Raluca Teodorescu

Good morning babes, it’s for sure lunch time in London, but in Sao Paolo it’s currently 9:05AM and we are on our second flight, ready to take off!

Now, let’s start from the beginning. We left London last evening, we took an 11.5hours flight to Sao Paolo, had about 3 hours to spend in the airport in Brazil (taking out our luggage, re checking in as the flights were not connected and spend a bit of time in Starbucks ) and now we are on our second flight for the day for another 4 hours. Location, you ask? We’re heading to Manaus for the day and tomorrow we’re getting ready for our first adventure here in Brazil: The Amazon.

I know, I know, I’m not your outdoorsy type of gal, not a big fan of camping or sleeping in the jungle, which we will for one night, but I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m here for it.

Weather wise, it’s cloudy and rainy here and there, but as you know it rains here for over 190 days per year. But, if you know me, a rainy day will not stop me from having fun!

There are a few ways to get to the Amazon, either get a day tour or 3 day tour where I think you’ll be with up to 10 people, but we decided to get a 3 day private tour, the cost being 600$ per person, and the tour will include the following:

Day 1.

We started our trip to the Amazon on Sunday morning at 8AM. One hour ride from our hotel to the boat and after we went on the Rio Negro.We first went for jungle trekking , after we we to have some lunch and then back on the river to go swim with the pink dolphins and to fish for piranha. We ended the first day with a night tour to search for caymans, we saw a few from afar but they were too quick for us to catch. We then returned to the village at spent the night here.

Day 2.

It’s now Monday morning, 5AM to be precise and Andrei went with our guide for an early morning tour to see the sunrise and watch the birds and other animals waking up. I was a bit too tired and skipped this part, only because this day is filled with more activities and it will be the night we’ll sleep in the jungle.

We started the day by finding a baby cayman and a baby slough, our guide thought the little one fell of the tree during the night because of the heavy rain. Of course we released both, and the baby sloughs we put back on the tree.

From here we went to search for the spider monkey, but haven’t seen any only the cappuccino monkey and the squirrel monkey.

We then went back on Rio Negro and sailed towards the indigenous tribe village, had lunch and after we headed towards the jungle, where we camped. Fabio again made us some delicious dinner, chicken with rice and tapioca. We then went straight to sleep as we all were very tired, and guys I must say, I slept for the first time in a hammock under the stars. We were so lucky that it didn’t rain and I’m only saying this because the night before it rained like crazy all night long.

Day 3.

Waking up with the sounds of the jungle is absolutely amazing! I thought it will be harder for me to sleep in the hammock, but slept like a baby. So peaceful! We’re currently having breakfast and after we’re heading back to the indigenous tribe, where I was told they will do some traditional dance for us.

I cannot believe how lucky we were with the weather, we had no rain whilst in the jungle and it wasn’t too hot either.

I’m leaving here a few photos from the indigenous village and for the video, that will come soon on my YouTube channel.

From here, we headed to a white sand beach and had a good swim in the waters of the negro river.

We also visited a lake full of water lilies and navigated through the flooded forests of the Amazon river, followed by a visit to a floating village with over a hundred families living in the middle of a lake where we saw schools, churches, shops etc. all floating.

We also went fishing for the biggest fish with scales in the world (the pirarucu) and last but not least we went to see where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon River and fascinating enough the both don’t mix, so you can clearly see where one ends and the other begins.