March 31, 2025
MANAUS, BRAZIL
Sunday March 16, 2025 ten of us flew from Recife to Fortaleza then onto Manaus, Brazil. It took roughly 6 hours with layover time. In Manaus it turned out that we had all booked the same hotel - so our van driver, who was part of the services of 8 of ours tour, took us all to the St Paul Hotel. Above was in Lobby at checkin - then we all met shortly after to walk and get dinner and see their famous Opera House. We ate at the Opera House Restaurant right across the street from the park and the most known building in Manaus. In above L to R - Gary, Callie, Scott, Me, Christy, Anna, Sara,Cherie, Jimbo and Bob. Gary & Christy going on a fancier boat next day.
Today we went to see the coastal Naidiri Village that has recently won the Top Prize in global restoration, for their ocean reef project. The reef restoration was borne out of necessity to solve their dwindling food/ main protein source for the village, of fish. It was started by 2 of the villages rugby players and today is run by the local teenagers (mostly boys) in the village. It was great seeing how empowered and proud they were of their amazing efforts.
The port agent offered several trips to areas around Lautoka . We chose the trip to Serenity Island Resort which included van and boat transfers and lunch. It was a really nice day enjoying the sun, reef, pool, turtles and amenities!
I organized a group tour for a fun day experience. We had a great day despite the rain that decided to join in. We started with a 45 minute van ride out through the city, into the countryside. Then we got in long boats and went up river to a waterfall, some swam or cheered on the guides to cliff dive. Then back in the boats to visit Sabata Village where 50 family members live as a community existing totally off the land, along the river. Next was a quick boat ride to our BBQ lunch spot. After lunch we got to tube down the river, through light rapids, for just about an hour. We ganged our tubes together with the guide - we had a chain of 14 in my group and the guides totally blew us away singing hymns for a good chunk of the journey. It was truly moving in that place with the rain drizzling and all of us linked together. Loved it!