The Beautiful Manaus

Ok, so I know that almost a week has past since January 1st, but we had such a great time with some friends, that I figure better late than never to tell you all about it...
We were both still lounging around in our pajamas when my friend called to say they would be by the house in 10 minutes to pick us up. Luckily neither of us are high-maintenance, and we were ready with a few minutes to spare.
Our first stop was to see the land that our friend purchased a few years ago outside the city. She hasn't had the money to actually build anything on it, but she has big plans of course. There are other houses already built with people living in them nearby, but there are also still a lot of open lots. And by open lots, I mean spaces of uncleared rainforest. While it seems kind of sad to consider chopping down some valuable Amazon rainforest to put up a house, at least there is a reserve on the other side of her property that will always remain forested. And it's not like her property is that big...

When we weren't being eaten by ants or mosquitoes...

Ready for anything!

The toucan in the tree... see his profile?

There were all sorts of ants and bugs out there, as one would expect. We didn't know we were going there until we were in the car, but for future reference, I don't recommend wearing flip-flops, halter top, and skirt to the jungle. But being out in nature and getting to see huge toucans was worth it! Maybe next time we will get to see a monkey (though we could definitely hear them this time).

Next, we made another unexpected stop at a mutual friend of the other couples with us. I didn't take any pictures there, but this family definitely lives in balance with the land. They grow a lot on their land, and have bee hives around their house. We even got to taste some fresh from the comb honey! Super sweet!

We decided to spend the end of the day visiting Ponta Negra, a very posh area of town. It is basically a stretch along the river that has rides for kids, all sorts of snack and food places, and performance areas for bands or dancers. It gets very popular at night, and I've heard it's a good place to find a "date" for the night, if you know what I mean. The other side of the street is full of high-rise, pricey condos. Because it was super crowded when we got there, we parked at the fancy Tropical Hotel nearby and went to watch the sunset from their private beach.

These steps lead down to the river, but the last time

I was at this spot was high season,

and the river was almost up to the top of that wall.

This phenomenon is so amazing to experience.

Meu amor gettin his feet wet.

Our love at sunset.

The day couldn't have ended in any better way. This sunset was absolutely gorgeous, and spending the first day of the New Year with people I love was a real gift.