Before going to the Amazon region I have watched many documentaries on the nature in the Amazon and I have always been excited to ge there one day. Once there I expected the nature to be exactly like in the documentaries. Crazy animals jumping around everywhere but this is actually not the case. It´s really calm and we went in the boat for hours to witness some wild animals. Unfortunately we never got to see jaguars or annacondas. What we did get to see were lots of birds, piranhas, dolphins, huge butterflies, crocodiles, monkeys, many scorpions and crazy plants and trees.
Especially swimming in the Amazon was quite a challenge since the image that now piranhas would come up and eat me or anacondas waited for me prevailed. But if you are not bleeding or anything nothing would happen. It´s only dangerous to swim at the river sides because that´s where all the crocodiles are. You get to see a huge crowd of sparkling eyes at the riverside if you hold a strong light towards it at night.
What I really loved about the Amazon is all the wildlife there that you get to here constantly through all the noises. Especially birds, insects, jumping fish and dolphins are creating a beautiful concert together.
One day we went to a far away place in the jungle to make a fire and stay the night in a hammock. That was absolutely crazy. The other guys caught some fish before and made a fireplace to cook it. As soon as it got dark the wildlife sounds from the forest got even louder. All sitting together by the fire our guide would start telling us scary stories from jungle life. Fisher men being caught by anacondas and thus always having knives by their side and children being eaten by crocodiles. He also told us that he has seen jaguars many times. If they are hungry once they see you, you are in trouble. Jaguars can jump to the trees, run really fast and swim. We all kept drinking more and more beer because being alone at night in the jungle, hearing all kind of noises and not seeing anything is really scary.
The craziest thing though was the sounds we could witness once the moon came out. It seemed like a huge, screaming monster from the forest. The guide explained us that these were big monkeys. Monkeys that actually suck blood. I have never heard such a scary sound in my life. Later at night once everyone would sleep in the hammocks I suddenly had to pee really bad. I was so scared to go alone to the dark forest all by myself that I decided to pee just under my hammock. To be honest it was a really adventurous night and I love the fact that I have done it but I was glad whe it was over and just exciting memories.
There were so many beautiful moments during my trip in the Amazon region. There is no wifi or signal and you get to have a real authentic and relaxing time in the nature. A nature that in the Amazon is full of contrasts and extremes.
