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This is Brett and Gisy reporting for the final time from Brasil.
So last time we left you was ages ago in Sao Luis.
What a journey since.
We arrived in Belem at the mouth of the Amazon full of anticipation.
Belem, Para - is the culinary heart of North Brasil and did not fail to disappoint. Home to the most famous food market in Brasil and arguably in South America called the Mercado-Ver-o-Peso. We indulged in freshly cooked Amazonian fish, drank unusual but delicious Amazonian fruit juice, snacked on freshly cracked Brasil Nuts, even sampled Amazonian herbal medicines and last of all sat and had a beer as the sun set over the mighty river.
Ilha de Marajo, Para - 3hrs by ferry to an island the size of Switzerland sitting inside the mouth of the Amazon was our next destination. We stayed in a little village called 'Joanes' which was the smallest of 3 villages on the Southeast of the island with a beautiful Amazon beach. We decided to hire bikes and ride 13km's to the next village, as we have figured out Brasilians have no concept of time and distance and a friendly girl told us it would take 7hrs. Well it didn't. As expected it took just about an hour. As always when we hire bikes it decided to rain, we also got chased by dogs and the bikes tires were pretty much flat. Nothing too out of the ordinary really.
So we arrived in Salvaterra (after an hour) and this Brasilian man at the cafe took a liking to us and wouldn't settle until we went to his house so he could give us presents. Better judgement told us that this was a bit odd but he was friendly enough and we made sure we had an escape route the whole time. Turns out he just wanted to give us (rather force us to take) 2 mugs and 2 glasses with the emblem of the football team he supports printed in them. This followed by hugs, kisses on the cheek and thanking god we made the hour cycle back to Joanes. Again in the rain!
Ilha de Marajo is also home to countless buffalo and is famous for its buffalo cheese. We discovered banana and buffalo cheese in a french style roll. Delicious.
Algadoal, Para - so we got a bus out of Belem out of the Amazon to a town called Maruda and then caught a small boat to Algadoal. An absolutely beautiful island off the north coast of Brasil. The only way to get around is by horse, boat or foot. With sand streets, sweeping views and huge expanses of sand the key to a week there was sun, sand, sea and Acai! The only stressful decision you have to make in Algadoal is what time do you want to go to/from the beach and what do you want to eat? Tough life.
Ok so you're probably wondering when we go to the Amazon proper. Well. Now.
The only mode of transport up river in to the jungle, its towns and villages is by plane ($$$) or by boat. So we decided boat. This involves stringing your hammock up next to 7 million other Brasilians with absolutely no personal space and spending 2-14 days on the river depending on your destination. However, the scenery, the sun setting over the river while river dolphins play and the friendly waves of people living in the middle of nowhere on the side of the river made this trip truly unique.
We were breaking up a 5 day boat trip to Manaus in Monte Alegre followed by Alter do Chao.
Monte Alegre, Para - of the few tourists on the boat we were the only ones to get off here. Much to the surprise of the locals getting off as well. Ominous? Regardless we had our reasons. Monte Alegre is the only piece of high land in the Amazon region. With spectacular views over the river and jungle as well as recently discovered indigenous art on rocky out crops in the forest Monte Alegre was an amazing day trip.
Except that that night Brett was a bit ill and decided to not make it to the bathroom and projectile vomit all over the floor and the bed. Poor Giselle was on her hands and knees cleaning it up as Brett was laying there like a helpless animal. Good times.
Alter do Chao, Para - a morning boat took us to Santarem, which we swiftly exited to Alter do Chao. A piece of the Caribbean in the Amazon.
After settling into to a brand new pousada in town we made friends with the owners and began our quest for the perfect jungle experience. We waited in anticipation with a pair of charming french men to chat to a local guide from one of the nearby rural villages. The man known as "Bata" approached wearing a crocodile dundee hat and animal tooth hanging from his neck, with his only advertising material being a laminated photo of himself holding a cayman and we were instantly hooked!
Bata, the 51 year old local, lives in a small village (of about 103 people) called Jamaraqua in amongst the primary protected rain forest "Floresta de Tapajos" or FLONA, 3 hrs along the river from Alter do Chao, with his wife and family of 14 children! (Ages from 1 year old to 30 years old). His resume includes 6 years spent living alone in the heart of the jungle when he was 20 years old and hence a ridiculous knowledge of the forest that is literally his backyard.
So, clearly we were going to go with this guy, right? Uh-huh!
We embarked upon a 6 day adventure into the jungle proper, complete with: sleeping under an open air thatched roof in hammocks, eating home cooked food, canoeing through and swimming in a 'flooded forest', nighttime cayman hunting, Sumauma searching (like a really really massive tree native to the Amazon - you know the big one from Avatar?), tarantula/monkey/sloth/cobra watching, and jungle trekking.
And that was just the first three days.
The second 3 days included:
Bush bashing without a track to locate our own camp spot, gathering large ferns and creating our own shelter, swimming in a natural igarape (small creek), slinging our hammocks up between the trees (while praying it doesn't rain which would mean a sleepless night huddled under the shelter with our 5 other friends on the trip), making a fire to cook our freshly hunted agouti (large "rodent" from the guinea pig family, sounds small but it fed 7, brains and all. Nothing goes to waste in the Amazon), boiled bark from a local tree to make tea (tasted a lot like clove, yum!), observed our dear Bata while he skinned, gutted, salted and smoked our dinner, and really the list goes on...including waking up to the growl of a jaguar which was only a stones throw away. Quite a unique alarm. Brett turned 25 somewhere in the middle of that and was still spoilt with a surprise party, cake and was sung happy birthday in 3 different languages.
Post our jungle fix we went back to Alter do Chao and recharged the batteries on the river beach town before the next 2.5 days of boat travel to Manaus. Was a repeat of the first boat. Many Brasilians in many hammocks and many wonderful riverscapes.
Manaus, Amazonas - apart from being the largest city in the Amazon region and therefore a huge transport hub, Manaus provided us with more culinary delights (Acai, Bolo de Leite, Caldeirada de Peixe and more Tapioca with ) and we completed our Brasilian chapter with an all-you-can-eat meat fest for the crazy price of AU$17(a very Brasilian dinner)! A few days chilled out eating and watching the Olympics and we departed Brasil! Sort of........we flew from Manaus to Tabatinga which is on the triple frontier of Brasil, Colombia and Peru. So we walked from Brasil in to Colombia and arrived in to an area isolated from everywhere.
Leticia, Colombia. As soon as you walk the border there is an extremely sudden change in everything. Language, food, people, music etc etc. There is no such thing as a fusion of culture. We were in Colombia. Salsa music, old men sitting in old cafe's sipping tintos (short blacks) and typical Colombian patriotism. Everything is painted blue, yellow and red!
Our Amazon experience was wrapping up but not quite.
We spent a day swinging from 35m trees in the jungle. And then Giselle spent a night with the toilet bowl (But Brett remains in the lead on the food poisoning talley surprisingly). This was followed by a 60km trip up river to an isolated town called Puerto Narino.
There we stayed with a family, marvelled at the infamous Pink Dolphins of the Amazon, went Piranha fishing (successfully, and followed by eating our catch. Who eats who now Piranhas?), trekked to a local community and generally lazed around with the locals and the brightly coloured Macaws and Parrots. We should mention that while we did successfully catch our own fish, one fish did actually jump on to our boat itself. No rod required sometimes.
Brett's highlight: having a spike in testosterone and wading in to the Amazonian lake in the dark with Bata to hunt for Caymans. Neck deep in the dark in a lake full of Alligators the adrenaline wore thinner and I started to shit myself! Luckily I was with the jungle guru Bata who told me I was the first tourist (idiot) to go in with him.
Giselle's highlight: obviously there were many the past few weeks, one of the most recent was catching a piranha, getting so excited that I ripped the rod out of the water, only to have the piranha let go of the bait, go flying into the air, over the top of the boat and back into the water on the other side of the boat, doh!
Next stop North Colombia.
