We got up bright and early on Monday morning to get ready for our first excursion, the waterfalls of Presidente Figueirido. We booked our excursion through a company called Iguana Tours for $76 per person. I originally heard about Iguana Tours from one of the teachers at my school who had travelled to Manaus the previous summer. She had nothing but great things to say, so I trusted her advise and booked 3 separate tours with them. We also had 2 tours with other companies, and I can 100% say that Iguana was the best. They had the most reliable communication, their tour guides were fun and knowledgable, and the tours were fantastic.
Nathan and Leah had gotten to the hotel at 4 am, so they were both exhausted, but they joined us for breakfast at 6:45 am. The breakfast choices were amazing... fruit, eggs, cheeses, meats, yogurts, breads, cakes, chicken and beef dishes, juices, and more. The tour van arrived at 7:15, and our guide Geffson introduced himself, and we headed out.
We were now a group of 9, so we filled most of the van. 2 more people were supposed to join us, but they never came, so we got lucky and got our own personal tour. The town of Presidente Figueirido was about 1.5 hours away, so we enjoyed a quiet ride through rainforest lined roads.
When we finally arrived at our first stop, we were told that we should rent some boots for the trip. We didn't really want to spend the extra money and questioned whether our water shoes or hiking shoes would be good enough, but after encouragement from Geffson, we all rented the boots. We were so glad we did. We had no idea what we were in store for.
The hike started out pretty mild. There was a small trail that meandered through the thick jungle. Along the way, Geffson would stop and point out interesting plants or trees that were important to the natives (the tallest tree -Angelim vermelho, water vine, ant houses that were natural mosquito repellents, tree sap that would burn like a torch, etc.). All three of the boys were at the front of the group by Geffson, and they hung on his every word. He treated them so well, and they felt like his best friends by the end of the day.
The trail gradually got steeper and more slick from the recent rain. Christian and I both fell on our bums at one point, but luckily, we were not hurt, just a little dirty. I was worried about how Mom would handle it with her surgically repaired knee, but she did great!
After about 45 minutes, we made it to Maroaga Cave and Waterfall. It was stunning! The vegetation around it was so green, and the water was falling from high above us. We got a chance to go out onto a rock to take a picture by the waterfall and then got to go a little ways into the cave. There were several different types of bats that lived in the cave, including vampire bats, so we didn't explore too far.
As we left the cave, we waded through a stream of water along the side of the cave. It was my favorite part of the whole day! It was absolutely gorgeous, and we felt like real jungle explorers. All around us were trees, vines, and vegetation in all colors of green. There were also smaller waterfalls dripping down from the rock wall to our left. At that point, we were so grateful we had left our shoes behind and rented the boots. The lesson was to always trust your guide because they have more experience and know better than you! Even with our boots on, the water was still too deep, and we had to empty them when we got back on dry land. At one point, Hyrum actually fell in the water and was soaked. He had his swimsuit on underneath his clothes though, so he just took off them off and stayed in his swimsuit the rest of the day.
It wasn't too much longer until we arrived at the Grotto of Judea. It was another stunning waterfall with a big pool of water at the bottom that we could swim in. The water appeared orange because of the color of the soil in the area. It was actually a really unexpected, beautiful color. The kids (and some of the adults) waded out into the pool and stood under the waterfall. They were able to splash around and cool off after a long, hot hike.
When we had gotten our fill of swimming, we began the hike back. We had been hiking for about 2 hours at that point, so we were getting pretty tired. The heat and humidity made it more challenging than it would have been otherwise, but the kids were troopers. They kept going without much complaint until the very end. Even Andrew who had sores on his feet from his boots rubbing had a great attitude. To protect his feet, we wrapped them in Hyrum's clothes so they wouldn't rub quite so much. It actually helped quite a bit. When we finally made it out of the jungle, we made sure the kids knew they had accomplished something hard. We were pretty dirty, but we felt really good about what we had conquered.
It was only a 10 minute drive to the restaurant where we ate lunch. We were starving, so it was great to know that it was an all-you-can-eat Brazilian buffet. They had an enormous assortment of meats, veggies, fruits, breads, and rice dishes. Everything I ate was delicious!
After lunch, we got back in the van and drove to Iracema Waterfall. It took a while to drive down the long dirt road, but it was only a short walk to get to the actual falls. Iracema Falls was huge. It was much bigger than the other ones from that morning. It had an unusual brown color that was a little bit of a turnoff at first, but Geffson said that many rivers in the Amazon are that color because there is so much plant material in the soil and the water. In fact, one of the main rivers in the Amazon is called the Rio Negro (Black River) because of its color. It had nothing to do with how clean the water was. The boys named it the root beer float waterfall and had no qualms about jumping right in.
This was the spot where Geffson really shined. He grabbed Andrew, and the two of them ran and jumped off a big ramp into the water. Usually, Andrew would be more timid about doing scary things, but not today. I'm pretty sure he wanted to show Geffson how cool he was! It was positive peer pressure that helped Andrew have the time of his life. It was his favorite part of the whole trip!
I missed Andrew's first jump, so I gave Geffson the camera to take a video from the water. What followed was the best video of the whole trip. As Andrew was running up the ramp, his sandal caught at the very end. It totally disrupted his jump, and he twisted and bellyflopped into the water. Thankfully, he was not hurt, and we have now watched the video and laughed about it 1,000 times. We even got the fall from two different angles because Grandma was also filming. He was such a good sport and even made a gif out of it to send to his friends. He did a lot of other great jumps too, but that is the one we will remember!
After that Jonathon and Andrew went with Geffson to stand in the waterfall. They were able to walk on the rocks most of the way out, but then they swam the final stretch to a ledge where they could stand. It was a really exciting experience for them. Meanwhile, Hyrum and Christian enjoyed swimming around in the water with Grandpa, Nathan, and Leah.
We stayed there for about 45 minutes before leaving for our final destination, Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake). The road to get to the lake was covered in potholes, and it took forever to get there because we had to drive so slowly. When we finally arrived, we were surprised at how small the lake was. It was probably only about 50 feet across, but the water was a stunning blue, and the whole area was so picturesque. The color comes from a mineral in the soil and is completely natural. We all hopped in and enjoyed swimming for about half an hour. Geffson said he wasn't going to get in because he didn't want to be cold on the way home. We all kind of laughed about the Brazilian being cold in the heat of the Amazon. Little did we know that we would all be freezing on the way home because of the air conditioner in the van. Haha! Another example of why it is important to listen to your guide, but this time, we made the wrong choice.
The drive home took a little less than 2 hours. Everyone was tired and some even took a nap. When we got home, we grabbed Burger King for dinner since it was right next door to the hotel. For some reason, it tasted better in Brazil. We had such an amazing day and couldn't have asked for anything better!
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