Talking about “Going Native” here in the Amazon, today we are at a tiny trading village, Boca de Valeria, a home of about 120 people. They are a mix of indigenous and Portuguese, known as caboclos. This community was carved out of the jungle and only has about a dozen houses and other structures including a church and a school, it is a good representation of many of the small communities here in the Amazon. So, in short, we are the attraction here, many villagers from neighbouring villages make their way down here to see the ship and the passengers getting off. The ship and the passengers do put together a donation bin which includes everything thing from schools supplies and other treats. The village children on the other hand, offer visitors the opportunity to take a picture of them in their traditional garb or to get a picture with their pet, parrots, toucan, iguanas, sloths, snakes and huge bugs - for a small fee of course. Also, for a nominal fee of $5.00 you can jump on a long boat for a 30 minute ride up the amazon to see the nature from a much closer perspective. We were able to see some water lilies of over a metre in size and snails the size of softballs. We also were able to visit a another village where we were escorted around by the many children and teenagers. The young man that stayed with me, Coway was a very pleasent young man, he is pictured at his desk in the school. Our 30 minute ride did not include the about 45 minute at the village, a great bonus. We left as the rain began, so good timing. By the time we arrived back to Boca da Valeria it had pretty much stopped, more good timing. We strolled to village took a number of pictures as well as walked a path in the rain forest / jungle to get the feel of local life here. We had a short day here but an amazing day visiting with some natives in the Amazon. The rest of the day was relaxing as we continued our cruise up the Amazon on our way to Manaus tomorrow. Beautiful sunset tonight. A few pics of our day, hope you enjoy… One thing missing in my pics is me getting chewed up alive by some fire ants. I had stopped to get into position to take a picture of one of the older local people in full head gear, I was admiring his display as well as his costume - would have been a great pic but I felt something on my legs and looked down at them well there were more than a few of these little red ants running around on my legs taking little bits, as I swatted them away all that was left was little streaks of blood - hmmm, I think I will be okay. Will let you know tomorrow. And no I forgot all about the pic, maybe next time.
Quote of the day: “Fill your life with adventure, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show” - Anonymous
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