6/30-7/1/2014 Belem

On Monday took a taxi to the Mangal das Garzas park which we had seen from a distance earlier the other day. Unfortunately, we found that parks and museums are closed on Mondays.

From the closed park, we traveled around the city enjoying the beautiful parks and then visited another open air market. This one had a section specializing in wooden furniture, some beautifully carved. In addition, there was an extensive section dedicated to holistic medicine made from local plants, roots, etc. John, who has suffered from a terrible cough brought on by a jungle related allergy or perhaps too much air conditioning starting on the Clavero, decided to try out one of their products. The one recommended was Xarope de Juca, a thick, green, sweet-smelling brew made up of local herbs. He has been taking this stuff and is still alive, with his cough beginning to improve.

The afternoon was dedicated to the World Cup, watching France beat Nigeria and Germany beat Algeria.

Today (Tuesday) we returned to visit the Mangal das Garzas Park. This is one of the best parks that we have seen in any country. It borders a wide branch of the river and is separated from the water by fifty yards of swamp,  thick with mangrove trees, some in flower. An elevated wooden walkway leads to the water’s edge high above the mangroves.  It is pretty spectacular.

Back on the dry land, a big building constructed in the style of the Indian Malocas, grass roofed and made of wood, houses a well-displayed museum dedicated to the history of water travel from hand made canoes to river boats particular to the Amazon. We learned that these river boats have their geneses in the early galleons that plied the seas between Portugal and Brazil. Ships design was adapted to fresh water but maintains its "roots" creating  unique looking vessels.   

Above the museum is a fancy restaurant where we were going to have lunch until we found that they did not have a big screen TV to watch Argentina vs. Switzerland.  We continued on to the rest of the park, visiting two large enclosures, one containing a great variety of birds, as well as trees and bushes and a little pond. The most interesting birds were bright red egrets that could fly at will around the big enclosure.

The second enclosure had a few birds and many trees and tropical plants and was filled with a variety of butterflies. We had never seen so many in one place and so tame if you can say that about butterflies.

Outside of the enclosures, other birds, the red egrets included, and iguanas roamed free. The same kind of snowy egrets that we had seen from a distance by the thousands up the Marinon River strode unafraid around the park letting us put our cameras in their faces. The same could be said for large iguanas that roamed the park.

We left in time to see the kickoff of the Argentine game back at the hotel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching that game, as well as the US vs. Belgium game.