Day 37

Today we had our boat trip which was AMAZING! We met our guide and thankfully the group was incredibly small- only 1 other person!! We then boarded the speed boat and headed off to Combu island on the edge of the Amazon. We went down various estuaries enjoying seeing the local way of life. Small houses perching on stilts - certainly a much simpler way of life! We saw the locals going about their day, zooming up and down in small speed boats. The shores lined with palm trees, and mangroves protecting the houses from erosion and extreme weather. We then “docked” although feels like a glamorous word to use for clinging on to the side of the building and trusting some very creaky old wooden stairs.

Arriving in a local merchants shop we taste tested locally grown chocolate, including 100% dark chocolate which was too much for me but Keira loved!

Moving through the shop we began exploring the island seeing the local primary school. Then headed deeper into the forest to meet a family. The leader- an 83 year old man, welcomed us and headed into his house to grab something. He then produced the larger machete I have ever seen!! He proceeded to show how he uses it to open the large seed pods that contain Brazilian nuts. I watched slightly worried he might lose a finger! Keira had a go to crack it open too! Once we got it open we tasted the nuts which were delicious! He then waved for us to follow him around the back of his house where he showed us two green parrots! Completely wild and able to fly to and from the house as they please. He has been looking after them since they were born and they were very friendly- we got to hold them!

We then headed deeper into the forest for an hours walk with our guide Jeff. He explained so much about the rainforest, showing us various different plants along the way and thier medicinal purposes. We ended the tour at a HUGE tree- 450years old and sky rocketing into the canopy it’s hard to put scale on it!

We then headed back to the speedboat to get taken back to Belem. An incredible experience we absolutely LOVED it!!Leggi altro