Amazon public ferries

And now we move into a new country Brazil and a new language Portuguese. Should make communication fun. Think we should have kidnapped Aili from the Roraima trek - Portuguese is one of her 7 languages.

Crossed border into Brazil very early in the morning and then had two long days driving in the truck to reach Manaus on the Amazon. Crossed the equator early on day 2 (never done that before). Had a chance for a quick look around on the day we arrived, then re-pack kit for ferry trip up the Rio Madeira, pizza in the main square, and a few beers to round off the evening. Up the following morning to the lovely sound of torrential rain. Bugger - need to go and buy a mossie net to go with a hammock I bought in Santa Elena. We also have new people to meet. Manaus is the end of leg 1 of my trip and the start of leg 2. We lost Brad, Tom, and Gareth from leg 1 (two US and one Brit down) and gained Kerry, Rhys, Starna, Niamh, Colin, Carol & Shirley (one more Aussie giving us 4 in total, another American, one Irish, and four more Brits). Met up with a few of them over breakfast, and then we headed off as a group into the rain for mossie nets. Mission accomplished, we were then driven down to the port in the truck. Last trip for a while: the truck goes in a different ferry to us. Dash around the port to find our boat and get our hammocks up whilst there is at least a little space. Very cramped but at least I had people from our group on either side (Niamh & Nas). Some of the others ended up with their hammocks touching other peoples or with others strung across them at a higher/lower level. Still only 2 nights on this public ferry before a change to another one further upstream. Maybe that will be less crowded.

Had a little bit of time in Manaus before the ferry left, so Nas and Niamh and myself (the 3 veggies) set off in search of food. Found a nice salad bar and then headed back to a fresh juice bar we found the evening before. And then back to the ferry. Managed to pass the two nights and 3 days reasonably comfortably and saw some dolphins (both grey and pink species) from the boat.

Arrived in Manicore late afternoon and transferred to next ferry. Did I wish it was less crowded than the previous one? No such luck - the captain had reserved a bit of space for us, but nowhere enough for 19 hammocks. Ended up wedged in next to Star with a post inbetween us. Made for a potentially uncomfortable night. However this could be offset by the fact that we managed to get into Manicore and buy some rum and coke for the journey. ;-) Only one night on this boat anyway before we transfer to a private boat we have chartered.

Must discuss ferry food somewhere in here, so why not now. Veggie option? Well that will be plain rice and/or pasta with some sort of salad (if you´re lucky). Good way to travel if you´re a vegetarian on a diet.

Camera stopped working during the evening, so until I get it fixed or buy a replacement, I´ll be begging the rest of the group for photos. Managed to survive the night and the next day. Schedule said we´d get into Juamita between 5 and 7 in the afternoon. Delayed a bit leaving Manicore so latest word was 8:30 instead. Most of us took our hammocks down and started getting bags packed at about this time. This was the signal for some of the other passengers to grab some space from us. Soon became clear that 8:30 wasn´t going to happen and neither was 9, 10, 11, or midnight. Strung some hammocks back up in the reduced space for people to get at least a little sleep. Found a nice spot on the floor for myself. Finally arrived Juamita at 3am and had to push backpacks, and ourselves through the multitude of still-occupied hammocks to get across to our private boat. At least now we can relax and sleep for a few nights.

Orinoco Delta onwards thru Venezuela

Good news folks - another new entry and from a new country. I´ve been in Brazil for over a week now. However seeing as finding time on the internet is a rare occurrence, this will still deal with stuff from Venezuela for now.

After the Delta, we again camped in Tucupita before travelling south to the old Venezuelan capital of Ciudad Bolivar. Some nice spots in the city but very very hot and full of shoe shops. Don´t think I´ve ever seen quite so many. A posada just outside the city was our base for a couple of days as we split the tour group into two sections. Posada was great and this time I took the opportunity with Nas and Sue to upgrade to a room (with comfy beds and a shower). Also had a wonderful mango tree in the grounds, so Nas and me collected them up and had a mango party with Mara one afternoon. Think we got through 10 or more mangoes between us. The main attraction from Bolivar is the Angel Falls but there was also the option of a 6-day trek up Roraima (Arthur Conan-Doyle´s ´The Lost World´). This meant the ones who wanted to do the trek had to to do a quick one-day trip to the falls. This was still worth while but we missed out on the river trip up to the base of the falls, and could only do a flight past them in a small plane. This was still good to do but it was disappointing not to be able to do both.

However Roraima was well worth it. Six from our Drago group of 16 got the overnight bus south from Bolivar to the border town of Santa Elena. This was an experience in itself. Bus was amazingly comfortable (better than any National Express coach in the UK). However the Venezuelan army have security patrols out, and somewhere around 3am we got stopped at one of these. Everyone and all of their luggage had to get off the bus to have bags searched and id checked. Then just in case that wasn´t enough, the process got repeated not far short of Santa Elena at about 8am. Finally reached our destination and then packed ourselves into a landrover to travel to Paraitepuy for the start of the trek. Had a few outsiders join us: 2 guys from Switzerland, Aili from Finland (who spoke perfect English but with an Irish accent), and an American/Venezuelan student couple Nina & Dan. First days walking was fairly gentle after an initial steep descent and ascent through a river valley. Reached Rio Tek camp in time for a nice dip in the river to cool off. Late evening meal and then off to bed for what was planned to be an early night. Sharing a tent with Aili and we both realised that, actually, we weren´t that tired. Chatted through until not short of midnight at which point Darryl´s NZ voice came from the next tent asking us (politely) to shut up and go to sleep. Day 2 was also fairly gentle but with more climb than the first day. Again we had the opportuniy for a swim. This time it was the Rio Kukenan which had a larger pool and was absolutely wonderful. Then on to our lunch spot which Darryl missed by walking too fast. The guides couldn´t catch up with him and he reached base camp, our overnight spot) by lunchtime.
Day 3 came and the big ascent up Roraima. For those who don´t know the mountain, it is one of the tepuys in this part of the world. These are big blocks of sandstone that rise pretty much vertically out of the plains below. Our task this morning was a very short walk (only a few k) but with about 900 metres of ascent. Managed to get up to the plateau at the top in a couple of hours and then did some exploring whilst waiting for the others. Darryl (of course) was already there. Nas and then Aili followed not long after. Rest of group arrived in time for lunch and then it was a shortish trek across the plateau to our base for the next couple of nights: Hotel Guacharo. Before any of you think this was a 5-star hotel on the top of the mountain, let me describe it. The only wall was the cliff face behind us and the ceiling was just an overhang of rock coming out from the cliff. Basically we camped in the entrance and area around an old cave. Quite cloudy at first but it did clear later so we got to see the view down to base camp and across Venezuela into the distance.

´Hotel´was a lovely spot to sit and watch the stars but we still got a reasonably early night ready for the following days exertions. Here we split into two groups again - one doing a short walk and one heading off on a longer trek to the Triple Point (more later). Darryl, Nas, Aili and myself went for the long option and trekked past amazing rock formations. Going to try to remember some of them here but will forget some: elephant, pig, monkey licking an ice cream, turtle, and so on. Also trekked through the valley of crystals where the floor was covered with quartz, and the valley of penises where the crystals and rocks were shaped (well I think you can guess that). Reached the triple point late morning and visited 3 countries in less than a minute. This is where the borders of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana meet. Shame there wasn´t a customs official there to stamp my passport. Then on to our lunch spot which was by an old sinkhole called ´the pit´. This is a circular hole in the ground, about 6 or 7 metres deep, with 2 metre deep water in the bottom. Clambered over, under and through the surrounding rocks to get down there and had a great (of very cold) swim before lunch. Then back across the plateau for a second night at the hotel.

Early start on day 5 - we were trekking all the way back to Rio Tek with our lunchstop being base camp. Led the way going down and was back at base camp by 09:30. Gave me time to do some laundry in the streaams there and have another lovely dip in the cold water. The rest of the group arrived by 12 and quick lunch was followed by the trek back to Rio Tek (obviously with another swim in the Kukenan). Then a fairly boozy night to celebrate our achievement of conquering the mountain and finally a morning trek back to Paraitepuy.

Landrover back to Santa Elena through absolutely torrential rain (we were very lucky with the weather before this). Staying in a posada in town with the rest of the Drago group and a chance to exchange tales of our two trips. Apparently the Falls group got wetter than we did - they caught a lot of water on one of the rapids and pretty much filled the boat and several cameras.

Said goodbye to Dan, Nina, and Aili - they were all heading back north on the bus to Bolivar and Caracas. Then a last meal in Venezuela before an early start the next day to cross the border into Brazil.

Playa Puy-Puy to Orinoco Delta

And on we go on the next leg of this blog. After the early morning swim it was back on the truck and back up the dusty road to the hacienda for our tour of the cocoa plantation. I can now tell you all the stages from the fruit growing on the tree, drying, fermentation, and production of cocoa powder. However you probably need to ask me now, or else I´ll forget.

Next day was the oilbird caves where we were going to camp for the night. More practice of Spanish as I went around the museum and read all the displays. Again surprised myself with the amount of stuff I could recall from all those lessons back at the end of the nineties. That was the highlight of the evening seeing as the oilbirds themselves failed to put on the spectacular sunset exit from the cave. Apparently they put on a better show at 4am the next morning when they returned but only Nas was mad enough to get up to view this. Had a tour of the caves which are quite spectacular. The guides on early morning duty were all non-English speakers so we had the option of waiting or going with these and doing our own translation. Fascinating to watch his reactions as one of the three of us transalted what he was telling us. Whenever one of us answered and seemd to understand wehat he was saying , then the next description would be fired directly to that person until one of the other two answered and then he would talk to them. Not sure we translated everything correctly but we had a good go at it.

Then back on the truck for the drive to a ranch where we were going to stay the night. This was the height of luxury compared with other places so far. Option existed to rent a room for the night but I stuck to a tent this time. But there was also pool (both of the swimming and billiards type) and a table tennis table. Found out that my table tennis skills are a little rusty but did run Darryl very close in the 3rd game we played. Got to be 18-17 up before he then served and upped the pace a bit. There were a couple of local señoras who were quite keen on dancing with all the guys from our truck. Did a couple of sambas but managed to escape the drunken dancing at the end of the evening. Sort of implied that Sue was my girlfriend - they´d still try and grab you to dance until she came near and then they picked on someone else. Adjourned from the bar and over to Cameron (bar closed, alcohol in the truck). This eventually turned into the first of what I suspect will be many long nights fuelled by rum and whisky. We were just finishing off the bottles in the truck when Mike turned up to cook the next day´s breakfast at 7am. Managed to work my way through and help. Mostly this was because I though that if I went to bed, that would be it and I wouldn´t be up in time for when the truck left. This was a wise move - Darryl did go to bed and Dave the Hat had to go and turf him out of bed two hours later.

Then a short drive to Tucupita (Dave had promised five hours which I thought would be good for a snooze to recover from the previous night) but we rolled into town at lunchtime. After a bit of shopping and internet we set up our camp a little way out of town. Again some rooms were on offer but showers were also available so most of us stuck to camping. Managed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Local police turned up and wanted to know who we were, how long we were staying, and when we were leaving. At the time Dave the Hat and Nas were both elsewhere, so I got to do the talking. Answered most of their questions and after a couple of ¨No entiendo la pregunta¨they decided they we were harmless enough and left. Only realized afterwards that I had a can of beer in my hand the whole time I was talking to them.

Saturday morning and back into town to the tourist office of the firm that we were going to spend the next three days with in the Orinoco Delta. Drove out to a nearby village to get on our boat into the delta. Had two other guests with us: Oonagh and Lisa from Ireland. They were travelling around Venezuela independently for 3 wks and would join us for the 1st 1 1/2 days. Trip downstream was good - lots of trees, plants, birds and even some howler monkeys to see. Stopped for lunch part way and had the chance of a swim in the Orinoco. Were warned to swim before letting any food drop in the water. Don´t think there were any dangerous fish, but as soon as someone dropped some bread in, then the fish were there eating it. And so on to camp at Aventura Turistica and more hammocks. Went via a Warao Indian village on the edge of the water. Amazing number and variety of pets, including macaws, dogs, and even agoutis. First evening we split into two groups, one going off in canoes before dinner and rest of us after dinner. Didn´t really see too much - spiders, bats. Back at camp another long night ensued. Sue, Oonagh and myself went for a (almost) midnight swim until our hostess told us we shouldn´t really be doing that. At that point Oonagh went off to bed and Sue, Darryl and myself (amazingly the same 3 of us who had been up all night at the ranch. Conincidence? I think not - have a suspicion the alcoholics in the group have already made themselves known) joined one of the guides for some cuba libres (rum, coke, lime and ice). John the guide has taught himself English, mostly by getting quotes from films and translating them, so we helped him with some of the phrases he couldn´t managed and added a few more. Did actually go to bed this time, but I´m told it was around 4am, although as I didn´t check my watch I´m sure they´re exaggerating. Anyway managed to kept up in time for breakfast the following morning without any problem. Then it was back into the canoe for a wildlife watching trip. Managed to see a bit more by daylight including howler monkeys. Managed to get some ok photos. Had a slight problem with the canoe which we realized when Mara, who was sitting in the front, started bailing out water. And then to make sure we got wet, it rained very heavily on us. Back to camp and a walk through the local jungle with John to be told about some of the local plants and their uses for the Warao. All had to put wellies on, which worried Oonagh a little seeing as she was dressed in white from head to toe. Dave the Hat showed the second group to go out a video of Nas he had taken whilst she was stuck in the mud. Sure this did Oonagh´s confidence the world of good. Fortunately Oonagh managed to stay upright, and only Mara fell over (twice), straight into the mud. Back at camp most of us went for a swim. This can be surprisingly hard work as the current is very strong. It takes a lot of effort to swim against the current and pretty much as soon as you stop, you drift rapidly back to where you started. At lunch the two Irish girls were told they would be leaving for Tucupita in ten minutes. Meant a mad period of packing and then they were off. Well not quite, Lisa left the pink top she had just washed in the river on the rails of the camp, so I had to throw it to her. Pity they had gone - it was good to have a couple of different faces to interact with (not that there is anything wrong with the Dragoman group of course - they might read this one day!!!!).
After they left the afternoon was spent on another trip to a local village. Blazing sunshine on the way to it and torrential rain on the way back. Steve ´drew´the short straw. He moved from the edge of the boat to avoid the rain, and then got caught full in the face by a torrent of water when the rain was heaviest. He couldn´t have been wetter if someone had poured a bucket of water over him.
Back to camp, played cards, chilled, and had a fairly early night. Final day in the Orinoco was spent with another visit to a village, and then a return upstream for lunch and a swim at the same spot as on Saturday. Then back to the village and the landrover ride to Tucupita. All in all a very tiring few days in the Delta.

Caracas to Playa Puy-Puy

Well at least that is the plan. Not sure how far I´ll get through that part of the trip in this entry but need to make the effort. Left Caracas on the morning of the 30th, so am almost two weeks behind already. Not getting much free time in places where there is in Internet access, so have to make the most of the few opportunities.

Anyway got introduced to Cameron in the morning (tour is so friendly, even the truck has a name). From Caracas we headed east after a poor start. Dave and Darryl our drivers and guides took wrong turning in Caracas and we ended up just down the road from the hotel after 20 minutes driving. After that inauspicious start, things improved. We had pretty much a full days driving ahead of us with just a couple of breaks. First roadside lunch and team moved into an operation almost military in style.



Another break in Puerta la Cruz to buy in essentials (namely alcohol) and an opportunity to get some more Bolivars after contributing my 50000 to the beer kitty. And then on to Playa Colorada passing some beautiful coastal scenery and reaching our home for the next 3 nights: the Posada Jakera.

One of many firsts on the trip followed - a night in a hammock. Think the group of 7 of us in our room got the best deal. Lovely mesh all around the walls to stop the mozzies getting in and a fan as well. Made it very comfortable. Amazingly had no trouble sleeping but maybe that was due to the amount of alcohol consumed before going to bed.

Up early on New Year´s Eve for a day of sea kayaking (another first) out to and around some of the islands just offshore. Beautiful sunny calm morning. Made for a nice paddle even if the rudder on my kayak was causing problems. Spottd quite a bit of wildlife on the way as well: pelicans, boobies, dolphins. Stopped on one of the islands for lunch, some snorkelling (again a first for me), swimming, and sunbathing. Local iguanas provided some entertainment. First of all they come crashing down the hill to the beach (no way would they be able to creep up on anything), and then proceed to pose for photos, and eat bread from our lunch. Anyway then it was onto another island and some more swimming, and finally back to shore. Some of the group got to the see the dolphins right up close but I was too far away :-(


Then on to New Year´s Eve celebrations at the Posada. Had some locals and another group of travellers join us (mostly European). Had great fun celebrating each countries New Year in turn (except Australia - far too early Venezuela time to be drinking or maybe we just forgot!). Bottle of Glenlivet I purchased at Caracas airport got opened and we had a long drunken night, finishing with a celebration of New Year in British Columbia and California. By this time I think there were only 3 of our group still standing, although I could be wrong on that. Memories are a little hazy but as I recall Nas from California and Sue & myself were there to celebrate. At that point Sue and me called it a night but apparently Nas kept the party going all night before rolling into her hammock at lunchtime the following day.

After all that New Year´s Day was spent fairly quietly, though some of us did stroll down to the beach for lunch. Back o nthe beer again in the evening but a bit more controlled this time - we knew we had to be early the following day to get back on the truck for our next day of travel.

Driving a truck the size of Cameron around Venezuela can be quite interesting. Many of the cables overhead are very low. Hence every so often, one of the drivers needs to climb up out of the cab window to check clearance (as demonstrated by Darryl here). This was the first day plans went wrong. We were due to stay at a hacienda on a cocoa plantation for a couple of nights with a tour of the plantation and a talk on how chocolate is made. However when we reached the place, the owner wasn´t there and our reservation wasn´t honoured. They suggested a nearby beach, Playa Puy-Puy as a good place to camp. So off we headed. There were more and lower cables than ever down the unmade road leading to the beach. Think we only took one with us! Beach was worth the effort though. Also gave me a chance to practice my Spanish skills. We picked up group of hikers on the way - most were European (Italian, Austrian) but the girl who sat next to me on the truck was Venezuelan. Managed to keep a conversation going for twenty minutes until we arrived at the beach. Don´t think it was the most stimulating disussion ever but was very pleasing to have been able to do (and only a few pauses whilst my brain frantically tried to think of Spanish words or how to re-phrase what I was saying to fit my knowledge of the language). Beach was a lovely site to wake up in the morning. Who needs a shower when you can throw yourself straight in the Caribbean at 7 in the morning.


Looks like this blog entry has reached its conclusion. Still a week behind seeing as all this happened by 2nd January but getting closer to be up to date. Maybe more will follow today, maybe sometime later. Who knows?

Some like it hot!

Ok, folks. 30 minutes spare and with an internet connection available, so time to get the South America trip blog up and running. Photos to follow later so you´ll just have to be happy with text for now.

Flew into Caracas last Thursday. Ridiculously early flight out of Heathrow terminal 2 at 06:25. Meant being in the queue for airport security before it even opened at 5am. Aaaagggghhhhh. Hate early mornings. Hate having to kip at an airport even more. Was lucky and found a nice set of four seats together to lay down on. However just 30 minutes later, the cleaning staff arrived to say I had to move because they wanted to shampoo the carpets. Comfort then disappeared as I tried to get close to something resembling comfort on a pair of seats. Not easy. Slept a bit but not much. Very difficult when the airport security announcements about not leaving bags unattended keep being played all through the night at full volume. Flights were both on time (into Frankfurt and back out again). Nice wake up at Frankfurt when you get off the plane to find it is 0C and you have to get on a bus back to the terminal. Fortunately departure gate for Caracas was right next to the bus drop-off point. Then got overfed for the next ten hours. Lufthansa managed to fit in two full meals, a round of sandwiches, and other bits inbetween. Arrived Caracas to find temperature of around about 30C. Dispensed with the fleece fairly rapidly. Taxi ride to hotel was an experience. Cab with no air conditioning, driver was a maniac. Luckily there was a very large traffic queue at one point. One of the bridges on the main highway between the airport and downtown Caracas collapsed a while back and they are still rebuilding. Means traffic from a 3 lane highway has to merge down onto a very small road around the old bridge. Hotel Floresta was good. Rooms clean and comfortable. Even had the privacy of a single room for the 1st night. Thought about maybe having a look at a bit of Caracas or going down to the bar to see if anyone else on the trip I´ve joined up with was already there. But the opportunity to just chill and catch up with some sleep won out. Even managed to find Scrubs on tv (may be a while before I see a telly again).

Next morning came far too soon, but did get plenty of sleep so can´t complain too much. Lots of people down for breakfast. Of course first person I met had to be another Brit, and a local one at that: Sue from near Midhurst in Sussex. Gradually met up with the rest of the group and the tour leader (Dave the Hat). We have a mix of nationalities (Brits, Americans, Swedes, Aussies, and a Canadian) and ages (mid 20s to 60). Morning briefing on plans for the next few days and a chance to get to chat with other people in the group, a change of rooms to triples (teamed with an America called Brad and an Aussie called Mara) and then off a brief city tour in the afternoon. Got to see quite a few sites in the city centre and a bit of a drive around the outer limits of the centre. Cathedral is impressive, lots of stuff relating to Simon Bolivar (founded Venezuela and did lots of other stuff in Latin America) to see. Think my favourite was the Panteon.

Back to the hotel and a group meal at a nearby Chinese restaurant. First opportunity to practice my Spanish skills. Fortunately I´m not the only veggie on the trip. Nas from San Francisco means we have two people looking for veggie options, and seeing as she is one of the other 2 or 3 on the trip who speak some Spanish we managed to get some good Chinese veggie food. Back to the hotel for a few more beers (just as a way of getting to know people obviously). Four of us headed back into the centre to see if we could find a club. Little success though. Did have a drink and a boogie in a bar, but then eventually ended up in a mall just up the road from the hotel. Late night though: 2:30 am. Back into hotel room - thought I´d creep in quietly not to disturb the others only to find Brad had shut the connecting door in the middle of the room and I walked straight into it. Oh well its the thought that counts.

Enough for now - running out of time and need to get this published. More to follow next time I get some internet time.