Brasil - Part 1

Day 11 - November 9

Crossing the border from Venezuela to Brasil was interesting. We crossed over in cabs, Murray and I rode in a VERY small car with the Canadians Anne & Steve. We were chatting away when all of the sudden we felt the car jerk forward with a loud crash. Anne and I turned back to look and there was a dirt bike, under the back bumper!!!! Our first South American car crash! The traffic had slowed down to nearly stopped, but the biker hadn't noticed. He pulled over to the side of the road to check out the damage to his bike. OUR driver left us, in the car, still in the middle of the road! The biker wasn't hurt badly, but was VERY upset, and he left a big dent in the back of our cab. The chain came off of his bike and the front light fell off, thank goodness he was wearing a helmet! The biker was SO upset, cursing and crying and jumping up and down, running off to scream in the bushes, etc. Anyway, eventually they exchanged details and we were off again to the border.

We had to check out of Venezuela, and then check in to Brasil. However, checking out of Venezuela they also scanned our bags, for petrol and or drugs I assume. The guy was suspicious of Murray's camera bag and made him open it up. Then he just glanced a few things, asked if they were new or old (in spanish - good thing I knew those words) and then asked how much the lens cost. I said cien dollares (100 dollars) there's no way we'd tell him how much they ACTUALLY did cost!

After crossing into Brasil we chilled out at the border bus station for a bit before catching a bus for 3 hours to Boa Vista. We had 3 hours to kill in Boa Vista before getting on our overnight bus to Manaus, so we all checked our bags (but kept our day bags with vaulables on us of course) and hopped into cabs into the centre of the city. Not a whole lot there, but much cleaner and MUCH nicer than any cities we saw in Venezuela. Lots of clothing and shoe shops, nicely dressed people, etc. But it was SO hard to find somewhere to eat!! We wandered around for ages, and at one point we were just standing on a corner, trying to decide what to do, when a guy who spoke English asked us what we were looking for. We told him - just somthing to eat!!! (Darn Portugese - I wish they spoke Spanish here - JUST as we were getting the hang of it)!! He brought us to a restaurant he used to own, helped us order by explaining the menu, and then sat for a chat. Can you believe he lived in Minneapolis for 16 years!!!! He told us that, then I said - no way, I am from Minnesota! He was so excited and told me about where he had lived, what he missed, etc. He got divorced and then moved back to Brasil where he was born a few years ago.

Anyhow, we had an interesting meal of pastry pockets with meat inside, tiny ham and veggies pizzas, and LOVELY freshly squeezed pineapple juices. Then we found a HUGE supermercado (supermarket). OH MY GOSH, it was like heaven. More food than we had seen in one place since we have been in South America! Picked up a few snacks and some fruit for the bus, and then we caught cabs back to the bus station.

We caught the 9pm bus for Manaus. It was a 12 hour ride and it was very bumpy (dirt roads) and the bus swayed a ton (top heavy) felt like we were on a boat! I actually felt a bit sick at one point and had to drink a bit of water and open up the air vents - NOT a great ride!

Day 12 - November 9

So we arrived in Manaus, and it is HOT! They tell us it is 90% humidity here all the time, and usually around 36c (102f) at least. We signed up for a jungle tour which leaves early tomorrow morning. It's includes two days sleeping on a floating hotel on the Amazon, then one night sleeping in hammocks in the jungle - I hope we see lots of animals!!! Then it's back to the hotel here for a quick shower, pick up our bags, and then we're off on our Amazon boat ride to Belem. That takes 4 days - and I hear it is fabulous (nice big comfy boat) - and for once we are first class! (I think that just means cabins rather than hammocks).

ANYHOW, so I am assuming I won't be able to blog again until after the Amazon trip, so that will be around 7 days from now.

:)