Month: May 2016

Week 17 Summary

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Week 17: Manaus, Amazon River, Leticia, Bogota 
Day 113: April 24th 

We woke up the next day as the sun came up. We were hungry and had not eaten dinner the night before. Eduardo made spaghetti with sausage for breakfast because we hadn’t made it the night before. It was a strange breakfast on an empty stomach and we didn’t eat much. We returned to our hostel and looked into future traveling plans individually. The girls bought a ticket for a boat ride toward Santarem, the direction from which we had come. William bought a flight to Tabatanga, the nearest town to the Colombia border. We looked into traveling to Venezuela and hiking up mount Roraima. This mountain borders three countries and we hoped to climb it without entering Venezuela. Last year they began requiring visas to enter Venezuela for U.S. Citizens. We were unable to obtain this visa from outside of America. We found out it is almost impossible to hike the mountain from Brazil or Guyana and decided not to risk crossing into Venezuela without a visa. We were disappointed but hope to travel Venezuela in a few years when the situation improves. Instead, we booked a boat ride to Tabatanga. The airplane ticket had become more expensive and we found a speedboat that takes only 36 hours to travel from the middle of the Amazon to the border of Colombia. I went with Eduardo and William to pick up our laundry. We paid around $1 per person to take a special bike to pick up the laundry. There are multiple bikes connected like train cars and the owner of the bike business rides in the front to steer. Usually the bike is just taken around the tourist section which does not have regular vehicle traffic. We took the bike out onto main traffic and had to pedal frantically after red lights. It was quite a spectacle and most everyone was laughing at us. It was a lot of fun and we made it safely to Eduardo’s aunts apartment to pick up our laundry. It had rained the night before and our clothes had been hanging outside the window. Most of them were not yet dry and the bags were very heavy. We pedaled back but the chain broke on my bike. I then had to hold the four bags of wet heavy clothes and because I was at the back the group struggled to drag me. We had to get off at hills and push the bike but all in all it was a great form of transportation. We hung out clothes on the roof of the hostel and hoped they would dry. We then all went to the opera house to watch a free show with a Japanese pianist. Unfortunately, we were a little too late and the opera house filled up only a few people before us. It had started raining so maybe it was for the best as we returned to move out clothes under a roof to dry. I strung up clothes lines and our clothes were rescued before it was too late. Later that night we met Eduardo, our Amazon group, and some other hostel friends and went out for sushi. After sushi we went to a bar nearby for live music. Then most of us went out to a club which supposedly had forró music which is a local style. We were not impressed by the club or the music and most of us took a taxi home before too long. 

Day 114:

We woke up early for breakfast and to say goodbye to Iris and Hannah. We were sad to see them leave but happy they had each other as travel company during the long boat rides ahead. We relaxed a bit that morning and finally managed to book our boat tickets. We went with William to a Mediterranean restaurant for some great hummus and soup. Then we tried to go to a botanical park but realized it was closed before going. Then we attempted to visit multiple museums which were all closed. We returned to the hostel and relaxed. That night the three of us took Eduardo out to dinner for the last time. We went to a nearby restaurant and ordered a massive amount of fish called Tambaqui. This fish has very large rib bones that make it quite easy to eat. We had some fried and some grilled and though we ordered food for at least six people, we ate it all. I paid for the dinner as a token of friendship and a goodbye. We headed to bed as we had to wake up early the next morning. 
Day 115: 

We woke up around 5 a.m. and headed to the boat dock. We took a taxi with our Japanese friend who speaks very little English or Portuguese. After waiting in line we boarded the boat and had the 3 seats in the back row for the two of us. The boat had seats for around 120 people and was a bit roomier than a bus or airplane but had a similar feel. There is a kitchen on board and a small area in the back where you can stretch your legs. There were tv screens playing movies the whole trip but there was no sound and Portuguese subtitles. I had some great practice reading Portuguese and enjoyed some movies I hadn’t seen before. The boat travelled only a few feet from the bank and we had a great view of the flora and limited fauna. There are several air conditioners on the boat and it was quite comfortable. We made several stops but never for more than ten minutes to unload and load passengers. The food was good but not great and luckily included in the trip. That night we struggled to sleep as the boat was freezing cold. No one turned off the multiple air conditioners and it was difficult to sleep. I laid on the floor but eventually had to cuddle with Sarahi for warmth.

Day 116: 

I was happy but cranky when the sun rose. We had cake and coffee for breakfast, something common in Brazil. Soon we made another stop where dozens of passengers got on board. We had to share our extra seat and plastic chairs were set up in the back for extra seating. Nonetheless there was standing room only until the next stop. A very large man sat down next to me at this point and I felt a bit crowded. We did some reading and watched movies throughout the day. We saw a lot of Amazon River bank and some small towns along the way. We were happy to find that most villages of more than five buildings had a church in the center of the village. We saw a three+ foot alligator tail floating in the water and caught two beautiful sunsets while on the boat. As it became dark, we finally reached our destination. We said goodbye to our Japanese friend and took a taxi across the border into Colombia. Just on the other side we found a hotel for less than $25. We took a walk and found a bank where I withdrew Colombian pesos. One U.S. Dollar equals around 3,000 Colombian pesos and we felt quite rich. We went to a nice sandwich shop and returned to our room, very happy to have beds. 

Day 117:

The next day we walked to the grocery store and bought some exotic fruits and some pastries for breakfast. When paying I realized I had left my debit card in the atm machine the night before. We returned to the bank praying my card was still there. By the grace of God the bank had my card and returned it to me. We enjoyed our breakfast and then packed our bags. We headed to the airport in a taxi and talked to an immigration official. He told us we needed an exit stamp from Brazil. We started walking back with all of our belongings and took two moto taxis to the federal police of Brazil station. Here we had our visas stamped and were informed of a small fine we will have to pay upon reentering the country because we overstayed our 90 day visa. We walked back to Colombia and took a three wheeled taxi back to the airport. We talked for a long time with the Colombian immigration official and then boarded our plane for bogota. Because the flight from Manaus was so expensive we had taken the boat and a much cheaper domestic flight. When we arrived in Colombia we were surprised to find cold, rainy weather. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant in the airport and then took a taxi to our hostel/ bed and breakfast. We had a cozy room and blankets for the first time in months. We were soon fast asleep. 

Day 118: 

We woke up and were given breakfast at our hostel. We decided to stay another night and then headed to the nearby Botero museum. It is a massive and beautiful museum featuring the art of Colombian artist Botero who draws everything in a plump version. After a couple hours of walking and only seeing half of the museum we headed to the Bolivar plaza where we saw a very old church and the Palace of Justice. We continued walking and had gyros for lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant. We returned to our room for a nap and noticed all the construction workers were taking a siesta as well. We napped and watched a movie for most of the afternoon. That night we went out for dinner at a nearby Peruvian restaurant. It was delicious and we enjoyed ceviche and fried seafood. It was raining when we left and we hurried back to our room. We watched a little tv and went to sleep. 

Day 119: 

The next day we had a lazy morning and talked through some relationship issues. After breakfast and packing we headed to a new hostel only a couple of blocks away. We found a private room with breakfast for only $17 dollars. We went out to a fabulous French restaurant for a nice lunch. Then we headed to Bogota Beer Company to try the local craft beer. After spending the afternoon here we returned to our room for a nap. We didn’t wake up until around 10 p.m. and were hungry. We headed to Megaburger for a greasy but delicious hamburger for a couple dollars each. We returned to our room and watched the Netflix show Narcos which tells the history of Pablo Escobar and the DEA agents who helped catch him. Our room was next to a courtyard area full of young travelers who talked late into the night. Eventually they were quiet and we went to bed. 

Week 16 Summary

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Week 16: Manaus, Amazon Rainforest
Day 106: April 17th

We woke up to the sound of jungle birds singing and roosters crowing. After a nice breakfast we packed up our things. I went for a swim/bath in the river and we soon took our things and got back in our boat. The boat is essentially a large canoe, made by hand at the house I might add, with a small motor attached to a 4 foot pole and propeller. We took the boat through the Amazon River tributaries and small lakes until we found a quiet cove. We parked the boat and journeyed into the jungle. We wandered around the jungle a bit and Eduardo showed us cool things. We saw a walking tree that constantly grows new roots that protrude a couple feet from the ground. As the old roots for the tree moves in the direction of the growing new roots. In this way the tree can “walk” around the jungle. We found a babbasoo coconut tree and chopped open the coconuts to find firefly larva inside. These grubs are edible and contain so much protein you only need to eat four per day to survive. We all ate one and I found it disgusting but others didn’t mind the taste. We also found ants that when rubbed over the skin provide natural insect repellant. These ants bite however so I wouldn’t recommend this method. We found a tree around 6 feet wide that had fallen over and made camp next to it. We had no idea the intensity of the project we were beginning. We started by clearing out a 40 square foot area of all small trees and bushes with machetes. Some of the trees have a trunk lined with thorns so we had to use other branches as a broom as we had no gloves. We then proceeded to cut down two thick trees about 50 feet tall. We carried these back to the camp with a bit of difficulty as the jungle is quite thick and hard to maneuver in. Then we cut down six forked trees to use as supports. We used the large trees still in our campsite as supports and places the long beams against them. The forked trees were placed underneath and then we cut many vines out of trees to lash these three pieces together about 6 feet off the ground. Then we cut several more, I think around 16 in total, long trees to build the top of the frame in a more triangular shape. We made some mistakes and cut trees that weren’t quite the right size or shape and had to make adjustments on the fly. After four hours of work we were exhausted, blistered, bleeding, and starving. But the camp was not done yet so we continued until we put up a large tarp as a roof and hung our hammocks underneath. It was nearly dark by this time and we had run out of water. We took the boat to the nearest place to buy water, about 30 minutes away on the river. While on this trip we dropped some nets in the water. We grabbed some snacks and beer and a chicken before we took a quick swim next to the dock. Eduardo wouldn’t let us swim in the river at night because of the caimans and other threats. Finally we returned to our campsite after stopping on the way to collect our net and a few more fish. We started a fire in order to cook the fish, chicken, and some rice for dinner. I was so tired I laid down in my hammock and was instantly asleep. I woke up for dinner and as soon as we ate everyone was in their hammocks. 

Day 107: 

I woke up the next morning and had to go to the bathroom. I accidentally woke up Sarahi and noticed Eduardo was awake in his hammock as I grabbed some toilet paper and headed out of camp. After taking care of business I started walking back toward the camp but somehow missed it through the dense forest. I tried to retrace my steps but soon had the feeling I was completely lost. I heard some noise and assumed it was someone else taking care of business and walking back to camp. So I followed the noise but soon found a family of monkeys jumping noisily through the tree tops. At this point I realized I was really lost but I didn’t give up and headed toward the river. I found it eventually and expected it would help me have an idea of where to go. But after a few more minutes of wandering I decided I was hopelessly turned around. I was worried that everyone in camp was still sleeping but decided to yell helllooooo multiple times anyway. Eduardo replied with some strange animal call that I hoped was the camp and after a long game of Marco Polo in the forest I thankfully found the campsite again. We ate crackers and very grainy coffee for breakfast but we soon heard thunder. The rain approached quickly and we frantically cut down many palm branches to build a roof of sorts over our fire. We scrambled to find firewood as the rain began to pour. We relaxed in our waterproof shelter and collected rain water from the tarp to drink. Eventually the rain stopped and we walked to the river and hopped in our boat. We spent a little time putting up a net and then returned to the floating store to buy water and fishing hooks. We went for a swim and stopped to cut dry firewood from a half submerged tree. You know you’re in the rainforest when wood in the river is drier than in the forest. We returned to the net but only caught a few small fish so a few of us took the firewood back to camp while the others moved the net. We met at camp and ate some leftover rice for a late lunch. Eduardo made us fishing poles out of saplings while we chopped up many babbasoo coconuts and shaved off the edible section. Then we pounded the pieces into a fine powder to use as flour in a cake. It was almost dark when we returned to the water. We used leftover rancid chicken meat as bait and after dropping the baited hooks in the water the key is to splash in the water with the fishing pole. This simulates an animal thrashing around in the water and attracts the piranha. We all caught at least a small piranha except Hannah who caught a sardine. It was dark by now and the mosquitos came out in swarms. We went to check the net and found over 50 fish!! Unfortunately 40 of them were small piranha which we had to painfully take out the net the next day once they were dead. The other fish were mostly mapara, sort of like a catfish with no scales and great filets, but twice as delicious. We returned to camp and prepared the fish as well as some fresh rice. While the fish was cooking we built a table out of three triangle formation trees and split Palm branches. It looked nice and we were extra proud when we had a table full of fresh fish we had caught ourselves. It was without a doubt one of the best meals of my life. As soon as dinner was over everyone was instantly in bed. We heard a jaguar in the distance but soon I drowned it out with my snoring. 


Day 108: 

The next morning we ate a breakfast of crackers and coffee before packing up our camp. We packed everything back into the boat and headed back to the house from the first night. We met another backpacker from Australia and then took a jungle hike as a group. We walked to the spring where the house collects the water we had been drinking. Then we continued walking until we found a water vine. You can cut out a section and drink the water that drips out. It’s the best water I’ve ever tasted. We reached a pond where we found out we had to swim across. We were all wearing boots and dry clothes so we built a raft out of rotting wood and vines and put our belongings on top. Then we towed the raft while we swam across the pond. We returned to the house for a fantastic lunch and a swim in the lake in front of the house. Then we took the boat back to the road where we rode in a Volkswagen bus until we reached the main stretch of river. Here we took a boat back to Manaus and then a car back to the agency near our hostel. It was a fabulous time and we were sad to see it end. But we were so happy for a shower and clean dry clothes. After getting cleaned up we went out to dinner at a pizza buffet. It was delicious but I felt terrible for a couple days because it was such a shock to my system after eating mostly fish and rice for days. We went out to a bar afterwards but were all so tired we soon returned to the hostel and slept great. 


Day 109:

We were happy for a day to recuperate but liked eachother so much that the whole group changed their plans and stayed together for a couple more days. We took our dirty laundry and walked awhile across the city with Eduardo to his aunts house who agreed to wash our laundry cheaply. Then we stopped by a museum nearby. The group split up at this point and Sarahi and I relaxed at the hostel. We had a late lunch and set up a tour for the next day. That night we went with Eduardo William and Hannah to a beautiful beach on the banks of the rio negro. We swam for a little while and walked around the well developed beach area. We rode the bus back and soon went to bed. 
Day 110:

The next day we had breakfast at our hostel and then headed back to the tour agency. We were taken by two cars to the outskirts of the city to the house of the shaman. He was an older guy who did not speak English and was a little strange but nice. We had booked the tour to try ayahuasca, a Peruvian Indian medicine and ritual. The medicine is made from cooking together a vine and the leaves from another plant. The resulting tea looks like coffee but tastes much worse. The tea is believed to cleanse the drinker and provide clarity or revelations. It is also common to have visions and hallucinations. We spent the day relaxing, napping, and preparing for the tea drinking experience. Around six at night we drank the tea while sitting on a back porch covered by a tin roof. It began to rain and continued all night. After drinking the tea Sarahi was the first to throw up. This is a common part of the experience and is part of the cleansing process. I threw up as well but then laid down and had a good time. My mind was very active and I had some visions when my eyes were closed. I thought about a lot of things from my past and had some very random thoughts. Sarahi did not have much of a positive experience and felt sick most of the time. Iris was also sick much of the time. The rest of us enjoyed it although everyone threw up. Eduardo drank three cups and William had two. No one had life changing revelations but we did feel “cleansed the next day”. We all fell asleep by midnight on hammocks or mats laid on the floor. 

All in all it was one of the best weeks of the whole year. We really enjoyed our friends and had a great time in the jungle.