Back in Manaus

Back at the pousada in Manaus. The drive back had some lovely birdwatching. Among various birds I had seen before, I saw some new ones: a male anhinga (like a cormorant) spreading its wings on a bare branch, a great egret that caught a large fish and flew off with it in its bill as we watched, two capped herons (I think, but I didn't get a really good look at either), several cocoi herons, a rufescent tiger-heron, and a roadside hawk (that's its name, and it was indeed by the roadside). If we had taken the road at a slower pace, I'm pretty sure I would have seen another dozen species or more. The birding here is really amazing; I've never been an avid birder, but it's hard not to get pulled into it in a place like this! Sorry I didn't get any bird photos for the blog, but you can look them all up on Google anyway. :->
Anyhow, now I'm in my room with the air conditioning running, which is lovely. I'm looking forward to taking a shower this evening and coming out into a cool, dry room instead of the steam bath that was the Juma area. I've felt pretty physically comfortable this whole trip; it hasn't been as hot as I expected it to be. But it was starting to wear me down at Juma.
Now I just need to get my act together, and then I'll go off to the internet cafe and spend a couple of hours posting all this babbling so you can all read it!