Day 1;
Its four in the morning and im awake on a Saturday morning, not because I have been partying on the Friday before but because today was the day! The day I leave for the amazon! If I am completely honest at this point in time I was more scared than anything, spending 9 days in a hammock wasn’t my idea of a great time. But I knew it would be a unforgettable experience so I dragged myself out of my nice warm bed and into the shower. I arrived at the airport several hours later with my parents. My flight was originally at 7:35 in the morning but this being brazil it was delayed by several hours. Usually I would have minded being stuck in an airport but I was with other exchange studnets so the time flew by. Also at the airport we met two new exchange students who wernt part of Rotary Youth Exchange but us being exchange students we welcomed them into the Rotary family!
Its four in the morning and im awake on a Saturday morning, not because I have been partying on the Friday before but because today was the day! The day I leave for the amazon! If I am completely honest at this point in time I was more scared than anything, spending 9 days in a hammock wasn’t my idea of a great time. But I knew it would be a unforgettable experience so I dragged myself out of my nice warm bed and into the shower. I arrived at the airport several hours later with my parents. My flight was originally at 7:35 in the morning but this being brazil it was delayed by several hours. Usually I would have minded being stuck in an airport but I was with other exchange studnets so the time flew by. Also at the airport we met two new exchange students who wernt part of Rotary Youth Exchange but us being exchange students we welcomed them into the Rotary family!
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| amazing view from the plane! |
The amazon is in the state of brazil called Manaus and we had to get
two flights to get there. When we finally arrived in Manaus about 4 hours later
everyone was exhausted and wanted to get some sleep but that’s not what we got.
What we got was a half an hour bus ride to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel,
was given our instructions for the evenings and then given time to explore. The
hotel we were in was a 4 star hotel and it was huge, and I mean huge! It was so
big it has space for a shopping centre and a zoo! And not a mini zoo with just
birds, I mean a legit zoo, it even had a jaguar! After having exploring the zoo
and the rest of the hotel we had a talk by the guide who would be with us on
the boats. The talk ended and it was finally time to sleep…or so I thought. We were
informed that there was a “festa” at night and because we were exchange
students we managed to get tickets into the V.I.P area, which meant we could
get up close and personal with the dancers and even go back stage! There were
men wearing typical clothing of Manaus. Because it was the night of the red
bull each one of us were asked to wear a piece of red clothing. We left the
party at about 1 this morning and after a quick shower I finally fell into bed (:
Day 2;
After an early start and I got shower it was
time for breakfast. A really funny thing happened at breakfast that morning. Here
in brazil there are two companies that exchange students travel with. “BeloBrasil”
and “Terra Brasil” depending on what district you are in. my company is “BeloBrasil”
and usually the two complanies don’t meet. However by a stoke of luck the two
bus companies were booked into the same hotel on the same day, so there were
over 100 exchange students at breakfast speaking every language imaginable! It was
crazy! Soon after breakfast it was time to get back on the bus because we were
going on a tour of Manaus. It was a Sunday and most things were closed but it
was still pretty cool to see the difference between Manaus and Sao Paulo. After
the tour it was back on the bus to travel to a near by city. We arrived at the
new city and were literally given five minutes to change into our swimwear
before we went on a walk. We walked past a waterdall and at the end of the walk
there was a platform were you could run and jump off the end.
It took a lot persuading
but finally had the courage to run and jump in with my fellow exchangers from
france. It was then time to return home to the hotel to take a shower. At night
we went on a night treakk through the rainforest. It started at sunset, we
walked in single file up and down the rainforest. In the middle of the trek
there was a cave with filled with water, bats and spiders that we had to walk
through and right at the end of the cave was a mini waterfall deep enough to
swim in. before anyone knew it all the exchange students had stipped down and were
swimming in the waterfall. we all then finished the trail soaking wet but happy. It was time for yet another shower. The exchange students were given free time until 1 in the morning so we just sat around getting to know each other better.
Day three;
It took a lot persuading
but finally had the courage to run and jump in with my fellow exchangers from
france. It was then time to return home to the hotel to take a shower. At night
we went on a night treakk through the rainforest. It started at sunset, we
walked in single file up and down the rainforest. In the middle of the trek
there was a cave with filled with water, bats and spiders that we had to walk
through and right at the end of the cave was a mini waterfall deep enough to
swim in. before anyone knew it all the exchange students had stipped down and were
swimming in the waterfall. we all then finished the trail soaking wet but happy. It was time for yet another shower. The exchange students were given free time until 1 in the morning so we just sat around getting to know each other better.
Day three;
Day three was YET another early start ( starting
to see a pattern here? ) it was the day that we were finally going to get on
the boats! The night before everyone decided which boats they were going to be
on. there were three boats this year instead of two because there were so many
exchange students. The three boats were called “Anaconda” “Jacaré” and “Preguica”
which in English is Anaconda, Alligator and a Sloth. Yes the names seem much
cooler in the portuugese haha! My boat was called Anaconda and I must admit, i
loved my boat and all the people on it <3 we boarded the boats for the first
time the group split up into three different groups. We were shown the point in
the river amazon where there are two different coloured waters right next to
each other. Which live in total harmony but never ever mix or disturb each
other. We also went on a night trek in mini boats and went alligator night
fishing! :D we also received our bedding for the night, I say bedding but what I
mean is we received our hammocks. Yes that’s right folks, Alison Bernard slept
in a hammock…I know I know, I don’t quite believe it myself either! :p  |
| our beautiful boat <3 |
After being woken up early and laughing as my fellow exchangers fell out of their hammocks in the morning ( okay so you might think this mean but we all know you would have been laughing too!) it was time to eat on the food boat. Let me tell you something about this food boat…it hated my boat! Like seriously it did! Because there were so many exchange students only one and a half of boats could eat at one time. They said they would rotate who would go first but in actual fact I don’t think they did! Our boat was always either split up or last. Now to you this may seem like a petty thing, but to us sitting on a boat watching everyone else eat while we had to eat made it a big problem! After crusing through the amazon rainforest for abit and watching the beautiful scencey it was time to explore the rainforest more closely. We all got off the big boats and pilled into the smallers one and were driven around the river. We also got off at an indian tribe and got to to see how their lives differ from ours. It was then time to return back to our boats and get ready for bed. I know I said I slept in a hammock but me and about five other girls decided that hammocks were not for us so we slept on the floor of the boat while everyone slept in the hammocks.
