Last adventure in Manaus

A few weeks before we left Brazil, we took another long drive down the beautiful estrada
for an overnight adventure in Manaus.

  

We were grateful that our friend Junior joined us. When our van broke down in the exact same spot it did the first time we drove to Manaus, Junior taught us how to play a fun game with sticks

  

We were glad to break down near a gas station and federal police check point. We loved that so many good people in Brazil praise the Lord unabashedly, like this banner at the girls were "flying" under at the gas station:
"All honor and glory given to the Lord Jesus"

The officers at the checkpoint were so kind, they let us use their restroom and gave the girls some rambutan (a favorite fruit) to eat, and one of them called his mechanic nephew for us, who drove all the way from Manaus to repair our battery

We were so grateful we could spend some time at the Temple that afternoon, we didn't know then that the temples would soon close for the pandemic and it would be our last opportunity at the beautiful Manaus temple.

We were also so grateful to spend some last time with our friends Brasil and Graça who were so generous to share a brunch with us and visit with us while Brasil drove David for another part to finish fixing the van

We stopped at CIGS, the military training center, where there is a zoo of regional animals.
They did a really nice job of collecting some of the creatures we had wanted to see.

There were many kinds of fish...

...we would have liked to catch some of these fishing!

There were a lot of great turtles.

And many kinds of monkeys.

They also had an anta (tapir) and capybara (large rodent).

We finally got to see some of the creatures we hadn't been able to find in the wild,
like the famous colorful birds of the Amazon....

and an onça! (jaguar)

It was fascinating to watch the toucan eat, having to turn its head to see its food around its big beak.

Some of the creatures we had seen...

...but you can never see too many Amazon sized bugs...

or beautiful Amazon butterflies!

A goodbye hug from the onça!

And a beautiful drive back along the estrada.
We didn't know then it was our last time seeing the lovely views along the estrada,
we were glad we could enjoy it in the daylight!

WE MISS THE BEAUTIFUL AMAZON!!