4ontour.com

23^rd – 29^th February

 

We had decided that our next destination would be Cusco in Peru, which acts as a launching pad for Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.  The only question was how to get there.  If we flew we’d need to go from Manaus to Sao Paolo, Sao Paolo to Lima and finally Lima to Cusco.  Potentially a very expensive trip.  The alternative was a 6 or 7 day ‘cruise’ up the Amazon to Tabatinga on a combined cargo/passenger vessel followed by a ‘speedboat’ ride to Iquitos and a flight to Cusco, via Lima.  A much longer journey; possibly not that much cheaper but certainly much more of an adventure, so that’s what we elected to do.

 

The old adage of ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts’ (no offence to anyone from Greece who may read this), was something I should have paid attention to when it came to purchasing the tickets for the boat ride.  Our hotel also housed a travel agency which we used to go into the jungle.  As we’d had a great time on that trip I was happy to get a quote for the journey up the Amazon.  To get a comparison we ventured down to the docks in Manaus and ended up meeting with an agent who introduced us to the Captain of the boat we would be travelling on, the ‘Monteiro’.

 

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They showed us around and provided a quote which was the same as the one we’d received.  The only difference was that the hotel agent had said we’d be in a ‘Special Suite’ with an additional bed as the ‘Normal’ cabin only had a double bed which would only be fine for Lorraine and the girls.  The Captain had suggested I bring a hammock with me.

 

We went with the hotel agent and the upshot was that we arrived on board to find just the double bed and no sign of the agent.  I guess the learning is if you can get close to the actual supplier, in this case the Captain, it’s probably worth doing business direct with them.

 

To say I wasn’t best pleased would be an understatement particularly as I had just carried our supply of water and beer through the sweltering streets of Manaus to the boat.  We had been advised by Dino, a Canadian we met in the hotel lobby who had made this journey to bring our own water for drinking and ablutions as it’s usual for the boat crew to use river water whenever possible.  So there I was carrying 18 two litre bottles of water with two cases of 20 cans of beer, (it was a tough call as I nearly had to ditch the water).  In hindsight I’m not sure how I managed it but I was ringing wet, once again, by the time I got on board.

 

Having freshened up with a quick shower, (water pumped from the river) and the girls settled in, I went in search of new shipmates, which didn’t take long as the cabin directly opposite us was occupied by Clare and Jason, a couple from Bristol, England who were, and still are on a two year trip around the world.  You can catch up with their adventures at www.werehereyournot.co.uk .  Each of the cabins has a small balcony and I found Clare and Jason chatting to Ryan, a Canadian touring around South America who introduced us all to ‘The Wobble’, (moving your head vigorously from side to side while someone takes your photo.  Great fun.  This is us on the first night:

 

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With the ice broken we spent the rest of the night sharing beers and travellers stories and the challenges of earlier on became a thing of the past.

 

The Monteiro had three main decks.  The bottom deck had mainly goods on it which ranged from motorcycles to melons, eggs to exercise bikes, toilet roll to televisions and paint to pasta, and what appeared to be a never ending supply of beer and sodas.  The middle deck was the main accommodation deck with a number of cabins that were actually used for storage, and the hammock area which housed around 250 – 300 of all shapes and sizes.  Ryan had arrived the night before our departure and secured prime position on one of the ends farthest away from the toilet.  Smart move.  It also meant that it minimized the chance of others putting their hammocks above and around his.  The kitchen and dining room were also on the middle deck so queuing up for meals was next to the hammocks and to be fair it always seemed to be a calm and relaxed environment.

 

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The upper deck had further cabins including ours; the shop which supplied most things you needed for the journey, and plenty of open space for the adults to relax and the children to run around.  As Hannah and Abbey were the only foreign children on board they attracted quite a bit of attention from the others particularly early on in the journey.

 

Our days tended to form pretty much a similar pattern.  Wake up and check the colour sequence; brown (river) – green (jungle) – blue (sky) for a nice day or brown – green – grey for not so good.  We gave the ships breakfast a miss and settled for crackers, water or juice and melon which you could buy on board.  The rest of the day was usually spent wandering around exploring the ship or watching the river bank for any signs of life.  Most days we would make at least one stop off at a village or town to drop off cargo.  In the evenings we’d usually get together with C, J & R to put the world to rights over a few beers whilst Hannah and Abbey played pontoon for money or entertained the local children.  On occasion we were treated to some magnificent sunsets:

 

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The original estimate was 6 days to reach Tabatinga, but it turned out to be 7, which was pretty much in keeping with the information I got from the crew.  On our daily stops I usually got off to stretch my legs, take some photos or go and shoot pool with the boys.  If we asked the crew how long the stop would be the answer would usually turn out to be a quarter of the actual time so we got used to taking information with a pinch of salt.

 

Finally we arrived in Tabatinga, which wasn’t what I expected at all.  Bearing in mind the Monteiro is a reasonable size I had anticipated at least a dock of some kind, but we actually pulled up by the bank. A plank was pushed out and that was that.  Having literally ‘walked the plank’ we all piled into a truck and were driven to the border with Columbia.  Tabatinga in Brazil and Leticia in Columbia is actually one town with the border running through it.  Providing you don’t leave town you can pass freely from one side to the other without showing your passport.  With lots of guns on show from the guards our driver was nervous about taking us across so we piled out and walked the remainder of the journey into town.  It didn’t take long to find a decent hotel with a great pool and that part of our river journey was put to bed.

 

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Being so close to the jungle we decided to take a three day trip to a lodge about an hour and a half away from the city.  To get there we took a boat ride through the ‘meeting of the waters’ where the Rio Solimoes, (Amazon) and the Rio Negro converge.  The waters are significantly different with the Solimoes being a light brown and, as the name suggests the Negro being virtually black.  The difference is caused by the rivers flowing at different speeds, having different temperatures and acidic levels.  They flow side by side without mixing for several kilometres. 

 

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Having crossed the rivers we took a car ride for about 30 minutes to a smaller river and reached the jungle lodge some 40 minutes later by motorized canoe.

 

Our guide, Damian, (couldn’t get the ‘Only Fools and Horses’ sketch out of my head) was both knowledgeable and amiable and an instant hit with the girls.  Our first activity was a swim in the river to cool off after our journey.  We were in a group of seven; the four of us, Rebecca and Olivier from France, and Maki, a young lady from Japan travelling alone.

 

After lunch we went on a canoe ride deeper into the jungle to see some wildlife.  We had our own canoe with Damian and the other three in another.  For the first part of the journey we didn’t see anything which wasn’t surprising as Lorraine and the girls had never canoed before and I hadn’t been in one for about 20 years.  Needless to say we found it challenging to steer through the narrow openings as Damian led us into the swamps of reeds and trees.  The noise of our laughter and repeated impact against trees meant that any living thing within two miles would have been given an early warning that amateurs were in the area.  Eventually we got to grips with our navigation and by the end of our trip we had seen several species of monkeys, birds and jumping spiders.  It was also great exercise so upon our return we all dived back into the river.

 

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As night descended we ate a hearty evening meal before getting back into a canoe, just the one this time, and went hunting for Caiman.  Damian was on lookout at the front with a colleague controlling the outboard engine.  As we travelled close to the bank you could see pairs of glittering pink eyes.  As they can grow to in excess of two metres it was testament to Damian’s skill that when he lunged forward and grabbed one he chose one no more than a couple of feet in length.  We returned to the lodge with Caiman in hand to get a better look at it and learn more about them.  Once the photo shoot was over it was released gently back into the river.

 

 

 

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I awoke early the next morning and ventured down the steps from our cabin to the jetty to watch the sunrise and see the pink dolphins make their way up river.  Not a bad way to start the day.

 

 

With breakfast over we went on a trek by foot into the heart of the jungle.  With Damian’s assistance we were able to get close to a number of creatures, and learnt an enormous amount about survival in an unforgiving environment.  He showed us how to smear ourselves with ants, (you let them crawl over your arms then rub them into your skin) as a way of disguising your smell to enable you to get up close to other animals.  Needless to say we all enjoyed watching each other wriggle as they crawled all over the place.  Abbey said they reached her pants and did some great break dancing to get them out.  Top performance Abs.

 

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(I am assuming that Damian was telling the truth.  He had a twinkle in his eye so I could imagine him going down to his local bar making comments like ‘you should have seen what I had these Gringo’s doing today’ with much laughter had by all.  Nah, that couldn’t happen …………… could it?).

 

We also drank fresh water from vines and ate grubs from inside nuts.  Well Abbey and I did.  Hannah got as far as putting the grub in her mouth but couldn’t go through with the chewing bit.  They actually tasted like coconut!

 

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Damian also teased a Tarantula out of its hiding place for us to see.  Judging by the amount of irritating powder it was puffing towards us it wasn’t too happy to be disturbed.

 

A few hours later we arrived back at the lodge, had lunch, a swim and awaited our instructions for Piranha fishing.  We had anticipated another journey on the river but Damian provided us with poles, lines and hooks and told us to sit on the jetty with bits of chicken skin for bait.  Whilst we’d been taking our refreshing dips in the river, unbeknownst to us the Piranha had been swimming underneath.  Apparently they don’t attack unless you make the wrong sort of motion or smell like rotting meat.  Forgot to tell us that didn’t you Damian!

    

After a couple of hours we had all caught at least one and it was time to get back into the canoe for our expedition into the jungle for our overnight adventure.  About an hour later we arrived at our camp for the night under an open sided shelter.  As the girls put up the hammocks and mosquito nets, the boys went looking for firewood.  With the camp taking some sort of shape we took the canoe back out into the middle of the river to cool off after our labours.  Back on land Olivier and I got the fire going while the girls prepared a salad.  Damian split a couple of sticks and wedged the two chickens we had brought, expertly into place then stuck them into the ground so the chickens began to roast gently over the fire.

 

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After a fine meal, several beers and homemade Caiparinhas and much storytelling it was time for bed.  We all settled down in our hammocks with our nets securely in place.  The only trouble was I needed a pee in the  middle of the night.  Having safely relieved myself and made it back to camp I inadvertently let a mossie in with me.  In spite of much waving of hands and quiet cursing, by morning it was apparent who had won.  I think I counted 14 bites and one satisfied mossie who was very much alive.

 

After breaking camp we returned to the lodge by way of a visit to a native family.  We shared a breakfast of fruit, eggs, bread and jam and something that we couldn’t identify but it tasted ok.  Afterwards we had yet another swim in the river and learnt about their way of life.  I spied a large turtle shell and enquired what they used it for.  It transpired that it had been last night’s dinner and the shell would now be used as a scoop.

 

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The mother was preparing lunch and Lorraine asked what they would be having.  Potentially a big mistake as she was preparing a stew of giant rat and Brazil nut.  Lorraine was invited to taste it which she did and commented that the sauce was really nice.  (She did confess that she managed to avoid taking any of the meat.)

 

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We eventually made our way back to the lodge and packed ready for our journey back to Manaus.  As a final surprise we were able to hold a Sloth that had visited one of the local trees.  A truly magical moment.  Although they aren’t vicious by nature we were advised to hold it facing away from us so it couldn’t inadvertently scratch us with its long claws.  Hannah took a great photo of it so if there is a competition for young photographers please let me know as it would be worth entering.

  

Once again with the photo shoot over it was released back up into the trees and made its way gracefully up to safety.

 

We arrived back at the hotel and started to make plans for the next part of our journey; a six day boat ride up the Amazon from Manaus to Tabatinga on the borders of Brazil, Peru and Columbia.

 

18^th – 23^rd Feb  The next leg of our journey took us by plane from the heat of Rio to the humidity of Manaus, capital of the Amazonas State and base for our jungle adventure.  For once we had reserved our accommodation over the internet from Rio so we were picked up from the airport and went straight to the Hotel 10^th Julho near the opera house.

  One of the reasons for our trip is that Hannah read a book called ‘Journey to the river sea’ about a little girl who ventures off to meet her relatives who own a rubber plantation in Manaus in the early 20^th century.  She has many adventures and upon returning to school is asked to recount them.  Taking a deep breath she simply says ‘you had to be there’.  This story, combined with a number of other factors helped us make the decision to go out into the world and ‘be there’.  Although our trip was a pilgrimage to honour the story it turned out to be one of the highlights so far. 

Manaus is a mix of traditional red tiled roofs and 20 storey tower blocks.  Many of the larger, older buildings have clearly been deteriorating for decades, although a restoration programme was initiated in 2001 and there is evidence that some of the historic buildings are being given new leases of life.  The Opera House, or Teatro Amazonas is a magnificent building and has been restored 4 times since it was completed in 1896 during the great rubber boom.  We took one of the daily tours of the inside which showed it to be immaculately maintained and something the city is clearly proud of.   The Teatro Amazonas dominates one side of the Praca Sao Sebastiao, a pleasant square with several bars and cafes and a place to relax on balmy evenings.  At night the Teatro is lit up and even more impressive.  On another side of the Praca is the church, Igreja Sao Sebastiao with one impressive bell tower.  There should have been two but the boat that was transporting it sunk and a lack of money prevented it being re-ordered.  Inside is one of the most amazing series of ceiling paintings I’ve ever seen and an alter made of ivory depicting two hands holding a water lily made of Brazil wood.          I’ve quite a lot to write about our brief time in the jungle so I’ll put pen to paper, so to speak, in a separate entry. On an entirely different tack I just wanted to let all our friends and family know that we think and talk about you often and we love you.

12^th – 18^th February (Thought it might be useful if I put the dates when we were in certain places, particularly as I’m so far behind with the blog.  We’re currently in Quito, Ecuador and have several days before our plane leaves for the Galapagos Islands so I’ll aim to bring you up to date a.s.a.p.  To give you an idea of what’s to come I need to write entries for Rio, Manaus and our jungle adventure, a week long boat trip up the amazon, Leticia in Columbia, Iquitos, Cusco and Machu Picchu (amazing), Puno and neighbouring islands in Peru, and Quito, (we like Quito and Ecuador!).

Anyway back to the plot. So we arrived in Rio by bus from Ubatuba, (Please note bus, and not coach.  In terms of comfort there is a massive difference.), and found out where to catch the local bus to Ipanema, the area next to Copacabana which we’d chosen to stay in.  Once again Lorraine and the girls stood guard over the bags, this time in MacDonalds, whilst I went off in search of a roof.  In our book there were several entries for Hostels in the Barao de Torre which turned out to be a lovely alleyway off one of the main roads, with hostels on either side.  Although Carnival was over it was still pretty much booked up, however I spoke to Stephan, (nice chap) in Casa 6 who offered me a room with an enormous bed which I duly took.  Having collected the girls we settled down top-to-tail and got a pretty good nights rest.  As our room was only available for one night I was up bright and early to find some longer term accommodation.  Although it was only 8am the heat was intense and I was quickly drenched with sweat.  I found a place that seemed reasonable, if a little pricey and agreed to bring Lorraine and the girls to take a look.  We set off on the 20 minute journey with our world on our backs.  I’m carrying about 35 kilos in total so it didn’t take long for me to look like I either had an automatic shower for my head or I was doing a pretty good impression of Iguacu Falls.  To be honest I probably have another 5 kilos on my stomach which I could dispense with to lighten the load.  Needless to say we took several breathers along the way and in hindsight a taxi would have been a better bet.   Having walked over half way there we were approached by Stella, a lively lady of maturing years who asked us if we were arriving or leaving.  Having confirmed the former she said she had an apartment to rent as she was off to see her relatives for a week in Iguacu, (I know, it’s a recurring theme), so I went off to see it.  Her apartment turned out to be just around the corner from where we had come from and just what we needed!  So, by 9am we had a nice apartment in a safe area only two blocks from the beach.  Result! The rest of the day was spent familiarizing ourselves with Ipanema and generally unwinding.  After a couple of beach days playing in the sea, despite the current, and admiring the tanned bodies, (ok, that was just me), we decided to take in some of the other sights and visited Corcovado, the 710 m peak surmounted by O Cristo Redentor, the 38 m statue of Christ the Redeemer.

  To reach the top you can either take a taxi, minibus or cog railway.  We decided to take the latter and set off on the 3.8 km journey to the top.  To reach the statue itself you need to climb remarkably few steps followed by a series of escalators which makes it accessible for just about anyone.  Aside from a couple of moments on the railway there was no sense of being near an edge which enables anyone with a fear of heights to enjoy the experience as well. 

 To say the scenery is amazing is an understatement and as the weather was kind we were treated to spectacular views of Rio and the surrounding area, as well as being able to appreciate the awesome statue of Christ.  Altogether a fabulous experience with a ‘Wow factor’ of 9!      The following day we took in one of the other well known symbols of Rio, Sugar Loaf Mountain or Pao de Acucar, the 396 m granite cone that stands at the entrance to Guanabara Bay.  To reach the top you can either take the cable car to Morro da Urca, a separate peak halfway up, and another to the top, or there are 35 routes for rock climbers.  We chose the cable cars as Lorraine had forgotten her crampons.  To be honest it was touch and go if she would make the journey at all as heights and Lorraine don’t go together.  But she gritted her teeth, held on tight and even had her eyes open, so fair play to you buddy.  I was immensely impressed with your bravery.  (We would all be tested to a much greater degree on a later adventure, but that will have to wait for now.)

  

As it was another bright sunny day we had even more spectacular views of Rio including some eerie views of Christ through the mist.  (Sorry for the repetition but I need to increase my vocabulary of superlatives.)  Unlike the previous day there were plenty of sheer drops to enjoy, endure or ignore.  Having had our fill of breathtaking scenery we all made it safely back to Ipanema and reflected on our day over a few Caipirinhas.

  

Safety is an interesting subject for travellers, particularly for those like us with children.  Whilst planning the trip we looked at reports provided by the Foreign Office website to get updates on safety in certain countries and cities.  Our handbook also provides safety advice for each location and both the book and the websites said to be extremely careful and vigilant in Rio.    My own experience was that as long as you didn’t stick out like a sore thumb with the trappings of wealth on show, (not that we have any!) and attempted to integrate when possible with the locals you should be ok.  Obviously you need to keep an eye on your belongings and common sense should prevail, but I wouldn’t let the general advice put you off enjoying Rio’s sights and sounds and engaging with the locals.  We were advised not to go to the seafront at night; well we were down on the beach at gone 10pm and had a great time.  I also spent a couple of magical hours on the rocks at the end of Ipanema beach watching the sun go down along with many locals and tourists alike.  In all our time in Rio we didn’t see or experience anything other than warm hospitality and I’d recommend the city to anyone. 

There’s not much to say about our time in Curitiba or Sao Paolo as unknown to us when the carnival is on in Rio many other areas grind to a halt and tend to be fechado (closed).  The highlight of our time in Curitiba was a visit to a restaurant with the most amazing array of authentic Brazilian food and full of locals, (always a good sign).  On each table was a small revolving sige that said ‘Yes please’ or ‘No thank you’.  If you were on ‘Yes please’ waiters would regularly visit the table with enormous skewers of every meat imaginable and cut you off as much as you want.  Being a committed carnivore I was in heaven and had my fill many times over.  Abbey was also delighted as there was a bar devoted entirely to Sushi.  Lorraine and the girls had their choice of salads, fish and pasta although Lorraine did try a variety of meat.  For a vegetarian she seemed to enjoy several types of meat!?

Not only was the food great we were looked after by a devoted waiter who took great pride in pouring our beers at a slant.

 

We moved on to Sao Paolo where the only thing I can say is that they seem to undertake all the road works at the same time and the laundry in the hotel was massively expensive.  I didn’t take any photos in Sao Paolo which is an indication to me of how interesting I found it.  Maybe I’m being harsh but it’s not a place I would want to visit again. Ubatuba (not to be confused with Umpa Lumpa), on the other hand was great.  A small resort on the Sao Paolo coast blessed with over 80 beaches we spent most of our three nights their on the beach.  I say three nights, we actually spent an additional night as Hannah had too much sun and her face looked like she’d gone five rounds with Mike Tyson in his hey-day.  Once she’d partially recovered we made the trip to Rio with expectations and energy high.