we practically saw the amazon! but just in the city! From animals i have never seen in my life until today! Here are lists of things I never ever heard in my life before!
MY TOP 10 INTERESTING FACTS!
1. Tapir - related to horses [even though they look like rodent/anteaters]
2. Chanel no. 5 is made out of pao rosa trees! or rosewood!
3. Lily pads - change colors everyday from 5pm until 7pm the following day.
4. Coba Iba - is an amazonia natural medicine tree
5. Sloth's turn their head 270 degrees and come down from the tree ONCE a week6. miriti - super light wood, made to do crafts like boxes or toys.
7. river otters are very vicious. their little itty bitty eyes are very suspicious and as i looked into their eyes, i felt as if i was going to be attacked if i was inside their territory.
8. giant south america river turtles lay up to 200 eggs! oh my gosh! how many babies can she deliver!
9. canauba trees make vinyl records back in the days
10. there is a specific palm tree that moves from one destination to another. The trunk of the tree dries its root and moves to another spot.
CESUPA's SIFE team, previously mentioned about the Miriti tree, how they make their arts and crafts. A Miriti Palm is a common name for Mauritia Flexuosa (Palmae), a tall palm native to tropical America and along the Amazon.
The Miriti gets to be the largest of the palms in the Amazon and the wood is the favorite for making arts and crafts because it is very light, much like balsa wood. In recent years, a number of small toys shops have opened up in Belem, providing employment for kids and adults alike.
I spy with my two little eyes, something brown and super hairy! haha! like Messias said, "I have hunter eyes!" He asked us to search for a sloth and guess who found it! ME ME ME! :) I found both the two-toed sloth and the three-toed one as well. They were both high up in the tree but with my awesomeness 20/20 vision I can spot anything!
As the name implies, they only have two toes on their forefeet, although, like other sloths, they have three toes on the hindfeet. They are also larger than the three-toed sloths, having a body length between 58-72 centimeters and weighing about 4-10 kilograms. Other distinguishing features include a more prominent snout, longer fur, and the absence of a tail.
On the other hand, the three-toed sloth are not closely related. Phylogenetic anaylses support the morphological data from the 70s and the 80s that the two genera are not closely related and that each adopted their arboreal, tree dwelling, lifestyles independently. Although they are quite slow in trees, three-toed sloths are agile swimmers. The offspring cling to their mother's bellies for about 9 months or so. They cannot walk on four; therefore, they must use their front arms and claws to drag themselves across the tropical rainforest. Their large curved claws help the sloth to keep a strong grip on the tree branches.
Another animal I have never knew existed was a tapir. Tapirs are often mistaken for pigs horse and rhinoceros. All four species of tapir are endangered. Lowland or Brazilian tapir: This species, Tapirus terrestris, inhabits not only Brazil, but much of the wet jungle are of South America. Its range is from Colombia through most of South America, south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Its most prominent feature is the crest or ridge developed along the back of its neck, possible as a protection from jaguars. This gives its face somewhat of a sculptured or concave look.
Its coloration is normally tan to brown, and its has more color variation among individuals than the other three species. Some of these variations may represent subspecies, but no general agreement has been reached on that point. The lowland tapir tends to a bit smaller than the Baird's tapir, but larger than the mountain tapir. Sizes are relative on the small or large side, overlapping the size of other species.
After this adventure at the zoo! We went to a private club! Thanks to Juliana our awesome friend! Without her, we would not have gotten the VIP treatment! Pool, massages, sauna, and much more bonding time with Isabella!
This country club was unbelievable! When we arrive, we thought it was unreal! Patrick was under some pain in his neck and his dream pretty much came true! He enjoyed himself and so did the rest of us!
We swam, talked about our personal lives, joked around, etc. It felt as if we knew Isabella for such the longest time ever! She is our genuine friend! I wished all of our other brazilian friends came with us too! Best part of all the massage was 13 reais, and in American dollars, it was between $6-$7. Cheapest massage for 30 minutes I have ever had in my life and the massage was LEGIT! i fell asleep right when I got into the table!
Lucas played a joke on Isabella saying that Vivian was not on the list but she really was and oops my bad I killed it haha! We went to a sushi restaurant! sooooo yummy! all you can EAT TOO! how terrific was that!? I got my miso soup because i was getting SUPER DE-DUPER sick and wooh I felt like I was on the happiest place on earth!
Professor Rafael from CESUPA also mentioned to Stephanie, TrayC, Patrick, and me about their trip to Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina in January 2012. They are traveling for 33 days to different companies and learn about their economic issues and business wise too. We are invited to come on this trip too! Time to SAVE ME SOME MONEY!!! :)
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