http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from South America , Brazil , Amazonas , Manaus en-us Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:37:34 BST Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:37:34 BST Sept 20 2008AMAZONIA BrazilWe are not too sure what to expect with this part of our adventure but maybe thatrsquos the best part This morning we flew 3 hours to Manaus a city in the heart of the rain forest on the Rio Negro River about 35 KM from the junction of the Solimoes River that then becomes the Amazon River and dumps into the Atlantic ocean. Or flight took us to Belem for a short http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-330802.html The Amazon Well it is safe to say that coming from London not that long ago we had forgotten what humidity is like. The Amazon is about 80 humidity and we were soaked in sweat just sitting still I guess this could be considered a warm up for our return to SydneyThe trip into the Amazon really was something special. The eco systems are so interesting and the scenery like nothing else. The Ama http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-330497.html Im back in Manaus and so many great things have happened I have no idea where to start.First place to start is my amazing guide and friend Elso Lima. If it hadnt been for this guy I wouldnt have seen a fraction of the things Ive seen I would have put my hand on the pinktoed tarantula that was hiding behind a leaf on the tree I was about to rest my hand on at our base camp in the jungle inste http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-305264.html Hey everyoneGot to Manaus first thing Friday morning Everyone in Brazil is so nice and helpful.... i was sat at the bus stop not entirely sure which bus to get on and when a bus came along a woman came up to me told me it was going to the centre and told me to get on And she also came and found me again to tell me when to get off the bus without me even asking her So nice o Found hostel e http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-301854.html The dye is castThis will be my last post for about ten days or so Im going off line and into the jungle. I leave tomorrow and return to Manaus on the 27th. Ill try to do a post then if possible but it might not be possible since I have my next flight to Cuiaba and the Pantanal leaving Manaus at 300am on the 28th it was the only flight I could take that would get me to Cuiaba in the daylig http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-301528.html Well here I am sitting in the middle of the Amazon. The funny thing is that you would never know it from the city. Its a bustling busy place with tons of traffic and markets selling plastic toys and video games and cheap knockoffs of famous label clothing. The people here look different than out in OlindaRecife theyre shorter more typically South American looking I thought I was in Peru http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-301171.html Hey everyoneIm afraid this has got to be a really quick one as im running out of time in the internet cafe and have still got a million things to do before tomorrow morning oJust to let you know not to panic if you dont hear from me in a while I flew in from Belem this morning will do Belem blog with photos soon and as there isnt that much to do here i have booked my boat to Colombia for http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-298600.html Well I have been awful with neglecting this travel journal so far too much has happened to sum it all up I will have a go thoughNew Zealand was amazing we hired a car called El Cheapo and drove ourselves around for 2 weeks on the South Island which was amazingly beautiful and then a week and a half on the North. We visited Queenstown where I braved the Canyon Swing which was terrifying and the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-296656.html I have to say that our entry into Brazil was one of the most pleasant and welcoming experiences we have had on our trip so far. The trip across the Venezuelan border down to Manaus was really long. First we traveled from Cuidad Bolivar to Boa Vista in Brazil then another overnight bus from Boa Vista to Manaus. On the first bus we were kindof adopted by a Brazilian family The shared family photo http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-295645.html Arriving to our hotel in the middle of the jungle following a 2.5 hour boat ride from Manaus main city of the Amazon we do the usual ldquoHeena and Innardquo thing and upgrade ourselves from a normal room to the top suite. We have spent the last night in Manaus at a hostel with shared bathroom and pretty much no window so suckers that we are when we are offered the upgrade at 13 of the http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-294157.html Amazon AdventuresI must first start this blog entry by recommending Gero Tours for anyone who happens to be going to Manaus for a trip to the Amazon. The owner Gero and our guide Josh made this trip outstanding and worth every penny. I'd also like to thank the boys for constantly being on 'spider watch' around me.Day 1 in the jungle...So who knew.....there ARE spiders in the Amazon....HUGE sp http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-284128.html We crossed the boarder from Venezuela to Brazil and I swear everything felt just the little bit better. We had to wait to get our passports stamped but the ladys came out from their lunch break to do it and were very smily and chatty a big change from Venezuela where they just steal your stuff and stop you for no reason. From the boarder we continued to Boa Vista we travelled in a jeep with a m http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-274850.html Manaus Heart of the Amazon dramatic music...Sounds impressive huh Conjuring visions of machetewielding moustachioedtypes wearing shortleg safari suits pith helmets and smug expressionsIt's at the intersection of two rivers rather impressive in their own right the Rio Solimoes and the Rio Negro. And it's a monster. The closest you'll get to wildlife in downtown Manaus will be slowly sh http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-264806.html The Amazon 1999It was vacation time again and my best friend Cara and I were at a complete loss for where to travel to. We hoped for someplace exotic and not well traveled was the order of the day.On a trip to the mall a bit later visiting the Rain Forest caf restaurant I happened to notice a contest they posted the grand prize being a trip to the Ariau Amazon Tower Lodge Amazonas Brazil. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-264110.html Na een korte vlucht richting Manaus vroeg in de ochtend werden we ongewild opgewacht door Armstrong een goede verkoper van Amazone trips. Na hem eerste een aantal keren af te wimpelen door te zeggen dat we wat wilden eten kwam hij telkens terug om te zeggen dat hij de mooiste tours kan regelen. Uiteindelijk zijn we met hem meegegaan naar zijn kantoor en werd er een prachtige trip uitgestippeld. H http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-263488.html Todo empezo un martes 12 de Marzo a las 6 de la tarde en el puerto de Belem de Par. Un pequeo bote lleno hasta la bandera de hamacas muchos braisleiros y unos cuantos guiris nosotros 3 una alemana llamada Jesabel un ingles llamado Alex y unos ingleses desfasados y el rio mas grande del mundo por delante. La experiencia en su totalidad ha sido brutal. Los 3 primeros dias hasta Santarem a mi http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-257777.html This are pictures from my vacation to Brazil. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-256785.html Well we finally stepped off the boat at Santarem the half way stop down the mighty Amazon river between Manaus a massive city in the middle of the Amazon basin where we set off from 2 days earlier and Belem which is another massive city near the coast at the end of the even mightier amazon at this point. Before I go on I039ll tell you that should we have been due to stay on the boat un http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-254357.html to be completed http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-254356.html Quand'ero adolescente e ancor prima d'esso quando ero un bimbo nessun personaggio fittizio mi riempiva di ammirazione ed interesse quanto Mister No alias Jerry Drake. Anno dopo anno leggendone di avventure in Asia Africa ma soprattutto nella giungla amazzonica. La sua base era Manaus capitale per l'appunto della regione brasiliana Amazonas ed ora finalmente oltre vent'anni dopo averne pr http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-248703.html I am in an Ibis Hotel ... basic and clean ... not as fancy as an Ibis in Europe. The only draw back about this hotel is that it is some distance from the centre. I thought of taking the bus. By watching the roads and the bus service I came to a very quick solution that I would be much less frustrated by simply taking a cab. On the morning of my only full day in Manaus it finally stopped pouring http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-247924.html Sammy and I flew to Manaus to do a 4 day trip into the jungle. Manaus is a city of around 2 million I think who gained popularity and wealth from rubber trees found in the Amazon. The Amazon River and the Rio Negro meet right outside of the city. From Manaus we hired a guide and ventured into the jungle for an unbeliavable trip. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-244529.html We didnrsquot get around to doing some of the things we were going to such as the zoo mainly due to laziness The climate kind of makes you that way Also getting information about various places has proved much more challenging than we expected. We did find our way to the banana market which was interesting. The huge piles of bananas were quite extraordinary as were the heaps of watermelon http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-242724.html Itrsquos been a whirlwind couple of days. Now that we are back to being proper tourists again it seems we have to pack so much in So we left Porto Velho behind and flew with Gol to Manaus.Here we are staying in the Manaus Hostel not to be confused with the Hostal Manaus which is nice but stretching our budget a bit too far. We have found cheaper digs in the Hotel Rei Arthur and thatrsquos http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-241887.html Monday 7th Jan Ship Time 1000hrs Home Time 1400hrsFirst of all did you spot my deliberate mistake re Devils Island. The dates should have been French stopped sending prisoners there in 1938 and closed it completely in 1954. No doubt you all noticed this error.To continue the Brazilian authorities have been on board clearance was given so we continued on our way along the Amazon river. Not http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-233819.html boa boa boa. We just arrived to Manaus after a 3 day trip on a cargo boat across the amazonian rainforest. It was a really nice trip we had already gone to the boat to sleep the night before and already a day before that we had set up our hammocks to get the best places. Just before the boat was leaving though there seemed to be the whole Brazil wanting to get in there were hammocks absolut http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-227637.html The Lonely Planet guides all warn about how dull and uncomfortable boat rides down the Amazon are. Many travelers think that the rides are rewarding.I viewed our trip as a way to get from the triple frontier to Manaus where we could connect to a number of additional Brazilian cities. It takes three days to get from the frontier to Manaus.I would never describe the boat ride as comfortable but http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-221593.html Much has happened in the last week in a half. After I blogged a week ago Saturday. The lavanderia to which we brought our clothes did not give us a good amount of them back including all of Sarahs underwear. Sadly we did not realize this until after it closed. As we had booked a nonrefundable boat ticket to Leticia Columbia for the next morning at 6AM we could not retrieve our clothing. http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-221591.html We made it The boat ride from Belem to Manaus lasts exactly 5 days... 5 LONG DAYS We were told that the boat takes about 5 days to get to Manaus upstream on the Amazon and it was 5 days almost to the minute... wierd how that works huh Our experience on the Cisne Branco started off on the wrong foot and was... interesting to say the least Here is my rendition of our Amazon cruis http://www.travelblog.org//South-America/Brazil/Amazonas/Manaus/blog-215425.html