a day on he river

early start today(7.00AM) speeding down the river negro to where it flows into the 'white river' semoilinas. At this stage the rivers form the amazon with the white water coming form the andes and the black water from equador. At this point the river is possible 4-5 miles wide. Pink and grey dolfins pop up and it is a spectacular sight to see the waters mix (called locally the meeting of the waters). Went on up the white river strewn with plants and treetrunks flooting down to reach lake januari. Magnificent lake with floating houses and restaurants dotted about, ponts with victoria regis water lilies, and saw my first tiny caymans. at some point took pictures of harpy eagles, huge with white heads, but gave up after a while because they are everywhere. Flora and fauna is mesmerising and this is all just outside the city of manaus. Booked onto boat today which will take me tomorrow night to Soa Gabriel da Cacheoira on a three day trip. This is basically a local tansport ship loaded with goods and people going non stop into the forest for 850km. On return (next friday) I plan to stop a few days in Barcelos before going back to Manaus. Unlikely to post any more info for a while but it will be an experience.

2nd day

today woke up to the cacaphony of jungle noise. After fantastic breakfast drinking cubuacu, mashed fruit reminiscent of lumpy joghurt but nothing I ever tasted (in a nice way) I had a lift into Manaus. The most exotic experience one could have and you can,t pretent you are anything other than a foreigner. It feels intimidating at first but it is curiosity mainly as most people appear to be from the amazon region. The city is organised chaos, nobody speaks english or spanish and it is very busy. Once in the actual port it feels like stepping back in time. The bustling environment of loading goods, peoples hanging around offering services, captains flocking spaces on boats, old seadogs, prostitutes, beggars, it all feels overwhelming especially in the heat. What looked easy in my research back home is a big undertaking in reality. You can get anywhere you want but it takes time to find out who goes where and when and for howmuch. The distances are staggering and boat travel is measured in days/weeks depending on many factors. I feel I need a few more days climatizing before I embark on a trip carrying all my lugage. Footnote: infrastructure in brazil is basic so do not expect photos until I find a faster link, presently on dial-up which took 0.5 hr to establish.

arriving in brazil

after arduous night-flight of 12hr arrived in Sao Paolo without sleep and 3 hours lost in space. First suprise is that the brazil is just as smoke free as europe in airports so I rushed out at the first opportunity to the front exit; bang slap into a sauna. The humidity hits you like a damp cloth. My connecting flight was a 2hr wait but paid off as they seated me in business class on the flight to Manaus. I would not pay for the privilige but you can appreciate the experience of laying down with your feet up, food and drink on demand and remote tv and music and games, but most of all a sleep. On arrival in Manaus my host and his wife were waiting for me and it was the best decision I ever made. Not only is the climate daunting, the dense heat is overwhelming, but you,re immediately in the bush. Clive and Niacee (who is local) took me to their guesthouse which is fantastic, bordering within yards onto pristine jungle. Getting my breath back seated in the garden, very large vultures (uguru) circle around and royal eagles (6ft wingspan or more are on the prawl for monkeys in the treetops. Just a bit later an iguana crawls out to eat some leaves followed by toucans attacking the ripe papayas much to the annoyance of Niacee. By this time I have been here 2hr.

trial post before I leave

found lodgings on-line, sounds promising, can't wait to get there.