June 5th - Day Three

Early in the morning we were given the opportunity to do a fly over of Manaus. We took a bus to a smaller airport where our group of fifteen broke up into two groups. Our group of nine boarded a small plane which  took us up over Manaus as well as a small portion of the Amazon River. This was a great experience because we had the opportunity to not only see all of Manaus laid out before us, but we also saw the "mixing of the waters" where the Brown and Black Rivers meet. This phenomenon occurs because the different densities of the two waters do not allow them to mix well. Flying over the city was also very interesting because it provided a good look at the favelas of Manaus. Favela is the term for a shanty town in Brazil, most often within urban areas. The first favelas appeared in the late 19th century and were built by soldiers who had nowhere to live. Even before the first favela came into being, poor citizens were pushed away from the city and forced to live in the far suburbs. However, most modern favelas appeared in the 1970's due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Unable to find a place to live, many people ended up in a favela. Census data by the IBGE shows that in 2010, about 6 percent of the population lived in slums in Brazil.

After the plane ride we got back on the bus and drove to the biological reserve in Manaus. Here we met up with a social scientist named Butch. He studies the ways in which the natives of the Amazon react to western civilization as well as the ways in which they use the rainforest. He brought up some interesting points in regards to the missionary work which has been done since the Portuguese came from Europe. He told us a story of the way in which the Catholic missionaries renamed a longhouse the "devils hut" in the native common tongue. The missionaries impose their own morals, values, and traditions on the native people and often completely replace the native culture. At the reserve we also had the opportunity to see three types of manatees, an otter, several types of alligators, and even some electric eels. We also found some neat caterpillars that were red, yellow, and black. Upon further research I found out that it would eventually metamorphosis into a moth. Along with this I also found out that the jerking and twitching motions were a defense mechanism. Butch also mentioned that 97% of the Amazonia state  rainforest is federally protected.

After lunch we visited a university level biology class in Manaus. The students were very welcoming and even spoke a little bit of english. We learned a lot about the students and I hope that they learned something from us. Butch presented his plan for an international program that he is attempting to set up. He has an interesting idea but there are a few logistical issues that he needs to find a way around. After taking a few pictures with the students we left to visit the more wealthy part of Manaus. Here, as expected, the waste management was much better and there was almost no trash on the streets. This was a huge improvement on the large trash piles that lined the streets near our hotel. I also noticed that there were trashcans near the beach as well as along the boardwalk. After having a look at the beaches on the Brown River we went to a huge mall downtown to have dinner. Apparently the mall is where most of the kids from the university go to have fun after school.