- Our day started early in Manaus with a very quick breakfast grabbed on the run since we had to catch the bus by 7:30am. In the daylight, Manaus presented the many facets and contrasts seen throughout Brazil – sleek modern architecture next to run-down storefronts and/or favelas, and modern automobiles passing push-carts and innumerable street vendors. As we crossed one small bridge, I saw a favela with half of the shacks under water and I remembered that we arrived at the end of a wet season marked by record flooding.
Over some rooftops, I glanced the dome of the famous Teatro Amazonas, the improbable opera house that could easily fit into the elegance of Paris or Vienna. We then passed through an area with gated communities and then miles and miles of military facilities with groups of soldiers jogging and doing calisthenics in the already-blazing 8:00am sun, renewing my appreciation of our air-conditioned bus.
Our boat to the Ariaú Hotel boarded at a dock at the Tropical Hotel in the Rio Negro, which is not coincidental since both hotels are owned by the same man. During the 1.5 hour ride, we passed miles and miles of trees, occasional bluffs and ever less-frequent houses. I was struck at the enormity of the river, which is the largest tributary of the Amazon.
End of the Wet Season
Although we’d been warned that the river was in the midst of the worst flooding since records were kept, we really did not have a sense of just how high the water was. We were told that the river was 29.3 meters above flood stage and the math told me that was about 60 feet, but we did not quite get it until after the trip and we saw a photo of the hotel during dry season and remembered that it was called the “tree top hotel” and the entire complex was built on stilts. Even so, the first floor was under a foot of water, so the staff responded by building a network of walkways just high enough to remain above the water.
Nature is Everywhere
This hotel came into being as a result of Jacques Cousteau, who urged the owner of the Tropical Hotel to create the means for people from all over the world to experience the wonder of the jungle. It was constructed in the 1980s using ironwood lumber, which is no longer possible since ironwood is a protected species and it’s illegal to harvest and use ironwood.
The stark reality of being in the middle of the jungle and the omnipresence of nature was the best aspect of this hotel. Offering comfort and accessibility in the jungle is a difficult balance to strike, and the hotel seems to manage it well while maintaining an evident respect for nature and the surrounding communities. We soon learned that the heavy screens and chain-link fences covering all windows and terraces were due to the little monkeys, which scampered everywhere and became aggressive if they believed you had food with you.
We found it amusing that the only people who seemed to ignore the numerous signs in both Portuguese and English advising us not to feed the animals, were of course, the Brazilian tourists. As if on cue, one mother was outside the dining room, giving her toddler bananas to hand to the little monkeys while she tried to snap a picture. When I pointed to the warning sign right next to her and asked her whether or not it was allowed, she quickly responded that it was okay to feed that monkey (pointing with a banana) and it could only be bananas. Pity that she moved even more quickly away from the sign when I turned on my own camera to capture the moment (Exhibit C in the considering the complexity of Brazilians' relationship with rules).
Jeitinho
The hotel’s response to the flood was a good demonstration of Brazilian “jeitinho,” which is a unique hallmark of Brazilian culture and roughly translates to creative resourcefulness. Nobody does “jeitinho” like Brazilians. Jeitinho helps keep things going in the face of challenges, whether presented by Mother Nature or pesky man-made ones like rules, ordinances or government decrees. Ask any Brazilian about jeitinho and you’ll either get a knowing laugh, a shrug, rolled eyes or most likely all three. It is sometimes referred to as "o jeitinho brasileiro" (as if there were any other kind of jeitinho and you need to clarify what kind it is). I think maybe Cubans come close to having a type of "jeitinho" as part of their culture (when they refer to a "Cubanazo"), but it really doesn't hold a candle to Brazilian jeitinho.
Nonetheless, we were pleased the hotel's management believes in jeitinho and could operate in spite of the flood because our experience was unforgettable.
Here is an aerial photo of the hotel during the dry season, and then compare it to this shot below from the boat 
on approach. Notice how it's built on stilts and how high off the ground it is to get a sense of the extent of the flooding.
Nice Surprises
Nice surprises included air conditioning in our rooms,
and the fact that the Rio Negro’s water has a pH that ranges between 3.8 and 4.3, which means that it is too acidic for mosquito breeding. Score!!! There were plenty of other bugs, but the lack of mosquitoes was a huge relief. Thinking back on it, I realize that we didn't have creepy-crawlies in our rooms, so that was nice, too. The hotel itself is built entirely of wood and all doors are beautifully carved and each floor has a lobby area with beautiful murals on the wall (see above).
Our lunch at the hotel included a very nice buffet with a wide variety of food served in a treehouse-themed dining room ( see below).
We met other foreign hotel guests, who we joined on our excursions, which included a contingent of scientists on a side trip from an Animal Behavior Society conference in Brasília. One of the scientists was a spider behavior specialist who kept marveling at the variety of spiders that would fall into our boat as we traversed the flooded forest. That made for some interesting moments. After lunch, we went on our first expedition – piranha fishing!Piranha Fishing
The keys to piranha fishing are the technique and the bait. Contrary to most other kinds of fishing, noise is not a problem. In fact, it’s best to slap the water with the pole to 
simulate the sounds of a floundering animal (or a floundering tourist – eek!), which is like a dinner bell to these critters. The bait needs to be something succulent and juicy, and we were provided cut-up cow’s heart. Since the key is to look for signs of nibbling and then abruptly try to hook the fish, I think the density of the organ meat helps the process since more tender meat might be devoured without discernible signs.Nonetheless, many of my pieces of bait were devoured without my being able to hook a fish. Fortunately, others on the boat caught piranhas so we were able to see them up-close. We gathered them up and took them back to the hotel to be made into a soup, which became part of dinner. Piranha soup has a strong fishy flavor, which some might like. I had a few spoonfuls, but it was not to my liking.
About Piranhas
Fast facts about piranhas include:
- There are about 15 species of piranha in the waters of the Rio Negro,
- They bite up to 60 times per minute and each bite is to take a chunk of flesh.
- They can grow up to 7 kg (that’s 15lb), so imagine a fish the size of a house cat with razor-sharp teeth biting up to 60 times per minute.
- Cattle ranchers that have to run cattle through piranha-infested rivers will often sacrifice one head of cattle to satiate the piranhas in the river and save the rest of the herd, and a 1,500-lb steer can be stripped to the bone in about 5 minutes.
Piranha are scary-looking little fish whether on the end of a hook or in a pot with spices and vegetables. Evidence abounds that they are voracious predators and quite dangerous. My unease deepened about our up-coming plans to swim in the river with the dolphins and decided not to think about it.
