Monday July 12

Waking up at around 4 am I knew I was restored for more adventures even if drained of some energy. So I went with Neha on the sunrise boat trip, a sort of ciau ciau to the world of the Amazon Basin. We saw all kinds of birds and generally  just enjoyed the mood. 

The last breakfast was sort of sad, since the Canadian couple will stay on. They even accompanied us to the boat--sweet, that's what they were.
/are. Together with the French couple, Neha, and one other woman we set out back to Manaus--a wonderful trip during which I saw the giant water lilies but we couldn't get our driver to stop for a photo.

The woman turned out to be a tour operator owner who had checked out the lodge. Her name is Louisa, a Manaus native but residing inFlorida. She runs Brazilnut which I came across in the Fromme tour guide. I also almost had my tours arranged by that company but decided against it because I thought the money wouldn't stay In Amazonia. Actually I was wrong on that one--she is working on an interesting ecotourism- sustainability project by means of which a village which has been deprived of income will get its own lodge and training of people on how to run it. In addition, she also is responsible for the University of Virginia's semester at sea Amazon portion. Ok, and she got me interested into looking at that program more carefully --she suggested a sabbatical - ( which I won't be granted for another 20 years). And, yeah, I am supposed to look her up in Florida.

Neha, the French couple and I set out to the airport where, it turned out, we all took planes into different directions of Brazil. All at a similar time. Funny how this worked out. Across three generations, I think we had a lot of fun and great learning experiences together.

I also spent at least 2 hours with Neha alone during which time I learned a lot about Southern Indian culture.

Unfortunately the Freench couple doesn't use facebook so I'll probably lose contact with them. Maybe not....

At the time of this writing I am sitting in an almost empty plane waiting for its customers Brasilia -- Recife.