Day 112 - All You Can Eat Meat


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South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Manaus
July 12th 2010
Published: August 5th 2010
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No Need to Go to the Bar...No Need to Go to the Bar...No Need to Go to the Bar...

...when the bar comes to you!
Sure enough Thomas (the tour guide we met yesterday) found us at our hostel this morning. We didn't see him at breakfast, but he came knocking on our door (literally!) soon after. We tried to shake him off by saying we had some calls to make to book flights to Iguassu Falls, and also to bring our flights home forward. On the point of flying home early - a tough decision but one that had to be made as we are running out of money (no doubt due to splashing out on the Galapagos trip! Worth it.) We figured we needed two weeks to see the jungle, Iguassu Falls and Rio, and would fly two weeks early, only cutting Pantanel wetlands and some beach towns off the itinerary. Thomas, desperate for our custom, offered to let us use the phone and internet in his friend's office, dropping off our laundry on the way at a "cheap" place (triple the price of other countries at £12 for 3-4kg) on the way. Despite knowing he was only helping us to get something in return, I was surprised at his willingness to go out of his way for us - we must have spent
Yes PleaseYes PleaseYes Please

More Food!
an hour or two on our calls, not that we had any success. We were definitely put off taking one of Thomas's tours when he was cagey about taking us to his office, so we skipped lunch and headed to the office of a Lonely Planet recommended company (and more importantly, one recommended by fellow travellers). They were also fantastic - upon hearing we needed to book our flights to Iguassu and weren't having much luck. They drove us to loads of travel agencies and internet points until we had something booked. They also offered to drive us to the airport (saving us a £40-£50 taxi fare) at 4:30am! We booked a four day tour with them and hurried off to collect laundry and find cash... ending our stressful and hectic day, which started at 9am, at 6pm.. starving!

The all you can eat restaurant we had been looking forward to all day didn't open until 6:30, so after a painful wait came the cloud's silver lining. A buffet containing every salad and vegetable you can imagine, plus at least 10 types of dressing, fancy olive oils, quails eggs and sushi! I ordered a caipirinha (Brazilian cocktail, like a mojito but without the mint) and had the entire bar brought to our table on a trolley and the cocktail made in front of me. Waiters then flocked to our table with the meats on offer - I counted 13 types of meat, including filet mignon, chicken hearts, and the Amazon 3 metre Pirarucu fish; delicious! We blew a day's food budget on one meal, but that was OK as we hadn't eaten lunch and it was totally worth it!

Chris's Corner

I don't want to go on about the food.... but I do... Wow! Food is such a big part of South America with so many different styles, influences and dishes and this place was a prime example of Brazil’s speciality, Churrascaria. A Churrascaria is a grill restaurant with a fixed price for all you can eat, and Buffalo in Manaus was fantastic.


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