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It was a rough trip to get to the Policia Federal, but they gave us permission to stay longer in Brazil!
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Several weeks ago we had to travel in person to Manaus to get permission to stay more than 90 days in Brazil. We were given an extension until April 28. Our original travel plans were to fly out the first of April, but with the evolving pandemic situation, we may decide to stay as long as our permission allows. Yay!!
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| It's a 4-5 hour drive on a bumpy road, and something rattled loose under our van and we had to stop. Gratefully, our good friend Luis traveled with us to be our Brazilian contact to sign our permission documents, and he helped us get our van fixed. |
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| Also, our good neighbor George insisted before we left that we have 2 jacks and lent us some wood he felt might be useful. It was! We couldn't reach the part without both jacks and the wood. We felt protected by his kindness! |
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Luis' wife Dyovana generously invited us to stay with them at her parent's home in the city.
It's a much bigger and busier city than where we live!
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| The next day they went with us to an impressive "museum" of the rainforest region.
It was really a trail through the beautiful "floresta" with various exibits along the trail.
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| One of the coolest parts was a very tall tower we climbed to see the rainforest from above the trees! |
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| It's hard to say what was more dizzying, looking out from the top of the tower, or going back down the stairs. |
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We had a fantastic tour guide who taught us interesting things along the way.
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| They had a great display of Victoria Amazonica, the the famous giant lily pads. |
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And we learned that these vines grow up and down the trees, to get soil or light.
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| Its a long way up! |
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There were fish tanks and a snake house and butterfly room and cool plants and insects along the way.
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The little girls really enjoyed the fishing tools in the display of indigenous peoples and native art.
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| Later, Luis and Dyovana family were very kind to help us find our way through traffic to the temple. |
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| They also helped us book boat passage to travel back to Itacoatiara by river while they drove our van back for us. |
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| This is the kind of boat, a few floors of large open space with rows of hooks for hammocks and cargo beneath. |
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| Not far past Manuas is the famous joining of the waters, where the brown water of the Solimões and black water of the Negro flow side by side without mixing for several miles. It is so fascinating to see! | |
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This doesn't really show how enormous the hammock room was, packed with rows and rows of all kinds of hammocks and so many people traveling for various lengths of the river.
It was only about 8 hours to our city, some of the friends we met were going to be on the boat for 4 days. |
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We really enjoyed making new friends from many places, including our friend Agnieszka and her 3 boys from Poland who came for an adventure int he Amazon and some refugees coming to Brazil from Venezuela.
It was fun trying to play games in 4 languages! |
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| As we always find, it was the good people we spent time with that were the best part of our trip! |
It was so fun to finally find a moment to check in with you guys and see your adventures. We love you and miss you, but we are so glad you are learning and growing and having fun together.
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