Zipping across the border

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Nothing happens quickly in this part of the continent... so here we are, still in Cobija!! We are enjoying the laid back lifestyle (or sloth-like lifestyle - whichever you like to call it) and our day involves eating, reading, eating, swimming, eating, sleeping, horseriding, eating and sleeping. We´ve tried to make a few maintenance jobs on the jeep but often the mechanics are closed because its too hot, too cold (and it gets surprisingly cold here) or its lunchtime. You can never win.

We´ve zipped over to Brazil a few times for shopping and eating and went further to a city called Rio Branco for a night. We crossed the border and found asphalt highways, road rules and cleared out rainforest. Its burning season so along the roadside there were quite a few fires and there was a red haze on horizon. After seeing the beauty of the rainforests it was sad to see the amount of rainforest cleared for cattle stations and biodiesel farms and whatever else. But I guess New Zealand has been through the same change and its also happening in Bolivia, although not quite to the same extent.

In Brazil we discovered that we can´t understand a word of Portugese!! It looks similar to Spanish when you read it - but when you hear Portugese its a whole different world.

While we were in Brazil we thought we should try out Brazilian BBQ and we managed to eat about 2 kg of meat each in less than 24 hours! Insane. We took another full day to digest it. Iara and her mum tell us that a particular food item tastes great and that we should try it out - before you know it you´re flat on your back unable to move because you are soooo full. We´ve enjoyed trying some new fruits - asaí, karambola, guayaba, copuasu and acerola.

But now I think its time for us to hit the road...

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