Amazon Adventure Day 6 (Returning to Salvador)

On Friday, we had to leave for home. The flights to Salvador were way cheaper on Friday than on Saturday. Mom and Dad and Nathan and Leah did not leave for home until the next day, so they had one more day to have fun in Manaus. I found some great tours for them that day. 

They went on a boat to see the Meeting of the Waters, swam with pink dolphins, saw the Arapaima breeding tanks, and visited a tribal village for a ceremonial presentation. This was the tour that I most wanted to go on when I started planning this whole trip, but my boys were really uncomfortable with the tribal ceremony because the natives were in traditional dress, which meant loin cloths for the men and no tops for the women. The women were mostly covered with flowers and necklaces, but not completely. I understood their concerns and was proud of them for not wanting to be exposed to that, but it was still really hard for me to not go with the others. In the end, I honored the wishes of my boys, and let it go. I'm glad that the rest went on the tour though. They said it was an amazing day and shared lots of pictures and videos, so I kind of felt like I was there.

Our flight didn't leave until 2 pm, so we stayed at the hotel cleaning up, packing, and playing games until it was time to leave. Before we left Manuas, we found some souvenirs at the airport. Hyrum got a keychain, and I found a magnet for our travel board and a painted vase, that I love. Everything with our flights went really smoothly. We stopped in Brasilia again for a few hours before continuing on to Salvador. While we there, we tried quindim, a Brazilian coconut egg custard dessert that was delicious. We will have to learn to make that!

When we finally landed, it was so refreshing to be back. The temperature and humidity in Salvador were way more comfortable than in Manaus, and it was so great to be "home" in our own beds and surrounded by things we knew. 

We didn't get back until nearly 11 pm, so we crashed as soon as we got in. The next day we slept in and then did 6 loads of laundry because everything smelled like the jungle! What a fabulous, perfect trip! We really didn't have any major problems, and everything went so smoothly. I am so thankful that we were watched over and protected during our travels. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we will remember forever!