Amazon addict

On saturday morning Geovanny and me wanted to take the 6:00 bus from Manaus to Presidente Figueredo, a place further North that is famous for its rivers and waterfalls. I arrived to the bus station on time... but Geovanny who was stil on a more, lets say, Ecuadorian time ;-) didn`t make it. So I took the bus to Figueiredo alone - definately one of the savest busses of all times, as 99% of the passengers where military police on their way to work.
From the bus station in Figueiredo I had to take a motor taxi to the Pousada das Pedras - not quite easy with a 15kg backpag and a quad trauma ;-) Anyway, I survived and was welcomed like a lost family member by Tyrza, the charming owner of the pousada. She urged me to have breakfast first before checking in and introduced me to the other guests, a group of university professors. Soon they invited me to visit some waterfalls with them and as I had no idea if Geovanny would make it to Figueiredo that day I went. It turned out that the lady driving was the wife of one of the tourist guides, Johnny, and we went to the tourist information to say hello.. This turned out to be really usefull because when we got back from the waterfalls and met him again he told me that Geovanny as already waiting for me at the pousada ;-) What a small place ;-)

We took right off to the jungle and had definately one of the best days in Brazil so far. Johnny is from Sao Paulo originally but spend a lot of time with indian guides and knows everything about the jungle. He knows which plants can be used for medical purposes (we tried the `lacre` tree juice on the cuts on my legs - it helped!) and where to find which animal... He showed us how the indians used to make themselves `invisible` on the hunt by covering their body with crushed ants, which cover the human smell and - last but not least - we had a shower in a beautifull waterfull. Besides being a really good guide Johnny is a great and spiritual person and we had a really good time. He is very passionate about establishing eco and adventure tourism in the area and also told us about the problems he had to face - really good insight!

Tyrza and her family from the Pousada das Pedras also made us feel really at home. On the last day it was raining and storming and we spend the day at the pousada together. They invited us for dinner and we watched `Big Mamas house` together. It felt like home :-) They are both so proud to be listed in the Lonely Planet and collect the postcards they get from people who stayed with them from all over the world - they are so sweet! Even though Figueiredo is not very big and well known I would recommend anybody to go there - its a bit off the beaten tracks and you can experience nature as well as Brazilian hospitality unspoilt from the big tourist rush!