Our Trip to the Amazon

In May we traveled to Brazil for a work meeting.  It was our first visit there so we went in a few days early to explore.  Although most all of our days were filled in meetings, they were fun and productive. We did a lot of planning, discussing, and praying for Indigenous work all throughout the Americas.  The team building side of the meetings was my favorite.  We work with some amazing people!  Overall, it was an incredible trip and one our family will not soon forget.

Here are some highlight photos of our time there.

 

ready to fly out of Guatemala City

 

We had a nine hour layover in Bogota, Colombia both ways. It's a small price to pay for cheap tickets.  Here is Cruz excited to eat at Guy's Burger Joint in the Bogota airport when we landed.

 

Hooray for burgers!

 

and who could pass up Colombian coffee?? 

 

 We landed in Manaus at 2:00 a.m. and thankfully slept in the next morning. All of our meals were served in an open air dining room.  As we ate breakfast that morning we not only enjoyed the rainfall but also the beautiful birds that flew in and out.  Here's a video showing the birds and some monkeys we saw later in the week.

 

 

After eating, we headed out to explore.  We went downtown and walked through this local market.

 

Port of Manaus

 

The market was next to the river.  We walked alongside it for a while and enjoyed watching the boats come in and out.

 

All of our meals were delicious.  This particular meal we got to try a local fish.  This was not all for me.  It was served family style so we all just cut off what we wanted.  It was actually much better than I had anticipated.

 

 

They eat a lot of fish in the Amazon.

 

turtle farm outside the restaurant

 

I loved the river views and also any views that included the bridge.

 

The sunsets were my favorite!!  Every night was breathtaking.  I think I took a photo every evening.  Below are some of them I took.

 

our family in Manaus

 

 

 

 We had a midweek break from meetings and spent the day on the river.

 

 

 

One of our stops was at a training center run by the Brazilian Home Mission Board.  It was very interesting to see it and pray on site for the many who pass through there.

 

I took this photo because I love purple and bike rides.

 

This reminded me of the phrase "bloom where you are planted."

 

prayer garden

 

Do you think he was having fun?

 

We stopped here to swim with pink dolphins.  David and I didn't get in, but the boys and a few others did.

 

flag of Brazil

 

petting the dolphins 

 

He is smiling, but he was not a fan.

 

 

Ben petting a dolphin tail.

 

We had lunch at this floating river restaurant.  It was delicious and probably one of my favorite meals.

 

buffet lunch on the Amazon River

 

 

 

Before leaving we walked along this treetop trail that was behind the restaurant.  We were looking for any signs of wildlife along the way but did not see any.  I will admit that I was not disappointed. One highlight of my trip was making it the whole time without seeing a snake. lol

 

It was soo hot there!!

 

lily pads

 

Our family somewhere out in the middle of the Amazon.

 

We stopped here to "fish" for pirarucu.  It wasn't really fishing.  It was more like feeding, but still a high adrenaline experience that we'll never forget.  They are one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. They can measure a length of nearly fifteen feet and a weight of up to 440 pounds.

 

 

 

Here's a video highlighting the experience.  At the end you'll see I even got in on the action. My heart is still racing!

 

We saw many big ships as we passed through the port area. 

 

We got to visit The Meeting of Waters. According to Google, the Meeting of Waters is the confluence between the dark (blackwater) Rio Negro and the pale sandy-colored (whitewater) Amazon River. For 6 km (3.7 mi) the waters of the two rivers run side by side without mixing.  It was such a spectacular thing to see in person!!

 

 

 

We all jumped in and swam.  What a cool experience!

 

On the boat ride back to Manaus we drove by this old airplane site that is now an Airbnb.  How awesome would it be to stay there? 

 

Here's a video highlighting some of the sights we saw as we boated on the river.  It was amazing!

 

 

And, lastly, one final sunset from our last evening there.