We are kicking the week of with an article written our friend Mike from Zappos who recently got engaged in the Amazon! How cool is that??? I asked him to share his story and let’s all send him a big congrats!! I wish him and his new fiance nothing but happiness!! Seems she is a lucky girl. -Julia

Amazon River Experience

I was fortunate to take a cruise to the Amazon River recently which was an amazing trip. I have been to Europe and China on multiple occasions and Brazil once for the Couromoda shoe show a few years back. Most of those times were work related and this recent trip was purely vacation.  It was my first experience on a cruise so I was excited for many reasons. The trip was a 15 day cruise with 9 excursions, 4 of which were in the Caribbean Islands.

This trip was special not only because it was my first cruise but also because I was planning on proposing to my girlfriend, Linda Allen who is an Interior Designer in Los Angeles. I had asked her father several weeks back for her hand, so I had a ring made for her and bought a tuxedo for the occasion. The plan was to do the proposal during the first “formal night” which was the 4^th. Everything went as planned and she said yes! Below is the actual proposal…

Okay back to the trip! Our first few stops were through the Caribbean Islands, St. Barth’s, St Lucia, Trinidad and Devils Island. Each Island had its own charm from the beautiful beaches of St Barth’s where the rich and famous go to play to Devils Island which was the setting for the movie “Papillion” an old French prison. We met some amazing people on each island and can’t say I favored one over the other but I have to admit Devil’s Island was fascinating. There were some beautiful birds just “hanging out” so needless to say we took many pictures.

Below are some shots of the old prison. From 1853 to 1946 over 80,000 prisoners were sent there, most of them were never seen again. In 1938 the French government stopped sending prisoners there and in 1952 it was closed.

 We finally started up the Amazon River around the 10^th. The Amazon River is said to be over 4,000 miles long in length and at certain points 6 miles wide. The name comes from a Spanish explorer who encountered fierce women tribes much like the ancient Greek story of Amazon warriors.

 The common theme in each port was COLOR! Everything was so vibrant and the people were so friendly.  One island, Boca Da Valeria, the townspeople greeted us at the tender dock and the children would come up to us and take us to their homes to see how they live. Of course a small tip was made for this “experience” but it was very interesting. Through the center of town the villagers would have booths set up to take pictures with the local wildlife for a dollar. We saw a Sloth (below), Monkeys, Cayman lizards, HUGE beetles and other animals I’ve never seen before. Although somewhat staged it was a really cool experience.

In  Manaus there were areas where the Amazon would merge with the Rio Negro river, this causes an effect of the two rivers running parallel with each other for miles without mixing together We ended the trip in Manaus and went on a river cruise much like the one at Disneyland except it was real. We saw many Beautiful birds and wildlife and even went Piranha fishing.

The cruise was highlighted by a walk in the rainforest where Monkeys were climbing in the trees (along with Anacondas) and a beautiful lily pond that was inhabited by three rather large Cayman Lizards (about 8 feet long)

This trip was fascinating because I got to experience another side to Brazil I haven’t seen before. The people live very modestly but really enjoy themselves. At this time of year everyone was wearing flat colorful sandals with ornamentations or bling. In many of the ports the city would slow down around 6pm and the people would break out BBQ’s and start cooking things in the street. It was a mini “Carnival” every night. I didn’t really feel at danger at any time during the trip and everyone was very friendly. I encourage people to keep an open mind while travelling and think positive. If more people would learn other people’s cultures and lifestyles I believe the world would have fewer problems.

-Mike