Submitted by Addison Garrett on the 2024 Winter PLSC/LARC program in Italy…
The first week of this study abroad in Brazil was packed with lots of unique experiences and traveling. The significant places we visited were Manaus, Tefé, the Uakari Lodge, and Rio de Janeiro. As you can see from the image of a map of Brazil, Manaus and Tefé are on the opposite side of the country compared to Rio. I thought this was a great aspect of this program. We got to see drastically different parts of Brazil. Manaus, Tefé, and the Uakari Lodge are all within the Amazon region while Rio is on the coast along with other large cities like São Paulo and Campinas.
Manaus was our first destination after we departed the U.S. from Miami. Visiting a city that isn’t dense with tourists was very culturing. No one spoke English which was a fun challenge for all of us. Our guide, Luis, gave us an interesting historical tour of Manaus. Earlier in its time Manaus was a prosperous city due to its main export, rubber. Rubber trees are native to the Amazon Rainforest. Around the late 19th century when the demand for rubber boomed, Henry Nicholas Ridley took 9 rubber tree seedlings from the Amazon to Malaysia. After this, Malaysia quickly grew to be the largest producer of rubber in the world and Manaus lost its riches. He showed us a few buildings that represent what Manaus used to be in its prime. The architecture was captivating and very artistic.
Our next destination was Tefé and the Uakari Lodge. We used Tefé as our checkpoint when leaving for and returning from the Uakari lodge. A boat took us from Tefé to the Uakari Lodge up the Amazon River. I couldn’t believe how the Lodge was so immersed in nature. Although it was drastically different from how I live at home, I felt comfort and peace from the simplicity and pureness of nature around me. The lodge is especially unique because it is placed in a protected region of the Amazon. This region is known for the Uakari Monkey in particular. Uakari Monkeys are found nowhere else in the world. Other notable wildlife were the Caiman, Squirrel Monkey, Pink Dolphin, Red Howler Monkey, and Arapaima. Our stay at the Lodge consisted of three delicious meals per day with activities in between. The activity I am most grateful for was our visit to one of the local communities, Vila Alemcay. This was certainly the largest culture shock. It was a very humbling and valuable experience to see how these people lived. They have a much more primitive lifestyle with their main crops and animals being tapioca, which comes from the root of a cassava plant, cows, and fish. A unique aspect of this region is that it has a major flood season from May to September. I could not believe how high up the water lines marked last year’s flood season on the trees. It was about 10-20 feet above sea level. I was fascinated by the way these people live alongside nature in harmony even with a flood season like that. All of the houses are on stilts and cows are put on a floating platform during the flooding. The significant part of these communities and those around it, is that they are all within the protected region of the Amazon. The government has established a point system that these communities follow. Every year, each community is given ten points. With each offense that breaks any regulation to protect the wildlife within the reserve, the offending community will have their points deducted. At the end of the year, each community receives funding and resources depending on how many points they have left. I was intrigued by this system and went on to think how this could be applied to many other places around the world.
After our stay at the Uakari Lodge, we took a boat to Tefé, a 12-hour boat ride (voyage) from Tefé to Manaus, and then flew from Manaus to Rio. That was a rough travel day, to say the least. Rio is a much more charming city than those on the East Coast of America in many ways. They integrate nature into the city unlike any other, and it is surrounded by gorgeous beaches and peaks. I have only spent one full day here in Rio, so I am excited for all of the fun experiences to come. So far the beach has been a blast and the culture has been fun to experience. Something I’ve valued about this trip so far is being a minority for once. Although it’s an uncomfortable feeling at times, I feel that it is a necessary experience, especially for those who live in the majority in America. Only a week in, I have gained a lot of awareness of how different people live in another part of the globe. This has made me feel like much more of a world citizen, a part of something bigger than America. (Submitted on January 10, 2024)
