Morro de Sao Paulo, Brazil

Bus, Catamaran, Wheelbarrow and Tractor

We're taking time out and indulging ourselves in a little bit of Paradise on an Island off Salvador called Morro de Sao Paulo. After a night on the bus, reaching the port in Salvador early morning, then waiting for the catamaran, 2 hrs later we arrived on this island (it had been recommended to us).

We again were a wee bit suspicious of the porters willing to carry luggage. However, if you could see our luggage now, you would understand that any assistance is appreciated. Thank goodness we agreed as the ascent from the port was steep and the walk through the ritzy village to the centre was sandy (Wheels don't like sand.). The porters obligingly stacked luggage into the wheelbarrows to make it easy for us just to walk. They took us 2 the next mode of transport - a tractor pulling a trailer of car seats. 20 mins later we reached the hotel.

This little piece of paradise is only accessible by tractor - along the beach - horseback, or a very long walk so it is quite secluded. It is right on the edge of the 'Oceana Atlantica' and at high tide the water laps right at the front door. Palm trees, sunshine, surf, hummingbirds and we feel like we're in heaven.

There are 5 beaches, our home is on Beach 4, the quiet beach. Last night we took the tractor into beach 1 where all the action is, had a nice dinner and walked back in the moonlight past all the beaches. It was perfectly romantic.

Oh one other thing I should tell you. Paul has purchased a finger harp made from a sardine tin and coconut wood. He is composing some beautiful tunes including one he just played called 'The Lizard' - inspired by the bigger than slipperies that are around here and how they twitch their heads from side to side.


Leaving this little bit of paradise today and will arrive in Rio De Janeiro tonight.

Salvador and Lencoise, Brazil

Exhaustion and Great Food

We left the Amazonian on a high note after a wonderful night of opera at the historic Theatre Amazonian. With only one hour before the opera, we were lucky enough to get two first class box seats. The opera was tantilising, spiritual and with superb costumes and mystical jungle characters. The singing first class as was the orchestra. In the box next to ours, we were privileged to be introduced to the lady who wrote the libretto. She was also appreciative of we Australians taking time to see the Opera. It was the first night of performance. Between scenes we indulged in champagne - first since leaving home. Coincidentally we also met 2 other Australian people at the opera. It's amazing how quickly you can strike up a conversation and become 'friends' when the similarities and familiarities are in unison. The four of us had supper after the opera.

We reached Salvador on the east coast of Brazil and revelled in 'normalness'. The sun, surf, beach, bars and great jazz we felt at ease. The only missing link was the North Avoca Social Club. We transported (metaphysically) everyone to the jazz bar and nudged one or two alcoholic beverages. And we did the same for three days before heading into the hinterland to the Nationale Paque Chapada Diamontina.

This holiday has been one of extremes and the old cliché 'it is the journey, not the destination' is oh so true. However, we both agreed that sometimes the journey can be very strenuous and not quite what one expects. This trip to the national park sounded beautiful. Waterfalls, birds, wildflowers, blue ponds, caves, swimming in fresh water - really doesn't sound so unique, except we wanted to see and experience these things in Brasil. We were not disappointed. However, to get to each of these meant travelling over potted holes for 150 kms or climbing up a vertical incline for 3 hours (and then having to come back down – hard on knees) or, descending into the depths of a valley and thinking all the time the return journey will be up up up. So after three full days of 'extreme' exercise (Bridget, equivalent to three months at the gym) we should be feeling fit and healthy but instead aching and paining. We can say now, it was all worth it despite the vigorous exercise (Terry - just your sort of exercise).

At night in the village of Lencoise, we found excellent restaurants and just so you don't think all our food is rice and chicken, one night our dinner was: Entree - Panang Prawns decorated with vivid splashes of colour of tamarind, mango and gauva ice cream. Main course - Beetroot ravioli with parmessan and poppy seeds followed by desert of Cardomon Ice Cream and Chocolate coated Brownie. Of course the Argentinian Cab Sav was a great accompaniment.

So, it was time 4 extreme rest and relaxation.

Cruise down the Amazon

We had three days to spare before our cruise down the Amaon. Had already decided that we would take a slow boat to Manaus in Brazil. On doing the border crossing from Peru to Brazil, it didn't take us long to realise that no one, absolutely nobody, spoke English and only a very little Spanish so finding out information suddenly became quite stressful, very challenging and tensions between us mounted. However, as Paul reminded me, we are in it together and one way or another we'll work it out. And, so we did.

We found the port with the boats going to Manaus. There were two moored, one a very basic style with hammocks and another more luxurious looking with cabins. I insisted on a cabin. However, the boat Montivui didn't set sail for another three days but we could stay on board. At least this is what our interpretation was and worked out fine given only Portugese and body language was the communication.

We filled our 3 days going from Brazil to Columbia. (We thought afterwards that that probably looked strange, getting off the boat, catching a scooter to Columbia, buying supplies and returning with goods in hand). The Columbian town of Lucia was far more interesting than the Brazillian port town of Tabitinga. The very act of just 'doing' in this humid climate takes lots of energy so in the afternoons it was great just to retreat to our cabin and sleep.

The cruise started with a disappointing farewell from the shores of Tabitinga with a gathering of no more than around 15 locals farewelling their families, we waved to them. The lower deck of the boat was the cargo area and hammocks, the second for hammocks and the top deck cabins. We both felt another sense of adventure as the boat departed and we were again surrounded by the jungle. There were about 150 people on board, mostly in the hammock deck.

A Gandhi-looking brazilian and his cousin are in the cabin next to ours. To our delight, he speaks some basic English even though we are fast trying to learn some basic Portugese. He tells us that dinner isn't included tonight. Oh well, we do have some crackers, beer and some cheese.

And so we were on our way, the boat stopped in to around 10 small ports on the 4-day journey.We managed to 'Que horas' - find out the time for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
All announcements were in Portuguese. Including a loud yell and knock at around midnight the first night. Startled we jumped up to find the Federal Police at our door. There was a drug raid. (We wondered if we had been followed to Columbia and back.) Absolutely everything was searched. Our bags turned inside out, lining checked, shoes, contents of toileteries, under the bed, around the gap between wall and ceiling - nothing was left unturned. Passports demanded. These were not friendly police. However, we got the thumbs up - a sign of everything OK and settled back to sleep only to be woken by the fog horn with the boat nearing another port. That was around 2 am. Breakfast starts around 5 am and the signal is loud Brazilian music sung very badly screeching from the loudspeakers. We missed breakfast. Lunch at 11 am and dinner around 5.30. Weird hours.

And so the cruise continued. It was lovely sitting watching the jungle go by, the little villages on the side of the Amazon, as we read, slept, played dominoes, or meerly gazed into the vast landscape watching the various transformation of clouds, skyline, the mightly river and the vegetation.

Prior to leaving we decided to buy a bottle of the local alcholic beverage called cachaca. We thought that over the few days this would be a nice sundowner. We opened it on the first day - the smell to me was a little like kerosene but on tasting it it was more a whisky taste mixed with rum. (We believe it is made from rum and sugarcane). I decided to stick with the beer. Paul finished the bottle that night. His creative spirit, kicked in, the poetry was beautiful and then it hit. (It is now midday the next day and he is still asleep.) I don't think he wants to see another bottle of that!

The river cruise continued. We made friends with a number of brazilian folk including the people next 2 us who gave us some homemade cake. Another who would like 2 play dominoes with us as well as some of the staff who now check we havn't missed a meal.

The rest of the cruise was perfectly relaxing. In fact, it was comfortable and good to be in a routine again. About 40 mins out of Manaus we turned out of the Rio Amazon and into the Rio Negro (Black River). The swirls of the 2 rivers meeting is quite a dramatic sight. It looks like ying and yang patterns of contrasting colours. The Amazon has many tributaries or rivers which flow into it all the way from the Andes – thousands of miles. Its brown and fast flowing. The Rio Negro source is high in Brazil or may be Venezula and is very acidic hence its blackness. When the 2 rivers meet they travel for another eleven Klms before they integrate..

So we then arrived at Manaus. This is a major city of over million people. It was a shock to our systems with lots of activity at the port. In our relaxed state we were unexpectedly ripped off by a 'very helpful porter. So, thats life. We've now booked our flight to Salvador for Monday so it will be good to be near the beach again. We are taking one last trip into thejungle to where tle movie Anaconda was made. Tonight we are off to the opera at the Theater Amazonian in Manaus. Really looking forward to this.

So friends we are now leaving tle natural beauty of the Amazon. Looking forward to Salvador.

Keep your comments coming. The contact with home is wonderful.

Pieces of Interesting Information

Travelling through different parts of the world, we observed things that really are of little use to anyone but add to the experiences and connections we have with our world back home. So, as we have this time chugging down the Amazon, thought we would reflect on this.

Colours of the Amazon jungle - varying shades of green. That's green, green, green.

Dominoes cost 10 Columbian pesos.

The local Brazilian drink - Cachaco - is deadly dangerous. Ask Paul.

Colour of the river - brown, mineral black often spotted with clumps of vegetation, logs, branches and plastic bags and bottles but mostly pristine.

Tourist spots - Constant reminder of the huge gap between rich and poor. Individuals - mainly women and children selling anything from individually wrapped sweets or some deep fried local delights to the up market tour operators who only deal in US$.

There is a fish in the Amazon, the minute candiru fish with a long bony snout, razor sharp teeth and skin covered with fine barbs that attacks the penis and other orifices. Once inside, its extraction without ripping the flesh is impossible.

Can only eat small quantities of indigenous foods. They tend to have catastrophic affects on the system but are great for cleansing.

The Amazon indians have an incredible ability to sit in canoes and paddle for hours on end.

Havainnas rubber thongs are big in Brazil. Therefore I must be cool!

Drinking water - it comes in sin gas or con gas - without or with bubbles. It is a constant part of our hand luggage.

Ordering food - unless one has a good command of the local language, often the food ordered comes as a surprise and not quite what one would expect.

Internet cafes - they are everywhere. Often the speed is very slow though.

Beer - this seems to be our stable diet tasting the local beer from each of the countries.

Coffee - for a part of the world that grows so much coffee, it is horrible. Or perhaps the barristers are not trained the way they are in Australia. Generally it is instant with a dob of condensed milk.

Toilets - pretty good except the paper goes into a waste paper bin. Yuk.

Power Charging equipment - IPAQ, camera and phone is never a problem. Just need the right attachment.

Amazonion fish - fresh water is alright says Paul. I've almost turned vegetarian. Every meal it is chicken. After reading Two Caravans I've gone off chicken too.

Taxis vary from country to country. In La Paz, Bolivia, the cheapest way to get around is the local mini taxi which is like a van with driver and touter. The touter yells out repeatedly all the destinations. You can imagine what that sounds like when there are around 100 vans!

In country Bolivia, the taxis were the conventional car, albeit wrecks, with no springs in the seats and a major pollution source. Peru was much the same, except here there appeared to be only two speeds - stop and 'lets see if we can frighten the passengers".

It was a surprise to get to northern Peru and the town of Iquitous (only access boat or plane) to find that the taxi cabs were a trike-type bike or perhaps a bike with the back wheel replaced by two in a buggy-like fashion. They were fun. (Jo we thought this would be a good business around Terrigal).

Now in the border towns of Brazil and Columbia motor scooters are the go. When in Brazil, no helmet is required. As you cross the border to Columbia, (there is not problem to move from one to the other) a helmet is handed to the passengers. Both these border town had numerous types of scooters including the Bug, just like mine.

Amazon, Peru

Just five minutes after setting off in our dug out canoe our guide spotted a sloth and a pigmy monkey. After all this is why we came to the Amazon basin - to see the wildlife.

After arriving in Iquitos and realising that the options for tours in the jungle were either an ecological amazon experience in tents or the more upmarket lodge, we chose the tents within the Yarrapa Reserve of the Amazon. (On first arrival, we wondered why as the two layers of insect repellent didn't seem to deter the squillions of mosquitoes at our camp.)

On with the story. Our campsite is on the edge of the Ucalyali River - where the Amazon is born. It is nearing the end of the wet season so the river is high and is flowing rapidly. Our campsite is an open air gazebo style construction, thatched roof, no walls, wooden floors about 10 feet off the ground. On the floor are mattresses with mosquito nets suspended in a coffin-style about 4 foot high and the right length. These were our beds for 4 nights. Hammocks strung around the outside of the building and another building semi-covered in gauze is the dining room.

Our guide was at our service. Ricardo, an extremely knowledgeable local and, a young boy from the campsite, Gem, paddled us on 2-3 excursions each day varying from 1-3 hrs through some lakes, backwaters, rivers and the flooded jungle to experience not only the fauna and flora but the daily routine of the native village communities.

Some highlights of this experience:

Coming face to face with a three toed sloth. From the river we spotted a green iguana and a sloth high up in the trees. Gem shimmied up the tree, braking the branch the sloth was on and brought it back to us still sitting in our canoe at the bottom of the tree (See photo). The iguana watched on undisturbed.

As we watched the pink dolphins diving and breaching around our little canoe on a lake, we could hear a troup of monkeys screeching in the forest nearby. We paddled over to see two varieties - the wooly monkey and the monk saki monkey. We had some fruit for our excursion so we were able to feed the monkeys and we exchanged primordial glances.

Moving on a little further down the river we heard the sound of toucans and macaus. Our guide drifted toward these beautifully coloured, raucaus and spectacular birds. The toucan put on an inviting display for us as we watched, cameras poised to click.

Then there were the night excursions. We have to say that the adranalin was really pumping as we weaved our way through the tarzan-like jungle, spotlights searching trees and leaves for tarantulas, insects, frogs and at the same time not being able to touch a thing as most vines and trees had spikes or prickles that would leave one torn to pieces. The noise at night is piercingly loud from the insects and frogs.

One night was set aside for spotting caiman. We were not disappointed as Ricardo spotted a 40 cm alligator, caught it from the canoe, and each of us held it, stroked it and photographed this one year old reptile. Another evening we were having dinner when a yell came from Ricardo in the bush. We rushed to see him tackling a 1mtr caiman in the creek next to our camp. Again we photographed, handled and returned it to its surrounds.

Another excursion took us by foot into the jungle in its intenseness. Our gumboots served us well as we tramped through the thick rotting undergrowth and stopped to observe the life of the leaf cutting ants, spotted frogs and to simply smell the denseness of an almost inpenetrable landscape.

Oh, we must tell you about the piranha fishing sometime.

The jungle is filled with various soundtracks at different stages of the day and night. In particular the evenings would begin with the many birds nesting and the screeching and whistling that brings. This was followed by the symphony of frogs and insects that at times was deafening but beautiful.

Back at the camp, life got better as after a day of rain the mosquitoes seem to disappear - well almost. However, the fake coral snake on the edge of the river that greeted us after night excursions put some of us on edge. The daily cleansing process was a dip in the river, or a bucket, the food was ordinary and we meet some interesting ´young´ people from Denmark, Australia, China and Norway.

The jungle has filled all our senses and this experience will carry with it many memories. Our next adventure, tomorrow, is the beginning of a 5-8 day trip down the Amazon into Brazil.

Following is a list of all the moving creatures we saw - if your interested:

Woolly monkey, squirrel monkey, pigmy marmocet monkey, night monkey, monk saki monkey, common squirrel monkey, dusky titi monkey, yellow tailed wooly monkey, three toed sloth, ocelet footprint, fishing bat, mosquito eater bat, pink dophin, grey dophin, common or white caiman, great anaconda, green iguana, giant false viper, common lancehead snake, coral snake.

Spotted tree frog, rough skinned tree green frog, horned frog, three striped poison frog,

Black banded leporinus, common hatcherfish, sardine, tiger charicin = baracoota, red bellied piranha, slender piranha, fruit eating piranha, emerald catfish

Firefly, leaf cutter ant, horsefly, termites, bullet ant, fire ant, blue morpho butterfly, wandering spider, pink toed tarantula.

Wattled jacana, yello billed tern, cocoa heron, great egret heron, tiger heron, ringed kingfisher, hoatzin, smooth billed ani cuckoo, great ani cuckoo, black collared hawk, slate coloured hawk, yellow headed caracara = falcon, flycatcher, blue gray tanager, red cap cardinal, ari cardi toucon, blue and yellow macau, scarlet macau, military macau, undulated tinamou, tropical king bird, white and blue swallow, brown common swallow, fork taked swallow, hummungbird,

Courtesy of our guide Ricardo Padilli and his assistant, Gendrani Gonsales from the Ecological Jungle Trip.


PS Him Tarzan, me Jane

Cuzco - Peru

Such a joy being in a smaller city. Cobbled stoned and narrow streets, a strong Spanish influence, the pace somewhat slower than Bolivia.

We were delighted to find artists and the work of a famous photographer - Martin Chambi. Almost bought a painting but hey, we're only three weeks into our trip.

We spent plenty of time wandering the steep steps and narrow pathways and enjoying the city life of Cuzco. Our major delight was our trip to Machu Picchu which started from Cuzco at 3.30 am by bus, then by train to the amazing vista of Macchu Picchu. Paul saw a condor, or was it the altitude sickness again. (He's changed his name to Inca Condor.) We heard so many stories of this place that we're not sure if it is a lost city, an inca university, a monestery, a gaming lodge or simply a summer holiday place for the Inca Emperor. However, all the stories provided a pastisque of colour, fascination and awe.

Now sitting in a park in Lima surrounded by shoe shine men, just witnessed two elderly fit and agile couple dancing to the tango. This is at 11.00 am. It's Saturday, there is a gastonomica and artesanal fair on. We are biding our time here on the west coast of the Pacific, same latitude as Darwin, and off to the jungle tomorrow.

Adios Amigosessss

PS Just want you to know that our Spanish is well.... still pretty bad.

We bought some cheese and took it back to the hotel to and asked for it to be put in the fridge. Next morning asked for our cheese. No one new any thing about it. We later found that it had gone into the bin rather than the fridge.

Ordered trout with asparagus sauce. Received some asparagus cream soup and grilled trout.

At a restaurant we saw advertised a 1 litr beer. We thought great, we'll share this. Instead ended up with two x 1 litre tankards of beer. Robby could hardly lift it.

Fellie where are you when we need an interpreter!

Lake Titicaca

BUSES

Somehow refreshed we wander through the countryside of Isle De Sol on Lake Titicaca. Not going to say much about the bus trip from Uyuni to Lake Titicaca except it was long, rough,in parts treacherous and all one could see for the first 6 hrs was the vastness of the desert under the stars and moon. Yep it was a total of 14 hours of unadulterated hell.

Isle De Sol was the birthplace of the Incas, plenty of monster trout from the highest lake in the world, great accommodation with a 360 degree view of the lake, comfort, home cooking, great walks, terraced fields, gum trees and bowler hats. A perfect spot for R&R.

After 3 days we were ready to head into Peru. Ah but not before another bus tale with a new dimension. After changing buses on the border we (with a bribe of $20 extra US dollars) found oursevles on a first class bus with the added luxury - there was no stench from the toilet - worth the $20.

So, now in Peru.