My first day in Manaus, Brazil

So, after spending 4 days in the lovely city of Atlanta, I finally found my way to Brazil. Not to rio de janeiro, but to Manaus. Yes, that Manaus. It's a city of a little over 2 million people that is one of many cities that are found along the amazon river. Manaus happens to be the largest. I was really happy to finally get to brazil. I sat next to a guy on the plane that had to have to worst breath known to man kind.
After surviving the breath I landed in Manaus. Once I finally found a taxi I I made it to the hostel that I found in the lonely planet book on the way down. The taxi driver dropped me off in the front of the hostel. Little did I know the hostel was full. There is a big biology study going on here and every biology student in Brazil seems to be here. But the hostel owner found an extra hammock and stung it up for me. It was so hot out and I was up on the roof. When he strung it up he put it next to this girl that was sound asleep. When I tried to get in I kept swinging over and hitting her. So, instead of making her night miserable I layer my jacket out on the floor and soon fell asleep. We woke up and she looked at me and said "why are you sleeping on the floor" - enter Jennie from switzerland, my only friend.

Today Jennie and I walked around the street market. Got some food and now she is asleep on the couch and I'm starving again waiting for her to wake up.... WAKE UP!!


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My layover in Atlanta

Sometimes the worst thing is to have a long layover. Today was one of those days. I had the red eye flight from slc to Atlanta, which landed me in the airport at 6:00am. Before I left Leah reminded me that the largest aquarium in the world was in Atlanta. With nothing to do I thought I would make the trip. In looked it up on my iPhone and hound that it was only a few subway stops away from the airport. And for those of you that have been to the Atlanta airpot, you know the subway connects to the baggage area.

I stashed my bags in a baggage storage for 7 bucks and grabbed my camera. Needless to say I was amazed. Well worth the 30 bucks to get in. When I walked in I made my way right over to the largest tank in the world. This tank is the only tank that has 4 whale sharks in it, and is a little larger than a football field long.















After looking at these amazing fish I met one of the tour guides. I showed some genuine interest in these large sharks. He said, "hey, want to see these fish from a view point people rarely get to see?"
"of course" I replied. He took me over to the elevator and took me up to the 4th floor. We walked in to top of the tank! These monsters of fish were swimming so close I could have reached down and pet them. I tried and I was quickly scolded by my tour guide.












This was quite the experience to say the least. They were so graceful and had a beauty not like any other fish I've ever seen. But they were not the only sea creatures I saw today. Here are a few more that I saw.




Jelly fish




Sea horse




Manta ray




Hammer head shark




This was the coral fish exhibit. Beautiful colors.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Altlanta GA

Getting ready to go

So, today I finally got my ticket purchased and my bags packed. After booking my hostel in Rio, I'm finally ready to go. Stay tuned for updates.