Traveling The Amazon

The following takes place between Iquitos-Peru and Belem-Brazil.

It's a 2 day trip in what seems like a Peruvian pirate boat if one wants to reach the three-sided-border connecting Colombia, Brazil & Peru.
Before joining a long ride on the Amazon, it is highly recommended to check what you need to survive it. On Peruvian boats, apart from having a hammock to sleep on, food is obligatory. Meals are served 3 times a day but the hygiene on the boat is as low as it gets.
My first hours on the boat passed by waiting for the Peruvian clock to show 19:00. We set sail at 21:00...
It was only the next morning when I saw the wonders of the beautiful river. October is the dry season but October of 2010 was declared the driest in 40 years. Even so, for one Israeli, there were a lot of water flowing down stream.
The boat stopped in major villages to drop off locals, mail & goods. The sight of the remote areas being reoccupied or filled with sudden prosperity is fascinating. Imagine what's it like to lack bread - no bread until the next boat arrives. Reminds me of the remote Galàpagos Islands...
Having enough of the same river views (not like Patagonia - views don't often change...), I found myself reading a lot of my books. World Cup Wishes (Eshkol Nevo) was done within 3 hours...
Suddenly, everyone left on the boat started packing all of their stuff. It was sudden for me, because I was told I have to expect 3 nights...Only 2 have passed and so it was weird and comforting to discover the next stop is Santa Rosa - the desired border town.
The three-way frontier is just another point on the wide river. Two cities Leticia-Colombia and Tabatinga-Brazil, are on one side while Peru has only the small island-town of Santa Rosa. Little peke-peke boats offer a transfer to the other countries. No need for passport checks if you're only interested in crossing from one populated area to the other. If you want to ''really'' enter another country, just be sure to visit the Federal Police station on each side.
I decided to stay the night on the cheaper Peruvian Santa Rosa. That same day (arriving so early!) I started making the arrangements of crossing the border and finding the next boat on the Brazilian side. The Brazilian-Federal-Police are located far away from the river and I had to take my first Moto-Taxi to get to it. A Moto-Taxi is simply a motorcycle which you mount having room only for one person at a time and with a constant cost of 2$R. Done with the international affairs, I took a boat back to sleep one last night on the cheap Spanish speaking side.
Portuguese is awful. Imagine yourself knowing a language, learning it for 8 months, then, you meet stubborn people who insist on speaking a very similar language, but this time - with a Russian accent! Lucky for me, Brazilians are very nice and some are willing to try and understand Spanish. Well, that's how I survived 2 months in Brazil.



Back to our storyline...

2 hours before the boat is due to leave the port, locals, tourists and I found ourselves in the hands of the annoying Federal-Police. The people on queue were told to open their bags and leave the line as the smell-dogs went through them as if we were all potential drug-dealers. When the dogs were done with the bags, the officers in the next room opened up ALL of the bags, poring all its contents on a table and asking random questions. Annoying.

Safe (from the scary looking Federal Policemen) and on the boat. Compering the Peruvian boats & the Brazilian ones is just the same as compering Peru to Brazil. Peru - poor, dirty, old... Brazil - Rich, clean and new! I truly felt like on a Cruz-boat.

Not too much time went by, and I also met a lovely Brazilian girl named Luciana. She was at the end of her long trip and headed home. Luciana knew good Spanish and so we could communicate. She showed me around, told me about her amazing country and what I shouldn't miss and was a great companion in a Portuguese speaking place.

Before I knew it - we were alongside with the long city of Manaus. Almost 2 million pop. Manaus is the Brazilian capital of the Amazon river. Dismounting the boat in the middle of the night, we were a group of six. Jaime & Pedro Salazar, father and son from Colombia. Flor & (can't recall his name) a nice french couple headed my direction. Luciana & me. We shared a taxi to a hostel (one of few) in town. Even though there is not much to do in Manaus, I found myself having a good time with all the gang. We went to the famous theater of Manaus and saw a play called "Dona America".

During my stay in the big river city, I had to make a decision about my next move. It was either down stream with a boat (again), 5 more days to Belem, or an expensive flight (one hour) to Belem. I ended up taking the flight - knowing I don't really have the time to ride the Amazon.

Belem is a harbor city in the delta of the Amazon. Not much to see there, but I somehow met a familiar face from the hostel of Manaus, in the hostel of Belem. Not such a coincidence if you know there's only one active hostel in Belem.

Preetesh is an Indian-South African, living in Canada nowadays. With him, I also met Roger, a Canadian in orgin. Roger loves his liqueur, or should I say beer. So we found ourselves in the arms of a nice Brazilian (Roger met him in the hostel!), searching for a place to drink. The night was young but the older of the bunch were the ones drinking the most. The night after that, same happy bunch, we wondered around Belem and a local festival that was in town. After having fun (shooting some guns and wining prizes, I showed them my Israeli-soldier skills) we ate local dishes in a local food-kart. It was right then and there when I fell in love with the Bahian Vatapa, Caruru & Acaraje.

During the days in Belem I found myself touring the city and it's sites. Belem is famous for its big market, in which, you can buy almost everything - from fruits & vegetables, football shirts & antiques.

To meet my next destination, Salvador Do Bahia, I had to cross 1/4 of Brazil on a 36 hour bus. Not too much to tell, just broke my personal record of hours on a bus.

Tips for Traveling the Amazon:

- Buy a Hammock. It's cheaper then cabins on boats and it's not that difficult to sleep on. Make sure you buy a matrimonial-long one & sleep diagonally.

- The theater in Manaus is worth a visit, not too sure about the amusement of tourist not understanding Portuguese spoken in the plays.

- A city tour in Belem is recommended. It's a nice town. Just ask someone in the hostel where the harbor is and let your legs do the work.

Islas Galàpagos

*Note: knowing the difficulty of writing this next post - I`ll try not to use the saying ``WOW`` too often.

Before flying to the wonderful islands, we had no choice but to stay one night in Guayaquil. Guayaquil in 2 words: Tel-Aviv, and in a bad way. It`s hot, humid, crowded, and the taxi drivers will take advantage of you. Lets not talk about this horrible place any more.

In order to enter the islands one must pass through strict nature preserving stages:
1. Scan your big-bag at the Guayaquil airport for any kind of organism.
2. Pay the 10$US entrance fee to I don`t know who...
3. The air-crew will spray your handbag on the plane to kill any other organisms.
4. Pay the 100$US entrance fee to the National Park.
5. If you plan on crossing between the islands alone - another inspection on every island.

Landing on Baltra island, the friendly-chubby looking guide awaits the group: 8 loud Italians, a couple from the Czech-Republic, and us (a loud 6 person Israeli family). 16 per. in total.
We all drove off to the closest pier where we got to meet our boat (Guantanamera) and crew. Waiting for the rubber-boat to transfer us we already got to see wildlife in action! Blue-Footed-Boobies dive arrow-like dives into the water, Brown-Pelicans scouting for pray on the dock & boats, and Magnificent-Frigates just hover around the sky waiting for the weaker birds to make a mistake and catch something.

First stop for the boat was Bachas Beach. A good start. The rubber boat landed us on a sandy beach, and not long past before we saw the big, black Marine-Iguanas. Lots of Crabs nest on the black rocks near the water as well. I say it`s good because you get to see bit by bit, and can get used to the fact that wildlife in the islands - is just not scared, and very up close.

South Plaza Island was an improvement! The best place to witness the great Land Iguanas. These creatures resemble small dinosaurs. they are up to a meter long and have a greenish color to their peeling away skin. Their favorite food is the huge Cacti (leaves, fruits, everything!) which they wonder around looking for all day. We also got to see colonies of Sea-Lions, cute and make you want to hug them. But what really caught our eye - was the exotic Red-Billed-Tropicbird, long tailed and just pretty.

Last stop of the day - Isla Santa-Fè. A sandy beach filled with Sea-Lions resting & cuddling welcome us into this paradise. Mocking-Birds, Lava-Lizards & the Galàpagos-Dove were the new animals we got to meet on this island. We even got to see Blue-Footed-Boobies - well, we thought it was up close just then...

At night, the boat would sail the long distances - So every morning we would wake up to a new scenery. Morning of day number 2 brought of to Isla Española. On this trip, the animals were all sitting & posing on the trail. making us (the tourists) circle around them, or try and not step on them - in the case of the Marine-Iguanas. These black creatures appeared in bigger and bigger groups each time, cuddling in order to maintain their body heat. The Blue-Footed-Boobies were dancing, the white Nazca-Boobies were flying all around, but then...we reached animal heaven.
The Waved-Albatrosses are AMAZING! At first we didn't know how much. They were just sitting there, nesting. Then we saw them walk around - and do their special mating dance (if it doesn`t fit - you`re not it!). And then - they flew! With a wingspan of 2.25 meters they just look like F-15s in the sky. They can`t really lift themselves up, so they always nest next to cliffs - that way they just have to jump. Amazing! or did I say that already??

The next day was not supposed to be anything special. Punta Cormorant, on Isla Floreana is a dead (without animals) beach, but what we witness was really unique. A female turtle, was late to return to sea - and was in the middle of digging her way out of her hole. All we had to do - was to wait for her to get out, and just watch the show.She was really scared of all the tourists waiting for her outside of her hole (almost circling her), she almost regretted ever coming out of her hole - but then took all the courage she could grasp - and ``ran`` her way back to sea. She was really slow on the sand, but once her body touched the water - she was gone.

The next stop of the day was also on Isla Floreana. Post-Office-Bay is know mostly for it`s weird tradition - There is a Postcard-Barrel on the beach, and ever since pirate times, people leave and pick-up post-cards & letters and have them delivered to their addresses. So we left our own - and took some as well (from Israel!). Apart from that - we went to see a Lava-Tunnel, and witnessed the football match tradition played by the crew members of the boats.

4th day, and we thought we saw everything. Santa Cruz island is the most populated one. Puerto-Ayora is the biggest ``city`` on the Galàpagos islands, and it`s the most touristic as well. probably 90% of the income of this town is tourism. Who can blame them?
On the Santa Cruz island is the famous Charles-Darwin-Research-Station, where people come to see the giant Land Tortoises, and the celebrity ``Lonesome George``. You can also take a tour deeper into the island and witness the giant tortoises in the ``wild`` (it`s still a preservation park).

After civilization, we got back to reality. Isla Rabida invites us back to nature with Cacti without spikes! No Land-Iguanas on this island made it possible for these strange trees to develope.
The Pinnacle on Isla Barthalome, leaves you breathless of the world`s creation. On Barthalome, we climbed a volcano, saw a smaller one from the top, lifted some very ``heavy`` rocks, and got to see where Darwin slept ;)

On an everyday basis, we would go on snorkeling dives. The water was cold, but there`s a whole other world underneath the waves. Sea-Lions would make you wonder who`s the tourist - as curios as a two year old, they would swim around us, getting near our faces with their mustaches and then swimming away. Chewing our yellow fins. Barthalome was the best dive for most of us. Dad & Inbal got to see a race between a penguin & a shark! Penguins swim like torpedoes in the water, and you get to see them just for a glimpse of a second.

Surviving the toughest night of our sailing life (we had to cross the equator some how!), we were happy to reach Isla Genovesa. North-East of all the islands, this is the only place to see the Red-Footed-Boobies & Great Frigates. The Red-Footed-Boobies are unique and nest on trees. the also have red legs and blue bills. When in juvenile stage, they have a white body which all together resembles the American flag. The Boobies and the Frigates are both sworn enemies. Even so - they nest on the same tree, and usually - on ``neighbor-branches``. Frigates destroy the Boobie`s nests, rebuild them - and live there - and vice-versa.
Genovesa itself is a volcano. The boat`s harbor is the crater, and the land is the underwater mountain`s perimeter. The most special animal on this island in my opinion is the Galàpagos Owl. Not like any other owl - this one prays during the day! It is very hard to spot due to it`s magnificent camouflage.

North Seymour was the last island in the cruise. Here we finished of our ``check-list`` by seeing the Magnificent-Frigates with their inflated red sacks. They inflate their sacks only during mating season, and due to the fact that on North Seymour, the Frigates nest all year long - it`s most likely to see them inflate their red sack on this island.

The end of the cruise means the end of Galàpagos, or does it?
My family decided we`re going to live this once in a lifetime experience just a bit more...
The boat left us where it picked us up on the first day: The airport of Baltra island. From there, we had to take a bus, a ferry, another bus and a speedboat in order to reach Isla Isabela. On the first two days, we were obligated to a tour we booked for seeing the island. Included in the tour, was an evening tour (not worth you reading time), a walk up to see Volcan Sierra-Negra - the world`s second largest crater, which erupted on 2005. And a snorkeling dive near the island.
The climb to the volcano wasn`t as hard as we thought it would be. The so common open sided truck took us almost all the way up, from there it was a 3 hour ascent (not to steep) and a 2 hour descent on the way back. The crater itself is amazingly black.

The snorkeling afternoon also got to be great fun. We found a very pleasant turtle which didn`t mind us petting it and swimming next to it for almost half and hour. I saw my first spotted ray!

We heard about Campo-Duro by mistake, and did not know what to expect from it. Turns out it`s the personal little heaven of the crazy-briliant-minded owner. He took management of the place with a vision of turning it to an ecological farm for the use of tourists and tortoises alike. The national park lets him raise about 20 juvenile tortoises. If you`ll be nice - he`ll also let you in to their farm. He built ecological showers for the use of the campers, and invented his own ``egg tree``.

The day after that (our last active day on the Galàpagos), we took a walk to see ``Muro de las Lagrimas`` (The Wall of Tears). This wall was erected by convicts in the first half of this century when this area served as a penal colony. Many prisoners died during the work of the construction, giving it its name.
On the way to the wall, there are beauty spots with explanations about the fauna, flora and geology. There`s also another tortoise research station on the way, which experts in the unique species living on Isabela island.

The next day was a crazy transport day. Speed-boat, private-taxi, ferry, bus, plane & another taxi is the list used in order to get in one piece from Isabela island to Guayaquil. Not easy.
That night was the last of me and my family together (until my return home...), and so we celebrated in a very good meat-stake dinner. Thank You!

Tips for Islas Galàpagos:

- Española & Genovesa were my favorite islands. If you have to pick - pick at least one of them.

- Bring some snacks with you - after 4 of 8 days, you really get sick of the chicken/fish with your rise.

- Try and bargain your snorkelong gear into the bargain. We added a lot of money after knowing the deal was already ``all included``.

- If you`ve got the extra time, staying on one of the islands is not as expenssive as the cruises. Isla Isabela and Campo-Duro are recommended.