22 September:
Went on a long trek this morning to drop in the laundry from the boat trip, then headed back to the hotel via a beauty shop.  Melissa treated herself to a leg wax and feels like a new woman - a touch of pampering is needed by every traveller!  Disappointed to find out, on checking the emails, that Melissa`s Australian football team (ST Kilda) is out of the finals, but that`s life.  Did a tour today of the Teatro Amazonas - they do English tours roughly every 45 minutes, which cost R10 each and run for about half an hour.  The theatre was built in 1896 by a combination of government funds and rubber baron contributions.  Much of the interior was imported from Europe and the UK, with incredible hand-painted ceilings and a massive, hand-painted stage curtain.  There are Murano glass chandeliers and a small museum of costumes and items from past, famous productions.  Dame Margot Fonteyn´s final performance ever was in the Teatro Amazonas and the pointe shoes she used are in a glass cabinet.  The ball room has an ornate parquetry floor, and you have to either take off your shoes or put on enormous slippers to come in here - there is a painting on the roof where the figure of a reclining woman changes shape and appearance as you move across the room (all to do with perspective, apparently).  Met our new guide tonight, who will continue with us into Venezuela.  Terry is training his son to be a tour guide, so Gibson will also be travelling with us to learn the ropes.  They both seem very nice, but we will also miss Jose who has been so terrific.

23 September:
Have a most enjoyable day today.  Did a boat trip out to the point wher ethe Solimoes and Rio Negro meet to become the Amazon River - due to different water speeds, weights, etc., the waters actually don`t blend for about 9km and the deliniation between the black waters of the Rio Negro and the brown water of the Solimoes is very obvious.  Our river guide gave a good explanation of the old buildings and areas along the river and port - some were brought pre-fabbed from the UK and France, and then erected here.  The river itself rises between 8-10 metres in the rainy season, so the whole port area is built on a floating pontoons to allow for the different water levels during the year.  Also, many of the islands we passed today disappear entirely with the rains, so the houses are also built on pontoons to prevent them being washed away.  We visited the Janauary Ecological Park, which is just a fancy name for an island that has a lagoon full of large water lilies (quite interesting) and people thrusting mangy, neglected animals like sloths and anacondas at you for money.  We found this quite distasteful, and hope that they find another way to earn money in the near future that does not involve mistreating the native wildlife.  Did a canoe trip along the river banks and saw some interesting birds, plus stopped at a small village which does some fish-farming, so got a close up look at the enormous Amazon cod.  Had lunch on a floating restaurant and chatted to a fabulous retired couple from Texas who travel a lot, they were really enjoyable company with their funny stories and anecdotes.
Our last night with Jose tonight, had a nice meal and said goodbye as he heads back to Buenos Aires.  Turned out our friend HJ went to hospital today because she is so sick, sounds a bit like she might have rotovirus, and that Adrian is also suffering badly.

24 September:
Woke up to very heavy rain this morning.  Tried to get some money out of the bank, but none working due to the power failures.  Did manage to get some later on, but in the meantime visited a few tourist shops - nothing very exciting to buy, most of it seems to be cheap Chinese copies of traditional crafts.  Changed money with our new guide for Venezuela, then home for a shower to get ready for our second last night bus, which will take us to Santa Helena tomorrow. 

Hello!

On the 6th of August I arrived in Manaus, which is a city in the middle of the rainforest along the shores of the Amazon river.
In the mid 19th century, the city used to be very important as the first rubber production center in the world. Nowadays it has 2 million citizens, living in concrete buildings and here and there you can find a sweet spot that reminds you of the wealth of the colonial town.

Anyway, being so close to the rainforest, I could't just leave without doing a jungle tour, could I?
Together with some people I met in a very cool youth hostel (Hostel Manaus) we took a 4 day tour in one of the branches of the Amazon river. We did piranha-fishing (and dito eating), aligator spotting, and while doing so, we picked up a sloth that was trying to swim across the river. These animals are sooooo sloooooow, that it must have been in the water for ages already. We started the next day by watching the sunrise over the Amazon. As we went deeper into the jungle, more animals became apparent: toucans, ara's, spider-monkeys, tarantula's, snakes, you name it. Very interesting also were the medicinal plants: the basic ingredients of a whole lot of products you find in our drugstores can be found in the rain-forest: anti-malaria medicines, insect repellents, vicks, ...
So we spent 2 nights deep into the forest and I must say that it was a truly impressive experience: for the first time in my life I felt that I was not at the top of the foodchain. This was really the territory of animals that can actually kill you. A bite of a tarantula is fatal, so is the bite of some snakes. Not to mention the ease with which you can get lost or the constant thirst you have in the unbearable humid heath. Spending the night in a semi-sheltered hammock, listening to the concert brought by thousands of insects, frogs, birds and other 'things' was quite scary, I must admit. In the end it only increased my respect for one of our last truly untouched pieces of wildlife.

Later on I spent some more days in Manaus, strolling around in cosy streets and visiting the Theatro Amazonas. This is a colonial opera-building made from very expensive craftswork, coming from Europe. Given the location and the climate, this once must have been a mythical place.

Tomorrow I move to Belem. By plane. The boat that goes down the river takes 5 days and seems to be pretty boring.

CU in Belem.
Frediaan, de Amazonas-Indiaan.

This day really just crept up on all of us. It is as if we had forgotten about our lives before that first day when we set our feet inside the rainforest. We had adapted. We had even become accustomed to each others little habits. I may even find it difficult to sleep without hearing Deuzimar snoring away happily in his nearby hammock.

At this side of my jungle experience, I now feel that it is much less about where I was but the experiences that I shared while I was there. Of course the experience of being in the Amazon is undoubtedly a big one. It is the little moments that will live with me for the rest of my days. Even the heart wrenchingly scaring moments of being attacked by jaguars or the joy of cooking a capybara stuffed with hot rocks in a pit. Stumbling across a crystal clear waterfall or being harassed by the same wierd flying insect for the whole trip!

After a two hours in a crappy motor boat we made it back to the village we started off in. Oddly I heard my name being called! It was our Chef Jackson who despite having no English tried telling me that his village jungle lodge had a toilet unlike the one we came across in the jungle. It was great to have a drink in his house before getting in the car back to Manaus.

Back in town, we only had a few hours before both our flights. I was going to Canada and Simon was going to make his way to Argentina. As much as we had become great friends of the past weeks, we would revel in our time apart.

We set off to see the town and get some food. While in a book shop, a local girl, Dani got talking to us and ended up offering to take us somewhere for food. We ended up spending the rest of the day together. It is a major shame that we couldnt spend more time together. She really was a lot of fun even though we met in the most unlikely of circumstances. She took us to the airport and exchanged emails for when she is next over in Europe to meet up again.

Once in the airport in came to the time for myself and Simon to finally say goodbye too. Our flights departed at the same time but opposite ends of the airport. For some reason I thought this parting of ways would be a hell of a lot more emotional as we had practically lived in each other's pockets for the past month. I guess we both knew that we would be staying in contact and would always meet up again.

We arranged a tour through our hotel and were picked up early the following morning. Our first stop was at Manaus' old floating port commissioned by the wealthy "rubber barons." The port was designed and built by the famous Gustave Eiffel who built the tower in Paris for the World Exposition. 

Our tour boat took us downriver from Manaus to the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Rio Solemos where these two rivers join together giving birth to the Amazon. The Solemos is light brown with the silt that it carries from the slopes of the Andes and the Rio Negro is black with tannic acid leached from the rain-forest swamps - or is it the other way round. In any case there is a clear dividing line between the two colours where the rivers meet.

(kannatust... tana tapitahti ei ole)

Oi, Manauses laks elu jalle linnarutmis kaima. Paadis oli hea rahulik ja palju aega kirjutada...Manauses polnud aega oieti magadagi. Manausesse joudis paat esmaspaeva oosel veidi enne keskood. Ma tol ohtul pimedas ja keset ood oma kodinatega linna peale hostelit otsima minna ei tahtnud ja magasin paadis (siin on see tavaline ja ysna turvaline). Turvaline on kyll, aga rahulik yldse mitte. Kohalikud toomehed laadisid oo labi banaane, arbuuse ja kartuleid paadist maha ja larmi oli rohkem kui paeval ehitusel. Hommikul kella 6 paiku sai kannatus labi ja ma kompisin oma kodinatega yhte lahemasse hostelisse. Vaike gripp oli ka kallal ja plaanis oli esimene paev Manauses lihtsalt maha magada. Aga kus sa sellega.... Hostelite hea kylg on see, et yksi reisides kohtad alati inimesi, kellega koos linna avastada. Myndi teine pool on samas see, et yksi kah kunagi olla ei saa (hostel = 6-9 inimest samas toas). Ja hostelirahvas on alati nii sobralik ja avatud, et jutu peale saab iga kell. Sinna mu paeva maha magamise plaan lakski – hakkasin seal hostelikylalistega lobisema ja sattusin yhe paeva jooksul lausa kolm korda linna peale jalutama ja ringi vaatama. Magamisest ei tulnud midagi valja. jargmised paevad oli enam-vahem sama moodi. Kolasime teiste hostelikylastajatega linna peal, kaisime teatris, soime jaatist umbes sada korda jne.

Teater on Manauses muide yks tahtsamaid ehitisi. Kummibuumi ajal oli Manaus yks maailma rikkamaid linnu ja palju sellest (kadunud) rikkusest peegeldub kohaliku teatrihoone luksuses....alustades punasest sametist toolidega ja lopetades uhkete seina ja laemaalidega. Taiesti juhuse labi mul vedas ja minu sealoleku ajal oli parajasti mingi USA koori tasuta kontsert – hea vabandus odavalt teatrimaja seespooolt uurimiseks. Muidu olevat piletid sinna ylikallid ja enamasti labi myydud.

Jaatis oli teine Manause korgpunkt...hehe. Manauses on populaarne jaatisepood nimega Glacial. Yhes Glaciali harupoodidest on iseteeninduse systeem – yhes seinas on rida jaatisepotte (yle 20 kindlasti)....enamasti igasugustest tundmatutest puuviljadest...ja iga klient laob ise endale sobiva valiku ja koguse kaussi. Lopphind on kaalu jargi. Manaus oli esimene linn, kus palavus isegu minu jaoks palju oli. Sooja oli ehk umbes 36-38C kanti, aga asja muutis valjakannatamatuks korge ohuniiskus. Pidevalt oli sellise umbse sauna tunne (tuult kah ei olnud). Eks ma siis paeva jooksul enamasti jaatisest toitusingi...muud ei kannatanud syya. :p

Muidu tiirlesin niisama linnas. Enamasti tulevad turistid Manausesse, et minna sealt edasi vihmametsa loomi ja metsikut loodust vaatama. Kohalikke metsaekskursioonide korraldajaid on siin nagu karbseid junni kohal ja enamus turismimajandusest paistab keskenduvat sellele. Enamasti minnakse 3-5 paevaks, magatakse kas paadis, vorkkiikedes voi metsahotellis ja makstakse 600-1000eek paev (oleneb ekskursiooni kestusest ja grupi suurusest). Kaisin paari hollandlasega yhes kohas hindasid uurimas ja neil oli kaustikus muide *kliendi arvamus* ka kellegilt Merlelt eesti keeles. jube vinge oli lugeda. Ise metsa kahjuks ei joudnud – nii vahe paevi on jargi jaanud ja pikk tee veel minna (see paadis loksumine votab kah oma aja). Aga kunagi tulevikus (kui ehk opsina rasket raha teenin, hehehe) lahen tagasi ja teen selle metsatiiru kah ara. Turistid seal raakisid, et nagid metsas igasuguseid loomi-kalu-linde-usse jne, mida alati ehk loomaaiaski ei nae. Vinge.

Neljapaeval laksin sadamasse, et osta laevapilet jargmisse linna. Soov oli minna Belemi, Amazonase joe teises otsas, Atlandi ookeani lahedal. Aga kuna Belem on nii kaugel (paadiga 5 paeva), ei lahe sinna paate mitte iga paev. Valida oli, kas minna kohe reede hommikul ja maksta ysna soolast hinda, voi oodata jargmise kolmapaevani ja maksta normaalne hind. Palju maksta ei tahtnud ja ekstra nadalat oodata kah ei kannatanud, seega ostsin pileti laupaevaks hoopis teisele laevale, mis laheb Santaremi (linn enam-vahem poolel teel Belemi). Praegu kirjutangi tegelikult paadist...umbes 8 tunni parast peaksin Santaremi joudma...oosel kell 4 vastu esmaspaeva. Oo magan jalle paadis, hommikul otsin normaalse koha, kuni kolmapaevani kolan siin ringi ja siis jatan paadiga reisimise katki ning seiklen edasi jalle bussiga.

Reedel oli yldse vist selle reisi yks monusamaid paevi. Yks poolkohalik (Brasiilia seljakotireisija, kes oli meie hostelisse pikalt peatuma jaanud ja seal lausa tooliseks saanud) viis mind kohalikku joeranda nimega Praia da Lua. Sinna joudmiseks tuleb koigepealt minna bussiga peaaegu Manausest valja, ronida maha Rio Negro aares (yks jogedest, mis amazonasesse voolab), kondida umbes 1-2km jala pisikesse sadamasse ja sealt mootorpaadiga veel yks 6-7km mooda joge edasi. Praia da Lua ongi selline salajane peidetud liivarannake Rio Negro kaldal. Praegu juuli alguses on teda ysna vahe – jogi on vett tais ja enamus rannast veel all (koor puude, pinkide ja rannaputkadega). Hetkel oli seda randa ehk 5 meetrit jarel (laiuses....pikkust on tal kovasti), aga elu neil 5 meetril kees. Praia da Lua ei ole liival pikutamise rand, vaid hoopis putka ees laua aares istumise, olle joomise ja prae soomise rand. Reedel oli muidugi jobe palav nagu alati ja niisama paikese kaes istuda oli ysna karm. Nii me siis istusimegi hoopis joes kaelani vees ja baarineiu toi olled otse vette. Paris vinge teenindus. :)

Neid rannasoppe on seal palju ja yhest teise joudmiseks peab tihti monda aega vees kahlama. Rio Negro vesi ise on kah veider – tumepruun nagu tass teed. Aga pruun pole ta mitte solgi parast (Praia da Lua on enne Manaust – reostus jaab allavoolu), vaid oma mineraalide parast. Sulistada on seal vees muidugi naljakas, sest tumepruun on ta toesti.

Muidu on Manaus vaikne linn. Kohalikud naljatavad, et kehtib jaotus Manaus ja Brasiilia. Kui mujal Brasiilias on baarid lahti varahommikuni (ja tihti 24 tundi) ja tegevust on linnas oo labi, siis Manauses on peale keskood koik kinni ja mingit elu linnas leida on ysna raske. Kui on huvi naiteks neljapaeva ohtul (voi isegi reede ohtul) linnas vaike istumine korraldada, siis on parem ysna vara alustada.

Ok... praegu paat seisab keset joge juba pool tundi. mingi jama mootoriga. Aga kuna rahvas paadis on rahulik, siis vist midagi tosist ei ole. Tahaks ainult loota, et ei pea siin terve oo passima...

Manause pildid on kah lopuks yleval: http://picasaweb.google.com/Kristonia/Manaus

Manaus is a city of over a million people located right in the center of the Amazon. Although this would seem to conjure up images of a city nestled within the jungle, Manaus is in fact a hot, sprawling, urban center devoid of any semblance to the surroundings that have been cleared for its existance. Within the city there is little of touristic merit and the city seems to serve mainly as a springboard for trips to visit other parts of the Amazon. The centerpiece in the city is the Teatro Amazonas, an opulent opera house that has been restored several times and features various rainforest woods and local materials in its construction. The main hall of the opera house is rather small but there are four or five levels of seating in a U shape around the stage. There are some nice paintings on the walls and ceilings and some of the intricate wood floors that have been assembled from different types of wood are very impressive. Around the city there are various old buildings, some in much better shape than others that give a good impression of what the city may have been like in past times. The main market is an old marketplace modeled after Parisian markets but has since fallen into disrepair and is currently being renovated. Outside of the city there is the meeting of the waters, the beginning of the Rio Amazonas that starts with the confluence of the dark colored waters of the Rio Negro and the muddy brown waters of the Rio Solimoes, where the two rivers flow side by side without mingling for a kilometer or so. In the dry season there are also some beachs on the river that can be visited but now in the wet season, these are mostly underwater as the level of the river has risen by 12 meters, submerging most of the riverbanks and much of the jungle habitats. It is so miserably hot and humid during the day in the sun that I don´t know how you could sit on the beach anyways. The heat and humidity probably wouldn´t be so bad if it ever cooled off, but it never does. Even in the middle of the night it feels just as hot as it does during the day in the shade, and without air conditioning there is no break from the oppressive heat. The tours that are offered from Manaus are rather expensive, costing about 150 reals a day, and as they all seemed to offer similar itineraries to what I did in Bolivia and the high water levels reducing the amount of wildlife, I decided to pass and visit the tropical forest in Guyana on my way to Venezuela. The one trip that is really more like an expedition which sounded really great is the trip to Pico de Neblina, the highest mountain in Brazil that is located in a remote section of the Venezuela border. The trip takes about fifteen days and costs a few thousand dollars, consisting of several days of river travel and hiking, passing through a few uncivilized native villages before arriving at the top of the mountain. With little to do in Manaus but sweat in the heat I couldn´t get out of the city soon enough on my way north to Guyana. 

Nonii.... vahepeal olen jõudnud Amazonase osariigi pealinna Manausesse. Siia saab Porto Velhost vaid kahel viisil - lennuki ja paadiga (maantee on sõidukõlbmatu... ja paadiomanikud pole selles loos süüst päris puhtad). Lennukiga minek on üsna kallis ja vähehuvitav, seega esialgsest hirmust hoolimata otsustasin paadi kasuks.

Porto Velho => Manaus ots kestab umbs kolm päeva - kaks päeva allavoolu Madeira jõel ja üks päev vastuvoolu Amazonase jõel. . Esialgu polnud ma isegi kindel, kas ma nii kaua paadis vastu peaksin. ja mis veel hullem – võrkkiiges!! Igaks juhuks oli tagavaraplaan olemas ja kohalikud lenniliinid valmis vaadatud. Paadipileti ostmise päeval ütlesin piletimüüjale kah, et ma pole veel päris kindel, kas ma ikka julgen... Piletimüüja siis viis mu paati vaatama, rääkis, kuidas asi on jne. Hakkas veidi julgem küll.

Laupäeva hommikul kell 7 tulin siis paadi juurde tagasi ja seadsin end oma võrkkiiges sisse. Alguses oli üsna lage, aga iga hetkega saabus siia inimesi juurde ja uued võrgud ilmusid igas suunas, külgedel, pea kohal ja isegi külje all. Kokku sai siia keskmise teki peale (paadil kokku kolm korrust) umbes sadakond inimest. Siin Porto Velho sadamas paati väga täis ei aetud, sest siin on turvajärelvale üsna korralik. Üle 112 inimese ei tohi pardale võtta (järgmistes väiksemates sadamates, kus järelevalet pole, seda piiri muidugi nihutatakse....mitteametlikult). Paadi kõige madalamal tekil on kaubaladu – banaanid, kartulid, tomatid ja muu söögikraam jõe äärde jäävate külade tarbeks. Ja kõige ülemisel tekil on baar, mõned pingid, telekas (sest brasiillased ei ela ilma telekata....isegi mitte jõe peal keset vihmametsa; teleka tarbeks on paadi varustuseks olemas isegi satipann).

Siin keskmisel tekil on lisaks inimestele veel söökla. Sööklas on ruumi ainult 14 inimesele. Enne igat söögikorda võtavad reisijad end söökitoa ukse taha järjekorda ja söögitädi laseb meid 14-kaupa sisse. Kui 14 on ära söönud, siis saavad järgmised 14 sisse. Sellise aeglase vahetumise tõttu võtab iga söögipord paar tundi aega.

Dusiruumid on kah. Vesi tule ilmselt otse jõest. Kempsus saab kah ohtralt vett lasta... ja jälle jõkke.

Aga paadihirmu juurde tagasi. Mul oma võrkkiige panemisega tegelikult vedas, sest ma jäin parajasti sellisesse vaiksemasse auku, kus otse minu kohal ega külje all ei olnud kedagi. Kui ma ennast siia võrku pikali ajasin, siis sain aru, kui mõnus on tegelikult sellise paadiga reisida. Jube rahustav ja lõdvestav. Kell 6 hommikul on hommikusöök. Selleks ajaks pole päike veel tõusnud. Peale hommikusööki ronid võrku tagasi (sest muud pole teha) ja pikutad vaikselt poole hommikuni. Võrk vaikselt loksub ja kussutab poolunne. Hilishommikul loivad vaikselt ülemisele tekile ja vaatad tunni või paar mööduvat metsa, üksikuid väikepaate ja lõputut jõge. Lõuna paiku saab süüa ning sellele järgneb jäle väike lõunauinak võrgus. Hilisema pärastlõuna veedad jälle jõge ja metsa vahtides (üsna sama vaade, mis hommikul...keskenduma ei pea). Kella 6 paiku saab jälle süüa (sama söök mis lõunaks, sama mis eile ja üleeile), peale seda tunnike päikeseloojangu vaatkemist. Kella 7st on juba pime, midagi teha ei ole...seega jätkub vaikne loksumine võrgus kuni une tulekuni. Paremat puhust ei ole olemas. :)

Huvitavaid pilte oli reisi alguses nats raske teha. Madeira jõgi on üsna lai ja minu kaamera zoom hästi kaldani ei ulatu. Aegajalt paat satub kaldale lähemale ja siis klõpsin niisama puid, paate ja kaldakülasid. Enamus ajast pole aga midagi erilist näha. Öeldakse, et siin saab roosasid ja halle delfiine näha. Halli nägin...pildile ei saanud. Roosat pole veel näinud. Kolmandal päeval Amazonase jõele jõudes muutus ümbrus järsult - kaldal oli palju rohkem elu, inimesi ja huvitavat loodust. Pilte sai kahe jòe pealt kokku umbes 400... ma kardan, et mul võtab paar päeva aega, et need kõik üles saada.

Manausesse jõudis paat oodatust hiljem - esmaspäeva pärastlõuna asemel öösel kell 11. Sel ajal ei tahtnud enam minna seljakotiga linna peale seiklema ja öömaja otsima. Aga siin on paadiomanikel lahke tava lubada reisijatel ka peale reisi lõppu paadis ööbida. Meid jäi sadakonnast reisijast sinna paati umbes 30. Magasime nii enam-vähem, samal ajal kui töölised laadisid alumiselt tekild kartuleid, arbuuse ja tomateid veoautodesse (hommikul hulpis paadi ümber vees üks tosinkond arbuusi, mille töölised olid pillanud). Kella 6 paiku hommikul viskas padis istumine üle ja kui päike taevasse ilmus, siisjalutasin lähemasse noortehostelisse. Praegu on julm uni peal, pikemalt kirjutada ei kannata. Õhtupoole hakkan pilte netti panema ja siis kirjutan ehk veel.

Porto Velho albumisse Picasas panin kah pilte juure. Muuhulgas sellistest maailmaimedest nagu kilekotist joodav limonaad jne. :p

Dear members of the Gary Coleman fan club,

I have been back for about a week, and it took me about that long to write this.  If you get bored with all of the social commentary, skip to the last story.  As you read this next message, you might view my thoughts as more conservative.  Two of my friends are attempting to brainwash me away from my socialist perceptions of the world.  They have me reading this book, The Commanding Heights.  It’s all about the world and economic policies of different countries since WWII. Needless to say, I think that they are trying to turn me into a republican, and the elephant will show it’s head in the upcoming message.

As I said in the last e-mail, one of my favorite things about Brazil is the culture.  As you read in this email, you will realize that the country and the people have much stacked against them.  Despite this, they continue to live a very free lifestyle.  When things go wrong or do not work, they smile, shrug their shoulders, and say “that’s Brazil, pass the canchasa.”  I guess it is like working for the Chicago Public School system.  You go and you work hard in an attempt to do things the right way, and it always just blows up in your face in one way or another.  You just get used to it, shrug your shoulders and say, “that’s CPS, pass the beer.”  So I guess I work in a mini Brazil, where most have good intentions, and try, but when it just doesn’t work, you might as well laugh and have a good time with it.

I will miss the Brazilian neighborhoods.  Seeing these small streets with all the kids outside playing, and the parents hanging out on the stoop or at the corner café/bar reminded me of growing up on the coolest block this side the Mississippi: Mohawk Street.  Due to the fact that kids do not have a lot of room to play in their houses, and that they often can not afford Playstations or computers, Brazilian kids play in the street.  Toys are few and far between, so the kids must improvise.  Homemade kites, bottles attached to string become fishing poles, and any thing that is round and will roll becomes a soccer ball.  Kids are independent and running everywhere barefoot like my cousin Willie used to.  We used to create all of these toys and games in a place known as the “dirt lot,” and we were independent.  Look at kids now in the US.  Parents will not let their kids walk to school alone, but they will let them sit on the couch all day, watch sponge bob (what the fuck is that thing anyway?), play on their myspace, get them a cell phone at age 10, and feed them all the cheetos and McDonalds that they want.  Parents, you can learn something from Brazil, kick the kids off the couch and out of the house, make them become independent and exercise.  They have a patriotic duty to fulfill…this next generation must keep the lead on Australia and maintain our status as the 2^nd fattest country per capita on the planet!

The gigantic sand dunes of cumbuco, negotiations and deals in Portunol for planes (Portuguese + Spanish = Portunol) , trains, automobiles, and boats (It was often actually just a little more expensive to fly rather than taking a 24 hour bus), Jiu-Jitsu in Fortaleza, a half tank/half bus that cruised down the beaches at night to get to the magical dune town of Jericoacora, a big headache that took some of the magic out of Jericoacara, another dune buggy ride, acai,  a lake in the middle of the dunes, maybe quicksand, rice and beans, cervejas, some capoiera, a mototaxi, the desolate Amazon town of Belem (see Detroit), a cool Argentine named Julio, some cooler chicks from Belem, a good zoo with Amazon animals, including my favorite, the 3 toed sloth, lots of dirty laundry, canchasa, more  rice and beans, the island of Marajo (the size of Switzerland), a cool party in the center of the island, a swim in the Amazon, a ride on a water buffalo, a parasite on my leg from the water buffalo (eewwhh!!), and last but not least, I ate a water buffalo steak with water buffalo cheese (hopefully that was parasite free), 3 plane delays, 8 consecutive days sleepin in a hammock (it is actually quite comfortable), malaria pills, the romantic getaway of Alter do Chao, river dolphins, white sand beaches 400 miles up the Amazon, another mototaxi, brazil nuts,  and some rude French backpackers, a cool chick named Natally, cold nights in the hammock, good Brazilian bootlegged mixed martial arts DVDs, the arainha jungle lodge, A cool Irish couple, a cool Italian couple, I caught a red piranha, I made acai juice, I watched the wonders of the manioc tuber and the process of making farofa (Indian staple flour), lots of misquotes, coconuts, even more rice and beans, more capoiera, more cervejas, crocodile hunting (actually caiman hunting, but crocodile sounds cooler and more dangerous, we, er I should say the guide caught three of them), more misquotes, the Manuas opera house,  about 18 hours straight on planes, Venice Beach, Vega$ (I won $15, yippie!),the circus circus, a cheesy Hollywood part DJ’d by some tool named Nick Cannon, and last but not least, the world famous Roscoe’s chicken and waffle house.

I saw the  sunset into the Atlantic Ocean twice. So you need to think about it, the Atlantic is to the east of Brazil, and that is where the sun rises from.  So  how does geography permit it to set into the Atlantic? Kinda cool…

I am not impressed with the Brazilian educational system.  Kids only go to school for 3-4 hours a day.  Kids in big cities can drop out at anytime and become the illiterate trinket sellers or pickpockets of society.  At times it is difficult to accomplish little everyday things because a lot of the population did not eat their wheaties.  Let me give you some examples " I needed to buy a bus ticket from Rio de Janeiro to Cachoeira, Bahia.  Cachoeira is very close to Salvador, and a bus to Salvador took 27 hours.  As the worker searched on the computer, he found a ticket that would take me from Rio to Cachoeira in 5 hours.  I told him that it was impossible, and showed him the map.  He still tried to tell me that it was the correct ticket.   I briefly thought that perhaps Brazil had some super bus that travels at 300 miles an hour and is hidden deep in the rainforest.  It is powered by street kids running in gerbil cages in Rio.  Brazil hides this Superbus technology from the rest of the world and keeps it just to themselves.  I had to convince the ticket seller that there had to be another Cachoeira in another state that was appearing on his computer.  He still did not believe me (he really liked the superbus).  Finally, he finds the Cachoeira that I am looking for  - 23 hour bus ride.  I was able to find a plane ticket for about the same price.

I had to leave my hostel in Rio for a weekend.  The night watchman who had worked there for more than a year could not calculate $30 reals a day for 10 days.  He thought that I was trying to rip him off, and that I owed $500 reals. 

I would ask for the bill in Spanish “Cuenta.” In Portuguese it is “Conta.”  People thought that I was speaking Japanese.   Where is the common sense person - Look at the table, the food is all gone, I am signaling for the check with my hand.  I am saying basically the same word in Spanish….comprende guey…..ssshhhiiitttt!!!!  I needed to bite my tongue before exploding a la Larry David.  It takes a lot for me to do that, but I was close.

After encountering so many Brazilians with empty craniums, I felt even more proud of the outstanding educational system that I serve, the wonderful world of the Chicago Public Schools.  I will hereby declare Brazil as the dumbest country that I have ever been to.  Granted they do have a free university system, and I did meet many intelligent Brazilians, but there were far too many people that slipped through the cracks of the educational system.  By the way, that does not happen in Cuba, long live Communism J!  They are educated and no street kids.

I met a lot of people from United Kingdom on this trip.  I was shocked to discover that it is not a big deal if they do not carry a state ID card. The card that they do receive does not have a picture on it!  So if they get in trouble with the police, they can just lie and give their fiends name and address and the friend will receive the ticket. I told them what we do in the USA, and they claimed it might be a violation of our civil rights and privacy.  I told them that American citizens have this tendency to lie when we are in trouble with the police.  They could not understand my concern with national security.  Shit, they have a major terrorist attack every six months in England.  Idiots, but God Save the Queen.

My last night in Brazil…I had two choices in how I was going to say goodbye to this wonderful country.  I could go out with this girl Natally, that I met on the Amazon river boat and have her show me around Manuas.  Or I could go out with this crew I met at a jungle lodge to a crazy club with chicks taking their shirts off and such.  Two very good options, which one to choose?   I chose to go out with Natally.  I take some cab to some far away neighborhood, and she meets me out in front.  She kisses me and holds my hand as we enter a courtyard.  I see a Brazilian barbecue pit blazing, and I see about 12 people seated with some guy standing in the middle.  As we get closer, I start to decipher the speakers Portuguese….”the people try and get you to hang out in the club with them, away from your family so you can drink beer and socialize and the drugs…”  I start to look around at the people and I notice they all have a book…The Bible!   So here I am, thinking that I am going to have a nice night out with a chick, and I end up at a Brazilian bible study.  Next thing I know I am holding hands with everybody singing about Deus (Brazilian for God).  I even join in with the crowd where some lady is standing in the middle praying to God, and we all have to raise our right hands with our palms facing her so that she feels us our power or we feel her or something like that.  I even impress Natally with my biblical knowledge, as one of the readings that we were studying talked about Rei Davis.  I asked her if it was King David, and made a sling like gesture.  She must have thought, “wow, what a smart American, able to translate from the bible in a different language”J.  As service continues, I keep picturing my friends at the crazy club, dancing to house music, chicks with their shirts off, and then I look up and here I am again, sitting in this circle, holding hands with Natally, and then I gotta hold hands with this dude to pray!  Shit, how do I put myself into these situations?  Do other backpackers encounter the samething?  During the service I have to bite my lip to avoid chuckling because all that I can think about is writing this ending to my letter.  After the service/bible study/cult ritual, whatever you want to call it, we all start the traditional Brazilian asado barbecue.  That part was fun, as everybody was very friendly and we all cooked together.  A few hours later they dropped me off at my $10 a day hotel, and I said good be to Brazil as a young republican should, with a bible study.

Maybe the parasite that I got from the waterbuffalo is a republican…maybe it is taking me over…….but back to my socialist ways, Rage Against The Machine is playing at Alpine Valley on Friday, Aug. 24.  If anyone wants to go, let me know.  If you want to see pictures, you gotta visit me in Rogers Park.  Next year, who knows, may be Asia.

Peace and Hairgrease,

Tony

It actually started in Santarem and ended in Manuas - Highlight of trip.  Detailed in other Manuas blog.

After an almost 4 hours flight we arrived to Manaus. Why didn’t we take a direct flight to Caracas? Well, because we were looking for special hours. Anyway, I couldn’t complain about it. The flight might be long, but wasn’t bad at all. We flew with TAM, which is a good Brazilian airline. It was partially empty, so I had 3 sits just for my own. I’m a petit person, so I could fit there and sleep well, hehehe.

We arrived to Manaus around 1:55am. They are one our behind Rio. I had already forgotten, how many times I had to set my watch with the different times, hahaha. The airport is small, so going through customs and security was really easy. Of course all the shops and most of the cafeterias were closed because of the time. I just found a cafeteria where I had a cup of coffee – I wanted my last cup of Brazilian coffee before leaving the country. I was glad I found and bought a magnet from Manaus when I was in Rio. So at this time I shouldn’t worry for anything. Blair was jealous, because he didn’t think about getting a Manaus’ shot glass, hehehe.

While we were waiting I checked all the advertisement there. Mmm, this could be a very interesting place if you are looking for some adventure in the Amazonia. I guess I might be going back there for a longer staying ;)

Ok, it was almost 3am and we had to board our last international flight. Caracas was waiting for us…

Manaus is the "real" start of the Amazon, where its two major tributaries meet up and form one huge river. Most travellers come here to "do" the Amazon, and that´s why we were here. We arrived and were about to book a trip when Linds came down with a touch of the old favourite, Brazil bowels. We trooped off to the city hospital the next morning and after some fairly ridiculous charades, managed to explain to the Portuguese speaking doctor what the problem was. Linds was whisked off for blood tests, a saline drip and also told to "shi shi" in a bottle. After picking up the prescribed drugs, we returned to the hostel to relax for a few days and get over it. So we missed the classic Amazon 4 day tour which normally includes piranha fishing, anaconda and dolphin spotting etc... but no worries, something to leave on the "still to do" list and a good reason to come back to Brazil, which rapidly became our favourite country so far, dodgy bugs notwithstanding.

We did manage to go and see the "meeting of the waters" whilst we were in Manuas. The two tributaries carry water that are totally different colours - one is an opaque milky coffee colour and the other being "black" - looks like black tea. Becaise of differences in density and salinity the two tributaries run parrellel for about 2 km and don´t mix, something amazing to see - it looks like someone has coloured in the river with two different crayons!

Eventually we left Manaus and took a 2 hour flight into Belem to catch a monster 38 hour bus ride to Salvador. All this to travel about half way across and about a tenth of the way down Brazil... its a BIG country!

Ok, it seems that we are really going to leave today. We've just come back from hanging up our hammocks on the boat called the Itapuranga III. Here are my first impressions from the boat.

We finally got our official boat tickets this morning after handing over the rest of the money because we bought the tickets through a tour agency here (we made sure we checked their offices first). We then headed to the harbour and tried to get onto the quay but were told that with our tickets we couldn't because we hadn't bought them at the offical office but instead had to walk around. Some warning bells but let's try walking around still not quite sure why we couldn't walk onto the main quay. After a 10min walk around to the cargo entrance we found the guy who gave us our tickets and promised to put up our hammocks still punting tickets. He agreed to go with us on the boat and put up the hammocks. We then went down to a small dock and got onto a little lancha which ferried us across to the main boat where we then had to climb over the railing onto boat. All quite adventurous I tell you. I still don't quite understand the system but something about "federal", seems like we didn't pay taxes or something and hence got the tickets cheaper.

The boat itself looks ok. Still relatively empty and our hammocks look to be in a good space. Somehow having seen the boat makes me feel better about the trip. I'm sure it will be quite an adventure though!

Today we went to the Bosques da Ciencia (The Forrest of Science), a natural park in Manaus. It was pretty cool and we saw some caimans (alligators), monkeys, turtles and little rat, rabbit, rodent thingies called ??? .

Our bus was a bit delayed and at some point in the early morning became really full with people standing everywhere in the isles. This was only for a short stretch though and we had had reserved seats from the beginning and could carry on sleeping quite happily. We arrived at the bus terminal at about 11am, about 2 hours late and got a bit of a shock when the taxi quoted us R$25 (reals) to take us to the center of town but after clearing up some misconception of mine about how close to the center we were and haggling this price down to R$20 we were on our way. We found a room with aircon at the first hotel they took us to which we had picked out in the Lonely Planet anyway and were happy to settle for this, relax for a bit and then look around the town.

Manaus is extremely hot and humid with temperatures probably above 30 celsius for most of the day and near 100% humidity. After getting some money we went to look for the vegetarian restaurant Filosoficus that Nicole had picked out in the lonely planet. After walking past it twice we eventually managed to find it and had a very nice lunch there. Interestingly most food in Brazil seems to be sold by the kilo and this place was no exception; this means you dish up your food from a buffet and then take it to be weighed and receive a paper with the price. Afterwards we walked around some more and found the harbour without difficulty to find out about the boats to Tabatinga and Peru. We are in luck as there are two boats on Wednesday which is perfect for us as it leaves us Tuesday to explore more of Manaus and then we are quite happy to move on.

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