We got to sleep in a bit on Thursday morning, which was nice after 4 very busy days. We got up, and Jonathon, Nathan, and my dad went to the grocery store to grab us some things for breakfast and lunch that day. We introduced everyone to our favorite Brazilian breakfast of drinkable yogurt, french rolls with goibada jam and requeijão, and fingerling bananas. We also had a variety of juices to try.
We got everyone packed up and ready to meet our tour guide at 9:15. We piled into two SUV's supplied by the tourism agency and headed out to visit two outdoor museums in Manaus. (Side note: In most places we travel, I like to do research and save money by booking our own travel and doing our own activities, but for this trip I made sure to book official tours with reputable companies that would take care of all the transportation and planning for us. I did this because Manaus is a more dangerous city than any place we have been to (crime, possible medical problems, dangerous diseases, etc.)... BYU even warned us about Manaus when Jonathon submitted his travel plans. It might have cost a bit more to do so many official tours, but I feel like it was a great decision. We didn't have to worry about figuring everything out on our own, and we felt safe the whole time. Plus, I still had lots of things to plan and figure out to decide on the specific tours, so I still got to contribute my "travel agent" skills plenty. I would do it exactly the same if we had it to do over again!)
Our first stop was INPA (Istituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia). INPA is a research and educational institute that was founded in an effort to learn more about the Amazon region and focuses on protecting and learning more about the various flora and fauna that are specific to the area.
As soon as we walked through the gates, it kind of felt like we were back in the jungle (but with walking paths this time!) Since it is a protected natural environment within the big city, all of the wildlife around flocks to it for food and protection. As we stepped inside, we were immediately greeted by a whole bunch of monkeys playing in the trees. Our guide who does this daily said that it was quite a treat to see these monkeys because they were very seldom seen by visitors. Hyrum's favorite animal is a monkey, so he was in heaven. We watched them dart back and forth in the trees for several minutes.
Next we got to see an exhibit on river otters. They were bigger than I was expecting, but just as playful. From there, we walked over to some big holding tanks where they kept the manatees. The water wasn't super clear, so we didn't get a great view of them, but every few seconds we would see one of their noses break the surface of the water to take a breath. I didn't know there were manatees in the Amazon, so that was a fun fact to learn.
Then, we started on our trek through the vegetation. Our guide pointed out a huge iguana in a tree and told us to keep our eyes open for other wildlife. Leah's favorite animal is a sloth, and we didn't see one during any of our jungle tours, so she was really hopeful that she would see one today. She asked the guide about it every few minutes, and I could tell it was really important to her. Nathan even said that he would give our guide a big tip if he could find us a sloth. This picture of Hyrum and Leah with their favorite animals wasn't exactly the goal we had in mind, but it turned out cute!
We came to a building with special exhibits to learn about specific trees and animals. Inside we saw the largest leaf in the world. It was enormous... much larger than an average man. We also saw info on insects, turtles, caiman, snakes, manatees, and birds. It was pretty sad when we finally found a sloth for Leah and it was a taxidermied one hanging from the claws of a giant harpy eagle. Poor Leah... she took it well though. We wandered around for about another half hour. It was really hot and humid, so we were fading fast.
Our poor guide was still working hard to find Leah a sloth, but we were running out of time and jungle. The whole time I was saying a silent prayer that we would find one for her because I knew how important it was. Leah had been saving all of her money for years to be able to go to the Amazon, and while we were there she desperately wanted to see a sloth. Sometimes I feel silly about praying for such small, unimportant things when there are such difficult things going on in the world. But then I always remember that Heavenly Father cares about each of us and our hopes and dreams, even if they may seem insignificant, like seeing a sloth. Sometimes, it is when He answers those small prayers that we realize how much He loves us, and it can strengthen our testimonies to help us through the big things for the rest of our lives.
We made it back to the gate of the institute, and some of the group ahead started to exit. Our guide had stopped at the last group of trees and was looking around. He ventured into the trees a little way to look more thoroughly, and that is when I spotted the sloth hanging from the tree. Instant gratitude flooded through me. Heavenly Father is good and continually provides tender mercies for his children! I quickly called to the rest of the group that we had found our sloth. Nathan and Leah were already at the gates, but they came hurrying back in shock. We stood and watched the slow moving creature for several minutes. Then to our amazement, we saw another little head pop out from behind the mama's arm. Not only had we found one sloth, we had found two... a mom and baby! We took some pictures and video before leaving. On the way out, Nathan gave our guide the tip he had promised. When we got in the car, Leah asked to watch the video several times and even named "her" sloths... Samantha and Sammy. It was all very sweet to see everyone so happy.
Our next stop was MUSA (Museo da Amazônia). It was basically a huge outdoor botanical garden. When we went in, we were required to have closed-toe shoes, but Christian had not gotten the memo, so we had to rent boots for him. It was funny and kind of sad to see him try to squeeze into the largest size they had that was still 3 sizes too small. Brazilians are just not made as big as Americans. He was a trooper though and didn't complain much.
As we walked along the jungle path, our guide explained about some of the plants and animal life around. He showed us some of the things we had seen previously like the largest tree in the jungle (Angelim Vermelho), water vine, ant nests, etc. We also got to go into the snake house, which really creeped Hyrum out. He really doesn't like snakes! Then we got to see the piraracu (arapaima) and tambaqui fish tank. The fish were enormous. The arapaima is the largest freshwater fish in the world. These ones were 6+ feet long, but they can get up to 10 feet long and 440 pounds! They are really strange looking, kind of like a half eel/half fish. It turns out that Jonathon and Hyrum had actually seen one in the wild on our jungle excursion, but didn't know what it was. They got a picture of it, and now we know that it was an arapaima. Near the fish tank was a little lake on the property that had giant water lilies floating in it. They made for a very scenic view.
Once we finished there, it was time to go to the observation tour. The tower is 42 meters tall (14 stories) with 242 steps. Mom stayed on the ground because of her knee, but the rest of us made the hike to the top. Everyone did really well, and no one complained. I have been really impressed with our kids on this trip. They have become such good travelers and are at a great age to be able to do things without much help from us. From the top, you can look out and see the Amazon forest. On one side, you see the city of Manaus, and the other three sides are rain forest as far as the eye can see. The tower is above the trees, so you get to see the whole canopy. It was cool to be able to see the jungle from below and above.
To finish at MUSA, we got picoles (popsicles). They were in fun flavors like lime and acai, and everyone loved them because we were all hot, tired, and hungry. From there, we headed back to the hotel, ate a lunch of sandwiches, chips, and fruit, and then went swimming again.
That night we had a temple baptism appointment at the Manaus temple. The appointment was at 6:45, and they wanted us to arrive thirty minutes early. We planned to leave at 5:45, but when I checked the Uber app, the traffic was terrible, and the 30 minute trip was now an hour trip. We hurried as fast as we could to get dressed and ready to go. We were going to be a little big late already, but then we had major problems getting 3 Ubers. Drivers did not want to make the long trip in heavy traffic, so we waited for 15+ minutes before we were all on the way.
When we all finally arrived, it was 6:50, but I figured there would be plenty of space to get us in. (When we went to the temple in Rio, we were the only ones there, so it was no problem.) I was completely mistaken! I have never seen a temple that crowded. The waiting area and front desk area were completely full with adults and teens waiting for their groups. Mom took Hyrum and Leah into the waiting room and helped them find seats amongst all the people. When we explained what happened at the front desk, they said they would see if they could squeeze us in, but they would need to contact the temple president to figure out if it would work. I felt really bad about being late and throwing off everyone's schedules, but I also felt an immense amount of love and pride for those Brazilian Saints who were filling the temple.
The temple president was so nice and quickly got us in, helped us get our clothing, and showed us the way to the changing rooms. The baptismal area had many, many youth waiting to do baptisms. It looked like a ward or stake may have been there that night. To our surprise, they let us go in the middle of the group. We decided to keep it short, so Jonathon baptized Andrew, Christian, and me, and then Nathan and my dad confirmed us. We only did the family names my mom sent, so we each did about 4. We thanked the temple staff profusely for accommodating us. As we were leaving, I noticed a man that looked familiar. He was the Bishop of the ward we had attended on the Sunday before. He came over and greeted us and then invited us to a ward party they were having that Saturday night. I still can't believe it... Brazilian Saints know how to take care of their own and others. We weren't going to be in town that night, but we were all so touched and humbled that he would think to extend that invitation to people he didn't even know. What great examples!
We left the temple and took some pictures outside. It was dark, so it was hard to get great pictures, but I loved seeing the Brazil flag waving in the breeze in front of the temple. It was a beautiful experience to be at the temple that night.
We got Ubers and went to the nearest mall where we had dinner at the food court. Malls in Brazil are the center of social life. They are usually the nicest buildings in the area, have amazing restaurants and stores, and lots of people go there to hang out and spend time. Then we headed back to the hotel. It was another brilliant day in Manaus!
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