Best Western Lord Manaus Hotel

Bem, já lá vão quase dois meses deste país, o que, como podem calcular, significa que já muita coisa se passou e em diversos locais e com muita gente diferente.... Isto vai-me custar um tempinho, sem dúvida alguma...<br><br>Escrevo-vos então a partir de Cartagena das Indias, a cidade mais linda de todas as que estive na América do Sul, que poderia ter um "até agora" incluído, mas como cidade, duvido mesmo que vá encontrar melhor no trajecto que está para vir. E este é também o meu último ...

... leave the following day.<br><br> The next morning I was collected from my hostel and taken down to the harbour where they were setting up the fish market for the day. There was a huge variety of fish, most of which I can&#8217;t remember the name. I met my group for the next three days and we set off in the boat to the other side of the Amazon river; passing by the floating petrol station, and the point where the black Rio Negro and the ...

I arrived in Manaus at 2 am, and soon I got out of the plane I started to sweat, and continued throughout the trip.Really hot humid weather.<br>There was a taxi driver holding a paper with my complete name. Alberto was his name, from Hostel Manaus. Good hostel. Friendly staff and simple, cozy accommodations. Like any other hostel.<br>I woke up and the guy of the agency &#8220;Amazing Tours&#8221; was already waiting ...

... incredible athleticism. Avoided lots of dodgy looking types by the port. Collapsed in the shade and realised it was definitely siesta time. Inspected the stunning opera house by night while relaxing with a beer in the cool square adjoining it. <br> Following day, set off for stay in jungle lodge. Drove for 2 hours down a dirt track. Transferred to motorized canoes and travelled at a good lick for a further hour deep into the everglades. Only a few local houses, no ...

... a bow line to the<br>ferryboat's crew who secured it to ties cleat. Our small boat still continued to rock and list from the wake of the ferry, which was still moving at 6-8 mph. At this point, if the small boat overturned, we'd be dragged along by the big boat and, once freed from the upturned<br>small boat, slip under the current of the big boat and into it's propeller.<br><br>We quickly handed over our packs and bags to the crew on the big boat ...

... chaps. I had to kick a gigantic toad off of the squat-hole, because he just wouldn't freaking move. We also had a national-anthem show-down. Other than that, I slept reasonably, but I was still pretty cold, since I hadn't brought pants. It wasn't a great day, 'nough said.<br><br><br><br>01/08/09<br><br>Da y 3 was a turn-around day for me, as my fever had subsided, and my stomach was doing better. I'm still experiencing some waves of dizzyness, but by day 3, they had ...

... first thing we set off to do was jump back in the boat -- a large wooden 5-benched canoe of sorts with long-arm outboard motor (I think a beefy 50HP) -- for which the people sitting on the middle bench had to periodically bail the water out of, unless of course you were wearing flip-flops, then no harm no foul. Our mission, to catch the voracious Amazon Piranhas, our result, well I think the picture Bernie has on his camera sums it up (stay tuned). Our ...

... The other drunk was far more entertaining, as twice when we left ports we had to return for Jean-Claude coming out of some bar waving and shouting. The last couple of days coming into Belem were fantastic with very small channels and lots of river communites.<br><br>We thought after 5 days together people would be pleased to get off the boat in peace, but there were a few more fights as we docked and a policeman was waiting with a gun pulled on the river bank. Off to the beach next!

... the ticket was 140 Reais ($75 USD) for the three days, with Manicoré being the only stop on the way. I asked him if the stop would give us time to look around in Manicoré, but he said I'd have to take that to the captain.<br><br>It was pretty funny to be a tourist in Porto Velho. I had expected more of a shabby city, because people don't tell pretty stories of it - lost in the middle of nowhere, near totally isolated and the industry has completely wrecked the rainforest in ...