reviews I found of them online were good. So either suck it up or cancel.” I chose the former.

We got to the docks and most of the thunder and lightening had stopped. It wasn’t too windy so the water wasn’t all crazy. We met our boat driver, who goes by Herchita (?), which means little mouse because he was a kind of short and squat guy. We decided to go to the Ecological Park first. So we headed up the Rio Negro. The boat had a cover so we stayed dry as we cut across the kind of choppy water. Eventually, we entered a ‘small stream’ (its size was somewhere between that of a Coloradoan and Georgian river). It came from the Amazon and was a different color from the Rio Negro. The scenery was serene. The rain was pattering on the river, and the hills around it were very green. It was kind of like going through the estuaries on the Georgia coast, but with slightly more topography. Here and there were small wooden houses that were not in great shape, to say the least. The people have two methods of adjusting to the rising and falling waters between the wet and dry seasons. One option is to have their house float on the river. They use a combination of large logs and tires to keep it afloat. I can’t imagine living literally on a river; it is so different from what I’m used to! The second option is to build your house on a hill on wooden stilts. But Jean Clause said that even then, the waters often come up to people’s houses and they have to board up the windows and live in the attic. Crazy.



Anyway, we arrived at the Ecological Park and it was still raining pretty hard. So, we put on our rain jackets and headed out. From the docks, we walked up a wooden walkway that went through the forest. It was about 8 feet off the ground to avoid the flooding during the rainy season. We took a side trail to see a Samauma tree. They have very wide bases that are an architectural adaptation of the tree to being under water part of the year and withstanding strong winds during storms. Pretty impressive.
Next we arrived at a covered deck that overlooked a pond. There were large lily pads that bloom from delicate pink flowers and several kinds of large and small birds. I’m glad we were there so early because we were the only people there and it was very peaceful. I took a ton of pictures. Eventually, we also saw two alligators and a few monkeys running around on the other side of the pond. It was neat to see the monkeys walking upright.

I don’t know how long we stayed on the deck. I could have stayed all day. If you just take one glance at the forest, it seems kind of ordinary. It’s not like looking at the Rocky Mountains, where you are automatically amazed. But I think the more time you are there, the more you see and the more you appreciate it. That short time, maybe one or two hours, made me really want to come back to the Amazon forest. I was filled with a large sense of awe at the complexity of the ecosystem. It reminded me of the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. At the time, I was considering hiking into it the next day but was very apprehensive of the strenuous 18 mile hike. But as soon as I laid my eyes on it, I was first completely amazed, and second convinced that I absolutely had to explore it. That is how I felt Friday. A few hours didn’t do it justice. I want to get a chance to know the forest at least a little more intimately.





After leaving, we went back to the Rio Negro and stopped to see a rubber tree. I was thinking this wouldn’t be that exciting, but it turned out to be a fun stop. First, there wasn’t a dock where we stopped. It was just a spot that Herchita knows about. So we pulled up the boat next to the shore and got out into some intense mud! I had my chacos on and after about 15 steps there was an inch-thick layer of mud both on the bottom of my shoes and all around them. The shores were also pretty polluted. Jean Claude said most people don’t put trash into trash cans, they just throw it into the streets or streams and it eventually ends up in the river. Sad. Anyway, Herchita was walking barefoot through all the muck and led us into the trees. There were some pretty neat trees in there that I took a lot of pictures of because they had amazing root systems above ground. He showed us a rubber tree and cut a niche in it with his very large knife. Some white sap came out, which is the latex. Interesting, I didn’t really know where latex comes from, but there it is!

Next we went to a piraracu farm. These are some of the largest freshwater fish in the world. The “farm” was really just a guy’s house in the Rio Negro – about 100 yards off the banks. Next to the house is a floating boardwalk that surrounds a “tank”, which is apparently really deep and surrounded by nets that come down from the boardwalk. So we saw some of the pirarucu. They were, as promised, very large and very colorful. We stayed for a bit but it was not the highlight of the trip.


The next stop was the infamous Meeting of the Waters. This is where the Rio Negro (warm, ‘black’, acidic) meets the main branch of the Amazon (cooler, brown, nutrient-rich). You can see where these two rivers meet up from space. It was neat to see, but to me the best part of it was just being in the middle of this huge river. A couple of local guys rowed up next to us with a boat full of fish. It was just a little rowboat, but the bottom of it was covered in dead and dying fish. Yum – dinner!


So we looked at the water and then I decided to jump in! Definitely not recommended by my travel nurse, but I’ve talked to a few people in Manaus who swim at the beaches along the river. They are still alive, so … Also, not much lives in the Rio Negro and that is where I mostly swam because it’s warmer. I jumped in from the boat, which was fun. First I jumped into the Rio Negro. It was pretty warm. Jean Claude said that I should jump into the Negro first, then swim to the Amazon to feel the temperature difference, and Herchita would drive the boat along to meet me in the Amazon (by the way, we are only talking a distance of less than 25 yards, so this wasn’t a major swim). So I jumped in, woohoo!

And then Herchita started up the boat and I had a moment of sheer panic that they were going to drive away and leave me in the middle of the Amazon. It was choppy and not easy swimming, and the temperature difference was very noticeable and of course got me thinking about density. But I was not wanting to stick around in the river for too long – first because I don’t want fish swimming up my you-know-what, and second because I didn’t want to be left behind (not that any thing either of them had done would indicate that leaving me was their intention). I guess I would have gotten a ride from the locals. It would have been pretty bad. My silly over-active imagination!

So that was my trip. It was enjoyable, especially the Ecological Forest. Jean Claude was a good guide. He is not from Manaus, but it was nice that there were not difficulties with language. There were some questions I had that he couldn’t answer, but in general he was knowledgeable. It was nice to be able to call the shots and elect to stay the longest in the forest. I will gradually be putting more pictures on http://www.chrisandanna.shutterfly.com.

Happy Day

I feel very happy at the moment. I gave my presentation today and I think it went fine. I was really really nervous beforehand. My thesis defense was definitely a bigger deal, but this was stressful because my audience was so knowledgeable. I have me a handful of scientists whom I cite in my thesis, so they obviously know this stuff very well. It just makes me nervous to talk about my research in front of people who are experts in the field. I told Ian this and he said, "But you're an expert too!" Haha. I half-expect to find out that I've been going about this all wrong, misinterpreting their papers, and my results are crap. Well, maybe I am a novice expert. If I use a lot of big words, then people won't know what I'm talking about and won't ask questions. :) Just kidding, I need a thesaurus to use big words.

I had to put my presentation on a USB drive and transfer it to the appropriate laptop this morning. I watched the woman do it and then she opened the file to confirm it was okay. Well, when it was my turn to talk, they didn't have the powerpoint!! Luckily my USB drive was still with me and they downloaded it fairly quickly, but it was a bad start. I tried not to think about it. Like I said, I think the talk was fine. The jitters never really went away but someone I talked to afterward said I was very calm while giving it. I think I come across as calm often. It's a neat trick.

After the talk, I was very very tired. There were a few questions that I think I handled fine (that word keeps coming up). Some people said they really liked it. One such person is someone I cited in my thesis, and he also said he's read part of my thesis - he found it online somehow! Wow ... people are reading my thesis?! That is pretty cool, except he goes to U. Florida. But, he was nice and not a Gator fan, so it was okay.

The rest of the day was nice. The morning plenary talks were about "Visions and models for sustainable development in the Amazon region." I enjoyed them. Two of the speakers are scientists but are currently more involved in sustainable development now. It's very encouraging me to see scientists who are able to also apply their passion to helping people and the environment in a more direct way than just doing research.

Two other great things about today: 1. I found out that the hotel next to mine has a fitness room and pool. It is 10 reals (about $5) to use it, so I got up at 5:45 this morning and ran 9.4 km on a treadmill. :) It felt so good to get some exercise after almost a week without any and lots of food! It was a perfect way to start the day and I'm going to try to keep it up. 2. I just watched heroes! I had to buy it on itunes and it took all night to download, but was so good. Maybe it is also nice to have a little bit of American culture, plus just sitting and watching a tv show is a nice break from all of the working and socializing. Anyway, I love that show.

So, now Ian, Lixin and I are going out to dinner. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Weekend in the Amazon

What a great weekend. :) I am posting pictures on http://chrisandanna.shutterfly.com. I am very happy. Yesterday, Julio picked up Lixin, Ian and I at noon. We went to a supermarket first and bought a ton of food for the equivalent of $75. Then we headed north into the rainforest. After about 50 km on a road that goes all the way to Venezuela, we turned west onto a choppy dirt road. Ian took the wheel at this point, just in time for a little bit of rain. The water makes the dirt very slippery so it's like driving on ice. There was one very steep hill that we initially didn't make it up because the truck lost traction. It was a little nerve-wracking reversing down a slippery, steep slope but the second try was a charm!

Our first stop was the C14 tower. It is at kilometer 14 on the dirt road. The hike to the tower was short and being in the forest for the first time was amazing! The tower is the oldest in Amazonia, I believe. It was put up in the early 80's. Also it is wide enough to have stairs to walk up (4m x 4m). The main tower goes to 45 meters, but Julio built an additional tower on top that goes another 10 or 15 m. That tower was a little more rickety but the view at the top was great!

At first glance from above, the forest looks like ... a forest. But two things are very striking. First, for 360 degrees all you can see is forest. No roads, houses, power lines, rivers, or lakes. That is incredible, especially considering what you can see from a 60m tower is a very small portion of the entire forest. Second, if you focus your eyes in one direction, you can probably count about 15 different kinds of trees right in front of you. That to me is kind of a subtly amazing thing about the forest because you might not realize it right away. Also you can see and hear lots of birds and occasionally monkeys. We had lunch on top of the tower, it was an ideal spot for a picnic. :)

Geek alert, move to next paragraph if you're not interested! I've learned some good things over the weekend. I'll just name a few. 1. We went through a couple of different types of forest. In the lowlands the ground is very sandy and there are mostly palms. They are enormous though ... maybe 15 meters tall with humongous fronds. Higher up there is more clay and hence larger, taller trees (some as tall as the first tier of the C14 tower). 2. It is very still inside the canopy. Julio kept pointing this out because its importance in carbon fluxes. Even if there are large exchanges of carbon between the trees, ground, water, and air, that doesn't mean that the fluxes will translate directly to changes in carbon in the free atmosphere. Above the canopy, there is a nice breeze that is very refreshing ... and it enables exchanges between the canopy air space and free atmosphere. 3. The Rio Negro is not black. It's clear ... which is black. I don't know, I was confused. But it is that color because of all of the nutrients that are leached out of the groundcover on the way to the streams/river. It is very acidic and bugs don't like it. There were not many mosquitoes because we were near tributaries of the Rio Negro and it was really nice. OK, end the geek out session.

After climbing the tower he headed to the LBA base camp. I was feeling a little tired and thinking how nice some coffee would be. We first stopped at another LBA base camp and there were two guys there ... who offered us coffee! Yay! :) Then it was on to our base camp. It consists of a two-story building. The bottom is open and has a kitchen and tables. The top has screen windows and all the beds. There were a couple of bathrooms/showers, an equipment room with a pool table, and a cabana with a TV. It was weird to see a TV out in the middle of nowhere. We didn't watch it. Once it got dark, we had our own entertainment.

We cooked a surprisingly good meal considering we were in the middle of the forest. Tortellinis with sauteed green and red peppers, onions, green olives, a broccoli-type vegetable and a spinach-type vegetable, and chicken. Yum! The night sounds were pretty neat. Crickets, birds, and these crazy monkeys. Julio said they are not very big, just a few feet tall but they are very very loud! The males basically roar and fight for the females' attention. Julio said the ones we heard were probably 4 or 5 km away but they were so loud. It was pretty neat and a little creepy too. He said it is really hard to sleep when they are closer but I think it might have been worth it to hear more of them. I woke up a couple of times in the night and heard them again. Very cool.

After dinner we were very full and decided to go on a hike. At first it was neat to be in the dark of the forest (we had two headlamps but mine was nearly dead). After a bit, I saw two green eyes glowing from the side of the trail! I wasn't too concerned until I pointed them out to Julio and he said it was a snake, and it started moving toward the trail! We kept going, and then I started noticing, out of the corners of my eyes, glowing green eyes everywhere! Maybe they were not all snakes, but it freaked me out. Julio made fun of me, Ian sounded annoyed, and Lixin freaked out too. It was interesting to say the least. Lixin was nervous too and too reassure her, Ian asked her something like, "How many times do you get to do something like this?" She said, "Never!" And he said, "So this is a first." And she said, "Yes, that is very nice, if we survive!" My sentiments exactly. Well, we made it and it was a neat experience. After that, it was time for bed. I will write about today's journey later, we are going to dinner soon!

this is a movie of the monkeys roaring at night. It is kind of faint and sounds like the wind howling, but those are monkeys!