Prepare Yourself Dear Amazon, I'm Comin' In

Tonight is the eve of my (first?) expedition into the Amazonian rainforest. Well, at least I hope we make it into the forest, under a full three tiered cover. I am nervous about my decision to give up the other gems of Brazil (including the ivory beaches of Fortaleza) for 6 days of mosquito bites and panther poo. After talking to a couple from Melbourne, I have been alerted to a disaster which I had not considered possible: getting bored in the Amazon. Three days was enough for them but my guide has “assured me” that I will get the down and dirty experience I want. However, I have spent the day shopping in sandals and a short dress so I am seriously questioning if the down and dirty jungle I want is the down and dirty he thinks I can handle. Actually, I hear (and believe) the typical jungle experience that is sold is a sanitized one of lodge on the edge of a river called Amazon. Speaking of such things, the river is damn big; they aren’t kidding. Flying into Manaus this morning we saw both rivers of white and black water. The white water is a bit of a misnomer as it actually has a reddish beige color from red clay. The black water does not have clay so retains a dark color and slices through the green abyss like a black racer through a meadow. Even from a plane the forest runs for as far as the eye can see (through the tiny plane window) and the river looks huge. I am eager to get into it and catch my Piranha and this is complemented by my eagerness to leave the stagnant Manaus.