The next stop in the colony tour was Vilcabamba, where most "Jungle" Animalians lived, as well as being the site of one of the most amazing finds in Archaeology. According to the brochures, the site was where large numbers of Pre-Columbian Amazon River Tribes gathered for important religious ceremonies due to the place seemingly being where their "gods" returned to the heavens. But part of what made it interesting was that many mummy bundles seemed to contain either members, or at least ancestors, of the Toltec, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations.
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While everyone was a little confused about landing in Manaus, it was quickly cleared up when they arrived by ferry at Vilcabamba. Afterward, when they arrived, they were able to explore both the refurbished hotel and the treetop village, as well as learn more about the wildlife in the area.
"As it turns out," said one guide, "The Candiru fish is a real fish and it does have the ability to parasitize humans, but one scientist said that 'you're more likely to be struck by lightning while under attack by a shark than' to be parasitized by a Candiru."
"Then why do Amazonian men tie a string around themselves to prevent that from happening?" asked one foreign tourist.
"I think its more like a reminder as well as a 'better safe than sorry' thing." replied the guide.
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The supposed footprints of "El Jichi" were on display as plaster casts along side a suggestion box where people tried to suggest what created those footprints. While some were obviously silly guesses while other were genuine scientific guesses. One suggested that they were actually Heather's footprints, but that was quickly debunked because Heather's escape was from Costa Rica, which was nowhere near where the footprints from "El Jichi" were found.
There was also a good number of artwork featured alongside them which attempted to show what "El Jichi" looked like, based on the visual description. Again, some were clearly "children's artwork" while others were more scientific.
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Another thing that was of special interest was the "living museum" that showcased the archaeological finds found at the dig site. While most of the finds were in a museum in Manaus, there was enough there which to show as a kind of "themed" museum inspired by Mesoamerican pyramids. What also made it interesting was the fact that the exhibit started at the top of the pyramid and ended in a "secret entrance" at the base on the opposite side of the pyramid from the stairs up to the top.
"Why did the ancient... builders have to make... these steps so steep?" panted another tourist while climbing up the stairs on all fours.
"At the time," explained the guide leading the next group up the stairs, "people were only five feet four inches tall for the average height. Also the gods/kings lived 'upstairs' so this was designed to keep the people humble."
"So we're prostrate to the king." said another tourist.
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Something that was considered amusing was Fleur dressing up as a Mesoamerican high priestess, not including the "top" but including "themed" jewelry. But when she sent a picture to Janice, Janice "retaliated" by showing her a picture of her at her first Pregnant Exercise class, which was considered a prime example of Karma.
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The next stop was Dinosaur City, but there were some jungle-themed IAC games that were both amusing and informative. One was a rather amusing version of sprinting that involved swinging from vine to vine in the shortest time without touching the ground. While the current "best time" belonged to a howler monkey Animalian, there were often cases of guys trying to show off and getting disqualified by either missing a vine or losing grip of the vine and hitting the (well-padded) ground.