Amazonian Bliss

Virginia Shumate
West Virginia University College of Law, 2L
Monday, July 28, 2008

As we arrived at the Holiday Inn in Miami, there was a surreal feeling in the air. Here we were, classmates and professors, coming together to embark on an amazing journey to Brazil! The comradery continued through the evening and into the next morning as we made our way to the airport. Excited and anxious, we boarded the plane for Manaus. Captivated by the extensive forests and winding rivers below us, we were able to get our first glimpse of Brazil. We arrived unscathed, except for some rather rough turbulence on the plane. I noticed that for the first time in my life, I was in an area of the world that does not cater to Americans. English was no longer the first language spoken on the plane, but rather the second. There were only a few English translations in the airport. I have been to Italy before but did not experience such a drastic change as I did now. I was surprised, but very happy about it. Driving through Manaus, the streets seemed dark and quiet, except for the cars going quickly and what appeared to be a little too close to one another and the few people scattered about. The steep staircases in our hotel and the heavy luggage could not diminish our wonder and anticipation of what was coming next.

Students and Professors participating in Brasil 2008 stop to view the flooded forest

Just around the corner and a few blocks from our hotel was the Churrascaria Bufalo, that serves all the meat you could want. We all sat together as the waiters came around with slabs of fillet Mignon, chicken, lamb, other cuts of beef, cheeses, pineapple, and almost anything else you can imagine. Everyone but me ate meat until they felt it clogging their arteries (Not really the ideal place for a somewhat reformed vegetarian, but the sushi and everything I had there was fabulous!). We still could not believe we were in Brazil but were enjoying all the sights, sounds, and tastes around us. Tired from a long day of traveling, I went to bed wondering what the next day could possibly bring.

The next morning we were treated to a breakfast of meats, cheeses, breads, fresh local fruits and fruit juices, and Brazilian coffee. From there, our tour guide Anandi Pooran led us on foot to our riverboat. We definitely stuck out walking through the streets as 21 American tourists with luggage. Before our riverboat departed, we walked through the open air market which was alive with the smells of freshly caught fish, fresh fruits, and people buying their food for the day/week. It was like nothing I had ever seen, with something new and interesting to look at around each corner.

As our riverboat set off on the Rio Negro, we marveled at where we were and how lucky we are to have this experience that so many people will never have or would even think of embarking upon. Later that day, we set out to view the Giant Lily Pads or Victoria Regia, named after Queen Victoria because the pads were large enough to be her hammock. We spotted two cayman there, crouched among the lily pads. There we heard tales of the cayman biting people in half and the rare occurrence of anaconda fatalities.

A cayman pauses amongst the giant lilly pads

From there we entered into the Flooded Forest in the area of January. The views were spectacular, the water rising far above the roots of the trees. The light shining through the twisted branches and water was breathtaking. We stopped our boats in an alcove of the forest and began fishing for piranha. We used bamboo sticks with fishing line and meat to entice the fish to bite. A competition ensued between the two boats, but in the end Professor cummings’ boat won with a grand total of 21 piranha (which the other boat claims is highly contested) and my own record-breaking 7 piranha!

Virginia Shumate displays one of several piranha that she caught using red meat as bait (most fish were returned to the river after capture)

On our way back to the riverboat, we stopped at a floating house where the little kids that lived there let us pose with sloths and their babies, caymans, both big and small, and an anaconda for a few reais. The entire experience was so surreal and wonderful. We also had the pleasure of viewing a pirarucu, Brazil’s largest fish, which can feed a family of 10 for a month!

Jaclyn Courtney holds a sloth while visiting a family that lives in the rainforest, Nicky Smith looks on while a typical rainforest downpour descends in the background

Later that evening, we joined together for our first seminar, focusing on environmentalism. As Professors cummings and Taylor pointed out, there could be no better place to discuss the effects of business and government on the rainforest than in the middle of the Amazon. The discussion arose regarding the tensions between corporate incentives and motives and the local farmers and those clearing illegally. Further tensions exist between the existence of this massive resource of the Amazonian rainforest and a country/government that cannot find a way to bring economy to the people and protect the forest from deforestation. Throughout the rest of the week we are going to focus on ideas that may provide some sort of middle-ground solution, improving the human condition and possibly making environmentalism a commodity that will provide people with money and protect this valuable resource simultaneously.

The many things we experienced in only the first couple of days have left me in awe of how beautiful a world we live in. I could not imagine a better way to broaden my travel experiences and way of thinking than in this amazing Amazonian bliss. I know that everyone here is looking forward to all of the spectacular things we will experience in the next 18 days.