Thursday, April 26, 2007
25 April, 07
We woke up wondering if we should leave in the morning or if we would be able to do some program we have not done yet. We managed to organize a different walk with a young Indian fellow who lives in the village/jungle who spoke no English. It was a pleasant walk and finally the rain arrived. We were soaked but it was fun. We got back and the sun came out and they sent us off on a two-man canoe. This was quite a challenge and it was very ‘wobbly’. We had fun and we went out for about one hour –not very far- we were scared that we would get lost. We then relaxed and packed and we left at lunch time on a boat that took two hours to get to the road. It was our last bit on the River and we really tried to spot some animals but it is so difficult. We were picked up by a driver and we drove for about 30 minutes and had to get on a car ferry across to Manaus city. We arrived at the 5-star Tropical hotel and decided to splurge for our final night of this long, incredible journey. The hotel is gorgeous and we even got upgraded to a deluxe room. We felt so clean and spoilt and we really needed to clean up. We went straight to the magnificent pool that appears to merge with the Amazon river. It was lovely and it felt like we were on a cruise ship again on the deck watching the sunset. We had hot showers- wow- and we got dressed up to go to El Toro Loco Restaurant (apparently the best in town). It was five- star and the service was excellent. They had every type of food from Japanese to meat to fish and freshly made pastas. We had the strongest Caipirinhas ever that we couldn’t even drink them. I felt like I was drugged but we had a good meal anyway. We got the hotel shuttle to pick us up (don’t know how we managed to pull that one off) and we rolled into our King-size bed with soft white linens.
We woke up wondering if we should leave in the morning or if we would be able to do some program we have not done yet. We managed to organize a different walk with a young Indian fellow who lives in the village/jungle who spoke no English. It was a pleasant walk and finally the rain arrived. We were soaked but it was fun. We got back and the sun came out and they sent us off on a two-man canoe. This was quite a challenge and it was very ‘wobbly’. We had fun and we went out for about one hour –not very far- we were scared that we would get lost. We then relaxed and packed and we left at lunch time on a boat that took two hours to get to the road. It was our last bit on the River and we really tried to spot some animals but it is so difficult. We were picked up by a driver and we drove for about 30 minutes and had to get on a car ferry across to Manaus city. We arrived at the 5-star Tropical hotel and decided to splurge for our final night of this long, incredible journey. The hotel is gorgeous and we even got upgraded to a deluxe room. We felt so clean and spoilt and we really needed to clean up. We went straight to the magnificent pool that appears to merge with the Amazon river. It was lovely and it felt like we were on a cruise ship again on the deck watching the sunset. We had hot showers- wow- and we got dressed up to go to El Toro Loco Restaurant (apparently the best in town). It was five- star and the service was excellent. They had every type of food from Japanese to meat to fish and freshly made pastas. We had the strongest Caipirinhas ever that we couldn’t even drink them. I felt like I was drugged but we had a good meal anyway. We got the hotel shuttle to pick us up (don’t know how we managed to pull that one off) and we rolled into our King-size bed with soft white linens.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 8:18 PM 
