Cheers to the beginning of many celebrations together!

Also while I was away, I was notified that my favorite photo that I took in India was selected as “photo of the week” in a contest that I had entered it in.  This designation guarantees that it will advance to the group of semi-finalists in the contest.  Keep your fingers crossed that I win, because if I do I get a free i-pad!

Here is what the judges said about my photo:

Not only is your photo stunning, but we loved the story behind the image. It really represented the serendipitous moments of travel.

Being able to adapt to changing circumstances is the key to a successful trip!

In traveling this way, I have also opened myself up to synchronicity, something I profoundly believe in (so much so I have the word tattooed on me).  Traveling definitely stirs up ones energy and awakens the soul; allowing for all sorts of meaningful coincidences to occur.  The trick is to stay aware!  Something I did the entire time I was in Brasil and I cannot believe all of the synchronistic events that happened.

So, you are probably wondering what happened that was so startling at the airport???  Well, my flight from Manaus to Rio was delayed several hours, meaning that I was going to miss my flight back to the States.  In that moment I had 2 paths I could take:  1) I could get majorly stressed, which would have negated the last 10 days OR 2) I could smile realizing the Universe had given me exactly what I wanted–more time in Brasil!  I am sure you know that I decided on the latter path.

As soon as I landed in Rio, I made a quick call to Casa 32 to see if they had a room available for the night and thankfully they did.  They were super excited to be able to see me again, as was I to see them.  Before I left the airport I talked with someone at USAir and explained the situation.  This is where synchronicity came into play.  Because I missed my flight and the next night’s flight was sold-out, the only seat available was in first and they gave it to me.  Not only that, there was no change or upgrade fee.  They even offered to put me up in a hotel for free.  The best part though was that I got an extra day in Brasil!  I was so proud of myself that I had not spent the 5 hour flight stressed, since in the end everything worked out beautifully.

While I was in Rio I never had the chance to spend the day at the beach, only the evenings.  Such a sin, right?  Thus, the decision to spend my surprise extra day at stunning Ipanema Beach was an easy one.  Click here for some appropriate background music.

I am so lucky to have had another day in this gorgeous city!

At the time I left my hotel the weather had started to look ominous, but as soon as I arrived at the beach the sun came out in full glory!

The new Ipanema girl!

As I soaked up every.single.second of my time at the beach I realized that I was in the BEST place in the world to start 2010.  What a year this was going to be!

On my taxi ride back to my hotel I felt completely at peace.  Of course I still did not want to leave Brasil, however I could not have asked for a more perfect trip.

One last photo with my friends of Casa 32.

And one last photo of Rio.

Your life is forever changed when you travel.  It is probably the most challenging thing you can do, because it pushes you in ways that daily life does not.  But you will also be rewarded in ways that you never imagined if you can find the courage to get out and explore.  As I walked by the airport café I recalled just how much I had experienced in less than 2 weeks and how I celebrated a new decade in probably the most extraordinary fashion.

Most of the hike was done in silence, so that we would not scare away any of the wildlife.  I found this to be incredibly meditative, as I was able to be alone with my thoughts in such spiritual surroundings.  The few times we did chat though were about the medicinal qualities of the plants.  I am a Chinese Herbalist and herbs fascinate me endlessly.  I have been studying Chinese herbs for almost a decade now and I briefly studied African herbs, thus it was only natural that one day I would learn about Amazonian herbs.  I was really inspired to spend a few months in the jungle studying them in depth in the future.  Alberto promised me that before I left he would give me some herbs that he had bottled up himself to take back with me.

Since I experienced the Amazon in silence, I am going to illustrate my journey without words in order for you to have a similar experience.

The 4 hours went by in a blink of an eye and the next thing I knew I was saying goodbye to Alberto.  It never, ever gets easy saying goodbye to those you encounter amidst your travels, especially those you know you will never see again.  I just try to focus on how grateful I am to have met them in the first place.  And memories truly last a lifetime.

When I finally arrived at the airport, I was greeted with some startling news…

How could I be with a view like this…

Or with chance encounters of wildlife like this…

Once we returned to the eco-lodge, I split off from the others, as Alberto had told me to meet him by the canoes again.  By the time we set off on our evening adventure, it was completely dark outside and the animals were out in full force.

When I listen (because you cannot really watch) to this video my heart is filled with pure joy.  If there is a heaven, I want to fall asleep to these sounds every night for eternity.

Once more, I was amazed with Alberto’s heightened sense of sound.  As you can tell by the video, there is no way a person in that setting could see any of their surroundings.  But, Albetro can see with his ears and he was able to “see” the following tree frog.

People have remarked how brave I was for taking this trip and most of all for taking it alone.  However, for me, the uncertainty, especially when traveling, is the key ingredient for making life rich and exhilarating.  And I strongly feel that my willingness to embrace uncertainty allows me to align with the evolutionary flow and for synchronicity to take hold of me.

So, step into the river and allow the current of life to carry you home to the sea of uncertainty.

After Alberto and I returned to dry-land, I enjoyed my final dinner at the eco-lodge.  While I was dining a Turkish gentleman from Russia asked me if he could join me.  He then proceeded to entertain me with stories from his world travels.  I especially loved his tale of how as a boy he grew up in Istanbul and due to his extreme fascination with Communism he decided to move to Russia to dedicate his life to the cause.  Except, pretty quickly he realized that the Communist ideals he grew to love in the books he read were not practiced in reality.  Unfortunately, he was stuck in a foreign country with a government he hated.  He learned to deal with it nonetheless and has been living there for over a decade now.

My new friend also taught me how to take night pictures with my Nikon by using my flash and a timer.  I am quite pleased with how the photos turned out.  Of course there was a little Russian vodka involved as well!

As I walked back to my cabin, I thought about how difficult it would be to return home.  I think the hardest part of returning home is disconnecting from the uncertainty of travel and learning to re-adapt to the certainty of every-day life.  You do not wake up with the notion that anything could happen today.  I tried to comfort myself as I drifted off to sleep that regardless of whether I am traveling or not, my life is fabulous and there will always be more trips to look forward to!

And then the next thing I knew we were on our way, to where I was not sure, but when you are in the Amazon the destination is really of little importance.

As we got closer to our stop, I saw countless boats with children and their pet sloths.  They were so excited to show them off to us.  If they only knew that in my head I was thinking how I could manage to steal one of them away from them.

Once we arrived at our stop we were instructed to follow the footbridge until the very end.  At the end is where our surprise would be.

The first thing I saw when I got to the end was the river again.  And in the river were copious amounts of lily pads.  What a gorgeous sight!  The only thing that would have made this even better would have been if the flowers had been in blossom, but still it was a sight to marvel at.

Our guide stood off to the side and I could tell he was watching us with a look of excitement in his eyes.  But why was he watching us?  While I was taking photos of the lily pads I noticed something in the water move and as I stared more intently a creature began to take shape.

Apparently, the part of the river we were visiting was home to hundreds of crocodiles.  Not just any crocodiles though, ones that weighed hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

Not a bad place to call home, huh?

It began to rain again and for some reason this stirred a lot of the crocodiles to come on to dry land.  They really were fascinating creatures to watch (do not worry, I did not put one around my neck)! 

And this concluded the grand tour!  However, I still had a private night tour with Alberto to look forward to…

When I recount this story to friends and family, I have jokingly been claiming that this stop was at a “magical creature port.”  Since when our boat docked, we were greeted by the most adorable children at the port, who each held in their hands a unique Amazonian animal.

I did not know in that moment whether I should take pictures, talk to the children, or play with the animals?  The first creature that was presented to me was a baby crocodile.  Having experienced a wild one the night before, I decided to pass on holding it.

Although, I did not pass on holding the next creature that was presented to me, which was a sloth, or “lazy monkey” as the children affectionately called it.

I cannot imagine a more adorable creature (and I have encountered some cute ones in my life).  It took every ounce of being to not run off with it, especially when it reached up to my head and started to rub me in a very loving way.

After some more tender moments with my sloth, the children ran off with their animals and searched for their fathers.  They claimed that they had an even more special creature.  A couple of minutes later a gigantic anaconda was in front of my eyes.

We all stood there in absolute amazement; part in awe of how beautiful this creature was and part in shock of how deadly this creature could be.

Of course, I had to be the person who volunteered to put the anaconda around my neck.

I will not lie, my heart was racing the entire time.  I remember how surprisingly soft its skin was.  I also remember how within 30 seconds of putting it around my neck, it began to try and suffocate me.  At around the minute mark, it took 2 men to get it off of me.  2 men!  I guarentee you if I had left it around my neck for another minute I would have been dead.

Due to there being no more new animals to play with and that I was a bit freaked out about the anacanda experience, we headed into the forest to visit one of the oldest trees in the Amazon.  Was does an “old tree” look like you might wonder?  And I would tell you, imagine its base being about the size of 4 cars side-by-side and a trunk that extended so high into the sky it was impossible to see where it ended.

On our way back to the port I just had to see  my sloth one last time.  I found it being played with by 2 precious girls.

It was difficult to say goodbye to my friend, but I knew it was in good hands.

We had been told that this was our last stop of the day, however our guide said that we actually had time for one more stop to see another Amazonion creature before we were finished for the day.  What other creature could it be???

Our second stop was for lunch at another village.  There was not anything special to note, other than 1) I had to cross the longest footbridge to get there and 2) the lunch was out-of-this world good.  Why do the best meals have to be in places that are extremely difficult to get to?

Our third stop was to yet another village, however this one was completely different from the others, since it was a “floating village,” or a community that has been built along a waterway.  As we slowly drifted by the homes, I fantasized about how fantastic it would be to wake up every morning floating on water.

How any time I needed to feel refreshed, I could just jump into the river from my front porch.

How whenever I felt stressed, I could just close my eyes and listen to the sounds of water.

And how instead of going to the gym to run on the treadmill, I could just swim some laps or how instead of driving around in my car, I could just row around in my boat.

Then my fantasy was briefly interrupted when I thought about how long it would take me to get to the nearest airport when I felt the urge to explore, which to be quiet honest is often, and I realized that maybe this lifestyle is not for me after all.

Our fourth stop was to see some of the world’s largest fish that the village had captured to eventually sell.  These fish were absolutely massive.  Our guide had the brilliant idea for me to go “fishing” (there was no hook, just bate).  I swear I think I threw my back out trying to catch one.  Everyone around me got a good laugh though!

Our next and final stop, was by far the best of the day.  The memories created there will last me a lifetime, so until my next post, enjoy the scenery on the ride there…

What path would my life be taking today? This was the view from my breakfast table.

Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. ~ Miriam Beard

One of the things I loved most about the Amazon, was that one did not necessarily need to take any excursions.  Just by simply being there was an adventure in itself!  I can honestly say that in 1-days time, the Amazon had changed me.  It is a spiritual experience that seeps into your pours and infects your soul.  Immersing oneself in nature gives you a direct experience of the incredible intelligence of the Universe.  You witness the seamless flow of all the elements and forces of life.  Plus, it is a chance to be silent and in that silence is an opportunity for inner-discovery, something a lot of travelers eschew for the more instant pleasures during their journeys (I would know, as I am definitely one of them).

After breakfast I boarded a boat that was to take me to various ports along the river, each promising something uniquely different.  In total, we would spend about 10 hours sailing.  Thank goodness I do not have a problem with sea-sickness.

Our ride for the day.

The changing scenery along the way was remarkable; it was almost like being in a moving museum!

A Manaus favela.

Downtown Manaus.

Our first stop was at a village near the “Meeting of Waters.”  This amazing natural phenomenon is due to the convergence of the dark Negro River and the silty Amazon River.

I was told there was a 10 degree temperature difference between the waters and of course I had see if that was true (it is)!

The village that we were touring was known for its large production of rubber.  Because during the rainy season the river swells and floods the nearby villages, all of the homes had to built on stilts.

These huts were where the rubber was produced.

Of course learning about rubber production was fascinating, but my carefree spirit needed to do some exploring on my own.

Would it not be wonderful to be able to walk out your front door and see this guy in a tree?

The village's tribal mask.

These items were used by the women for various beauty rituals.

As I was wandering around, a rain shower began out of nowhere, so I had to run to one of the huts for protection.  Is not the sound of rain even more beautiful when it is occurring in a rain forest?

The morning might have been on the more tranquil side, however the afternoon, well, if I had any doubts that this day would not be exciting they were definitely erased then…

Me with the Amazon as my background.

The boat ride back to the eco-lodge was a peaceful one as the fading sun lit up the water with a magical glow; appearing as though a special path had been illuminated for us to follow.

Oh, and the caption let me “steer” the boat for a while.

Once we docked, I quickly returned to my cabin to get ready for the mysterious evening that lay ahead.  I threw on a bikini (nervously) and grabbed my underwater camera.

The scenery on my walk to the canoes.

Alberto was waiting for me by the time I arrived.  He helped me into our canoe and presented me with some fresh tropical fruit and home-made cachaça.  As we floated down the river and I indulged in my picnic of sorts, my soul became so alive!  Was I really experiencing this?  Even now as I recall this experience, I find it unbelievable.  I know that millions of people have been to the Amazon River, but how many people can say that they had a (free) private tour with a native?

The beginning of my unknown journey.

As you watch the following video listen carefully to the sounds of the Amazon.

Our first stop was at a sandbank 30 minutes away.  Alberto encouraged me to go swimming once we docked the canoe.  I laughed at the suggestion.  I have done some crazy things in my life, e.g., jumping out of plane over the Great Barrier Reef and diving with Great White Sharks in South Africa, however this seemed to be truly crazy.  Everyone has heard the stories of people being eaten alive by the blood-thirsty piranhas!  Alberto showed me his machete and promised that while there was wildlife around us none would attack and if for some reason they did he would protect us.  I took a couple of deep breaths and reminded myself that if I passed up this opportunity I would forever regret it.  I want to live my life with no regrets, thus I jumped straight into the river.  The water was surprisingly warm and felt absolutely incredible.

Me bathing in the Amazon River.

I swam around for a bit and I am not sure if it was the shots of cachaça kicking in or if I felt invincible since I had yet to be attacked, but I decided that in order for this memory to be complete I needed to skinny dip.  And off went my bikini!

Who gets to say that they have been skinny dipping in the Amazon???

This was, without a doubt, the most memorable experience of my life to date and wow, did I feel blessed in that moment.  A beautiful bird flew over me and kept us company for a while.  Alberto knew how to “speak” the language of all of the animals in the jungle and soon began a conversation with out new friend.  It was awesome to witness this exchange.

As we continued to swim the light of day disappeared and was replaced with an abundance of stars.  Alberto announced that it was time for our night safari.  We got back into the canoe and continued to travel deeper into the Amazon.  The mouth of the river became much more narrow and the jungle become more more dense.  I cannot put into the words the emotions I was feeling at this point.  They just would not do the experience justice.  I remember saying over and over, “Is this really happening?” and Alberto laughing at my disbelief.  For him this was an every day experience and for me this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

During the day Alberto was quite talkative and eager to share information about the Amazon.  Now that he was actually on a mission to find animals it was different, it was serious.  He listened very intently and occasionally he would use his flashlight to search for eyes.

About 10 minutes after we had gotten out of the water, Alberto spotted something and said to me, “Prepare your camera.”

Before I knew it, he had jumped into the water and grabbed a crocodile by its head.  My first thought was “How unfreakingbelievable!”  My second thought was “Ummm, was I not just in this same water?”

He let me touch the crocodile, something I never imagined doing.  I admired Alberto greatly.  This man was so in touch with nature, a rare gift that most of us will never cultivate.

We were both pretty hungry and decided that it was time to return back to the eco-lodge for dinner.  Adventures sure work up an appetite!

Me after the journey (I do not think I stopped smiling the entire time).

As I got out of the canoe, Alberto said these departing words, “I hope you are ready for Round 2 tomorrow!”  Oh boy was I ever…

The weather was so hot and I had a couple of hours before my next excursion, thus I felt a dip in some nearby natural pools was called for.  Surprisingly, no one else was there when I arrived and it was quite a feeling to have  “the whole” jungle to myself.

Me before playing in the waterfalls.

Waterfalls are such an amazing gift from nature, huh?

I lost track of time (how could I not with those surroundings?) and had to quickly rush back to my cabin to get changed for my next tour.  We were scheduled to visit a local community that wanted to perform some tribal dances for us.  I am skeptical of tours like this, because I feel that these indigenous people are paraded around in front of tourists for money.  However, Alberto assured me that this community took great pride in sharing their customs.  It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the village.  Even though I have seen numerous indigenous villages throughout my travels, I have never seen one as uncultivated as this.  Basically the only thing the village had was huts for shelter.  I had more in my little suitcase back in my cabin than these people would have in their entire lives.  And to be honest with you I was almost jealous.  I tend to feel overwhelmed at times with all of my belongings and would love to simply my life.

The chief of the community had all of us sit around in a circle.  He then introduced his village and then explained the meaning behind their dances.

The chief preparing for the ceremony.

And then the dancing began and I felt like I was being transported into the mystical world of the Amazon!

Of course mid-way through *I* was picked to join in the dancing.  I really did not want to participate, as I was super embarrassed, however I did not want to be rude either.

Once the dancing concluded, I took some time to walk around the village and photograph it and its people in a more natural state.

What surprisingly happened next turned out to be the best part of the already amazing day…