Amazons: Part II SWIMMING WITH PINK DOLPHINS!

Yeah, you read the title correctly; we swam with PINK DOLPHINS in the Amazon River today! It had to be one of the coolest experiences of my life! We began the day early taking an hour boat ride down the river to a location where a family has been feeding the dolphins for years and trying to help them thrive since they are quickly going extinct. They are fresh water dolphins, and they are a light grey on the top and very pink on the bottom. They are awesome animals.

When we got to the houses on the side of the river, we split into two groups and the first group went into about 4 feet of water onto a dock. As we did, a couple guys brought fish and started feeding the dolphins. We were able to touch them as they fed them, it was so awesome! After each group swam, we got some floaties and swam out into the river, probably 20 feet out, and swam with the dolphins. You could feel them going under your feet and sneaking up between us. They are wild so they weren’t jumping all over us, but they were really friendly and liked to play with us. It was amazing feeling them and being so near them. What I loved about being out there was how safe we felt. The Amazon River has piranha, alligators, and lots of other unkind creatures, yet with the dolphins around we were perfectly safe. They scare off other creatures so we are able to swim without dying. After yesterday’s experience with the piranha, I’m glad for that!

Next (yep, our day wasn’t over!) we went to meet an actual Indian tribe that shows their traditional dances and music. It was pretty interesting and they had all of us dance with them during one of the ritual dances. I had never seen anything like it so it was a cool experience.

Last of all, we went to a rubber museum where in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s they used to get rubber from the trees and ship it to Europe. At the time rubber was worth a lot of money and it was a gold mine in Manaus. Sadly, the museum we went to tells the story of a guy that used to basically enslave his workers and kill them like animals if they tried to leave. It was interesting to see how everything worked there, and it was gratifying to know that after all the murders the man committed he was eventually burned to death.

All in all, today was amazing. It was crazy fun, educational, and great! This was probably my favorite day in Brazil!