Last Sunday we began by visiting Avenida Eduardo Ribeiro, which is closed to traffic and open to vendors’ stalls of food, handcrafted items, games and clothes of all sorts.

The afternoon was the highlight of the day. We drove with Rafael out Tower Road for about forty-five minutes to visit the public part of the Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve – a 10,000-hectare protected area of the rainforest which is located in the watershed of two main drainage basins: one for the Amazon River and the other for Rio Negro. It was established in 1963 in honor of the entomologist and botanist Adolfo Ducke.

There are two sides of the park: one public, one private. The side that is now public was originally also closed, but was later made into a Learning Center with many displays of native plants, fish, fossils, replicas of dinosaurs and a greenhouse devoted to orchids.

Walking the trails gave me a glimpse into a world I would live in for my residency...

Throughout the paths I was surprised and happy to discover many great photographs by Roberto Soares who I have already corresponded with.

 At the end of the day we arrived at the newly built tower to observe on three levels the forest we had walked through. Looking down on those levels was definitely the most fun for me! That’s always my favorite point of view, and I caught some incredible shots.

I am so looking forward to returning to the “private” part of this reserve on the other end soon!