After a week of travelling, hiking, eating everything, constantly absorbing new information and deeply immersive experiences, this day of rest was quite welcome.

 

Most of us used the time to reflect on the things we have learned and our way of life. Exposure to a different, simpler and more sustainable way of life will lead the conscious mind to minor (and possibly some major) lifestyle changes.

 

In the afternoon, we embarked on a Piranha fishing and bird watching adventure. As beginners, we were given one simple instruction: do not fall out of the canoe. Fortuitously, no one was harmed in the making of this memory. We watched the sunset in the heart of the jungle from our canoes while waiting for a catch of the day. Unfortunately, the Piranhas made a clean getaway with nearly all of our bait.

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During the week we made friends with a group of girls from a Manaus university astronomy society. They had come to Tumbira to take part in the festival and to teach the local school children about astronomy. The girls, some of whom spoke English and helped improve our Portuguese, allowed us to sit in on some of their sessions. On this particular evening, we had the pleasure of being shown the moon, Saturn and Jupiter through an electronic telescope.