In the bowels of the Rio Negro
Pleasures like bathing in their amazing beaches absolutely (really) deserted among botos and pink freshwater dolphins. Or put on the boots eating all kinds of native products -and delicious-, unpronounceable fruits such as the taperebá, the pupunha or the tucumán huge fish like the piranha or the pirarucu , whose fishing in the region has an aura of ritual that practically elevates said fish to divinity. And it's great.
It is not easy to enter the ** Jaú National Park **, given the transportation difficulties that exist to connect Manaus and Novo Airao (departure port to a jungle paradise). To explore the Río Negro stopping at various places, it is best to entrust yourself to **agencies like Katerre**, which offers different day packages to learn more or less about a natural paradise where only small communities of caboclos -descendants of indigenous who are dedicated to collecting what nature offers, hunting and fishing - will cross your path to discover a totally different way of understanding life.
Amazing deserted beaches
The expedition departs from an impressive hotel ( Mirante do Gavião ) with all the comforts of the best ecotourism , a large sustainable project (and adapted for the disabled) designed by the architect Patricia O'Reilly and made almost entirely of wood, with an inverted boat structure and all without the destructive aesthetic impact that characterizes some large hotels in remote areas . The Katerre agency, moreover, not only provides work through its tourist infrastructure, but also tries to participate and help in local initiatives such as an NGO for the training of labor in wood recycling or in the protection of the enormous biological diversity of the ecosystem. , especially of the turtles , threatened by illegal smuggling.
a baby alligator
Before leaving in the Jacaré Açú , expedition ship, it is worth enjoying one of the most impressive pools you have ever been in, elevated over the Río Negro with views of its flow and the depth of the jungle and next to the hotel restaurant, perfect for tasting a signature cuisine that takes advantage of the varied and juicy products of the land . On the boat, comfortable and spacious, with a similar design, it will also be possible to continue enjoying this cuisine. It will not be, let's put it this way, the hardship that one imagines when embarking on an adventure in the deepest part of the jungle.
Nevertheless, we will hear the roar of alligators , an armed guide will accompany us in case we have to face snakes or jaguars, also to break some branches in a jungle so dense that sometimes the sun's rays barely penetrate. Insects of varied colors and exaggerated sizes will try to make it a little more difficult for us, the night bathed in stars can be frightening due to the unknown of the animals that sound in the background. Getting vaccinated against yellow fever and listening to legends of disappearances does not help to be completely calm, nor does knowing when one swims among piranhas and crocodiles.
Jacaré A, the expedition ship
But the risks are actually small if one respects the environment and, above all, one feels free, wild and isolated among the waterfalls of the Rio Negro and its tributaries such as the Solimões or jumping into the water from the top of the boat or from a large rock from the generous flow of the river, while black storm clouds come closer blocking the sticky sun that dominated during the day. Drinking a beer on a deserted beach while the pinkish dolphins poke their heads is a priceless disconnection. Varieties of parrots and the woodpecker, star appearances of macaques and the crown of a crocodile. But, above all, an exuberant green on each flank of -and clearly reflected in- an endless river that bathes and feeds the largest jungle in the world.
Follow @german\_aranda
*** You may also be interested in...**
- Postcards from the Amazon jungle
- Float at full speed through the Peruvian Amazon
- gourmet amazon
- Iquitos: more lights, less shadows
- Bonito: the Brazil that does not need an adjective
- Emerging gastronomic powers III: Brazil - Brazil naked: excuses to travel beyond the World Cup
A freshwater pink dolphin