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Sent from Belem, Brazil on Dec. 6, 2005
Done with Amazon & cruise, Now start Atlantic Brazil by bus
Hey guys, here is a quick rundown. I am typing this at the
Internet shop (4 local currency per hour, about $1.80) at
the bus station in Belem, in 1.5 hours on my way to
Fortaleza on the Atlantic.
1. Flight to Brazil. Costs about $960 with TAM, cost me
$1153 thru an agent from Washington, DC to Sao Paulo then
to Manaus. I heard from some Europeans that are real
bargains from England and France for 300 Euros. There are
NO direct flights from USA to Manaus.
2. Useful Info, Time Diff, Exchange. $=2.13-2.30 REALs, local
currency. Sao Paulo, now on summer time, is 3 hours ahead of
USA EST. There is no summer time in Manaus; it is on AST as
per USA; Belem, also on the Amazon River, is 90km from the
Atlantic, about 900 miles from Manaus. Time there is 1 hour
later than in Manaus. Brazil is a little smaller than USA,
like about Australia. As far as telephone to USA and elsewhere,
the rates are perhaps the HIGHEST I have encountered, $3 to
$6 per minute. (In contrast, rates in Kenya were cheapest,
followed by Venezuela, where they have many call booths.)
And in Brazil you have to dial odd numbers to get USA, like
00311-then your number when in Cuaiba.
November. that marks the end of the hurricane
season in Florida marks also the start of the rain season
up north--in the states of Amazonia and Para--in Brazil.
If you want to venture out here, bring along a pullover
rain coat--not one with buttons--or even a large garbage
bag with a hole cut for the head, and as long as you can
find. When it rains in the Amazon, it REALLY POURS--though
not as bad as the rain that comes SIDEWAYS in sheets during
a hurricane. ADD to it the best insect repellent you can
find. It may not stop all, but will help. Some of those
babies dont just bite, they leave behind a large swell of
rash, inches wide with a terrible itch. And, by all means,
bring along a full roll of toilet tissue. You dont need it
on the ship or at hotels, but you do at bus stations, for
example. I forgot to mention, on the 3rd day on the ship,
the tasty salad was apparently not washed well, or
whatever. Half the ship was moaning and groaning with
diarrhea in a few hours, many staying in bed--and near the
toilet. I am just getting over mine, I think.
3. Geography. Manaus is just a few degrees south of the
Equator. It is the hottest place in Brazil, exactly on 60th
longitude, which puts it on the AST (Time) in USA. The
eastern-most point is the city of Joao Passeo in the State
of Paraiba, just south of Natal, at about 35th Longitude,
which would put it in the middle of the North Atlantic,
about as far from London as New York. Rio is about the
same distance in latitude south as is Miami north. As far
as Pantanal, it is between the 16th and 20th South
Latitude, the 56th Longitude passing thru it; thus, it is
also in North Atlantic. It is VERY humid, as in the
Amazon, but mosquitoes are under control somehow.
Geographically Pantanal is very similar to the Amazon
basin, in appearance somewhat like the Everglades in
Florida, but it is surrounded by a dense jungle of a
variety of trees other than cypress, and the landscape has
many more features, including steep mountains similar to
the tepui around the Angel Falls in Venezuela. Wait till I
post the photos. Many of the bio shows with anaconda,
alligator, jaguar, etc. in South America were done in the
Pantanal, as it is easier to see the animals here than in
the dense Amazon. The water flow is north to south, on a
gradient of 3cm per km.
4. Manaus. Is a huge city, the center about 20 min from
the airport. I paid 35 local currency. Hotel Italia (45
per night, breakfast incl.) is right at the center, about
15 min walk from the famous Theater Amazonas, the Central
Market, Cathedral, and the docks on the Amazon River.
There is an Internet cafe just to your right as you exit
the hotel.
5. Jungle & River tours by Eco Planet. After you exit the
customs and reach the Arrival Hall, turn right and walk
about 40 meters. Eco Planet has an office there on your
left, but someone from the office will probably greet you
as you appear from the customs. The owner is MARK (Tel.
813 95 765, site: www.ecoplanetturismo.com). He has good
tours from 6 hours to 5 days. But beware of his prices.
He has a tendency to give different prices to different
people taking the same tour. On arrival, after you decide
on the tour, especially an overnight one, if he will take
you free to the hotel, or even, if the hotel for one night
is included. The overnight tours include the trip to his
lodge in the jungle, about 3 hours by boat and SUV, on the
way also stopping at the confluence of where Rio NEGRO
north from Colombia meets Rio SOLIMOES west from Peru.
You sleep in ready hammocks, fish for piranha, wait for
dolphins to surface in the river, have a jungle walk. BY
ALL MEANS. Bring along a raincoat and insect repellent,
especially at this time of the year when the rain season is
on.
6. Amazon River. The confluence of the 2 rivers I
mentioned above takes place at Port CEASA on the other side
of Manaus. You can clearly see the separation, as Rio
Negro is almost black, whereas Rio Solimoes if light beige
and has live plants migrating on it, which avoid Rio Negro
as it is more acidic. The 2 waters run side by side for
about 6km (to the East of Manaus) before they finally
blend. The final result is still the light beige color of
Rio Solimoes, but from that spot on the Amazon River
officially begins. There are about a dozen major rivers in
the Amazon system. I will have a map on my web site after
I return.
7. The Boat Trip, Manaus to Belem. Takes a little less
than 4 days down river (to Belem, pronounced Belen), 5 days
to Manaus. Mark at Eco Planet will get you a ticket for a
direct connection, including your hammock for $120 (260
local). DONT pay him for a cabin, as you may get a better
deal once you are on board. By the way, dont have romantic
notions of the deck covered by hammocks. There are about
a foot apart and touch each other even when empty. The set
up is a sardine can. I got my ticket from a guy in an
orange apron selling tickets near the ticket offices near
the docks. (A large green building with a large outdoor
cafe on the water side, which you reach by a bridge-like
contraption attached to the side of the building.) Facing
the building, the ticket guy was to the left of the bridge,
BUT make sure you understand WHERE YOU NEED TO GET ONBOARD,
as there are many ships and several floating docks. Once
on board, ask the guy who checks the ticket if you can have
a cabin. I paid 90 local extra to convert mine to a cabin,
for total 270, but some locals paid up to 330 for the same.
3 meals per day are included; the ship is spotless, cabins
have commode and shower, at least on the ship SANTAREM that
I took.
8. The Cruise. The river is so vast that for the first 2
days you barely see the shores on either side. It is after
Santarem at midway that you really get intimate with the
jungle. So you may want to try that option.
9. Images from the Amazon. One image you will retain from
the Amazon boat trip is on the last day when the ship goes
thru narrow channels to reach Belem on the southern delta.
Many very poor families--of course with many kids--live in
make-shift shacks along the river, with shaky boat piers
attached to them, say a shack every a few hundred meters
apart. The times when a passenger boats pass must be very
important events in their lives, for they all come near the
boat in their canoe-like unstable tiny boats, the edges of
which barely above the water line. The water is dotted all
over with these tiny boats with mothers with kids, kids
with younger siblings, everyone. They are not there just
to say hello. Being very poor, they are asking and
collecting handouts, wrapped in plastic bags so as to make
them float, people throw overboard. They may be toys,
clothing, half-finished large coke bottles, anything they
can make use of, even huge water melons. And the
passengers, many of whom themselves poor, are quite
generous. I had wondered about the huge box of toys on the
ship when I arrived. Passengers buy them and distribute
these in this fashion later.
0. INTERESTING PEOPLE who crossed my path along the way.
1) BART & MARTRUY from Holland, Bart promotes young artists
in Holland, by showing their creations at his gallery, as
sponsored by the Govt; Martruy assists families with
problems, referring them to other agencies if their
situation is beyond her means. The 2 have been together
for 5 years, traveling 4 weeks per year in some part of the
world. No marriage plans yet, as per Bart. 2) DOMINIK &
KASIA from Poland. One does not meet many travelers from
Poland away from home, so this was new. 3) NICOLAS &
CAMILLE from France on a world tour. These 3 I met on the
Amazon tour. 4) LEANDRO Gustavo Michelonide de-Souca, one
of the rare Brazilians who could communicate in English, on
the ship Manaus to Belem. 5) NIKOLAS Verghis, the Greek
diplomat based in Brasilia and his Mother LOULA, also on
the ship. 6) MARCELO Goncalves, a captain in the Brazilian
Army, who had also trained in the USA (and who gave me a
large very-detailed plastic military map of Brazil, after
hearing that I wanted to circle the country), his wife
CLAUDIA, son Victor Marcelo, daughter Brenda Victoria, also
on the ship. 7) JUPP and HEIDRUN (airline hostess) from
Germany who joined us in Santarem. 8) The native Amazonian
beauties NAUFA & ELBILAME (especially) and MARLY (spoken as
Mahli), NAZA, MARY, SARA on the ship whose photos will
adorn my page when I return.
Got to go, Sirman