Blogs from Tabatinga, Amazonas, Brazil, South America
February 3rd 2012
Well Gang.. I had a chance to go see brazil...no visa required, so we made a day of it. Myself, Mariana and Angelo went to get something to eat and also get Marianas stamp into Brazil for the next day. The Border is what they call a "Open" border where anyone can go in or out of either Colombia or Brazil freely.... read more
Tabatinga to Manaus - Amazon Boat Trip
Published: October 13th 2011South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Tabatinga
May 31st 2011
We were flying to Leticia from Santa Marta, dirt cheap and better than a 27 hour bus journey. From here we would be crossing the Columbia/Brazil border and boarding a cargo boat down the Amazon. It is very important for anyone doing this, to get their exit stamp from Columbia from the airport. There is no place at the Border you can do this, only Leticia airport. Leticia is not the most glamorous of places, but certainly better than Tabatinga on the Brazil side. It has some restaurants, bars and supermarkets but it is really just a stop off before either heading into Brazil or Peru. Followed is detailed information for those doing this trip - We had so much trouble trying to find people who had blogged this experience and was a bit nervous about ... read more
May 13th 2011
After our first taste of the jungle we had a day to relax in Iquitos, so we spent it at the beach of Lake Quisticocha, a small resort 20km from the town. The beach itself was beautiful and we made the most of the sun, but the weather found a way to ruin it as the rain found us. It was quite a sight actually - glorious sunshine being replaced by a monsoon in the space of minutes. There was a zoo in the resort, though unfortunately it was a bit run down and some of the animals were kept in tiny cages. After dinner at the Texan restaurant (again!) we headed for an early night, as we had a long four or five days ahead of us. Our next destination after Iquitos would be Manaus, ... read more
February 2nd 2011
Thank goodness we arrived at the tri-frontera in the daytime, otherwise I´m not sure how I would´ve navigated the river and its coasts shared by three nations. First we stopped at a seemingly random shore to unload the cattle. Those poor cows. It was a hellish journey for them, unable to move in their little pens, getting rained on, and without shade for three days in the fierce jungle sun. One by one, they were persuaded to once again walk the plank, and their spirits seemed cheered by the fresh grazing to be had on land. The boat stopped and let most of the passengers off in Santa Rosa, Peru. The crew would continue upriver another day into Colombia, and then return. I made plans to catch them on their way back to Iquitos, and hopped ... read more
Amazon River Cruise - Peru to Brazil
Published: August 5th 2010South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Tabatinga
July 13th 2010
Hi All, In my last entry, we have boarded the river boat going from Lagunas toward Iquitos. All in all it was a calm boat ride. We learned how to sleep tight in hammocks (best way is to lie diagonally in your hammock, this way your body is almost completely horizontal like on a bed). We got used to the boat routine: porridge for breakfast, rice with a small unidentified piece of meat (chicken maybe?...) and a fried green banana for lunch, and the same for dinner... The kids have spent the time reading, drawing and making some bracelets with 2 other tourists that were with us on the boat. We also played some cards, enjoyed the views of the river and especially - the sunsets. After two nights and a full day between them, we ... read more
le voyage c est termine a san antonio
Published: February 21st 2009South America » Brazil » Amazonas » TabatingaFebruary 21st 2009
bonjour a tous, je suis d arrivee a tabatinga il ya 2 jours malheureusement pas avec ma pirogue. voila l histoire je m etais abriter sous des arbres dans un petit coin tranquille car une tempete arrivait. une fois le soleil revenue je me suis levee pour prendre des branches de l arbre afin de sortir de l abri et mon chien est venu dans mes jambes et m a desequilibre et je suis tombee a l eau. le probleme c est que mon petit sac n etait pas ferme ce qui fait que j ai perdu mon porte monnaie avec tout mon argent et mes cartes de credits. j ai vendu mon moteur a sao paulo olivanca afin d avoir un peu d argent et payer le voyage avec le grand bateau qui m amenait ... read more
November 6th 2008
As a word 'travelling' implies movement, but as many of you may correctly suspect, this isn't always the case. Often travelling involves little more than sitting on a beach somewhere like Goa, buying a pair of fisherman’s pants and coming home claiming you've discovered yourself whereas all you've really discovered is fire juggling and hallucinogenic drugs. For others, travelling is going to Bangkok and seeing things you've never seen before...often flying across the room out of things you have seen before, but never doing the things you're seeing them do now. But occasionally travelling means just that. Projecting yourself on a course across a large patch of earth, with your only objective to get from A to B, and usually that in itself is difficult enough. And that's what we've been doing for the past few ... read more
July 19th 2008
Hello!! OK now for the Amazon boat trip!! :o) ..... Got picked up from the hostel at 8am by the guy who sold me the ticket and walked to the harbour! Luckily he carried my rucksack (which now had an extra 5 books in it!) and my hammock otherwise i would have really struggled esp as I was also carrying 4 litres of water! It was soooo hot and i was practically jogging to keep up with him! He said the walk was only 5 mins but that was a big fat lie, it was definately half an hour! Well it felt like it anyway! hehe! :o) When we got to the harbour I started walking to the bigger looking ships and the guy was like no no its this way.... and led me to a ... read more
Alter do Chao near Santarem, Amazon, Brazil - 1518 February
Published: March 9th 2008South America » Brazil » Amazonas » Tabatinga
February 18th 2008
We went straight out of Santarem up another river, one of the amazons many tributaries to a place called Alter do Chao which was recommended to us by the hostel in Manaus. The Bible (Lonely Planet) (or, as we have found, it is better called "the book which must be ignored") calls it one of the best beaches in South America. Actually, it was on the right track this time, it was amazing. We shared a taxi with Grant and Rachel who were a great couple who´m I´m sure we will bump into again at some point, they were just taking a trip out to see the place before heading back to the boat. WOW, the place was everything we were hoping, quiet, beautiful, sunny, gorgeous beach and a really chilled hostel in the middle of ... read more
July 18th 2007
We had returned from our jungle trip thinking we would be a day or two in Tabitinga awaiting a boat to take us up the Amazon. We spent the morning getting passport stamps at the Letitia Airport, the taxi we caught took us to the Brazil airport, so a bit of confusion. We eventually found where we needed to be and walked down to the Zoo to find it was closed - in the middle of being relocated, so we walked into town thinking we would get a water taxi back to Tabitinga, but we found a 'shortcut instead'. We walked down to the waterfront and saw a path in the grass that was well used. We came to a creek with boards to walk on. Paul went across and the mud and water was very ... read more
