The phone rang at the Manaus Board of Tourism. Enrique's friend Josè came over to his desk and picked it up.
"Olá?" He asked, not knowing who it was.
"This is the international operator, I have Enrique Gonzales from Costa Rica on the line." Said the voice on the other end of the line.
"Passá-lo." Answered Josè. He always liked working with his old friend on new projects, even though they hadn't seen each other since high school.
"Josè, this is Enrique." Said a different voice on the phone, one that he recognized.
"Como vai, amigo?" Josè asked, hoping for some new ideas.
"As you probably heard, Animalia Ambassadoria made a stop in Costa Rica as guests of my cousin, Carlos." Said Enrique, matter-of-factly.
"Eu ouvi algo desse tipo." Responded Josè. Even though he could speak Portuguese, Spanish, English, and several indian languages with perfect fluency, he preferred speaking to his friends in Portuguese. It was rather fun to talk with your friends in a foreign language and having others who didn't know the language be confused.
"While they were here, Animalia Ambassadoria help the authorities capture a black market antiquities trader, ousted one of our tour guides as illegally mining a previously untapped vein of gold in the museum gold mine, and added on large-scale vandalism of the museum to both their charges." Said Enrique. "The gold found there will help pay for repairs, and be a fun, interactive exhibit."
"Aposto que o curador estava satisfeito ouvir isso." Responded Josè.
"We would have rewarded them, but we didn't have any means to reward them, so I thought you could." Said Enrique.
"O que poderia ter Manaus que daria uma recompensa de encaixe para ajudá-lo?" Asked Josè, a little confused.
"Have you heard of the Animalia Colony at Mieni Atoll?" Asked Enrique.
"Eu ouvi sobre o esquema de tráfico do mercado negro pérola lá. Também ouvi dizer sobre a colônia e o resort de férias desenvolvendo lá." Replied Josè. He wasn't completely ignorant of the news.
"Do you also remember the five-star hotel and casino near the banks of the Amazon river that was closed down during our junior year in high school?" Asked Enrique again, thinking back to the early 1990s.
"Fechar o Grande Rio Amazonas Hotel e Casino, devido a um surto da doença foi o maior golpe para a econimia brasileira na época. Nunca fomos capazes reabri-lo devido às mudanças económicas durante a década de 90 e 2000." Replied Josè, thinking back. The Grand Amazon River Hotel and Casino was Brazil's answer to the Penn Hills Resort in America back in the 1970s. However, due to a massive outbreak of Malaria in 1991 prompted the hotel to be closed temporarily and quarantined. The virus was eradicated, but before reopening could commence, the Brazilian economy changed, and the hotel was abandoned to the jungle.
"Maybe we can give it to Animalia as a colony." Suggested Enrique.
"Isso seria uma ótima ideia. Uma colônia de Animalia seria uma boa fonte de receita. Temos também poderia reabrir autênticos passeios de canoa do Rio Amazonas." Answered Josè, remembering a field trip there in their freshman year.
"You can talk about it with them when they get there, but their mayor, Clara, won't be able to do negotiations for a few weeks." Replied Enrique, also remembering the canoe trip in their freshman year.
"O que? Pro que?" Asked Josè, a little surprised.
"She's having quadruplets and is currently in too delicate a state to travel at this time." Answered Enrique.
"Mas por que Animalia Ambassadoria ia voar aqui?" Josè asked next.
"They're picking up some new 'recruits' for uplifting, including a red-bellied piranha, and Calypso and Calliope." Answered Enrique.
"Nossa Sucri de Dumas cabeças?" Replied Josè, having heard of the anaconda, "Faria bem a ela, ela tem tido alguns problemas de saúde." After some thought, he added, "Tenho certeza que nós poderia vir acima com algumas outras ideias para Novosibirsk recrutas para Animalia."
"Talk it over with your government first, then with Clara." Answered Enrique. "Animalia is already under a lot of scrutiny by their own nation already."
"Okey." Replied José, then taking note of the time. "Tenno que ir. Falo com você depois." After he hung up, he had to think about how to deliver his report to the Brazilian national government.