Flora, Fauna and Wild Animals

It is what you would have thought. An acre of land here can hold thousands of species of trees. I am sure there are species that have existed since prehistoric time and wood that is unique to this area alone. There are so many uses of the bark, the sap , the fruit , the flowers-herbal, healing, taste, color and even magical reasons. In Steven’s(one of the staff from the program grounds we were staying on) backyard, we found a tree that was a hallucinogen more powerful than peyote. And not illegal. We entered the jungle and I was damned happy I decided to wear long pants and long sleeves. This was the bug trap, spiders, flies, mosquitoes, snakes, turtles-and not all of them safe. This was that place where if you step wrong, you might be taking your last step. Of course we went with a guide.
(Rubber Trees-Back in the 1800's, rubber was the Brazil's main crop and it ruled the market. An englishman came to the amazon and stole the rubber plant so that it could be planted in other places. Now, Malaysia owns the rubber market because it was found that the soil there was optimal. These days Brazil uses their rubber to make condoms and doctor's gloves)
(she doesn't look safe, and she isn't. This baby's venom is deadly)
Yet the fruit was beyond delightful. I enjoyed tastes I never knew existed. Combinations of sweet and sour I don’t have a basis of comparison to explain. Many of them had native Indian names and were difficult to remember. I tried whichever ones didn’t have bugs in them.
(Copo Sul: Taste and Texture? Tropical...I have no basis of comparison really)
(Brazil Nuts-How Brazil got her name. LOL)

Inside of Steven’s little museum, he showed us ancient artifacts, spices and paintings of the amazon. I was especially interested in this one artifact that Steven introduced as a petrified breast of an Amazonian Indian woman. He then recounted the tale of the Amazon woman-where Amazonas got it’s name:
When the Spanish and Portuguese settlers landed here, they were enchanted by the tall, beautiful dark skinned women with long hair running naked through the jungle. These women took care of themselves, hunted, fished and killed for themselves-they were independent and wild. It is said that the Amazon women would cut of one of their breasts so that they could mount a bow and arrow properly without the hindrance of a boob as they were aiming. It’s ancient history now, so I can’t prove it but at the very least, I bet you they were pretty hardcore.
Later, we went to another churrasco, but I barely ate anything….I was still afraid since the last time I went to a churrasco and ate till I almost puked.

The last day, Geli, Caleb and I went to a local zoo that was filled with beautiful and interesting jungle animals. The monkeys were crazy. It’s insane how ugly some of their little faces are and how when they looking at you, you really feel like they’re looking at you. Like a human, we went by the gate and they shook our hands. They all wanted our attention. One of the females didn’t like me cuz her man was looking at me and jerking off so she kept trying to pull my hair when I walked by. If she was let out that cage, she def would have gotten my ass. And I wasn’t trying to lose my face like that poor woman who got her face attacked by that pet monkey in the states.
(this was the evil one)

The birds were weird to…the parrots were quite for a long time, but when I went to walk away and yelled “Tchau!” they all yelled “Tchau!!” I turned back and I swear I had a regular conversation with a hundred little birds. Caleb was loving every second of it because he’s into the biology thing. He said he could have stayed their forever admiring these animals.
(How pretty is a real toucan!)
I apparently agitated the porcupine, and if I didn't back away she would have shot her poisonous spikes at me. All did was walk next to her!
This funny little face is of a sloth! The symbol of the amazon...they call the Pregisas. They are slow in the trees and supersonic in the water...very funny to look at up close. Something cute and ugly at the same time. This one was hurt and was being domesticated, so he was safe to pick up. He's very scared and he uses his two little claws to find something to hold on to on you so that he doesn't fall. He then wraps his little legs around you.
But the panther was the most beautiful of all, she is calm when unprovoked. But she is a wild animal. You know, we never really do get a full concept of how wild this animals are when we see them in the zoo. Imagine if you were in their hood, how would they see you? Anyways, she was beautiful. We would have like to stay and admire these creatures forever, but eventually we had to leave to feed the little creatures in our stomachs.