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Tabatinga, Brazil
Thursday, August 18, 2005
I headed north to Belem (wonderful 16 hour bus journey on dirt roads what a laugh). Eventually got there chickened out of the 5 day amazon boat ride and got a plane to Manaus. From Manaus I did a jungle tour and had a great time. Held a baby sloth (they are so cute all they do is sleep). Caught a pirhana (swam in the same water where the pirhanas live!) held a baby caiman (very cute might have to get me one of these as a pet - only joking) tried to coax a tarantula out of his home but had no luck. Used ants as a mossie repelent (works much better than deet and is free!!) ate fresh cashew fruit (looks like an apple and each one only produces only one nut so thats why cashews are so expensive). Ate a brazil nut and saw the tree where they grow!! Put tribal paint on our faces (comes from a flower/pod type thing which grows on a tree). Held a boa constrictor which was very sweet. Learnt how to survive on plants and insects and how to mark your trail (really Ray Mears better watch out). It was cool. Slept in a hammock for three days which I actually liked. Unfortunately we didn't manage to see the 17 metre anaconda that lived in a lake near our lodge but we did see pink dolphins.
When I came back to Manaus there was a free recital at the Teatro Amazonas. Went to that with some friends and it was really lovely. There were two Brazilian singers who had the most amazing voices. Of course by the end everyone was joining in. Great fun. Amazing building too.
Left Manaus to head towards colombia. Got to Tabatinga/Leticia (they are two seperate cities Tabatinga is in brazil and Leticia is Colombia and they are on peru/brazil/colombia border)Just to confuse the situation more there are no checkpoints and nowhere marking the fronteer so I spent a few days in Leticia still thinking I was in Tabatinga. It is literally a few metres difference! Had to wait a week for my visa so I decided to head to Peru).
There is a fast boat which only takes 12 hours so I got that. We left at 5.30am and 10 minutes in the guy I was sitting next to said 'Oh I'm not worried they do this journey everyday what could possibly go wrong' thats when we crashed into the island opposite. We then had to wait for 30minutes for the sun to come up so the guys could get the boat off. Thats when I saw the size of the island we crashed into - about as big as Peru itself! Anyway nothing broken so we continued on our journey.
Had a great time and met some brilliant people in Iquitos went into the jungle for a few days. Had to wash in rivers and use an outside toilet so was really doing it proper survival style!! Had to share my bed with a few jungle insects but they kept to their side and I to mine so it worked out fine! The whole experience was great. Everyone there was lovely too. I made dreamcatchers and bracelets and just chilled. Learnt how to play a card game called Yaniv too which I am going to teach everyone when I get back!
Came back to Tabatinga/Leticia to collect my visa only to find they needed more information. Found out that all the flights out of there were cancelled and they didn't know when I would be able to get a ticket to Bogota or if indeed there would be a plane on any specified date for the next few weeks! Luckily I met a couple in the same situation so we all got together tried for cargo flights - if anyone is travelling to this part of Brazil no matter what the guide books tell you you will NEVER get on a cargo flight to Bogota from Leticia!! It is a myth!! Also if you buy a ticket to Bogota but want to go to Cartagena or anywhere in north Colombia buy the ticket to Cartagena cos its the same price - they keep that a secret till after you've bought the ticket. It didn't matter to me cos I was going to Bogota but the couple I was with wanted to go to Cartagena!
In desperation (I had spent 5 days in this border town with nothing to do) me and the couple I met headed to the airport yesterday. We asked for a ticket and they told us we had to wait till later to see if there were any available. That's when I met a french lady who got her tour guide to go and sort it out and two minutes later there were tickets for us and another backpacker we met!! Hurrah!! Thats when we found out there was no plane and that there might not be so our celebration was short lived. But at around midday they came good and hey presto there was a plane so we were all herded on. A sandwich and a coffee later and we were in BOGOTA!!!
Conor Colleary has been really kind and is letting me stay in his lovely apartment in a gorgeous part of Bogota. Also Kate and Barry arrive today!! So it will be a weekend of sightseeing and partying before I head north for scuba diving and to see the lost city of Tayrona. Can't wait. Also its a cracking 28 degrees with blue skies there!!
Only got a few more weeks then I come home. Can't wait to see everyone. More in a couple of weeks.
