Comfort Hotel Manaus

... na Colômbia, seguindo-se agora a Venezuela, e depois o nordeste brasileiro e muito da sua costa até ao Rio de Janeiro, local de onde pretendo viajar para casa daqui a dois mesinhos, mas... vamos ver se a coisa se passa mesmo assim! Assumo publicamente que a vontade é ficar e estou a trabalhar nesse sentido!!! :) Para trás ficam, infelizmente e para grande pena minha, cidades por ver, mas como o Consulado aqui é uma lástima (a Embaixada em Bogotá não fica atrás), acabei por ter de ...

... brown Rio Amazona meet but do not mix due to density, temperature, speed etc. You can see this really clearly (especially though polarised lenses), the photos don&#8217;t do it justice&#8230; it&#8217;s an impressive sight.<br><br> Over the other side of the Amazon river, we got into an old-skool VW van and set off on what can only be described as a rally driving experience along wet dirt tracks. During the wet season the whole journey is done ...

... me to take me to my three days jungle tour.On the way, I could see a little bit of Manaus&#8217; center.I would not say that is beautiful, but there is something on the caos that seduces me. The architecture of the downtown area is completely heterogeneous and everything really colorful. Made me remember the central Havana in some moments. So, I arrived at the Port.<br>First we went to the meeting between the Rio ...

... the rising temperatures and humidity but we learnt a lot about the jungle and had a lot of fun. Ceciliano led the way, carving out a path with his machete, and we stopped at various trees and plants when Herman would explain things about the plants properties and the indigenous people's cultures. One tree's sap smelt of deep heat, another was rosewood, one gave a gluey rubbery sap, and the small branches of ...

... net across the breadth of the canal, at the start of the canoeing, which had a about 6 fish trapped in it when we came back, and also showed us some spear fishing. At one point he stood up on the front of the canoe, nearly tipping it, and fired a spear from a bow, and managed to spear a large catfish... needless to say we ate well at lunch!<br><br>Following our morning activities and lunch, we packed up camp and headed off by the motorised canoe, deeper ...

... else in sight. We were staying in the Malocas jungle lodge, a beautiful setting with only a scattering of wooden huts on a white sandy beach. <br> Amazing to walk through the Amazon rainforest: such a dense and prehistoric environment. We went on several jungle treks, trying out different fruit, looking at the trees, swimming in waterfalls. I felt very far away from the rest of the world. On our final night, we took canoes up stream a couple of kilometres, then ...

... Including the elusive blackfaced squirrel), Capuchin, another one whose name eludes us, but we have a nice video of it ripping apart a tree. We also saw alien-like sloths, relatively ugly pink dolphins, and caimen. <br><br><br>On the spooky night version of the ride, we saw a tarantula, scorpion and a tree rat the size of a dog. The guides were all very knowledgable but their English was limited, except for the names of the animals.<br><br> The ...

... I.e. not eating all the monkeys, turtles and selling all the caimans skins). We then had around an hour to shower and relax before lunch, followed by a long siesta. During the heat of the day the animals all hibernate so there's no much happening till after 3.30pm. The afternoons we either enjoyed canoeing down the river which is so peaceful it's an ideal way to enjoy and spot wildlife - except when it's raining and it seemed to like down pouring a lot in the late afternoons. Otherwise ...

... The sounds really make an impression: the loud splashes of the enormous Picarucu fish (largest freshwater fish in world - up to 3 meters) which regularly have to leap out of the water to get oxygen in the dry season, the haunting cries of the howler monkeys (which sound like a combination of a howling gale and noises of dynosaurs fighting in a horror movie), the incredible variety of bird calls, the scratches, squeeks and russles of the ...

... in a nice spot where there were lots of birds and views and we could relax. I rallied myself for a night in the jungle. I had missed some of Alan's info so awoke at 5 the next morning wondering if it was possible to have arctic-style winds in the jungle. Only at breakfast did I discover that it was not an Amazonian yeti but howler monkeys. Amazing sound! We visited a local family and saw how they live and make the manioc flour. The youngest boy was playing with a baby ...