Rio Preto and Last Day on the Amazon – 23 April 2010

On the Amazon – Rio Preto and Last Day on the Amazon – 23 April 2010

We arrived at Rio Preto where we anchored. I quickly dressed and grabbed a cup of coffee as the Toucans were scheduled to go out in the zodiacs at 6:30. I was warned that it might rain and that I should take my rain gear. I grabbed my pancho and stuffed it into the plastic bag. The scenery was similar to what I had seen on previous days. The only unique animal that I saw was the diving lizard which was holding on to the trunk of a plant and was maybe two or three inches above the ground. It started raining, but initially it was a light drizzle. The drizzle increased in volume and I put on my pancho. Owing to the rain, I was unable to take pictures, which is not so terrible since I really would need a better telephoto lens than my camera has. The rain was really coming down and I got drenched to the skin despite the pancho. The zodiacs turned back. I think that they were concerned about lightning. As soon as I got on board, I stripped and put on dry clothes and went for breakfast. I am trying to cut back on what I eat, because not only is there large quantities, but it is well prepared as well. After breakfast, I came back and washed my clothes. This afternoon, if the sun is out, I’m going to take my sneakers and my wet outer clothes up on deck to dry.

There were two lectures this morning. The first was by Dr Tanya Edwards of the Cleveland Clinic. She spoke on integrating traditional healing with western medicine. Then Buzz Thompson spoke about methodologies for saving the Amazon forest and its importance to world ecology. Lunch was served almost immediately after the lectures end. After lunch, I took a nap. I don’t understand why I am so tired although getting up 5:45 AM for the zodiac trip might partially explain it.

Through the rain, a fisherman
Loking upstream through the rain
Turkey vultures on the tree
Somewhere is a diving lizard

We passed through Brazilian customs, but all the formalities were handled by ship’s personnel, which is why they are holding our passports. We are now heading for the open ocean. There was a champagne ceremony with “King Neptune” to celebrate crossing the Equator. Ed Hudson, the ship’s historian, spoke on the Rubber Boom here in Brazil. The rubber boom was centered in the city of Manaus which was further up the Amazon than we went. It is actually on the Rio Negro a few miles north of where the Rio Negro joins the Amazon. At 7:00 PM local time, we had the evening recap during the cocktail hour. I went down for dinner and after dinner came to my cabin to go to sleep and upload my pictures.











Me at the Equator
Me at the Equator
Shore of the Amazon
Other Shore of the Amazon