Amazon & Carnaval Explorer, Report #18b, Manaus, Day 2 Having had such a fantastic adventure yesterday, we 5 elect to use the same boat charter, this time to an Ecological Park, about an hour distant in the opposite direction. Once again Yolanda is our translator, our boat skipper speaks no English. We cross the Meeting of Waters

phenomenon at the confluence of the Negro River's dark water and the Solimões River's muddy brown water that unite to form the Amazon River. For 6 km or more, waters of both rivers run side by side without much mixing. Our boat skipper suggests the main factors

are differences in the speed of the 2 currents, the volumes of water, and, the different temperature and acidity of the 2 rivers. He suggests we drag our hands in the water as we cross the boundary (left). We feel the sudden chill as we cross. The Negro River originates in sun-warmed flat terrain and is about 28

0C (and

tea-brown from acidic tannins), while the Solimões River coming from the high Andes Mountains is much cooler at 22

0C (and muddy

brown from its sediment burden of eroded mountain rock). Apparently plants and animals benefit much more from the nutrients carried in the Solimões. We pass typical Amazonian

villages enroute to the Ecological Park. Regulations allow one family to put visitors into close contact with park wildlife. Apparently that family is allowed to keep wild animals in captivity only so long as they are not unduly stressed, and are released back into the wild at regular intervals, to be replaced by new captures. During our visit it seems to us, they are complying with those regulations. All of us are smitten by this gentle

sloth youngster. Soft, gently slow-moving, and vast over-length arms crave security almost like a cuddly infant. Sweet. Our next wildlife encounter is perhaps a little too cuddly, as this young anaconda squeezes ever-tighter around Henry’s neck . But this 7-foot youngster is not very dangerous compared to full-sized adults that can grow a hundred times larger, and able to swallow a human

whole. It feels smooth and cool to the touch. Surprising to Bob, this young caiman also feels smooth and cool. On the other hand, this dried piranha illustrates the danger of the live specimen we caught on a hook and line in Mica Lake, Santarem. Leaving “these fun animals” we enter the Ecological Park forest canopy walk to the Giant Water Lillie Pond. The walkway is an impressive construction high above river inundations on the forest floor below. In the tree tops

we see monkeys. Our boat skipper calls them Guariba monkeys. Bob has a small amount of granola in his backpack, residue from the monkeys on Devil’s Island. These little guys instantly recognize the sound of a crinkly bag and rush down to us. We are not the first to feed

them. These endearing small monkeys are polite – ever so gently they take food from our hand. Returning to Manaus we pass through The Flooded Forest – our track is called Canoe Passage – barely the width of canoe – branches brushing us on both sides, we are literally boating through the upper canopy of this forest (left). The forest floor, meters below us, will be above water line in the dry season. Satisfied with another fabulous day of adventure we are happy to be heading back to Manaus. Having a fantastic cruise, ‘till next we have the pleasure of seeing you, love to all, Bob and Kerrell, http://lincolnshome.wordpress.com/