Manaus and Brasilia

From the jungle we headed back to Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas. The city, founded in 1669, is in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and the only way to access the city is mainly by boat or plane.

During the late 1800s, rubber export made Manaus the richest city in South America, earning it the nickname, the "Paris of the Tropics". Many wealthy European families settled here and brought with them their love of  European art, architecture and culture.

From Manaus we flew to the capital, Brasilia. The city is a planned capital, like Canberra, and was founded in April 1960, moving the capital from Rio de Janeiro. The city's design divides it into a number of sectors, i.e. the Hotel sector, the Banking sector and the Embassy sector. Due to its modernist architecture and artistic urban planning, Brasilia was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was built in 41 months.  Oscar Niemeyer was the chief architect of most of the public buildings

 The view from the balcony of our hotel room

The JK Bridge, named after former president Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, crosses Lake Paranoa and was constructed in 2002.  It consists of three 20m (200ft) tall asymmetrical steel arches. It is 1.2km (0.75 miles) long and cost US$56.8m

On Sunday we walked to the huge city park and found there was a drumming festival taking place. It could be heard for miles around, including the other side of the lake.

Tonight we take the overnight bus to Rio (only 17 hours). Let's get this party started...

The Amazon

and not a book in sight :-)

We started our trip on Sunday when our driver picked us up from the airport and took us to the port. We boarded a small boat, along with a number of locals that, as it turned out, worked at the lodge we were staying in. As we crossed the river, we came to the 'meeting of the waters' where the dark Rio Negro and the pale Amazon River (also known as Rio Solimoes) run side by side without mixing. The two rivers run at different speeds and temperatures and we could feel this when we put our hands in the water. Mark hit the nail on the head when he said they look like olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

When we got to the other side an old, dilapidated  VW kombi van was waiting for all of us and we set off on the next leg of our journey. After about half an hour we left the tarmac behind and continued on a dirt road until we came to another river. Bags were unloaded and we were left on a small landing wondering what was going to happen next. Some of the people that were in our van had taken smaller boats and left. Half an hour later, one of the guys that had been tinkering with an even smaller boat pulled up at the dock and people started to get in. When he put our luggage in too, we figured it was our ride and after an unstable moment (on my part as I got into the boat) we set off in search of our lodge.

Twenty minutes later we docked at the steps up to the lodge, found our cabin, had a quick bite to eat before heading out with others that had arrived earlier in the day. Back on the river we went in search of pink river dolphins and other wildlife before having a swim in the cool water.  

(photo courtesy of animalspot.net as I wasn't quick enough with my camera)

On Monday morning we went on a 3 hour hike through the jungle. Our guide showed us the plants local people use for food, water and various ailments and even ants that are a natural insect repellent.

It was so hot and humid we felt like a couple of grease spots so when we returned we went for a swim in the river from our dock. It felt so nice and refreshing.

In the afternoon we went out on the river again looking high in the trees for sloths (which we found) and other wildlife, especially birds. The small boat was able to navigate through the floating grass and flooded trees and it was very tranquil.

We could see the water marks on some of the trees that show the river rises another 3 metres over the next few months during the rainy season. 

Our guide tied the boat to a tree and we did a bit of piranha fishing, using a stick and fishing line with a steel trace that the hook was tied to. Once we saw the serrated teeth up close, we understood why this was needed. I caught five fish but two of them were under size so got thrown back for another day. Mark was taking one of my fish off the hook when its teeth caught his finger (see Mark's blog) causing the puncture wound to bleed quite profusely.  

The fish we all caught were cooked for lunch the following day. There wasn't much too them but at least we can say we ate the piranhas we caught.

That evening we went out caiman and sloth spotting. Our guide caught a small one in the shallows so we could all see it up close and hold it too.

Tuesday morning we went to visit a local house and see how they live and farm the land. We all seemed far more interested in the local wildlife than the produce

 a large caiman and a very poisonous spider

That afternoon another group arrived and the rest of our group went off into the jungle to spend the night. We had decided that we were going to stay in the lodge as sleeping in a hammock in the rain really didn't appeal, especially as we had a comfortable bed and en-suite bathroom at the lodge. As our guide had gone with the rest of our group, the pair of us went out on the river in a separate boat and saw lots of pink dolphins playing in the river.

That evening was spent socialising with the newbies in the bar. Mr Toucano (the owner of the bar) made a wicked caipirinha which I'm pretty sure was two thirds cachaca (sugar cane spirit/Brazilian rum) one third lime juice and ice. I think we were his best customers as it was really relaxing to spend time down on the deck looking out at the river (when we didn't have any planned activity) and watching the bats swoop in for the insects at dusk. 

On Wednesday morning our group arrived back at the lodge from their overnight in the jungle and Mark went with them on another hike. I decided to stay behind thanks to an upset stomach from the anti-malaria tablets (nothing to do with the caipirinhas the night before). As they got back into the boat to come back to the lodge (only two minutes away around the cove), the heavens opened and it pelted down. If they had swum back they wouldn't have got any wetter.

After lunch it was time to head back to Manaus. Two beat up old kombi vans waited for us (both tourists and locals) when we got off the first boat. Only this time due to the heavy rain, the dirt road was all churned up with deep mud and we rounded a bend to find the first van bogged down. Our driver got out and went into the first van and got it out without too much trouble. It was obvious that she had many years of experience with these conditions. There were a few sideways skids on the way back to the tarmac but she was in total control all the way. Back to the second boat for the next leg to Manaus which was fairly uneventful, even though we were packed in like sardines and the boat seemed quite low in the water, it all added to the experience.

We really enjoyed our time in the Amazon. The sheer size of the rivers, the expanse and the tranquillity all added to the adventure.

Third world problems

We are back from the Amazon, but not unscathed - I have piranha punctures on my ring pull finger. Oh the humanity - surviving on tinned beer....

Northern Brazil - Salvador to Fortaleza

We have spent the last 10 days slowly making our way up the coast by bus - about 30 hours and 1,700 kilometres in total.

Aracuja was a bit stormy when we arrived

Maceio was much nicer

Recife, founded in 1537, was much more interesting. There are many rivers, bridges, islets and peninsulas and it's often referred to as "The Venice of Brazil". We went on a catamaran cruise along the main river and finished at Recife Antigo, the historic old town centre.

In the afternoon we saw a few of the pre-carnival bands and groups playing, so we decided to stay in the old town for the evening and enjoy the entertainment

From Recife we headed to Natal for a few days then to Fortaleza. Here is the view from our apartment.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Manaus, about 4,000km inland, for our Amazon jungle trip. Four days of exploring, no electricity, phone signal or internet. We are expecting to be eaten alive by bugs. I've got lots of bug spray and anti-malarials and we've had our vaccinations so see you on the other side...