Brazil notes, Amazon trip

Brazil notes, July 13, 2006, 5:58pm

This is our second day on the Amazon river; our first real day.

Yesterday we boarded our boat, the Dona Selly II at the Tropical Manaus Hotel, and headed to the "meeting of the waters" where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes meet (the Solimoes is the name of the Western/South-Western branch of the Amazon). The Rio Negro has a color like strong tea, while the Solimoes is kind of like weak tea with a fair bit of milk. At the meeting of the waters, one can clearly see the two independent streams of water moving side by side as they very slowly conmingle. The sight is interesting, and not to be missed, but it is far from spectacular. Then we headed upstream and into the boat for a substantial and tasty supper of catfish. After that, at 8pm, we went in a flat-bottomed boat to sail into the flooded forest know as an Igapo in search of wildlife and, in particular, caiman. We found a small one which our guide capured with his hands and which a brazen portuguese woman also handled and attempted to force onto her utterly bratty and thoroughly ill-mannered little child. Finally the hapless creature was released and we putted through daunting and impresive forest and saw the odd owl, tarantula, or other sight. It was quite impressive and awesome in the literal sense of the word.

Today (July 13th) we were woken around 4am as the boat started moving upriver. We slept fitfully in our air conditioned little cabin until about 7:00am and had a hearty breakfast on eggs, cakes, fruit, tapioca bread, juice and coffee and then kept heading upriver. After noon we headed out into the jungle for an utterly fantastic hike with a local guide. Our standard guide translated his jungle lore (and injected his own ill-informed and anti-intellectual commentary as we walked). We saw a plant that smelled strongly of methol which is, apparently, callled a "vix-ou" (as in "Vicks Vap-O-Rub") tree

the guide said it was the only name he knew of which mattered. ...

  

Rio de Janiero, Brazil

I went to Rio de Janiero for the ISER 2006 conference, and brought my family along. The conference was great with a good representation of strong work in experimental robotics.

In Rio we had a good time, althouigh the city is a bit tough and rather grubby. During the conference we stayed in the official conference hotel which was the splendid luxurious Sofitel at the terminus of Copacabana beach (where we had a great view of the bay). Note that Copababana is widely reputed to be overcrowded and inferior to Ipanema or Leblon, but in winter (July) it's fine.

.

I suspect the best moments in Rio for the kids and I were swimming in the Ocean on Ipanema beach. That was great both for the sea, but also for the excellent view and locale. One night we went to Rio Scenarium, a supper and Samba/dance club. That was fun and after 11pm, when the local Cariocas arrive, it gets very crowded and is a good people-watching venue. Between 11pm and 12pm there is a huge and sudden increase in the number of people there. For potential visitors, it's also worth noting that by 11:30pm there is a very large lineup outside to get in. We arrive around 9pm, got in easily, and had supper there and that's the strategy I would recommend.

Of course, while in Rio we also visited the Sugar Loaf mountain (Pao de Azucar) and the Corcovado (Christ Statue). A very fun activity was renting bicycles and biking the 4km down Copabanana beach (along Atlantic Avenue) at evening time.

Personal security and theft is Rio is an issue. We were careful and didn't travel with conspicuous signs of wealth...

  

Malaria and Brazil

While travelling in Brazil we took anti-malarial drugs, specifically a fairly new drug combination called Malarone (containing the specific drugs atovaquone and proguanil). I feel compelled to write this note to address misinformation we received repeatedly regarding this serious disease. There seems to be wide-spread misunderstanding and misinformation about malaria in the Amazonas region, it as far as we could tell it extends even to people who should know better including medical practitioners and tour guides!