Hi
I hope all is well with you.
In two days I turn 28 and have come back to La Paz, Bolivia to celebrate with some friends there. I shall spend about a week in Bolivia before heading to the North of Argentina and then heading South towards Patagonia. However, this email details the month and a half I spent travelling around Brazil ... so I shall not divulge.
I arrived in Manaus, Brazil on 14/8/05 which is smack bang in the middle of the Amazon and one of the furtherst Northern points in Brazil. Travelling from a very chilly La Paz many 1000´s of mtrs high to the rather sweltering, humid climate of Manaus took a while to get used to (so did the Portugese language). However, on the second day I booked myself on a three day jungle tour that unlike other tours was located on one of the Northern tributaries of the Amazon ... which meant isolation, tranquility and going back to basics. After a 3hr bus ride and a one hour boat ride I arrived (along with 2 Italian lads both named Andrea) at the camp. The camp was simplicity itself with the sole use of hammocks as your bed (thankfully mosquitoes were scarce due to the acidity of the water), a large hole in the ground for private business and a table with buckets of water where you could wash (rather unnervingly they also washed the meat there aswell). After our short tour of the camp we jumped onto a canoe and rowed out to a quiet part of the river and went for a refreshing dip and then told that we had to go catch our dinner ... pirhana (thankfully I was told this after I had gone for a swim in the same place we were to fish). We were supplied with a line, weight and hook along with large chunks of meat and were told to tug HARD after the second bite. After the space of an hour our guide had caught around 20 of these brutes, my companions at least one each and my turn came just before we took the decision to return to camp. Pirhana itself is a rather tasty fish and catching and cooking the creature yourself added to its flavour. Unfortuantely pirhana tend to be a smallish fish with numerous bones thus eating them can be a frustrating task. After satsifying our hunger we jumped back onto the canoe at midnight and went to hunt alligators by torch light. These creatures were by no means plentiful in our tributary and it took a good hours silent rowing and shining our torches onto the banks of the Amazon before a pair of ruby red eyes refelected back. Our guide skillfully rowed up to the alligator and quick as a flash threw his hands into the waters and pulled out a 3ft caman. Some what to my alarm he then tunred round and asked me to hold it whilst he pulled away! I gingerly held it by the neck and it was suprisingly not as slimy as I thought. The creature stayed perfeclty still for a moment as if posing for a picture but then began to struggle viciously and I panicked and threw it overboard. We then headed back to camp guided by the light of the full moon. The following day we went for a trek through the Amazon rain forest but no wildlife was forthcoming due to the density of the trees and foilage. However the guide did point out various interesting fauna that had different effects including sap that burned like wax, mint tasting bark and a vine, which when cut, would supply fresh water. We spent the rest of the day pirhana fishing and dolphin watching whilst the sun set on the tranquil, mirrored water. The night was not spent at camp but at a isolated beach. We watched the bright stars, grilled our pirhana and listened to the noises of the jungle (including Pumas). In the morning we got up whilst the sun rose majestically over the waters. Back at camp we were taught how to make a blow pipe and darts and various pieces of jewlerry and later I was picked up and taken back to the city of Manaus. By far and away this adventure made the Brazilian trip and it will certainly stay in my memory for a good few years. Apologies if I have rambled on but this was certainly different to anything I have ever done before.
Anyway from Manaus I got a flight to the city of Recife, a grimy, rainy, industrial city for which I only stayed a day before heading to the more comfortable surroundings of Natal. Natal would have been a very pleasant beach town had it not been constantly raining. However one day when it had cleared up slightly I went on a sand buggy excursion. Along with two Brazilians and our guide we sped along miles of beautiful beaches. These sand buggys are marvellous creations and everytime we were launched over a 70ft sand dune the thing managed to stay on four wheels. A rather scary sandy rollercoaster. During that day I also went on a ´death slidé´ that landed in the coldest lake ever and sand boarding. You couldn`t get any simpler, sit on a board of wood, fly down a 90 degree hill and land in a lake ... probably one of the scariest rides I have ever experienced.
Following Natal I headed to the picturesque town of Praia de Pippa for some sunshine. Unfortunately it was raining here aswell but the scenery was pretty spectacular. Perched above three gorgeous white sand beaches and crystal clear waters with frollicking dolhins this place would have been ideal had it not been for a number of occcurances ... I broke my sunglasses, my watch suddenly died on me, I lost my UK to Brazil electrical adapter (which I can tell you was impossible to replace) and found out that due to the over development of this town the prices were astronomically high.
I only spent a couple of days in Pippa before I continued my Southward journey to the capital of the Bahia regio, Joa Pessoa. Conflicting with reviews in various travel books I actually enjoyed Joa Pessoa. Yes, it was a large city with high rises but I found the atmosphere more tranquil and laid back. One memorable night was when I hired a guide who took me to see a true life Guiness world record holder. Every single day over the past five years this man had been going on to a canoe and with saxophone in hand played the same song (which I cannot remember) whilst the sun set over some dramatic scenery. Interesting bloke, he looked like a rather fat ewok with dreadlocks. Unfortunatelty whilst taking his photo my camera mysteriously broke and it was not until Salvador that I could get it fixed.
From Joa Pessoa I flew to the city of Salvador. Throughout my travels so far this has to be the sketchiest city. Once in Salavador I was constantly accosted by beggars and bored people wanting money or trying to sell cocaine. Probbly my fault for staying in the historic centre. However, unlike the other towns of Brazil Salvador had the most magnificent colonial buildings and narrow cobble stoned steets ... unfortunatly one could not take many photos through fear that your camera would get stolen. I only spent a couple of days in Salvador as I was uncomfortable by the underlying menace that pervaded the city. One good example was when a friendly fellow (they often initially appear so) greeted me with an open hand. Halfway through shaking his hand he said the word ´present´ and I felt a package of cling film wrapped cocaine enter my fist. Before I was able to argue two rather large policemen strolled around the corner and straight for me and the guy. The first thing that came into my mind was ´sting´, they knew about this exchange and would throw me into a grotty Brazilan jail. With my heart trying to escpae from the enclosure of the rib cage I continued walking with the drugs in my hand past the police. After they went by and we had walked around the corner, fear led to anger and I approached the guy and threatened to throw the cocaine into the street, so he pounced up, grabbed his package and ran off!
During my stay in Salvador I was told about an island, Morro de Sao Paolo, that was meant to be a haven away from this city. So, the next day after a 2 hour boat ride I arrived on this island ... and what a good decision that turned out to be. The island was almost an idyllic paradise with four great beaches surrounded by palm trees and a large red mountain that rose into the distance. I spent a week on the island soaking up the sun, diving for shells (of which I found many and have been sent home) and drinking dangerously potent cocktails. Also by good fortune I found an electrical adapter that some English guy had left in his room and thus was able to charge up my mp3 player and phone.
After reluctantly leaving the surroundings of Morro de Sao Paolo I got a boat to Valenca from where I took a ´torturous´ overnight bus to Arrial Dájuda. Arrial Dájuda was another great beach fronted town that had endless lengths of pristine white sand. I particularly liked the apartment I rented that had its own kitchen (so I could cook some noodles), lounge area and porch. From Arrial Dŕjuda I took a number of excursions to different places including the rustic beach town of Transcoso and the more developed town of Puerto Seguro. It also has to be documented that the most attractive women I have ever encountered were found around this area of Bahia ... a visual treat for the eyes. That particular Brazilian myth is certainly true.
By this time it was 17/9 and so more headway had to be made so I hopped onto a flight to Rio de Janiro. After a recommendation from a fellow in Morro de Sao Paolo I headed to Ace Hostel in Botafago (a suburb North of Copacaban). A good recommendation it was too for I had come at the weekend and many parties were being organised by the hostel. Even though I had very little sleep from the morning flight I ended up back in the hostel at 6.30am after drinking and dancing in the Lapa neighbourhood (I do have photos but they seem to take forever to upload). The next night was spent listening to DJ Scooby Doo! spin tunes at a club in the centre. After clubbing it the previous night I spent a day at a football match, Botafago (club from Rio) Vs a rather hopeless team. The atmosphere of a Rio footie match, especially after the home side scored certainly beats that of any UK club. The fans constantly jump up and down shaking the dodgy scaffold stand, waving gargantuam flags and lighting flares. Our team won 3-1. The next day I moved to Ipanema beach where I got a taki up to the Sugarloaf mountain and the large statue of Christ. The panaramics from these two attractions were magnificent but unfortunately the weather tended to be overcast and grey which I am sure will rather dilute the photos. The next day I jumped onto a tour of Rio´s infamous favellas - literally slums located on the mountains of Rio where those too poor to live in the city live instead. At first I was worried about the danger of these areas (having seen ´City of God´) but was suprised to learn that crime is not allowed in the favella, a law introduced by drug barons, for crime brings police and the last thing any drug lord needs is police knocking on the door. It was certainly an interesting day and allowed me to view the other side of Brazilian life.
From Rio I flew to Foz de Igucua which is home to ´arguably´ the worlds most beautiful waterfall. In the morning I first went to see the falls from the Brazilian side which gave a spectacular panoramic. I then made my way to Argentina and checked out the falls from this side which allows for a more close up inspection. In fact I jumped into a speed boat and was absolutely drenched to the bone when it went almost underneath one of the largest waterfalls. Forget Maids of the mist (Niagra) this trip was 100 times better.
I left Foz after three days and landed at Sao Paolos airports. Sao Paolo is a city like no other. It is HUGE and with over 17 million people is the third largest in the world ... a sprawling mass of favellas, high rises and parks. This was also the weekend of the Forumla One Grand Prix which I would like to have gone to had it not been booked out. Instead I spent a day looking at various markets and then (after one cancelled flight) headed to La Paz, Bolivia.
All in all the Brazilian experience was fantastic and the range of different locations and back drops, from pristine jungle to sprawling cities, treated me to diversity I had not expected. A highly recommended country to visit.
Laters,
James