We finally managed to make our
first trip since Jacob was born. We hadn’t
left Rio since March and we were all feeling the need to get out of Rio. Instead of taking an easy trip we traveled
four hours by airplane to Manaus-the gateway to the Amazon. Grace has always been an excellent traveler
and Jacob proved to take after his sister on our way there (the way home was
another story).
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| Jacob's First Plane Ride |
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| View of Amazon from the airplane |
Like anyone with kids, after the
long flight we headed for the hotel pool.
I think this was Grace’s favorite part of our trip. The pool was a wave-pool and it was hard to
get her out. Of course being 180 miles
from the Equator we had to be really careful in the sun. Thanks to 80 SPF sunblock we survived with
only pink cheeks.
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| Cooling off in the wave-pool |
This was Jacob’s first experience
in the pool. He is a true Brazilian: he
hates being cold. The water was
surprisingly cool so he only managed to dip his toes in. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for
the awesome sun-protection outfit and hat!
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| I love my daddy! |
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| Could I be any cuter? |
Our first full day there, we
spent checking out the city of Manaus.
The city made a lot of money from rubber trees and they used some of
that money to build a beautiful Opera House.
When we went to tour the Opera House we were lucky enough to hear the
orchestra practicing. Grace really
enjoyed listening to them, but Jacob did not enjoy the percussion section!
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| Front of Opera House |
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| Inside the Opera House |
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| Enjoying the music from the balcony |
As I mentioned, we were really
close to the Equator. A guide told us
the hottest it has ever been there is 50’ C (122 ’F). He also told us the coldest temperature on
record is 18’ C (65’ F). He said on that
day people stayed home from work and the streets were empty because it was too
cold to go out. I think Grace’s quote sums up how
it felt our first day there “It feels like a sauna out there!”
Next post: our time spent on the
river...
