The Amazon

Saturday: We arrived in Manaus in the late afternoon and so made our way to yet another luxurious establishment...The Continental Hotel...don't be fooled, it's nothing to write home about, but it was cheap!

Sunday: We quickly confirmed our suspicions, Manaus is a dump. SO we got on with hunting down a jungle expedition to start Monday morning. We booked with Antonio's Amazon Tours, a company based in the Manaus Hostel (which we would stay in on our return). Antonio himself helped us plan our trip which we could tailor to our liking. We opted for 5 days / 4 nights and set early Monday.

Monday: Hoorah, we left Manaus! After a 2.5 hour coach journey we were dropped off in a dusty amazonian village, from there we went by boat for 1.5 hours to the lodge on a branch of the Rio Negro. We opted for the Rio Negro because the waters are (apparently) safe to swim and more importantly, there are no (well very few) mosquitoes.

The lodge was brilliant, we had the use of a private room with en-suite or if we chose, hammocks to pitch anywhere on the site, or on any of the surrounding beaches. At this time of year, the water is very low, meaning there is no swamp but many beaches and the conditions perfect for jungle trekking.

The first day was spent on the water fishing for piranha, first we had to catch the bait, little sardine-like fishes then we went in the deep to search for the vicious red piranha. Lynne brought home the bacon with one, David a miserable zero. Luckily our guide bagged many more and we were able to feed the whole camp that night with our catch! After dinner we were taken on a night boat trip searching for Caiman Crocs. It was just us two, Leo (our personal guide for the week) and one other guide. They took us up river for 30mins until we found the perfect baby caiman on the shore. Up to this point, we were enjoying the trip underneath the clearest night sky we have ever seen and in absolute silence with the exception of the jungle animals. So Leo swooped down and grabbed the croc to give us a closer look and to explain a little about the fella. Apparently, this black caiman is one of two species to be found in these local waters, and the largest they grow to in this area is 2m, so we had nothing to be worried about!!! Lynne was terrified and almost capsized the boat in her panic! However, the little croc behaved and let us handle him and see his teeth before Leo placed him back in the water. As we started to head back, the chain of the boat motor snapped leaving us stranded in the pitch black with one paddle...we were both very concerned especially with 2m crocs in the water and a hole in the boat that e hadn't noticed due to the darkness, our two guides didn't seem worried though and settled in for a long paddle back as we scooped out the water threatening to make us croc food. The shore of the lodge was a very welcome sight.

Tuesday & Wednesday: We were up at the crack of dawn, literally, to see the sunrise and to prepare for our jungle trek. Immediately after breakfast we got going with a 2.5 hour walk into the jungle behind the lodge to find our camp for the night. Here we pitched the hammocks, had a wash, made a fire and prepared & cooked lunch before a small siesta set us up for the afternoon's adventure deeper into the jungle. We saw lots of wildlife and amazing plants. Leo, aged 27 also, grew up just down river and has never left the area. He speaks fluent English and so gave us a fascinating tour of all the wonderful plants and their uses. He also taught us some useful jungle survival tips. Overall we walked for near 6 hours and so when we returned to camp we were knackered. It went dark very quickly underneath the canopy of trees but we had a nice fire going and cooked a feast to help send us to sleep. However, for two St Margarets softies, it wasn't that easy to sleep with all the noises of the jungle, truly amazing!! This wasn't helped by the fact a Jaguar was seen on this trail the night before, confirmed by some of it's paw prints near the camp. A bit of a sleepless night all in all. Before, there are no mosquitoes in the jungle, there are however, horseflies!! These horrible creatures rise at 5am and do not depart until 7am or until they have had their fill of your blood!! They swarmed around our mosquito nets testing it for holes to get in at you. They can pierce through cloth and so you have to be careful your hammock is not anywhere near the net.....we both survived the experience (David with one bite only!). They were reason enough for us to stay only one night in the jungle.

After a jungle breakfast, we hiked a further 2.5 hours, ending up at the shore where we were met by another guide and his boat to take us back to the lodge and lunch. In the afternoon we went fishing once more, this time for Peacock Bass. This trip was much more successful and we each bagged 2 beasts. Not an easy feat as the fish are real fighters so Leo had to teach us the correct technique to real them in. It was a lot of fun, and we both loved spending the time in the sunshine on the water in the stillness of the unique location. So once again, the Hendersons turned providers for the whole lodge that evening!! That night was spent in a hammock on top of the watch tower; it was incredible to be atop the tree canopy and listen to the incredibly wide range of noises escaping the jungle around us, although a monkey fight near by did have us a little on edge!

Thursday: The morning was spent back on a boat downstream dolphin watching. We were lucky enough to see all three types, pink, grey & black. We then chilled out on a beach and enjoyed a swim in the river (ignoring the large fish and other nasties in there!). We relaxed in the lodge all afternoon after a hectic few days.

After dinner we headed out back on to the river in pitch darkness to witness some night fishing. The locals wear a pair of goggles and take a torch and harpoon into the water. The fish sleep amongst the submerged tree trunks for safety and so the locals dive amongst them and kill the fish as they doze. It requires a surprising amount of skill, but David was disappointed not to be allowed into the water to try after being promised by one guide. (Probably for the best though considering David's records of injuries!).




Friday: Our last day in the jungle! We were up early to take a boat across the river for an alternative view of the sunrise. We then joined some other guests to visit a local family who live traditionally relying on the river for their livelihood. This was quite fascinating and a world away from our life in the UK. We arrived back to Manaus (Boo!) in the early evening.

Saturday & Sunday: We don't want to give this city any more blog space, beer, pizza and a new hat were the highlights!

We finally left at midnight on Sunday to Rio de Janeiro!!

Leticia / Tabatinga to Manaus

Wednesday: We were up early for our flight from Bogota to Leticia with AreoRepublica. The weather in Bogota was sunny but chilly and we weren't prepared for the wall of heat that met us when we stepped off the plane at Leticia...its absolutely sweltering here. After paying a tax to get it (!) we took a cab to the main square where we were accosted by several tour operators who had followed us from the airport on bike! One of the tour operators spoke good English and recommended a Residencia to us...it was very cheap, so we thought we should give it a go, the words you get what you pay for have never been more true!! Our home for the next two nights was a small orange box room, with damp and peeling walls. Nevertheless as we were only staying a few nights we thought it would do.

Leticia is a border town with Tabatinga, Brazil, and you can walk freely between them. Both towns are nestled within the Amazonian rainforest, with the heat, relaxed lifestyle and style of buildings they have a slightly Caribbean feel, reminding us a bit of Barbados. There are quite a few restaurants and shops around and a local market street in Tabatinga where we purchased some hammocks.

We had a really good meal in a local restaurant and a few beers before heading back to our shoebox room.

Thursday: When we went to bed the previous evening there was only David and Lynne, however when we woke up the next morning we found we had an extra guest...a friendly local cockroach! David, being the man of the house, was tasked with disposal of our guest!
We managed to ascertain from a local that there was in fact a fast boat service between Tabatinga and Manaus (31 hrs), which we could find no trace of on the internet. Luckily, we found a cabbie that knew about it and took us to the office...this was basically a house on a backstreet with a sign outside it, we were fairly skeptical to say the least. The boat left Friday AM which meant that we had to sort out our immigration that day before we could buy our tickets. We won't go into full details but needless to say it wasn't as easy a process as suggested by the Lonely Planet guide! There was a lot of too-ing and fro-ing, so in the end we managed to procure the same cabbie to take us to the Airport for our Colombian exit stamps, then take us to the Policia Federal for our Brazil Entrance stamps before we went back to the office to purchase our tickets. We also arranged for the driver to pick us up at 5 in the morning to take us to the Boat – although as most of our communication was in hand signals and the odd Spanish and Portuguese word how we did this is anyone's guess, but he did understand us and turned up bang on time!

When we were finally sorted, we went to Parque Santander to see the Parrots taking to the trees for the evening, there are thousands of them squawking at the same time, its unbelievably noisy!
It was fairly exhausting day, with lots of walking in the baking heat and we collapsed with a few beers and some food in the evening before we tentatively made our way back to our room, fingers crossed that there were no more cockroaches waiting for us!

Friday: We arrive at the boat in a typical British manner, on time, first there. The boat is fairly small, 2 seats either side of a central aisle. We pick our seats and try and dump our backpacks on the back seats as it appeared the boat would not be full when it departed (~ 30 in 50 seats). However, soon enough one of the crew dumped our bags next to us motioning they were to stay here....this annoyed us, partially because we had no room and that we couldn't communicate as they do not speak any English. Within a few minutes it's obvious why the bags are left out as we are boarded by 6 armed Brazilian Federal Policia officers who perform a thorough search of everyone's passports, tickets & luggage!! A massive hassle for everyone on board which delayed us ~50minutes. We eventually set off with the bags stowed under the deck, so at last we are comfy and on route. The scenery is fascinating, the boat fast and the food decent! The ride gets more interesting after lunch. Approximately 3pm we were stopped in the middle of the river once more by Federal officers who boarded us and performed another search....they had all the bags brought up from below deck and one by one most of the passengers had their belongings thoroughly searched; Lynne & I being the only westerners on board were of course included. After they departed and all on board had seen all our underwear and other belongings we felt as if we'd started to form a bond everyone. The beers came out at 5pm and it wasn't long before we were chatting to some Colombians who didn't speak much English but somehow we were able to communicate through our rough Spanish and hand gestures. This conversation turned into a Spanish lesson, with more and more of the passengers joining in. After dinner, the sun started to set and we were treated to some stunning views over the forest and river. At night time the place seems altogether different, it is pitch black and the crew use a large spotlight to sight the riverbeds on either side to ensure we don;t run aground...an impressive feat at the speed the boat travels. The sky was incredibly clear and all the stars could be seen, and more impressively when the spot light shone on the water, the sparkling Crocodiles eyes formed their own constellations on the water. The journey took a new twist when we suddenly pulled into a small port at 11pm. There were hundreds of people gathered there and we wondered what was going on; soon enough an elderly gentleman was carried on board upon a mattress and was to be taken to Manaus Hospital. He was placed in the aisle of the boat and for the remainder of the journey everyone had to step over him to access the toilets/bar/outside.

Saturday: We were awoken by an early breakfast and again beautiful views of the amazon at sunrise. It wasn't long before we again chatting to the locals, this time to a bunch of Brazilians & the crew. There was one English speaker (kind of) but we managed to communicate and had a great laugh. Once Lynne has gone back to her seat, I was shown the local Amazonian liquor – a well known aphrodisiac and medicine in the area. They suggested I should try it in Manaus, but from the look of it (mud) I might give it a miss! I was disturbed to learn that it was half empty due to the captain's liking of it, this explained his typical Brazilian charm with the ladies everyone on board had witnessed!

Bogota

Friday: We arrive in town early and find a cab to the Candelaria district where the bulk of the budget hostels are. This is the historic sector of the town and is very quirky; old buildings, some of a European style spread along small tight streets, interesting graffiti and full of small eateries and student bars (being popular with the local university students). The hostel is very nice, only opened in 2008, we take a double with private bathroom and for the 5 nights to have a little more luxury than of Salento & Medellin.

First stop we head to the Botero Museum. The Museum which houses Botero's works is a beautiful building with lots of tranquil courtyards and airy exhibition halls. It showcases Botero's works: portraits and sculptures of fat people and animals alongside other well known European artists' works including Picasso, Monet, Miro, Ernst etc. It also houses an impressive collection of very very old (circa 16th Century – post Spanish invasion) catholic gold statutes and paintings...amazing!

We went to the Police Museum in the afternoon...quite an odd choice it sounds but then it is free! We had a guided tour by one of the military service lads (all boys have to do a year of service in either the military or police, unless they have enough money to bribe their way out of it!). We had a full 1 ½ hrs of detail on the the police's history, the capture / killing of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug cartels and the current guerrilla conflicts. The Museum houses a number of fairly obscure and grizzly artifacts, including Pablo Escobar's blood stained jacket, a roof tile from the building where he was shot and a hat belonging to a general who was shot (in the head) by one of Escobar's cronies, you could see the bullet hole in the hat where the bullet entered his skull...nice!

Friday evening we hit the clubs and bars of Candeleria with Fleur and Alex, the nightlife was buzzing and we ended up sampling a bottle of Aguardiente and salsa dancing in a random backstreet club!

Saturday: After a much needed lie-in we went to the Museo d'Oro (Gold Museum). This is a fascinating collection of ancient gold, silver and copper artifacts from the indigenous people and some of it dates back to 500 AD!

In the evening we went to Andres Carne de Res, a restaurant/club on the outskirts of Chia (about 60 mins away). This was a wedding gift from Spikey, Gaz, Nathan and Welsh. It was an awesome evening, the steaks were huge, the cocktails were EXTREMELEY potent and the dance floor was heaving from about 10pm onwards. Its a really cool place to head on a Saturday night and popular with the locals, we arrived about 7.30pm and it wasn't long before some of our fellow diners were up dancing on the tables and nailing bottles of aguardiente! There were performances by professional salsa dancers and some interesting performances by some not-so-professional diners who decided to try their hand at pole dancing! Anything goes here! Our evening was finished off by a stop and search from Bogota's constabulary, needless to say after a few drinks we didn't take too kindly to this and its lucky that the police didn't speak much English or David may have finished his evening in a cell!

Sunday: A sedate Sunday spent chilling out, taking on fluids and recovering our strength...i.e. hungover. We took the cable car to Montserratte which is about XXX metres high giving you a fantastic view of sprawling Bogota. There is a church at the top and is popular for local Colombians to visit on a Sunday. However, Lynne's fear of heights didn't combine well with the hangover from the previous evening and it wasn't long before we were heading back down to the city. In the evening we popped round to see Alex and Fleur for a relaxed evening of cheese, biscuits and red wine, needless to say it wasn't a late one for us!

Monday: We took the bus to Zapiquiera to visit the Catedral de Sal, Salt Cathedral. Despite this being 'Colombia's number 1 tourist attraction' there are surprisingly few signs and it took us a while to actually find our way there, with the help of the friendly locals and our excellent Spanish! It is worth making the effort though, the Cathedral is just a small part of the HUGE salt mines at the site. The cathedral was originally built for the miners that worked there around the turn of the century, the original is now closed off and they rebuilt the current Cathedral in 1995, its quite spectacular and very eerie. We had a tour of the Cathedral in Spanish, followed by a tour of the Salt Mines in English (thankfully!). The Salt Mines are not somewhere for those who are scared of the dark or claustrophobic, and Lynne found them pretty scary, especially when we were told to turn our head lights off and walk through a tiny passageway in the pitch black! David loved it though and may have a new vocation as a salt miner if needed...as the pictures show!

Tuesday: Our last day in Bogota sniff, sniff! We spent the morning attempting to post some letters back to the UK...Colombia doesn't appear to have a national postal system, instead there are a number of carriers who freight mail nationally and internationally, we managed to negotiate a price for our parcel eventually, although it took us most of the morning to do so! In the afternoon we took the Transmilenio to the upmarket Zona Rosa area of Bogota. This area feels more like an international city, with glass multi story buildings and swish apartment blocks. We managed to track down a cup of earl grey tea, much to Lynne's delight! Then we wandered through the blocks to Parque 93, (Usabequen) a trendy square with loads of bars and restaurants where we splashed out on a burger and chips!

Salento

Tuesday: We spent the whole day on the bus travelling to Salento, in the heart of Colombia's coffee region. The views on route were stunning, huge green valleys with all manner of vegetation & wildlife, and fincas (farm houses) occupied by their poncho & cowboy hat wearing farmers!

We book into Plantation House, a hostel owned by a British gent who also runs the neighbouring coffee plantation.

Wednesday: We spent the morning walking around the beautiful town, before having a tour of the coffee plantation. The town is a world away from Medellin, a very sleepy non touristy feel. The locals are extremely friendly & proud of their colonial town. The tour was very interesting and we learnt the whole process of how coffee is made, from bean to mug.

We befriended a French lad who was travelling on his own and we decided to cook together....i.e he did all the work and we enjoyed it! The local speciality is trout, fresh from the trout farm in the National Park Cocora, we had this a couple of times whilst in the region.

Thursday: Up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast and catch the jeep from the town square to take us to the entrance of the National Park Cocora. We opt for a hike following the river through the park; this takes us 4.5 hours at a good pace. Similar to Park Tayrona, the 'path' wasn't as easy as hoped; having to cross the river 5 times across makeshift bridges, muddy & waterlogged trails and no signs to let us know if we're on the correct route - we loved it though!

On the way up, the sun gradually disappeared under a shroud of cloud cover, which was a shame as we hiked from near 2000m to 2900m so we didn't manage to get the full view of the valley from the top.

We refuelled at the top of the mountain with coffee/ hot chocolate & cheese supplied by an old couple who live up there with no electricity and no access other than foot....quite random!

After a hot shower, we packed up and took the night bus to Bogota, the capital of Colombia.

Medellin

Sunday / Monday: The overnight bus drops us off at 09:00am. From the appraoch into town, we notice how vast this city is, set among massive green mountains on all sides. Medellin is the 'second capital' behind Bogota and we have been told it's a modern city. On the metro to our hostel (on the other side of town), we notice that shacks are built from the rivers edge to the mountain tops where the poor live. We notice significant numbers of homeless and litter especially at the waters edge. In contrast to this, the metro is very modern and some parts of the centre of town are landscaped and generate a completely different feeling.

From books we have read, we are aware that there are a large number of 'desplazados' (the displaced) in Medellin, being those forced from their farms in the countryside by the recent (and still on going) battle between the FARC forces, the paramilitaries and the army; Medellin offers help & hope to these, or so we have been led to believe.

The hostel appears nice, but we end up with the last room...a box room on the stairwell landing with a good 30cm gap between the top of the walls and the ceiling. The result, a very noisy room. Definitely the worst so far, but the location and facilities (out side the room) are decent with friendly staff and so we decide to stick around for a few days and to try and explore the city a little before moving onto Salento.

The best area by far was Zona Rosa which we had a great time exploring. We regret not staying in this part of town as it's where all the cool kids hang!! We treated ourselves to some good Cuban food to compensate. Our hostel was near the Sur Americana Metro stop and although it lacked the bars/cafes & buzz it did have a Carrefour much to Lynne's excitement where we managed to purchase some long awaited Tea bags. This part of town is fairly middle class and we enjoyed a few runs in the morning amongst the locals around the football stadium area.

After two days we had to move onto Salento which is a shame as we would have liked to explore Medellin a little more.

Medellin is the home town of Botero, a famous Colombian artist, who creates statues & paintings of fat people mainly....

Taganga

Friday: Up early to spend the day on Taganga beach. Started with a breakfast of waffles with honey, omlette, toast, coffee, hot chocolate and orange juice at a local haunt, all for the bargain price of £2 each.

The day on the sand allowed us to start planning the amazon & Brazil part of our trip. The afternoon was spent swinging in our hammocks, reading and generally chilling out enjoying the fantastic views from the hostel. We decided to hit the town in the evening, for a few beers and pizza!!! Everywhere in Taganga sells pizza, not particularly local but very tasty. All in all a lazy day.

Saturday: After packing up, we headed to the beach but the plans soon changed and we ended up on a snorkeling tour of the surrounding bays of Taganga. We had a really good time and were lucky enough to meet a couple from Bogota who spoke English! And who gave us some really good tips for when visiting the city. The trip ended with some fresh grilled fish at Alex's (the very simple but endearing tour guide) moma's beach shack...perfect!!

We are now on board the Brasilia express to Medellin where we will be spending our next two days. The bus leaves at 6pm and when we wake at 11am we will be there! A long journey but these buses are very comfortable, almost fully reclining seats and very efficient air conditioning...icicles are already forming on my fingers as I type!

And here's an update on the beard growth (hair styled by 'Salon Lynne').

So until Medellin...........