Day Three, part two – the afternoon of a big day in the Jungle

We headed back for lunch after our jungle walk and then had some time to relax, which we opted to do in our air-conditioned room. We might have even napped, but we did not have a clock and there was no phone in the room to request a wake-up call and we definitely did not want to miss our chance to swim with the dolphins! Those pictures below were taken with our two disposable water cameras.

Swimming with River Dolphins
Brazilians call the river dolphins “botos,” and by coincidence National Geographic magazine did a story on the botos in the June 2009 issue. They are truly dolphins and they really are pink and gray, and the guide calls them and keeps the interested with a bucket of fish so we have a chance to see them up close and even touch them. It was interesting how they used intermittent reinforcement with the fish so they were more motivated to stick around and play with us. Way, way cool. Here’s the best news: botos and caimans are the two natural predators of piranha and since the botos use sonar and make distinctive noises as they surface for air, the piranhas scatter when botos are around. Score!!

We put on life preservers and swam out into the river with the botos, which was cool in and of itself, but also refreshing because there would be no other going in the water on this trip and one thing’s for sure – the sun is hot on the equator no matter what time of year it is. We found out that the hotel limits dolphin excursions to twice a week so the botos do not become too dependent on being fed from the bucket of fish.

Visit to the Family Farm:
As if all we’d done this day was not enough, we were not through - next up was a visit to a family farm! Somehow none of us were tired because it was all so fascinating. At the family farm, we saw a demonstration of how the people in the region make their living. We learned about the variety of crops most typically raised, and saw demonstations of how they harvest and process mandioca. We got to have a taste of the delicious flat bread they make from the mandioca flour, and also açaí juice from berries picked from the towering palms they grow on. Fresh, pure açaí juice reminded me of the taste of mulberries – sweet, with an earthy edge. Those towering palm trees above and to the right are Açaí palms.

We stopped at a second family farm and discovered later that it was the family of our guide’s assistant, Roberto. Roberto’s family’s farm was completely flooded and the interior of their house featured the same type of raised crosswalk boards we teetered on at the hotel. They had some tables with handcrafts out, which we happily bought from because we figured it was one of their sources of income.

Caiman Spotting at Night
We headed back to the hotel for dinner, and because we didn’t do enough that day, we headed out after dark to spot caimans. As they do with alligators in Florida, it’s best done at night and with a flash light to look for their eyes. Our guides brought a heavy-duty search light hooked up to a car battery, which threw off a very powerful beam. Even so I was not able to see any caiman eyes, but the guides did and then surprised us by diving into the water to capture one. It was about 3 feet long and the key is to hold it very firmly at both the neck and the base of the tail.

There are 3 varieties of Caiman found in the Rio Negro basin and all are carnivorous predators. They have been known to stalk their prey and when they attack, they first immobilize their prey with a swipe of their powerful tail and then bite. Caiman are a protected species and are one of the few natural predators of piranha.

After this long day, it goes without saying that we all slept well.