So.. hello there.
Where to commence!? There is so much that has happened, and so little time to recount!
We have, after a long journey, finally arrived to Belem in Brazil. Since the last time I blogged, when I was situated in San Cristobal in Venezuela, I have journeyd from San Cristobal - Caracas - Puerto Ordaz - Boa Vista - Manaus - Santarem - Alter do Chao - Santarem - Belem. We have mounted plains, buses, taxis, boats and hammocks, waited, smiled, laughed, gotten to know new people, gotten sick, gotten robbed and then waited some more.
As I have before stated, San Cristobal is the city of my exchange. Leaving my city, at the end of my exchange year 2009, was one of the hardest moments of my life, because it was the end of something really, really special.
This time, leaving San Cristobal, was not as difficult. This time it wasn´t the end of something, but the beginning: The beginning of a trip. The beginning of living.
When flying from San Cristobal to Una in Puerto Ordaz, I made the mistake of not plasting my bag. I can blame myself that all my medicine got stolen.. Without wanting to be mean, I hope the thief gets malaria. Then at least my extremely expensive malaria medicine wont go to waist..
We spent one night in Puerto Ordaz before we hit the road: before we mounted the 30 hour bus to Manaus. The bus trip was actually, quite not thad bad. We slept, had some nice view, got to know some interesting people, plus we had a lot of catching up to do after such a long time apart.
We had the bad luck of arriving to Manaus on a Sunday - for those who do not know, everything is quite closed on Sundays in South America. But we still managed to get a guide to show us around the city and had a really pleasant day there.
On a Monday, 12 February, I fulfilled an old dream of mine: I sailed the Amazon. I fulfilled this dream of mine on Monday, Tuesday.. Friday, Saturday and Sunday! It was quite a long trip.
The trip was interesting: The boat had two floors where people put up their hammocks and slept. Our hammocks were nicely situated (awaaaay from the toilets and the smell that follows) and we had a nice view over the Amazon river and the forest. The food that was sold on the boat could barely have been less interesting, so we lived mostly of fruits and unflavored crackers.
On Tuesday night we made a stop in a city called Santarem, where we joined a Colombian dancing group and their Brazilian friend, to a place between Santarem and Alter do Chao. The day that we spent there, was, without a doubt, one of the most interesting I have experienced in my life. When we got off the bus, near to Alter do Chao, it seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere. There, in the middle of nowhere, we were told that the Pousada we were looking for, was situated even more in the middle of nowhere: Following a narrow road, into the dark dark woods, where no light shone.. The 8 of us, armed with but one flashlight, accepted this challenge and entered the woods. After a few minutes of stumbling, tumbling and panicky giggling, we rambled upon a stoned hippie and his humble ranch. There is were we put up our hammocks, cooked some Colombian food, and soon fell asleep amidst the trees of the Amazon and the pouring rain..
The day after was more than surrealistic, and it never seemed to take an end! We joined the hippies to visit another hippie and his treehouse. From there they all went swimming in this really cute river, and had some Caipirinha for breakfast. Around midday, me, Una, and our new Brazilian friend headed to Alter do Chao.
Alter do Chao is.. undescribable. But I will try anyways.
Alter do Chao is a little town in Amazonas, situated by a river (not the Amazon river). Not only is the town itself cute and charming, but when coming to the port, you have the view of the river, with a beautiful peninsula made of sand. On that peninsula, there are cute, little houses, made of woods and straw; and when the water rises, the houses stay below. Looking at the piece of land the peninsula is connected to, you see trees and a beautiful little mountain that kinda looks like a volcano.
We took a boat over to the peninsula and strolled around, enjoying every piece of beauty and nature the world cast upon us.. We hadn´t been strolling for long, when suddenly, a tree I was passing under, started to shake and rustle! Not knowing what was going on, I started to run, and just when I turned my head to look at what was going on, a humongous iguana fell off the tree, down to the exact same spot I had been standing, only few moments earlier. You can imagine the shock, and the explotion of laughter that came afterwards. I don´t think I would have laughed as much had the iguana really hit me, since I´m quite sure that it would have knocked me unconscious.. BUT, since that didn´t happen, I keep on giggling at the memory.
Continuing on the peninsula, we went with a guide up the mountain. From there, we had the most spectacular view of Amazonas. It was really something. After this, I really thought this fantastic day was over, and that we would head back to the camp. But no, the day kept on going! After going down the mountain, we were suddenly in the middle of a Capoeira class, where there was even made a special show for the two Icelandic girls, who never had seen Capoeira performed live before.. Yet again, the day/night would just not end! After the Capoeira class, we were all of a sudden situated on an old harbor, dancing Salsa, Samba and some Colombian dances. The party then moved to the town square, were we were joined by a french woman, and a sixty year old german man, who, when interrogated where he was from, he gave us the answer: ¨The world¨. Pretty good damn answer, I have to say.
Well, after this awesome and surrealistic day and evening, we finally parted to the camp, walking maaany kilometers to get there. But still very much worth it.
Well. After this awesome experience in Alter do Chao, it was time to move on, so Friday 17th, we boarded again a boat, to finish sailing the Amazon. We arrived safely yesterday, and are now, once again, about to mount a bus, to spend the last days of Carnival in the reggae capital of Brazil.
Stay tuned..
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