Blogs from Amazonas, Brazil, South America - page 6

Third leg of our 4,000km Amazon trip. Tabatinga to Manaus. We braved sleeping in hammocks and booked ourselves on the Bandierante II for the 3 day rapid boat trip to Manaus. This is a much cleaner and tidier boat than the one we took from Yurimaguas, we´ve got a cafe on the top deck selling cerveja (we´re in Brazil now so its´Portuguese!) and blaring out Brazillian music. On our deck we have our own TV and a little dining area. The food was pretty good, soup on the first night was "Rosemary standard", with egg butties and very sweet coffee for brekky. As the days went on, the quality of food did dip a little, mainly rice, noodles and beans but not bad all things considered. The river keeps getting wider and wider and we´ve not ... read more

Day 6 topped them all with the amount of reading and sleeping that we have done the entire trip. All agreed we should have left one day earlier. We started as usually with a nice buffet breakfast. When Kirsten and Chester arrived at the table the once pestering parrot was now at the table with Judy and Betty as they prepared a plate of bread and fruit for its breakfast. This is the first sign that you have been here too long. We then met our guide along with annoying couple again, but they were at least almost on time. We headed for what we thought was a morning of piranha fishing that would be exciting and active. WRONG again. A morning of fishing in the Amazon constitutes about 1 hour with bamboo poles. Chester did ... read more

As with any trip it can get hard to sleep through the night, even with the help of alcohol and/or sleep aides. Kirsten, Chester and Betty tossed and turned a bit last night, while the “Great Tumbler” Judy slept like a rock. Breakfast was served at 7:45. We made our way to the restaurant and found fresh fruit, cereal, yogurt, breads, eggs, and sausage. Breakfast was good and filling. The four of us ate in the pleasant morning until we were accosted by the local parrot. He is not afraid of people and will eat off your plate if you let him. We did not like this at all and kept trying to shoo him away, which would work for about 30 seconds and then he would fly right back. If he does it again tomorrow ... read more

Hallo ihr Lieben zu Hause wir haben den urwald ueberlebt! und das obwohl ich gleich nach 5 min mit einer tarantula konfrontiert wurde!! koennt euch ja vorstellen, was da los war. wollte gleich wieder abreisen... nunja, den kaiman den ich fuern foto aufm arm hatte, hab ich vor schreck leider fallen lassen, leider habe ich dabei irgendwie in richtung lisa geworfen (hat ein tolles gesicht gemacht :-)) und wir hatten dann erstmal ein wenig stimmung im boot, weil niemand von dem 2-jaehrigen ''suessen babykroko'' mit den suessen zaehnchen gebissen werden wollte, der fands bestimmt auch recht lustig erst fuer fotos geknebelt zu werden und dann durch die luft zu fliegen um unsanft im boot zu landen... nunja, klingt als haetten wir spass gehabt, ja das hatten wir wahrhaftig und nun was soll ich sagen, kaum ist ... read more

So we pedalled behind the boat , or trying to keep the space between uthanks the motorboat as small as poss but most times we were a bit behind... Nonetheless our skills improved, I have to say mine box I be never pedalled in my life and by the end I could control the boat!! I reached the boat which was stopped and Jo told me that I had to save a bird that they found in the bush. So I went in with the boat trying to get the bird which was doing rounds trying to escape me, but finally I caught it .Deposited on the boat I was free to pedal away but not for long becauseowe we're at the clear and we needed to go baas to have the longed for shower. I ... read more