I will not be returning home early as my daughter who was in the hospital is now home and feeling better. I sure feel like I am a world away, well I guess I am. My 2 year old daughter thinks daddy is on the moon.

Thank you so very much for all of the emails and postss of concern for my daughter. She is now fine and was dehydrated from a bad case of the flu.

Sunday I spent most of the day either hiking through mud or on a boat. We went to see the birth place of the Amazon which is the meeting of the 2 rivers to make the Amazonas. I must have done at least 200 kilometers of boat travel that day and I don’t want any more boat rides.

I ended up at a local village for some lunch and fishing. For those that were wagering that I would be eaten by piranhas, you lost. I caught 2 species of piranha from a lake that is full of them. It was a lot of fun. I also ate piranha fried which was really quite delicious although not that much meat.

Monday started with a snake wanting to be closer to my room and I did not notice him until he noticed me. He was afraid and left quickly back into the jungle. I said goodbye to my jungle guide Antonio and my new friends I was hiking with from the Netherlands and Iran. I am now close to the city of Manaus Brazil in a hotel instead of the jungle. I need to take a shower and wash some clothes. Tomorrow I will be running around the city to see the market, opera house, aquarium and more places with my new friend and guide Antonio. Wednesday I head to Rio, then Thursday night back to Sao Paulo then back to the US.

I am currently uploading some photos to the Brazil 2004 Photo Gallery. I will begin annotating the photo over the course of the next few days but I have been so busy.

Ciao,
-Shaan