Amazon Day 4: Night in the Jungle

Tuesday, November 14

After postponing our night in the jungle secondary to rain on Monday night, we awoke Tuesday hoping to have good weather for a night in the jungle Tuesday night. Indeed the rain ended and we had enough sun during the day to dry our wet shoes and clothes that were soaked during the previous day's journey.

Before heading to the jungle for our night of camping in the forest, we set out for a manioc plantation during the morning. In addition to growing manioc, this farm also grew pineapple, as shown below in the photos. We also encountered a plant that could be used to paint one's face (also see the photos below...). After a morning at the plantation we returned to the lodge to eat lunch and prepare to leave for our night in the jungle.

We set out for our night in the jungle at about 3 pm, and noted a few threatening clouds in the sky en route. Fortuantely, we were nearing the camp when a few rain drops began to fall. The rain ended up amounting to little, and we actually had a dry night in the rain forest, quite a contrast to the previous night. Our first task was to erect our hammocks and mosquito nets, which required us to procure some vines and sticks from the jungle to support our mosquito nets. Our guide set up the nets and hamocks for the ladies in our group, but left the three of us to figure things out for ourselves. Just as it was beginning to become too dark to see, we were able to complete the setup of our hammocks. We had a great dinner of chicken around the fire, and headed to bed only after Nate and half of our group went off on an unsuccessful search for more caimans. While not finding any caimans, our guide vaught a bullfrog, and Nate found a wasp (or rather was found by a wasp which subsequently stung him). We retired to our hammocks to enjoy a night in the forest, falling asleep to the sounds of frogs, insects, and all of the noises of the jungle.


Face Paint


Herman Prepares the Pineapple

Eating Pineapple (Abacaxi)

Our Shelter for the Night

Erecting the Mosquito Nets

Around the Fire

Ferroviário vs. Ipatinga

Estádio Presidente Vargas
26 Novembro 2006
1600

Ferroviário faced Ipatinga in a crucial encounter in the penultimate round of Serie C games. Ferroviário entered the game in fifth place, one point behind Barueri for the final promotion spot. Ferroviário needed to win to maintain pace with Barueri in advance of the final match of the season which would pit the two teams competing for the final transfer position in a match of great importance in São Paulo. Before worrying about Barueri, Ferroviário needed to focus their attention on a strong Ipatinga side which already had clinched promotion to Serie B for next year.

Ferroviário began the match strongly, making several great runs into the penalty area early. These early attempts skipped wide of the net, but ten minutes into the match, a Ferroviário striker was taken down in the area from behind, earning a penalty kick. The kick was deftly converted after a lengthy protest from the Ipatinga keeper, giving Ferrão the 1-0 lead. Ferroviário continued to control the follow of play, but Ipatinga continued to intermittently create chances. Roughyl five minutes after the Ferrão goal, two Ferroviário defenders slipped in the box, misplaying the ball leaving the Ferrão keeper to face a Ipatinga striker all alone. The striker danced past the keeper and touched the ball across the line to tie the score at one all. The match remained tied at the half, despite continued pressure from Ferrão.

Ferroviário returned to the field in the second half with continued pressure and attacks. Early in the half, Ferrão hit the crossbar and goal post with shots in rapid succession. Midway through the half, Ferroviário received a free kick 25 yards from the goal. The free kick was rifled past the Ipatinga wall, also beating the keeper for a goal, giving Ferrão the 2-1 lead. The score remained at 2-1 until 5 minutes remained in the match. A Ferrão striker entered the penalty area on a near breakaway, and the ball was tackled away by the last defender. The defender followed through with a hard tackle to the legs of the attacker, and the referee again pointed to the penalty spot to award a penalty kick to Ferroviário. This penalty was met with an even greater protest from Ipatinga, with one defender shoving the referee, leading the referee to issue a red card, leaving Ipatinga to play 10 vs. 11. Ferroviário converted the ensuing penalty to leave the score at 3-1. The match ended in favor of Ferroviário by this score. Barueri also won, leaving Ferroviário in 5th place, one point behind the São Paulo side. Ferroviário needs a win on the road against Barueri in their final game to advance to Serie B.

Amazon Day 3: Birds, Worms, Ants, Rain!!!

Monday November 13

We awoke early after a night sleeping in hammocks under mosquito nets for an early morning boat trip to watch birds. The 5:30 am start was a bit harsh, but the bird-watching was quite enjoyable as we headed up river on a small boat observing the birds of Amazonas, also searching unsuccessfully for sloths. The plans for the day called for bird-watching followed by breakfast, with a morning hike in the jungle, and plans to sleep in the jungle that night. The weather would later change those plans, but the morning began well with the bird-watching and breakfast.

After breakfast, we again boarded the boat to head to another part of the jungle for our jungle hike. We reached the jungle as a light rain began falling. Fortunately, in the jungle we were largely sheltered by the canopy of trees above us. We headed through the jungle enjoying the sounds of insects, birds, and the rain falling on the trees. We were shown how to use palm trees to create fans, hats, or even the roof of a shelter. After trekking a bit further, we were shown a fruit/nut that harbored edible worms inside. Chris B and I immediately tried one worm each. Chris B. wasn't a huge fan of the taste after the worm popped in his mouth. I was game to try two more, and didn't find the taste bad at all. No one else in the group cared to try the worms, despite my enthusiastic recommendations...

We continued through the jungle as the rain picked up a bit, and eventually came upon an ant's nest attached to the trunk of a tree. Our guide told us that the ants could be used as a natural mosquito repellant by allowing them to crawl on your hands/arms, then wiping them off, leaving behind an insect repellant. Our guide also insisted that the ants did not bite. I again was game to try somethign new, and allowed the ants to crawl on my arms twice in an attempt to photograph the experience. Unfortunately, as I waited for a photograph while standing on a crowd of ants as well, the ants crawled up my arms and legs, at which point I learned that they do in fact bite... Nate also tried the ants, and also learned of their biting ability.

Shortly after the encounter with the ants, we headed back out of the jungle and began to boat back to camp. As we did, the rain began to pick up. This would not have been a hge problem had I had a rain coat, but despite my usual preparedness, I had forgotten to bring a rain coat on this trip to the rain forest (of all places...). As a result, I was quite soaked by the time we reached the lodge, and most of the remainder of the group with rain coats also were quite wet. The rain continued into the afternoon, and this lead us to decide to delay our trip to sleep in the jungle to the next night. The rain continued well into the night, proving this to be a wise decision.

With the original plans for the evening delayed by one day, we instead spent the evening playing card games at the lodge as the rain continued. We played a Colombian card game that our guide taught us, and then began playing endless games of Hearts, a series that would continue for the remainder of our Amazon trip. We retired to our hammocks for the evening, anticipating the activities of the next day which were slated to include a trip to a local village as well as the night in the jungle.

Our Guide, Herman, Poses with the Machete


Our Guide teaching us to Use the Local Flora
In the Jungle

Weaving a Fan

Yes, I Ate Three of these Worms

Ants' Nest

I Coat my Hand in Ants (Natural Mosquito Repellant)

Napping during a Rainy Afternoon

Amazon Day 2: Meeting of the Waters, Piranhas, Caimans

Sunday, November 13

Our second day in the Amazon involved the beginning of our journey on the river. Our group included two Irish young women, an Australian, and a German couple, as well as our guide Herman. We were fortunate to have a great group that allowed us to really enjoy our time in the Amazon, as well as an excellent guide.

We began the day by heading by van to the port on the Rio Negro, one of the two rivers that meet near Manaus. The other river is the Rio Solimões, also known as the Rio Amazonas. After meeting just east of Manaus, they are referred to as the Rio Amazonas. We boarded a boat that headed across the Rio Negro to a location called "The Meeting of the Waters." This is not just a typical river junction, and was quite the impressive site. The Rio Negro is a very dark river, black in color. The Rio Negro travels at about 3 km/h, while the Rio Solimões travels at about 10 km/h. The Rio Negro though is warmer than the Rio Solimões. As a result of these differential temperatures and velocities, the rivers travel in contact with each other for 5-10 km without mixing, creating quite the impressive sight.

After viewing the meeting of the waters, we continued across the Rio Solimões to a port on the opposite side of the river. We boarded another van that carried us to another dock where we boarded a boat that carried us down a tributary of the Rio Solimões to our lodge. We made one stop en route during the 2 hour boat trip to view a very large tree adjacent to the river, and get our first look at the jungle. We arrived at our lodge just in time for lunch. Our lodge included a floatign house which served as the dining hall, and a few other buildings for lodging on the hill. We slept outside on hammocks each night, under the cover of mosquito nets.

During our first afternoon, after an incredible lunch of fish, rice, and potatoes, we headed out to fish for piranha. We used sticks with some fishing line attached to a hook, initially using chicken for bait. After running out of chicken, we began to use piranha as bait to catch more piranhas, which also worked rather well. I caught the first piranha within seconds of dropping my line in the water, and caught a second later in the afternoon. We also observed dolphins swimming in the water, including the beautiful pink dolphins. Unfortunately, these dolphins are not easily photographed, as they rise out of the water briefly for air, and submerge before one is able to photograph them. As a result, I have many photos of the water moments after a dolphin submerged...

We returned to the lodge, and after an equally incredible dinner of more fish, chicken, rice, and vegetables, we headed out after dark on the boat to search for caiman, which are reptiles similar to alligators or crocodiles. We were able to catch a small caiman, and spot some larger caiman. After caiman spotting, we retired to our hammocks for the night in advance of an early morning of bird watching the following morning to be followed by a jungle hike.


Meeting of the Waters (Rio Solimões brown and to the left, Rio Negro to the right)


A Large Tree
Preparing our Hammocks
Heading out to Fish for Piranha


My First Catch

Caiman Spotting

Amazon Day 1: Arrival in Manaus

Saturday November 12

We departed Fortaleza on a flight bound for Manaus via stops in São Luís and Belém on a small airline called TAF. On landing in Manaus, we made our way through the airport, and were able to set up our tour of the Amazon at the airport. We were then shuttled to our hotel, where we dropped off our backpacks before setting out to explore the city of Manaus. We had lunch at a restaurant not far from our hotel and then walked around the central market for a while, picking up a set of playing cards that would fuel numerous games of Hearts during the next week of travel. We then walked past the Teatro Amazonas, a theater built during the Amazon rubber production boom many years ago. We learned that a Brazilian film festival would be held outside the theater that night, and after learning that the price of the festival fit perfectly into our budget (free), we had our evening planned. After walking around town a bit more, we rested at the hotel (we had awoken early for our flight to Manaus) before heading to dinner and then to the film festival to see part of the evening's film. We then returned to the hotel to rest in advance of our 4 day/3 night journey in Amazonas. Photos from day 1 follow.


Teatro Amazonas

Chris and Chris Outside the Theater

Teatro Amazonas at Night

Amazon Adventures

I returned early this morning to Fortaleza after 8 days in the Amazon region. The vastness of the Amazon river was incredibly impressive, and I greatly enjoyed the chance to see parts of the Amazon near the cities of Manaus, Santarém, and Belém. In some ways parts of the trip were a bit rushed, as I have awoken for early flights between 3 and 6 am on three of the last four days. I plan to post brief blogs about each day of the trip, along with photos from each day over the next few days. A few highlights from the trip included eating worms in the jungle, sleeping in the jungle, fishing for piranhas, spotting dolphins in the Amazon, kayaking on a lake adjoining a major branch of the Amazon, and simply experiencing the awesomeness of a unique part of the world that I never dreamed that I would visit even a year ago. Photos and stories of all the above and more will follow as I can upload them in the evenings this week.

I'll be back at work this week trying to finish the remainder of the paperwork in advance of the vision study that I hope to begin in January, while continuing to finish up data collection and analysis for the physical fitness study.

Mães, Mais, Pães, Pais: Lessons in Brazilian Portuguese

Today, I gave my second ever presentation in Brazilian Portuguese. I was determined to ad-lib more this time and spent some time yesterday rehearsing pronunciations for some words I knew I'd be using. In my study, we collected data from the mothers (mães) and fathers (pais) of children in our study. Yesterday, I was having trouble saying the word for mothers, as I pronounced it more like mais (pronounced like the English word mice, more or less), which means more rather than mothers. Mães is pronounced like saying "mice" with your nose plugged to produce a nasal sound. Having seemingly mastered these words, I hoped to avoid this mistake in my presentation.

Instead, I was able to make a different, even more humorous mistake. Instead of writing pais on my slides to describe how I would need to collect data from the children in my study's fathers, I wrote "pães," which is the plural noun for bread. And so today there were certainly a few chuckles in the room as I described my future work on this study by stating confidently that we needed to collect data on the height, weight, and blood pressure of the bread of the children in my study (rather than the fathers of the children). I definitely need to work on my Portuguese more, but little mispronunciations like this will continue to happen I'm sure, and I'll be sure to share them when they do (unless they're particularly embarassing in which case I'm sure Nate will write about them...).

In other Portuguese news, I learned a new colloquial expression today. While in the US, people say, "That's just not my cup of tea," in Brazil, they say, "Esse não é meu praia," which translates as, "That's not my beach." A great example of what is important in Brazil...

São Luís: The Full Story

Last weekend, we journeyed west of Ceará to the state of Maranhão, home to São Luís and Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses. We departed Fortaleza on a Gol flight scheduled for mid-morning Thursday. Last Thursday, Brazil was in the middle of an air traffic control slowdown however, in which controllers were refusing to handle the usual number of flights in protest for better working conditions. This lead to significant flight delays and cancellations at some of Brazil's largest airports, including Pinto Martins International in Fortaleza, but fortunately our flight was only delayed by an hour and a half. We arrived in São Luís in early afternoon, and boarded a bus bound for the center of town. After disembarking in the center of town, we set off in search of the Pousada Colonial, accomodations recommended to us by a Fortaleza friend, Neto. Armed only with the map in Lonely Planet Brazil, we managed to navigate rather rapidly to the Pousada Colonial and settled in to rooms equipped with two things that our home in Fortaleza lacks: air-conditioning and hot water. We then began calling tour operators to arrange a tour of the local national park. After a high-speed harrowing trip across town in a tour operator's car, we were able to arrange a two day trip to the park beginning the following day. For the remainder of Thursday, we checked out the historic center of São Luís, which was rather deserted due to the holiday.

Very early Friday, we set out for Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses, roughly a 3.5 hour bus ride from São Luís. Unfortunately we were left with the seats in the back of the minibus. These seats not only were out of the airflow of the conditioning, leading to a warm trip, but also seemed to magnify the effects of taking every speed bump along the road at full speed. After a long journey however, we arrived in Barreinhas a town that serves as a jumping-off point for the park. We were offered the chance to take a four wheel drive tour of the park in the mornign or afternoon. We selected the afternoon option, hoping to the sun set over the sand dunes and lakes of the park. After a morning of rest, we headed out in the back of the four wheel drive vehicle, beginning by crossing a river on a ferry. I somehow have missed out on experiencing these sorts of ferries in Africa in my previous travels, so this was my first ferry trip. After crossing the river, we rapidly drove through sandy paths to reach the national park. My photos say more than I can with words, but even the photos do not do justice the majesty of the park. The view seems like somethign from another world, with sand dunes as far as the eye can see, interspersed with freshwater lakes created by rainfall during the rainy season. We had the opportunity to hike in the dunes and swim in the lakes for the afternoon. We saw the beginning of the sunset, but some in our party feared that if we waited to see the full sunset, our return trip could be dangerous, so we headed back, slightly disappointed, before the sun set. Still, the day was an incredible day of magnificent views and images that are among the most incredible I have ever scene (perhaps only ranking below Victoria Falls in my mind).

On Saturday, we arranged to have a boat tour of the national park. The journey down the river through narrow channels, and with stops at sand dunes and beaches was incredible. We had the chance to hike in the sand dunes a bit more, and also swim in the river, and spend some time at the Atlantic coast. We enjoyed the view from atop a lighthouse near the ocean, overlooking the national park and surrounding area. After eating lunch, we headed back to Barreinhas by boat. That evening, we returned to São Luís, hoping for an uneventful journey by bus, but alas sufferred a flat tire less than an hour into the journey. Quickly, the bus driver realized that he lacked an essential wrench to change the flat. A random gentleman passed on a bicycle, and our driver asked him if he could obtain the necessary wrench. I held out little hope, but not too much later, he cycled back to the bus with the required tool in hand. After an hour, the tire was changed, and we continued on the journey back to São Luís. We arrived back tired, and after dinner, I headed to bed for some much needed rest.

Sunday, we walked around São Luís for a while, and were rather unimpressed by the city itself. The city is crossed by a river and neighbors a bay, but both were more like large mudpits during the current dry season. After another afternoon in the historic center, we headed to the airport, not suspecting what adventures awaited us there.

Chris B. checked in at the airport for our return flight without incident first, but as Nate and I tried to check in, the airline employee looked suspiciously at our reservation. She told us that our flight was scheduled not for November 5, but December 5. Indeed, the Gol employee who booked us had entered our reservation incorrectly. She had read the reservation back to me correctly when I purchased the ticket weeks early, and so I had failed to notice the typo. Unfortunately, this would prove to be a costly error. We headed to the Gol office in the airport to try to change our reservation, and were told that the fare we had booked was no longer available (a $50 fare) and so we would each need to pay an additional $100 (more than the original fare) to get on the flight. Not having that much money, I then began to scurry from ATM to ATM in the airport to obtain the necessary funds. Unfortunately, the first 3 ATMs I tried either were broken or not set up for US debit cards. At last, as time was running out, we were able to complete the transaction and get added to the flight. After the drama in the airport, the remainder of our trip was relatively uneventful. Definitely a lesson was learned here, and thankfully it occurred with a relatively cheap flight rather than a more expensive long-distance flight that would have been harder to change.

Saturday morning, November 11, we fly to Manaus to begin our 9 day Amazon trip, before we return to Fortaleza for 4+ more weeks of work before the Christmas break.

Ferroviário vs. Brasil

Ferroviário vs. Brasil
Estádio Presidente Vargas
8 Novembro 2006
1930

Ferroviário battled Brasil in Brasilian Serie C action tonight. Brasil entered the game in eighth and last place in the final round of Serie C, while Ferroviário entered the game in sixth position. Ferroviário was looking for the win which could potentially elevate them into one of the top four positions in Serie C, the promotion positions, with several games remaining in the season.

Ferroviário started slowly as usual, and Brasil found themselves with a striker all alone in the penalty area. The Ferrão keeper however made back to back incredible saves to keep the game scoreless. For the remainder of the first half, play was dominated by Ferroviário, with striker #11 continually dancing past defenders to create incredible scoring chances. Chance after chance ended up sailing wide of the goalposts, and despite many opportunities, the game remained scoreless. Still, the Brasil defenders grew frustrated with being embarassed by the moves of the Ferrão strikers, and repeatedly committed tactical fouls after beign beaten. The referee did well to caution the majority of these offenses, each time showing the yellow card.

After a scoreless first half, the teams returned to action with Ferroviário domianting the first fifteen minutes, but still repeatedly missing the net. Finally, twenty minutes in, a beautiful series of passes found the Ferrão striker wide open 10 yards out, and the player made no mistake innettign the game's first goal. The yellow cards continued to fly out of the referee's pocket, all shown to Brasil, and finally a few moments after the first goal, a Brasil defender received the game's first red card for a second caution, after committing a foul that lead to a Ferroviário penalty kick. The kick was converted to give Ferrão a 2-0 lead. Not long after this red card, a straight red card was given to a Brasil midfielder for a vicious elbow to a Ferroviário attacker who had beaten the defense and gained a breakaway. With a two man advantage, Ferroviário soon capitalized on a free kick from 25 yards out to take the 3-0 lead. A third red card was issued late in the game to another Brasil defender, leaving the teams to play 11 vs. 8 for the final 10 minutes of the match. Ferroviário took the victory, 3-0, while Brasil ended the game with 3 red cards and innumerable yellow cards (11 by my best estimate). Ferroviário exemplified brilliant attacking soccer with the win, while Brasil only seemed capable of dirty play and repeated tactical fouls.

Ceará vs. Guarani

Ceará vs. Guarani
Estádio Castelão
7 Novembro 2006
1930

Ceará faced Guarani of São Paulo in a match Tuesday night at Castelão in Fortaleza. The Cearense were not able to atract quite the large crowd as at their home game versus São Raimundo, but the crowd still was quite enthusiastic as the match began. Early, the teams raded chances. Ceará seemed to lack the teamwork and fluid midfield play that has characterized their play of late, instead relying on individual runs through the defense, which produced few chances and no goals in the first half of play. Guarani had a number of close chances in the first half, a few denied by great goalkeeping, and a few sailing wide of the mark. The teams headed to the locker room with the score knotted at zero, after a first half marred by numerous yellow cards for late tackles and other misconduct.

The teams returned from the break, and Ceará quickly created a great scoring chance on a cross into the box that was pushed just wide of the net. Ceará soon brought on a substitute who made an immediate impact by crossing the ball into the penalty area right to the head of a Cearense attacker. Unfortunately, the attacker headed the ball directly to the Guarani keeper again failing to capitalize. Later in the half, Guarani had a series of chances to win the game, but pushed the ball high or wide multiple times, and were stymied by excellent goalkeeping as well. As the 90th minute of the match arrived, the referee signalled that there would be two minutes of stoppage time added. The match seemed headed for a 0-0 draw and fans began to file out of the stadium, when with less than 30 seconds left, the referee signalled for a penalty kick after a Guarani attacker fell to the ground in the penalty area. This seemed to place the victory on the foot of Guarani, but an incredible stop by the Ceará keeper kept the match scoreless. The referee blew the final whistle a few seconds later, and Ceará escaped with a draw, remaining in 14th position in Serie B, three points out of the zone of relegation.

First Half Action


Ceará on the Attack
The Referee Books a Ceará Defender

Second Half Action

Fortaleza VS. Corinthians

Fortaleza vs. Corinthians
Estádio Castelão
1 Novembro 2006
2145

Fortaleza hosted Corinthians last Wednesday night, realistically needing a tie or win to avoid falling deeper into the zone of relegation. Corinthians is a strong side, having won the Brazilian Championship last year. This year, they have struggled a bit in Serie A, making a mid-season coaching change, languishing in the middle of the league table.

Early in the match, Fortaleza seemed to have the better of possession, but seemed unable to create great scoring chances. Midfielders seemed intent on making individual runs through the defense, giving the ball up to their opponents rather than distributing the ball to the strong Fortaleza strikers. Corinthians proved to be opportunists as they created an excellent scorign chance with a clever sequence of passes followed by a beautiful run into the area. The Corinthians striker made no mistake in burying his first chance into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead for the São Paulo side. Fortaleza had a few more minutes of dominant possession, but again little teamwork and poor distribution by the midfield, before a Corinthians striker capitalized on a defensive error by Fortaleza to create a breakaway. The striker missed the net high, missing a golden opportunity to increase the Corinthians lead. The score at halftime stood at 1-0, with Fortaleza in need of better tactical play in the second half.

Fortaleza opened the half witha few moments of possession, but still highly individual play with a total lack of vision or creativity by the midfield. Corinthians proved opportunistic yet again, breaking through for two more goals in rapid succession early in the second half, each near carbon-copies of the games first goal. Fortaleza seemed in even greater disarray from that point forward, allowing one final goal to drop the crucial game to Corinthians by the score of 4-0. Fortaleza remained deep in the zone of relegation, and seemed almost certainly bound for Serie B in 2007.

Incrível: Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses

Words cannot adequately describe some of the incredible (incrível) sights that I saw this weekend. This weekend, we flew to São Luís, a city in the state of Maranhão. From São Luis we journeyed by bus to Parque Nacional Lençois Maranhenses. Below are some photos from the national park. I plan to post an account of our trip tomorrow night, including an account of some of our travel difficulties, but the pictures will certainly do a better job of conveying some of the incredible views from the weekend.


Arrival in Barreinha, a town near the National Park

On the Ferry

Magnificent Sand Dunes

More Magnificent Sand Dunes

Lakes between the Dunes

More Magnificence

Chris Enjoying the National Park

Nearing Sunset

Nearing Sunset

Traveling in the Park by Boat

Journeyring through a Narrow Channel

Birds!

Chris and Chris give every Brazilian's favorite gesture

Swimming in the river

Atop a Lighthouse

Heading Back Downriver

Flat Tire - and no Chris B. was not actually involved in changing the tire...