Brazil

This is just a test for now, but you can see photos of my trip to Brazil here http://picasaweb.google.com/marrabld

Getting There.

The flights to Brazil were very long, and it didn't help that along the way all of my flights were delayed. After rushing to the Perth domestic terminal, I found that the plane had been delayed 2 and 1/2 hours. As a reward, we were offered free drinks on the plane, I felt like i needed to calm my nerves a little so I decided to indulge my self and take advantage of this offer. Not a good idea, after a little bit of turbulence about half way into the flight I found my self crawling over the guy asleep next to me and clambering for the toilet. I managed to clear my head after only a little while and the rest of the journey was fine.

I landed in Sydney no problems and I was lucky enough to see the new Malaysian Airlines Airbus landing along the runway only a few hundred meters away as we were taxied in a bus to the international terminal. From Sydney it was off to Auckland and from there to Santiago in Chile. The flight to Chile didn't start off so good, my seat wouldn't recline and none of the in-flight screens seemed to work. Then as I am thinking what kind of piece of crap plane is this they have put us on, the captain tells us that there was a fault during the preflight checks and we would be taxied back to the terminal so that an engineer can inspect the problem. ???!!!! Turns out that it wasn't much to worry about but the longest leg of the trip was agony as I could not recline my seat and get comfortable.

Landing at Santiago was literally breath taking. The Andes mountains were HUGE!!! more than I could ever try and explain. The airport is right in the middle of the Andes and between many beautiful mountains. As we started our decent I could see the snow caps out the window about the same altitude as the plane. Down below, the plains were very green and I could just make out small towns but no city. Then I started to think "where are we going to land?" we were zig zagging around mountains but as we were starting to get close to the ground I still couldn't make out anything that resembled a landing strip. After watching the movie 'Alive' I started looking around the cabin thinking, who looks like they would taste the best or give the most nourishment. But before I could get my self into a panic we rounded a turn and there was a large airport and very large city. It may have been the jet lag and fatigue but the mountains really chocked me up quite a lot. They really made me feel very vulnerable for some reason. I must return to see them up close before I die.

So this is my first time in a non-English speaking country. It was definitely a huge culture shock for me and was very over whelming. Although getting around the airport was fine as there were adequate English signs I soon realized that I was hungry and very thirsty. It quickly dawns on me that I don't know how to ask for a meal nor do I have any pesos. I don't yet have the confidence to walk up to a shop and try my best at communicating (something I pick up later). This is a very daunting feeling for me, I can't quite explain it but there is something very humiliating about not being able to communicate my most basic needs such as "May I have some water please?" I suddenly feel very unintelligent. I must learn another language before I die, most likely Spanish.

I really enjoy walking around the airport and taking photos of the mountains out the window as I watch planes take off and land but it is soon my turn to depart. The next plane is a Boeing 767 and it is very modern and very comfortable. My next stop is Sao-Paulo Brazil, I am starting to get giddy and excited. I still haven't slept but I have found a new found energy. The seat infront has an inbuilt LCD screen and movies on demand as well as games and music. I started watching the Simpsons movie again and finished the trip listening to The Police, Metallica (black album) and Pink Floyd. I was looking forward to seeing the 3rd biggest city in the world from the sky but was disappointed to find a nearly complete white out. The fog was thicker than anything I had ever seen and it was like landing in a cloud. After making it off the plane, I stagger in a daze through to customs where it is very militant and quite scary. I wasn't feeling very welcome at this point but this will very quickly change. I am confronted by having to communicate with the man at the customs counter. I am very relieved to find that when he sees my Australian passport he speaks very good English. He asks me "How long do you intend to stay in Brazil" but when I reply he looks at me funny and asks again. I am starting to panic, whats the problem? he asks me a third time, acting quickly I produce my itinerary and pass it through the little hole cut out in the glass. I don't know how to respond when he says to me in perfect English "I am sorry but I cannot understand you're English" ??? is he taking the piss? I speak many forms of English (English, Drunklish, Nerdlish and Ducklish) all of them passable by my standards. Dad later explains that it is my Australian accent and that most Brazilians have trouble with it.

My anxiety is compounded when I go to baggage collection and find that there is a problem with my flight's baggage and I am the last to get my bag. Not a big problem though and I continue to stumble in a stupor though the compulsory duty free shop out to the gates knocking bottles of perfume and booze with my bag as I go. I was really starting to feel the effects of jet lag and no sleep and I was very relieved to spot my old man waiting for me. I explained how I was feeling and he quickly took charge (thank god!), leading me by the shoulder to a cafe where he ordered me a drink and a sandwich. It was only a very small cafe but there was still table service with a very polite waiter. Turns out that this is typical of Brazil and you can expect this kind of service every where, including fast food places, more on this later.

The journey still wasn't over and we had to fly north up to a place called Manaus. The story here is pretty uneventful but needless to say I was feeling exhausted and grateful that Dad took over from here as I zoned out and just concentrated on feeling crappy. The plane to Manaus was packed so tight that my knees hurt from pushing on the seat in front of me. When we got off the plane in Manaus we hit ourselves with mosquito repellent that would most likely be illegal in Australia and I break out in a rash as it burns my skin. I put up with it as it beats getting malaria. We were met by a lady in the airport who held up a sign with our names on it, although I am not convinced that I would have recognized it at this point. I noticed that although there is a lady and a man the lady did all of the talking and the man sits around, it turned out that this was because he was not from the travel lodge, he was our taxi driver. But this is the first time I notice that this is how they seem to do business, most occasions I found, the women took control in these money situations. I find the women to be very bold and independent, something I find my self very attracted to in Brazilian women. I later notice that it is not uncommon to find them walking, shopping, eating etc by themselves. This really makes me notice that back home women are very much pack animals not venturing to far from groups of friends or the alpha male.

This lead on to perhaps the most scary moment of my life (maybe I exaggerate a bit, but only a bit). when we jumped in the taxi, we scream off at a huge pace toward the "hotel" on the correct side of the road ... hang on don't they drive on the wrong side of the road here? no matter, now we are between both lanes running a red light ... maybe red means go here ??? I hope that's mince pie in my nickers?! (Simpsons quote) . This is how every one drives in Brazil, they drive where it suits them and the lanes are marked out as a guide only. So you would expect that this would be chaos right? It somehow works, because everyone accepts that this is how you drive, no one seems to get pissed when you cut them off or veer into their lane. I was shocked to see 2 adults weaving in and out of traffic on a scooter while one is holding an infant and no helmet. To be fair, it would be hard to find a helmet to fit an infant.

We arrive at the "hotel", and I use the term very loosely, at about 2 in the morning I think? Keep in mind that I am pretty much catatonic at this stage. This left us about 4 hours to sleep before we were picked up in the morning. It was really hot and humid, we were nearly on the equator, I was covered in sweat at 2am! I shower, being careful not to get any water in my eyes, ears and mouth, and I noticed that the make shift shower and an upside down douche head from a bidet *grose*. When I awoke in the morning surprisingly, I had a large amount of energy considering how much sleep I got. When I looked out the window, it was very cleche South-American slum (maye not by their "favela" standards, but by Perth standards it is), there are roofs made out of blue tarps and the whole city is covered in a black sooty scum. None of this bothered me as I lived in Rivervale so I felt right at home, almost nostalgic.

We were picked up from the "hotel" my a nice lady how owns the lodge we were be staying at with her husband. She told us that we brought too much gear and we need to leave some of it at her house as we will never fit it on the canoe. I was nervous about leaving my stuff with her but it turns out fine and I later learn that this is very common practice. We drove out of the main city stopping for fuel along the way, we don't get out, someone pumped it for us. There were many big American cars on the road and I noticed that there were a lot of people sitting on the roadside just staring out into nowhere. At the city limit, there were many roadside "huts" selling bits and pieces but no variety, if you wanted 3 items you would need to visit 3 different places. They looked very tired and worn down, this was my first look at SA poverty. As we exited the city the landscape seemed to take on the resemblance of an old cleche Vietnam war film, lots of palm trees and it was very green. Our guide told us about the city and how Honda manufactures most of their bikes there. She explained that it has provided many jobs and she seems very proud.

We stopped at a fruit market and I noticed that apart from a few things like bananas, I didn't recognize much of what was there. However I do notice all of the huge horse flies burrowing into the flesh. Note to self wash fruit! I tried a new drink made out of different fruits (and probably flies), I forget what it is called but It and a similar taste to a banana smoothie. We bought supplies and wondered down to the river where there was a motor boat which was very long and skinny. The river is long and twisting, the greenery hangs over the still water and there are a large variety of birds. It is about as wide as the Canning river and is one of the feeder rivers of the mighty Amazon which we got to see later. I sat behind dad and enjoyed the cool breeze from the water and leaning with the boat as it turned. Our coxswain some how noticed a sloth in the trees and quickly circled around so we could rubber neck. They are smaller that the ones that I have seen in docos and they seemed a little curious in us as well but they didn't make much effort to entertain us so we continued further into the jungle. Dad was enjoying taking photos of the vast amounts of bird life and I just enjoying the scenery. it is a green that I haven't experienced before, it is much greener than the photos would show and is contrasted by the perfectly blue sky. A huge bird called an 'uurabu' (spelling?) flew over my head and across the bow of the boat. Its wingspan would be at least 1 meter and I later learn from our native guide that they are similar to the north-American vulture. They are ugly to look at but very grace full in the sky, they fly in flocks unlike the eagles that we saw later in the trip.

There are lots of small communities on the river banks, they live in homemade homes that stand on stilts for when the river floods. They look very poor and worn, when we visited one later I found the floor boards uneven and some weren't even nailed down. There were holes in the roof and I wouldn't even use it as a storage shed, despite this, the people still have posters (mostly religious) on the walls and have pot plants and nick-nacks. I noticed that they are very proud and and don't seem to know that they are poor (or they were putting on a show for the gringo tourists). We passed a boat overflowing with children and we were told that it was the local school bus.

We arrived at the Malocas Lodge after a few hours on the water. The river bank is steep and there is a flight of stairs leading up to a large clearing in the foliage. The sand is white and there is a large hut in the middle. The grounds are very well kept and there are planted pineapples and garden beds littered around the place. To the left there is a walkway and steps leading up to what will be our room for the first few nights. The whole scene looked like tribal council on survivor but not as cheesy. We wondered into the main hut, it is large, round and very neat and tidy. It has one main support in the middle with rafters which fan out from the center. wooden shingles were battened down for protection from the sun and rain and bark was used to provide wind protection up to about waist hight around the perimeter. There is a clay kitchen attached to the back and the floor was covered with wooden floor boards. There is no electricity, only candles, torches and some gas for cooking.

We were introduced to our guide Leandro, a quietly spoken native how spoke very good English, Portuguese and his native tongue. A tropical rain front came through very quickly and dumped huge amounts of warm rain over the jungle cooling it down and taking the humidity out of the air. We decide to take the opportunity to siesta in our bungalow. It is built to the same design as the main hut but is segmented much like and orange into separate rooms. There were two very simple beds in our room and clean sheets, which was exactly what I needed. zzz MORE SOON!