Blogs from Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, South America - page 19

We arrived at Manaus airport at about 1pm. On the way we were lucky enough to see the 'Meeting of the Waters´from the plane window. The 'Meeting of the Waters´ is where the Rio Negro meets the Solimoes and becomes the Amazon. As the Negro and the Solimes are of different density and temperature they do not mix immediately and can be clearly seen running side by side. Manaus is one hour behind Salvador so we changed our watches again, the fourth time we have done so in this country. There is a chapter to come on Brazilian time, watch this space. We were immediately accosted by touts selling jungle tours, we fled sharpish to a taxi rank where we were fortunate to meet a big muckle Geordie lad from Gateshead who was living in Manaus. ... read more

Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas. I am in hot Manaus now, after a long journey. The plane had some technical problem and I had to wait forever in the airport in Sao Paolo. However, the Brasilians were very friendly and talked a lot to me - in Portugese of course. I just smiled and nodded and they seemed pleased. Tomorrow I am leaving on a jungle trip, so when I get back I will have some pretty interesting photos and stories to tell you, I hope. I am staying at a hostel with air-conditioning that I would really not call air conditioning, but oh well... Imagine the heat in my room without it!!! Hehe So far my impressions are all good, friendly people, hot weather, tons of impressions.... read more

First update of the big trip! Flight out - Iberia at their best, flight leaving Madrid was late and then later and then later... next thing I knew I looked up from my book and discovered the airport lounge seemed to be empty - I really should have learnt the spanish for "we´ll bring the flight back forward by an hour and if you can´t understand the announcement in Spanish it´s tough". Anyway they let me on, but obviously the gods were having a laugh that day and not only was the plane full, but I was in the (screaming) kids section with a hyperactive two year old next to me, very restful to be sure, and the food was terrible too. Arrived at Caracas, the half hour transfer to the city took over four hours ... read more

Gran Savana/Brazilian Border To get to Brazil Manaus, we drove and drove and drove (I was sitting at the back with a sour arse). It felt longer because the landscape of the Gran Savana (south East of Venezuela) was surprisingly flat. I expected to find indigenous villages on the side of the road, with easy to access waterfalls on the other side. We flied through the bare landscape -not sure where to stop I gather- until the border (only 2 hours there!. I reclaimed my French nationality to save A$90 visa fee). Manaus I was surprised by the sheer size of Manaus. As a Zone Franc, it has attracted big manufacturers, providing employment in one of the most remote area of Brazil. Our boat down the Amazonian river was not to leave for another 4 days ... read more

Ahoj pratele, kamaradi, bratri Nase putovani Brazilii a Venezuelou po sousi jsme zacali nocnim autobusem z Manausu do Boa Visty. Prijeli jsme pred polednem do mesta a nejblizsim autobusem jsme pokracovali smer Venezuela do mesta Santa Elena. Autobus zastavil pred hranici a do Venezuely jsme se dopravili taxikem. Predesilam, ze doprava taxikem je ve Venzuele velmi levna, jelikoz cena 1 litru benzinu se pohybuje kolem 1Kc...)))) Chteli jsme dale pokracovat letadlem s preletem nad Angel Falls, ale podle informaci domorodcu neprivezli palivo na letiste.Tak letadlo neletelo..)))) Nezbyvalo nez stravit dalsi noc v autobuse smer Cuidad Bolivar. Byl to asi nejpoholdlnejsi autobus, kterym jsme jeli. Mel velka kozena sedadla s mistem pro pohodlne ulozeni noh. Neuveritelne...))) Rano jsme probehli mesto a pokracovali taxikem do pristavniho mesta Puerto La Cruz. Po petihodinove plavbe lodi jsme ... read more