Pink dolphins
We had seen pink dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) in the Rio Negro before, but some weeks ago we went on a trip specifically to see dolphins. It was great, they would just swim around us. Yes, they were looking for the fish, but they were free to come and go. It was a very nice experience to see them so close.
sunset
Ponte Rio Negro, Manaus
I decided to take the challenge to photograph the sunset. It is a different subject from what I usually photograph. I am happy with this result. I want to try different locations around Manaus to have a different view of the bridge.
The bridge, Ponte Rio Negro, links Manaus and Iranduba, and was inaugurated less than two years ago. We have crossed it a couple of times.
Encontro das águas – beginning of the Amazon River
O Encontro das Águas.
The meeting of the waters, is where the Rio Negro flows into the Rio Solimões to form the Amazon River.
The Solimões comes from the Brazilian-Peruvian border, down from the Andes. It is light brown in color. The Rio Negro originates in eastern Colombia, and then joins the Orinoco in Venezuela, and when it enters Brazil it receives the name Rio Negro. It is colder, heavier, slower-moving and very acidic compared to the Solimões. It is due to these differences that they flow side by side without mixing for several kilometers, and thus the meeting of the waters occurs. This is a must for tourists that come to Manaus.
And traveling on a boat down the river admiring this phenomenon is how I celebrated my birthday this year.
Encontro das Águas, Amazon River
Encontro das Águas, Amazon River
Cheia 2012 – The highest water level registered in the Rio Negro.
I went downtown Manaus last sunday to walk around the market and to see what was going on with the water level. It is so high that the streets next to the river, by the port, are completely flooded. You can see the boats on port at the level of the street. There are little bridges to cross over from one side of the street to the other. Lots of people gather around to see the phenomenon, and like me, they want to document it.
We’ve been living here in Manaus since October 2010. We missed the day where the highest temperature has been recorded (38.3°C on the shade*), as it was in September that year. Soon after we arrived, we witnessed the lowest level of the Rio Negro. The level was at registered at 13.63 m*, the lowest since the measurements started 110 years ago. Last year, in August 2011, the lowest relative humidity of the past hundred years was recorded with an index of only 18%*, whereas in a hot (32.3°C) day like today we have 57% (according to our weather station). This has been recorded by my husband who maintains the weather station in our garage as well as others in the field sites where he’s working. A graph of the low relative humidity and other climate data from Manaus can be found at: https://www.bgc-jena.mpg.de/bgp/index.php/NorbertKunert/WeatherStationManaus
* data obtained from: Portal D24AM http://www.d24am.com/amazonia/meio-ambiente/clima-de-manaus-passou-por-cinco-fenomenos-extremos-em-tres-anos/59249
El escarabajo azul 