Day Three: The Boatride to Anã

Day Three, Friday, January 9: The Boatride to Anã

We are in paradise now.  We stopped our boat about twenty feet from the bank, meaning that we had to walk through water about hip high carrying our massive load of bags.  Our hosts were quicker and stronger than we were so we were relieved of much of the overall burden. 

Along with our luggage carriers, we reunited with the president of the local association (a cooperative government of sorts): Dona Odila (pronounced oh-DJEE-luh).  She was waving her arms madly as we approached from mid-river and she had huge hugs for the returners and the newcomers alike. 

We hiked our bags down the beach a bit (deep sand there was a special obstacle to loading gear) then up a timber staircase and down a forest path to find our lovely round hammock hut.  The hut has a large pole down the center with 24 hooks on it.  The perimeter wall also has 24 hooks.  Our job was to pick a spot on the pole and then find the accompanying space on the perimeter to hang our hammock. 

The hut is equipped with cabinets that line the perimeter so that most of our stuff can be relatively contained.  The cabinets have a countertop that we can use for more of our things.  We are SET. 

We swam in the river to rinse off the sweat and sand that we accumulated while loading bags.  We kept exclaiming over the beauty, our good fortune and the relief that the cool waters afforded us. 

Some of us then stored the gear while others showered or did laundry.  We will very quickly have quite a routine going here as we got things pretty close to organized in just this one afternoon. 

We had a lovely dinner of chicken, cabbage, rice, pasta, fish salad, and a sweet potato flan that had Carlos losing his mind with joy.  After dinner we met with Dona Odila and other community leaders to get a feel for how the next week will unfold. 

We learned quickly that the community is already REALLY hyped about a soccer rematch between the Brazilians and the Americans.  We only had our women play their women last year but this year we will have two full matches: the men and the women.  They are in a hurry to get this thing going so the date has already been set for Sunday.  We are ready to have some fun but we have already accepted the fact that both matches will be bloodbaths. 

We can’t wait to show you pictures and our videos.  We are producing things every day as if they are being posted and we hope that we figure out a way to make posting happen.  Tomorrow we will all tour Anã and see what our jobs will look like over the next two weeks.  We can’t wait.  

Daily Photos

Jenny, Marissa, Connor, Brent and Stephen share a smile on the way to Anã!

Beginning to understand the meaning of family in Anã.

Captain Shawny leading the way to adventure in Anã.

The side of our boat on our way to Anã. The trip is four hours by boat. We crammed onto the boat with all bags and others. 

The Boi (ox) Americano, Jesse, pulling the luggage to the pousada!

 

On our first day at Anã, we noticed many animals, like this cat, treated as community pets. 

A captain awaits departure on a ship furnished with interesting colors. (photo enhanced)

On our way to Ana, we dropped off supplies to people who live in the rainforest. (photo enhanced)

We dropped off only ice and Coca Cola to this man, who clearly must love his soda. (photo enhanced)

The view of the Amazon Rainforest from the boat taking us to Ana. 

Our luggage on the boat that took us to Ana – the other half is in a storage area underneath.

Whats the first thing we do? Swim in the Rio Arapiuns of course!