Tropical Manaus

... como sou, e porque não sei ler as coisas como deve de ser, fui direito para Popayan, quando afinal o que queria era parar em Pasto para ver a Igreja de Sal que lá existe! Mas em minha defesa, verdade seja dita, Popayan, Pasto, Pasto, Popayan, soa quase tudo ao mesmo, não?! Só em Popayan, e quando perguntava a toda a gente onde era a dita Igreja, é que me foi informado que a mesma está a 5 horas de onde eu estou, mas para trás! Simplesmente... brilhante!!! Mas já que aqui estou, siga ...

... meal (grubs aside) for a while and joined back up with my initial group to head back into the rainforest to camp for the night. Upon arrival we set up our hammocks and mosquito nets and collected firewood before sunset. Whilst dinner was cooking on the fire, we made fans and crowns from palm leaves and learnt how to make a palm leaf roof. I think we went to bed at about 10pm but it felt much later and was pitch black with just a few candles ...

We'd agreed the night before to get up at 4am to do some animal spotting and a different type of spear fishing, but it was a bit of a struggle after only a few hours fitful sleep! We stumbled down to the boat in the dark and half asleep and set off paddling. Ceciliano was a pro at spotting the fish asleep near the banks and managed to spear a couple of fish from the front of the boat. He got me and Caz to have a go ...

After a fitful nights sleep, scared of being attacked by giant insects, we were woken at 5.15 am to go out birdwatching. We witnessed a beautiful sunrise over the rainforest from the lake, then saw a number of different species of birds, including lots of hawks, kites and kingfishers, and also some pink dolphins in the lake. After returning to the lodge for breakfast, we changed our boat for a motorised canoe so we could investigate some of the "canals" in ...

... the entire 5 days, excellent! We discovered over lunch at the lodge that Ceciliano had been born and had lots of family in the area around the lake, and had also trained as a chef, which meant the food was amazing for the whole time we were on the trip. After lunch we had a siesta in our hammocks for an hour or so, and then went out onto the lake for some piranha fishing. Caz caught the first piranha, one of the dangerous red bellied ones that are ...

... proved to be far from ideal. The lobby more resembled the waiting room of a Goodyear tire repair shop than a hotel lobby. The 150 square feet<br>room was adorned with two rows of vinyl covered chairs affixed to each other and a television blaring the evening news. The only thing distinguishing it as a hotel lobby was the countertop behind which sat the thoroughly indifferent check-in guy. He handed us our paperwork then gave us the key and ...

... European markets for loads of cash. I also provided entertainment for the group whilst we were looking at an electric eel in one of the tanks. The eel seemed to suddenly light up and I made the comment 'wow it's flashing with electricity', when in reality someone had just taken a photo using their flash. I don't think there will be any job offers at the Ornamental fish station coming my way anytime soon! As Gareth and I were staying for 7 nights we had the additional option to stay in the ...

... took the most arranging and was the most expensive by some way. However, definitely worth it. The forest was definitely something to experience once, the location and nature around the lodge itself was superb, we saw a good range of the wildlife (if sometimes rather fleetingly - particularly for the striking rare White Uacari Monkeys we saw on two occasions, which have bright red faces - but they don´t hang around for you to admire them).

... process still alive. Then it was time to head back to Manaus. Despite missing the jungle walk we had had a fabulous time. The bird life was incredible. There were dolphins in the river in front of the lodge every day (pink and grey). The setting was beautiful and peaceful and the sloth was more than we had even wished for! Singing along to Brazilian songs in the back of a rickety station wagon on a bumpy road just sealed the Brazilain flavour and was the perfect end to a lovely trip.