We survived the drive from Ouro Preto th next morning, though it was just as terrifying as before. More so really, because much of I took place in the fog. By the time we arrived at the airport Kate was feeling unwell and was off her food for some time.
Nonetheless we made it. A word on Brazilian airports. You never really know what is going to happen with you flights. Our flights back to Sydney had to be dramatically changed because they had cancelled one of our flights. We've had numerous miner flight changes (at least four that I can think of) as well as being put onto a later flight that we didn't need to have taken. You also need to keep an eye on the gate you flight is leaving from. We almost missed a flight out of Brazilia because they boarded it from a different gate from the one they announced. This time the problem lay with the fact that a whole series of flights were running late and they started changing the gates around. This meant that nobody in the airport seemed sure if they were getting on the right flight as the wording about the gates seemed to change regularly. I can't tell how wonderful the experience is to be sitting in an airport, not speaking the language, watching flights drop into and out of existence, not certain which gate to take, comfortable in the knowledge that if you get it wrong you could find yourself on a flight to the opposite end of a very large country. In the end, with some concern that we may be getting on to a plane to god knows where, we managed to make it to Manaus, launching point for our Amazon leg.
We saw little of the city itself as we were whisked off to our first Amazon adventure, a three day river cruise. The boat we were on, the Amazon Clipper, was fantastic. It looked like an old paddle wheel steamer, without the paddle, a d had a wonderful crew. By good luck the boat, which was designed to take 20 people, only had 8 on board, so we had plenty of room to move, though not necessarily in the cabins, where swinging a mouse would have been out of the question.
Nonetheless we made it. A word on Brazilian airports. You never really know what is going to happen with you flights. Our flights back to Sydney had to be dramatically changed because they had cancelled one of our flights. We've had numerous miner flight changes (at least four that I can think of) as well as being put onto a later flight that we didn't need to have taken. You also need to keep an eye on the gate you flight is leaving from. We almost missed a flight out of Brazilia because they boarded it from a different gate from the one they announced. This time the problem lay with the fact that a whole series of flights were running late and they started changing the gates around. This meant that nobody in the airport seemed sure if they were getting on the right flight as the wording about the gates seemed to change regularly. I can't tell how wonderful the experience is to be sitting in an airport, not speaking the language, watching flights drop into and out of existence, not certain which gate to take, comfortable in the knowledge that if you get it wrong you could find yourself on a flight to the opposite end of a very large country. In the end, with some concern that we may be getting on to a plane to god knows where, we managed to make it to Manaus, launching point for our Amazon leg.
We saw little of the city itself as we were whisked off to our first Amazon adventure, a three day river cruise. The boat we were on, the Amazon Clipper, was fantastic. It looked like an old paddle wheel steamer, without the paddle, a d had a wonderful crew. By good luck the boat, which was designed to take 20 people, only had 8 on board, so we had plenty of room to move, though not necessarily in the cabins, where swinging a mouse would have been out of the question.
We had brilliant weather the whole time, which extended to full moons on both nights, on a cloudless sky. Our rout took us up the rio sollimoines, which is the Brazilian name for the amazon before it joins with the Rio Negro.
This would prove to be the part of our holidays here we would take a ridiculous number of photos. It was just gunning scenery. That night we went on a small motorised boat trip into the jungle waterways, getting to handle a wild caiman along the way.
The next day we went out on early on a morning trip in the same small boat. Again the light was fantastic and we saw a ridiculous umber of sloths, doing what they do best - nothing. We also saw the first of our pink river dolphins.
Later that morning we went for a jungle walk. Now our guide informed us of how dangerous walking through the jungle was and to progress slowly and follow the guides instructions. This we did, but it all sounded a little Hollywood and melodramatic, until we got attacked by a swarm of bees, followed minutes later when we had to detour around a deadly snake, a bushmaster, curled up on the path, almost invisible in the leaf litter. We didn't st s foot out of place after that.
This would prove to be the part of our holidays here we would take a ridiculous number of photos. It was just gunning scenery. That night we went on a small motorised boat trip into the jungle waterways, getting to handle a wild caiman along the way.
The next day we went out on early on a morning trip in the same small boat. Again the light was fantastic and we saw a ridiculous umber of sloths, doing what they do best - nothing. We also saw the first of our pink river dolphins.
Later that morning we went for a jungle walk. Now our guide informed us of how dangerous walking through the jungle was and to progress slowly and follow the guides instructions. This we did, but it all sounded a little Hollywood and melodramatic, until we got attacked by a swarm of bees, followed minutes later when we had to detour around a deadly snake, a bushmaster, curled up on the path, almost invisible in the leaf litter. We didn't st s foot out of place after that.
After lunch we were encouraged to take a swim in the river. The staff assured us that it would be ok. Sue, there were piranha around but as long as you didn't start bleeding you'd be fine. And, of course, we we told, the stories about the fish attacking people are exaggerated. At this point I might add that our guide at Iguassu had told us some horror stories of the piranha. You could tell that everybody felt the same way, but in the end three of us went in, though, by sheer coincidence, no doubt, none of us swam more than spitting distance from the boat and only spent a few minutes in the warm water.
It was to prove a remarkably full day and in the late afternoon we headed out to catch piranha. This was a heap of fun, though hardly sting endorsement for swimming in these waters. We went home with plenty of fish.
The next morning, the last on our cruise, featured a wonderful early morning boat trip to see a water lily lake, as well as dropping in on a floating market, where we also got to see some of the huge fish that live on the Amazon, swimming around in a large tank.
It was to prove a remarkably full day and in the late afternoon we headed out to catch piranha. This was a heap of fun, though hardly sting endorsement for swimming in these waters. We went home with plenty of fish.
The next morning, the last on our cruise, featured a wonderful early morning boat trip to see a water lily lake, as well as dropping in on a floating market, where we also got to see some of the huge fish that live on the Amazon, swimming around in a large tank.
On the way back to port we went to the meeting of the two rivers - the Samoias and the Negro. This is a remarkable sight. The Semoias is muddy, fast flowing and runs at 22 degrees C. The Negro is clear, though dark tea coloured, slower and is up around 28 degrees C. as a consequence, when they meet they don't merge for many kilometres. This creates a bizarre visible boundary on the river. On the left, it is muddy brown, on the right, quite black. This was the start of the Amazon River.
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