Blogs from Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, South America - page 8

Hi everyone... So, I´m in Manaus at the other end of the Brazilian Amazon from where I wrote to you last. I´m alive and well (just about) and still having a great time. There is now only a week left of my travelling before my jaunt home (so excited!), so I´m cramming in as much as I can before then. The boat trip was an interesting experience...on my deck alone there were 400 people slung up in hammocks right next to eachother. There were 3 toilets for over 200 women, which made personal hygiene a little difficult. Sleep was also hard to come by, as if anybody moved in their hammock there was a domino effect all the way down the line... I met some really cool people though and had a great time. I arrived ... read more

My first morning back in Manaus was heavenly, because it was Sunday, which meant the market was open for breakfast, and I was in good company. I had the most delicious tapioca, with cashew nuts, ham, cheese, and who knows what else, and a peanut guarana smoothee. Afterwards Regi dropped me uptown back at Carlos’s place and went back to Tupe, as he had to go home. He said he would return in a few days to say goodbye before my flight to Colombia, and so goodbye was a little difficult but I knew it wasn’t the final goodbye. It was just my luck that Carlos, Jarbas, and Renato (some of Carlos’ great roommates) were having a birthday party for a friend downstairs by the pool. This meant giant tasty bbq, and amazing cupuacu smoothies with ... read more

We have been in the Brazilian Jungle about 3 hours from Manaus for the last three days. It took two boat rides and two vehicle rides to get here. There is no cell signal or Internet. The only electricity is by generator. We found a guy named Vincente Thomas through Lonely Planet (he was listed under Manaus jungle trekking) and he met us at the airport in Manaus. He delivered us to a floating lodge in the Amazon Jungle. It is low tide season so the Amazon is full of fish and dolphins. They are easy to spot. We went sunset Piranha fishing the first night. Actually, we watched while other guests fished. We don't eat fish so why torture them just for fun? A few others brought home their catch and ate Piranha for dinner. ... read more

The next day I left for Manaus with Regi in the small boat. Saying goodbye was not easy, and as some of Regi’s sisters didn’t know I was leaving until I said goodbye, with a lump in my throat. “but why?”, they asked. It was complicated. They had hoped I would stay there always, and that felt good, but of course I had to go and in the end they all understood. Regi’s mom cried however. We got to Manaus late, so after grabbing XSALADA sandwich (an extremely popular Brazilian hamburger with cheese, ham, lettuce and tomato, sold on every corner for a dollar or two) at my favorite place, called “African café” (even though there was nothing African about it), we spent the night in the most dodgy hotel ever. It was strange, cause, I’d ... read more

Le bateau pour Manaus est finalement parti avec 3 heures et demi de retard... Ce fut 2 jours et demi longs et ennuyeux, pas tres excitant pour feter mon anniversaire!! On est finalement arrive a Manaus le 11 octobre a 22h30, 1 heure de difference avec Santarem, 6 heures avec la France!! On a pris un taxi jusqu´a notre hotel. Le centre de Manaus n´est pas tres sur la nuit, il vaut mieux eviter de trainer, surtout avec un enorme sac a dos!... read more