Having planned to spend 4 or 5 weeks in Venezuela and eventually spending 9, the urge to move on to a new country has been getting stronger and stronger. So now at last i’ve crossed an international border and I find myself in Brasil. Glad to say that nobody even asked to see my Arrival/Departure card on leaving Venezuela, so no problem with extending my visit there :-)

I’ve covered a lot of ground in the last couple of days with over 16 hours bus travel from Santa Elena across the border to Boa Vista and onwards to Manaus (where I arrived at 7am this morning). I was at least prepared for the ‘ice box’ conditions that you find on all the night buses here (Two fleeces required!) What I wasn’t prepared for was the ‘rally driver’ behind the wheel (of a 42 seater bus). Slipping and sliding, swerving all over the road. Extreme braking that sent the whole bus into a high speed snaking motion and i’d swear he got two wheel of the ground at one point! So, I Didn’t get much sleep on the journey to Manaus!

However, we did (currently travelling with a Japanese guy – Yoshi) find a decent hotel with a superb buffet breakfast included. The big plus was that the nice lady at reception allowed us to have breakfast this morning AND tomorrow even though we are only staying 1 night. We made it to the buffet breakfast 20 minutes before it was due to finish today and so it became something of a speed contest to get as many courses in during 20 minutes (quite successful i’d say). Should be a bit more leisurely tomorrow!

Not wanting to hang around too much, I have already arranged a 4 day trip out into the Amazon. I leave tomorrow at 7:30am. I’ll report back in 4 or 5 days.

Posted by Russ Jones at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I survived the last few days in the Jungle, although can't say unscathed! Those damn Mosquitos!! Anyway i've posted a few pics from the jungle. Enjoy...

AMAZON PHOTOS

Posted by Russ Jones at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Well, its been a while since i've written anything in the Travel Journal but as they say 'a picture is worth a thousand words' and I figured the Amazon pics just about covered that quite nicely. If you've not seen them yet have a look at the Brasil Photo Gallery

Suffice to say that it was VERY humid, uncomfortable, hardwork at times and mosquito heaven, but most importantly it was GREAT FUN! The itching from the 1000 mosquito bites has stopped and I don't seem to be suffering with anything untoward, so all is well.

There are not many options to leave manaus if you are heading for the coast, as there are no roads, you either catch a boat or fly. Although the initial idea of travelling down the Amazon to Belem sounds like a good one, the reality didn't hold so much appeal. The boat trip takes 4 days, the weather had not been great so the idea of sitting in a Hammock for 4 days on the open deck and having to keep a very close eye on my stuff quickly lost its appeal. Anyway heading east from Manaus the Amazon is 15km wide in places narrowing to 1km in some areas, so not very much to see except lots of water and the occasional passing boat. I'm certainly not adverse to long rough trips, but there has to be some 'upside' - as I couldn't see one on this leg of the trip, I bought a plane ticket and 2 hours later saw me in Belem.

Theres not too much to talk about for many of the coastal cities that i've passed through so far (Have a look at the Route Map for details). Pleasant enough (a chance to catch upon laundry and email!) but nothing to 'write home about'. Typical decaying colonia architecture and run down ports. A couple of exceptions so far would be Lencois Maranhences National Park (Vast desert interspersed with large fresh water pools) and Jericoacoara (Wind/Kite Surfing capital of Brasil). I'll write more on these another time and hopefully upload a few pictures.

Heres a couple of Lencoise Maranhences pictures courtesy of NASA:

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've already posted a full set of pictures in the gallery which cover both Lencoise Maranhenses and Jericoacoara, but thought i'd throw in a bit of narrative - because I have some time :-)

The Dunes

Laguna Azul

It was the 'dry' season when I was there and the water level was a little low. Just in case anyone is heading this way - the best season to see the National Park is in July.

As memorable as the dunes themselves were, the 45 minute ride to get out there is also pretty 'special'. The form of transport was an old Toyota 4x4 truck with a number of seats welded onto the open back (under a canopy). Obviously the terrain was rough but it was the speed and aggression with which the driver (who seemed to be having a lot of fun) 'negotiated' the route. I think he was possibly a relation of the guy who drove the overnight bus from Boa Vista to Manaus - Pedro & Jose McRae ?!

At least the vehicle managed to get us out there, although it didn't survive the return journey as we (Mr McRae!) broke the drive shaft! Stranded in the desert! Fortunately it wasn't too long before another Toyota came by and although he couldn't fit us in, he promised to come back for us - which i'm very glad to say he did :-)

Jericoacoara, is a different place altogether. Touted as a "small fishing village" although I very much doubt that any fisherman still live there now. It is without doubt a tourist town/holiday resort. Internet Cafes, Restaurants, Tour Operators, Windsurfing/Kite Surfing Lessons, Dune Buggy Tours, soooo many Guest Houses.

The Buggy

The nightly routine for the whole town was to meet on top of the large sandune that loomed next to the village and watch the sun go down, after that its off to the bars to begin the long night ahead of Caipirinhas and Capetas.

Although I didn't try, I must admit I was very impressed with the Kite Surfing. I'm sure it looks a lot easier than it is (and it didn't look particularly easy!)

Working Hard

Taking It Easy

Posted by Russ Jones at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Its now day 4 (I think) in Rio and it really has been quite some time since i've posted anything to the site. I had been waiting for a quiet, hangover-free day to sit down and do some writing. However, I now realise that this day will not come, so its time for another entry.

Rio!

It has certainly been a pretty tough few days seen through a haze of Caipirinha. Street Party follows Beach Party follows Drum Procession... and the loop goes on. The best party day so far for me was Saturday/Sunday. Started as a night street party in Lapa leaving there at around 6am heading a few blocks across town to find a Bloco Street Procession dancing through the narrowest of streets in clouds of confetti, everyone in the most bizzare costumes, to a main square where a number of Blocos where converging for another party which was just starting at 8am and so it goes on! Quite a surreal experience! By 11am I simply had to get give up and go to bed (at least for a couple of hours :-))

Spooky!

Tonight i'm heading to the BIG show piece of the Rio Carnaval - The Sambodromo. Tonights Parade has been sold out for some time but I managed to get a ticket from a tout for an inflated price. Still its another 'must' for being in Rio. I'll let you know how it all works out. Not sure if i'm going to take my camera or not.

Still a few tourist sites to fit in between the parties and quality hangover time. I have been to visit J.C up on the hill, but unfortunately he was having quite a cloudy day. Although I think the clouds did add a little to the experience as he mysteriously appeared 'floating' out of the clouds (revealing himself in mysterious ways!). Still on the cards is Sugarloaf Mountain and a football game at Maracana Stadium (I believe they have a game against Venezuela on Wednesday.) I have to admit to not being much of a football fan, but its supposed to be an 'electric' atmosphere at Maracana. Its has an all seated capacity of 95,000!

Moments of Clarity

I`m probably going to leave Rio on the 22nd February and I was originally going to head straight from Rio to Argentina, but I think a few days post-carnaval chill (read `recovery/Caipirinha Rehab`) somewhere could be a very good idea! The small town of Paraty comes highly recommended for such occasions. I am starting to get a little `beached out` so the inland route into Argentina via Iguacu Falls will be a welcome change of scene.

Posted by Russ Jones at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well it was a 'tough' week and I must admit that I am now officially 'all partied out', but the Rio Carnaval will always be a very fond memory (with some rather grey blurry bits :-))

I had high expectations of the parade at the Sambodromo (the most famous of the Carnavals MANY events) and i'm very happy to say that they were exceeded. The Monday show started at 9pm and went on until 6:30 am and that was just 1 of the 4 days featuring only 7 of the many Samba schools. Each Samba school was quite literally a cast of THOUSANDS!. I can't begin to describe the size and complexity of the mechanised floats, but I took stacks of photos and quite a few little videos clips so as soon as I decide on the best way to embed the video, i'll post some up on the site.

Outside of the big Sambadromo event there are parties and street parades (blocos) all over the city. Almost every night the celebrations were finishing around 6:00 - 7:00am (for me that is) and you could always find something else to go on to. I'm glad its only a week long as I couldn't physically manage any more :-)

Sunset Over Rio

I managed to squeeze in a few of the other famous sites including a visit to Sugarloaf Mountain which affords stunning views over the city and the statue of Christ. Also, a visit to the Maracana Football Stadium to watch the local favorite Flamengo versus the Venezuelan team of Maracaibo. Much to my relief, Flamengo won 3-1. The game was reasonable enough (not that I know anything about football), but more dramatic was the home crowd. Large Brasilian drum bands played throughout the game, there seemed to be 2 complete sections dedicated to flag wavers and I'd say some competition for who has the largest flag! Smoke bombs, flares and full grandstand sized banners were dragged out for post goal celebration.

The downside of the game was that I got my pocketpicked. When I returned to my seat after half time, the rear zip pocket was undone and the lining hanging fully outside! The good news was that the pocket they chose was an empty one, the other rear pocket had some cash in it - lucky me!

So, I have now left Rio and made my way 4 hours south to the small peaceful town of Paraty. Basically a place to rest and recover, get rid of the 'party-lag' and transform from nocturnal party person back into regular backpacker.

Its been a very restful 3 days in Paraty and tomorrow i'll be back on the road again. Its a LONG bus marathon that lies ahead: 6 hours to Sao Paulo, 3 hours in the bus station and then another 18-20 hours onwards to Foz do Iguacu (Spectacular Water Falls on the Brasil/Argentine Border). So, by Tuesday I should be in Argentina.

Posted by Russ Jones at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A couple of people have asked what Caipirinha is. The true answer is .... "its potentially lethal", but it is THE national drink of Brasil, so here´s what you do....

Ingredients:

2 oz. (or more, MUCH more) of Cachaca (Brazilian Sugar Cane Brandy)
1 Lime
1 tsp. Sugar

Use a rocks or old-fashioned glass. Cut the lime into 8 wedges and put in the glass. Add sugar. Mash the lime and sugar together until they are well mixed. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add Cachaca. Stir. Garnish with a lime squeeze.

Hope that helps. If you can´t find Cachaca, then you can do the same with Vodka to make a Caipiroska. Enjoy :-)

Posted by Russ Jones at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

OK. I've had a busy day on the Internet today uploading lots of pics. The gallery for Brasil is now complete (as i've moved on into Argentina). Some stuff from Rio and Iguacu falls to finish it off.

And, i've posted a seperate gallery just for Rio Carnaval pictures. I've just worked out how i´m going to embed a couple of video clips so they should be up here soon. Not too much bandwidth from Internet Cafes!

So, the links are....

COMPLETE BRASIL GALLERY

RIO CARNAVAL 2007

Hope you enjoy.
Russ.

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As it turned out the bus journey to the border wasn't quite as bad as expected. It was still 6 hours from Paraty to Sao Paulo with another 3 hours wait there, but the bus from Sao Paulo to the border was just about the 'plushest' bus i've seen yet. Two seats on on side of the isle and only one on the other - so I had a true single seat. The seats were almost twice the size of normal seats and super padded. So in short a comfy ride. And, whats more we made it to the border in only 15 hours rather than the 18 expected.

Me At Iguacu Falls

Anyway, not wanting to sound like some strange "bus fanatic" but its amazing how such small things can mean so much when you've been away a while.

The reason for heading inland via this route was to visit Iguacu falls. I must admit that I have seen LOTS of falls on my travels, but it must be said that these really are worth the effort.

The falls can be viewed from both the Brasilian side and the Argentinian side. From Brasil you are just a little further away from the falls, but this does given a better overall panoramic view. In Argentina its "up close and personal" and almost a guarantee to end up soaked.

Gargantua Diablo: "Devils Throat"

Rather than stop at the Brasilian falls on the way through (after a long night bus) I decided to head straight through to Argentina and come back to the Brasilian side as a day trip. And as everyone had told me, they are truely spectacular.

I've already posted pictures from the Brasilian side into the Brasilian gallery and i'll do the same for Argentina soon. The next hop is a reasonably short one, 6 hours south to Posadas to visit the Jesuit Missions at San Ignacio.

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finally! I've been able to upload and embed a few vids from the Rio Carnaval. Doesn't really get the atmosphere, but it gives a rough idea... (includes sound just in case you need to turn your speakers down!)

Posted by Russ Jones at 2:27 AM | Permalink