Exploring the Amazon - WITH VIDEO!!

13 April 2004 (Brazil) by Ben Glass

Photo: A Piranha caught in the River Branco

Where are we?

South of Boa Vista, Roraima state, Brazil.

Who?

Ben, Kendon and Rufino

What happened & What did we do?

After saying goodbye to friends in Boa Vista we cycled south to a holiday
shack on the banks of the Rio Branco. The river Branco is a part of the
Amazon river system. The holiday shack where we would stay for several
days was right in the middle of thick jungle. We met Rufino, an older
indigenous Macuxi man who lived next to the holiday shack. He showed us
around and told us we could use his canoe if we wanted to. We saw plenty
of wildlife, including dolphins, parrots, monkeys, bats and really big
fish.

At night there were more stars in the sky then we had possibly ever
seen. One night it rained very hard though, and we got to watch a brilliant
lightning storm. Before we left the river to continue riding, Rufino took
us with him when he went hunting in the jungle. He told us there were
Jaguars in the area and that we should all stay close to one another for
safety. We got to explore the jungle well and Rufino even found a tortoise
which he took back with him to his home for his girlfriend Carolina to cook
up. We also went fishing in Rufino's canoe, and caught some hard-fighting
Piranha which we also gave to Carolina.

Photo: Interupting the Tortoise's lunch

Photo: View from the hammock on the Rio Branco

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