With my lightening bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am going to be when
The reaper he reaches and touches my hand
With my lightening bolts a glowin' I can see where I am goin'
Better look out below!
As has happened multiple times during this trip, my expectations and preconceptions were fairly useless and surprisingly inaccurate in the last month. I have been constantly reevaluating my time frame, trying to make it to all of my intended destinations in South America, before needing to leave for Uganda; however, I seem to be a slow traveler, so maintaining the schedule has been difficult. It crossed my mind to skip going to Brazil entirely because I was feeling so pressed for time, and also because I seemed to hear the most accounts of violence and crime coming from travelers who had been in Brazil. In the end, I decide I could not skip Brazil because I was looking forward to traveling through the Amazon so much, having skipped expensive jungle tours in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Plus, I had spent 3 days and $100 obtaining a Brazilian visa in Lima. I am very grateful for my decision, as I loved Brazil much more than I original expected I would and, due to having to skip many towns and cities for lack of time, I will definitely be returning to Brazil.
I can see where I am going to be when
The reaper he reaches and touches my hand
With my lightening bolts a glowin' I can see where I am goin'
Better look out below!
As has happened multiple times during this trip, my expectations and preconceptions were fairly useless and surprisingly inaccurate in the last month. I have been constantly reevaluating my time frame, trying to make it to all of my intended destinations in South America, before needing to leave for Uganda; however, I seem to be a slow traveler, so maintaining the schedule has been difficult. It crossed my mind to skip going to Brazil entirely because I was feeling so pressed for time, and also because I seemed to hear the most accounts of violence and crime coming from travelers who had been in Brazil. In the end, I decide I could not skip Brazil because I was looking forward to traveling through the Amazon so much, having skipped expensive jungle tours in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Plus, I had spent 3 days and $100 obtaining a Brazilian visa in Lima. I am very grateful for my decision, as I loved Brazil much more than I original expected I would and, due to having to skip many towns and cities for lack of time, I will definitely be returning to Brazil.
I started out crossing the Bolivian/Brazilian boarder very far to the north of Bolivia. Apparently this is not a usual tourist route, as in the small town I spent the first night in, I ran into more curious stares and frank questions ( "what are you doing here?") than I have anywhere else during my trip. I went north to Porto Velho to begin my long awaited boat journey through the Amazon. The trip from Porto Velho to Manaus took 5 days and 4 nights and was definitely a highlight of my trip. I traveled on two different three story river boats, crammed full of hammocks, people, produce and other goods that need to be transported and distributed to different towns along the river. I quickly became friends with the only other young single girl on the boat, though we didn't share any languages, so she basically just drug me around with her whenever we would dock at a port. A few days into the trip, an Austrian man joined the group. With his help, all three of us could talk together, as he spoke both English and Portuguese. We became an inseparable threesome during the rest of the trip. He told me what people around us were saying -- mostly talking about my blond hair and asking why the gringo got both the single women on the boat. He also filled me in on the fact that Soni, the Brazilian girl, had been telling everyone that I was her girlfriend in order to keep the men from harassing us. They caught on to the lie eventually when they realized we could not actually speak to one another. I eventually made it to Manaus -- the boat only broke down twice, and because the water was receding rather than rising, we didn't hit any submerged trees and sink.
Thomas, my Austrian friend, let me stay with him in Manaus and gave me the scoop on all the sites to see in town. I went back out onto the river for a "jungle tour" which consisted of lunch in a floating cabin and canoeing through the submerged jungle. On the canoe trip, our guide asked us if we wanted him to catch a "slow monkey", as he did not know the name in English. I immediately caught on to the fact that he was talking about a sloth and told him not to catch it, but the other girls said yes and I was left feeling like the odd man out. So our guide went about shaking a sloth out of a tree. When the other girls realized what was actually going to happen, they said not to do it, but the damage was done and the sloth fell from the tree and had to swim to another tree to escape us. I'm sure the poor creature expended more energy in those 5 minutes with us than it usually does in a whole week. Needless to say, not the best money I have ever spent.
Next, I flew to Salvador, skipping much of the north of Brazil for lack of time. I convinced a couple of Australian guys in the airport to share a cab into town with me, as I didn't want to risk taking the bus when I didn't exactly know where I was even going. I stayed in the worst hostel of my whole trip (ok, actually maybe there have been worse. . .) as we were all enticed by its price of 10 reais, about US $5, which is cheap for a big Brazilian city and I think we must have started drinking already by that point, as upon waking the next morning we all agreed we needed to move immediately. We all had very questionable, tiny sheets that had visible bugs crawling around in them, the street noise was incredibly loud and the old blond hippie with massive dreadlocks I found sleeping in the hammock on the way to the bathrooms the next morning may still be there because I am not sure he was actually alive. In order to leave, we had to convince another guest to hold our money and promise to give it to the owner, as no one who actually worked there could be found. I ended up staying in Salvador for 5 or 6 days, waiting to go wreck diving, which never happened due to "weather" (though we had blue skies and calm winds most of the time). Luckily I found a much nicer hostel for not much more money and eventually parted ways with the Australians, as I could not take their drinking and partying, and they had taken to referring to all the girls in the hostel as "whores" in front of me. I think I had been given honorary "dude" status, as I was the only other person sharing a room with them.
All in all, I enjoyed Salvador very much and will have to go back for more warm beaches, colorful people, colorful buildings and perhaps some wreck diving. The one odd thing that kept happening is that I was constantly given colored ribbons to tie around my wrist that said something in Portuguese about the saint of Salvador. I am still not sure whether I was just being marked as a tourist (not that it wasn't already obvious) or whether I was having a curse put on me. I was grateful to leave unscathed from one of the cities I was most sure I would be mugged in. One girl was not so lucky -- she had a necklace ripped from her neck one night while watching capoera (sp?) in the square. A little boy of about 10 walked her back to her hostel, carried her bag for her (after much convincing) and yelled "fuck off" at anyone who even looked at them.
Thomas, my Austrian friend, let me stay with him in Manaus and gave me the scoop on all the sites to see in town. I went back out onto the river for a "jungle tour" which consisted of lunch in a floating cabin and canoeing through the submerged jungle. On the canoe trip, our guide asked us if we wanted him to catch a "slow monkey", as he did not know the name in English. I immediately caught on to the fact that he was talking about a sloth and told him not to catch it, but the other girls said yes and I was left feeling like the odd man out. So our guide went about shaking a sloth out of a tree. When the other girls realized what was actually going to happen, they said not to do it, but the damage was done and the sloth fell from the tree and had to swim to another tree to escape us. I'm sure the poor creature expended more energy in those 5 minutes with us than it usually does in a whole week. Needless to say, not the best money I have ever spent.
Next, I flew to Salvador, skipping much of the north of Brazil for lack of time. I convinced a couple of Australian guys in the airport to share a cab into town with me, as I didn't want to risk taking the bus when I didn't exactly know where I was even going. I stayed in the worst hostel of my whole trip (ok, actually maybe there have been worse. . .) as we were all enticed by its price of 10 reais, about US $5, which is cheap for a big Brazilian city and I think we must have started drinking already by that point, as upon waking the next morning we all agreed we needed to move immediately. We all had very questionable, tiny sheets that had visible bugs crawling around in them, the street noise was incredibly loud and the old blond hippie with massive dreadlocks I found sleeping in the hammock on the way to the bathrooms the next morning may still be there because I am not sure he was actually alive. In order to leave, we had to convince another guest to hold our money and promise to give it to the owner, as no one who actually worked there could be found. I ended up staying in Salvador for 5 or 6 days, waiting to go wreck diving, which never happened due to "weather" (though we had blue skies and calm winds most of the time). Luckily I found a much nicer hostel for not much more money and eventually parted ways with the Australians, as I could not take their drinking and partying, and they had taken to referring to all the girls in the hostel as "whores" in front of me. I think I had been given honorary "dude" status, as I was the only other person sharing a room with them.
All in all, I enjoyed Salvador very much and will have to go back for more warm beaches, colorful people, colorful buildings and perhaps some wreck diving. The one odd thing that kept happening is that I was constantly given colored ribbons to tie around my wrist that said something in Portuguese about the saint of Salvador. I am still not sure whether I was just being marked as a tourist (not that it wasn't already obvious) or whether I was having a curse put on me. I was grateful to leave unscathed from one of the cities I was most sure I would be mugged in. One girl was not so lucky -- she had a necklace ripped from her neck one night while watching capoera (sp?) in the square. A little boy of about 10 walked her back to her hostel, carried her bag for her (after much convincing) and yelled "fuck off" at anyone who even looked at them.
4 comments:
I also liked Brazil much more than I thought I would, and plan to go back before the visa expires. I'm taking Portuguese now, which is really fun. And I am still incredulous that I somehow made it through the 8 months without even being pickpocketed...
I have a old college roommate who lives with his Brazilian boyfriend in NYC half the year (so they can actually make $$$) and then in Rio the other half of the year. I have always wanted to go down there while they are there to have a translator/guide. Loved the S. American stories, but you know me. I can't wait to hear about your African experiences. One of my sponsered families is in Uganda, in a village called Dokolo which is in the Lira district east of Murchison Falls National Park. Not that I can but I really want to jump on a plane and come find you. I would much rather backback east Africa for 4 months then go to work with all the current BS.
Breathe deep, fly high, seek peace. -Fid
I will write a blarg about this shortly but I will leave a comment here first.
1: I think the band that you were quoting is "Zeus and the Zeusettes"
2: I have been in bum-fuck Ohio for the last week and a half, and the only thing I really had to worry about was getting called "queer" for wearing clothes that fit me instead of the local garb which included, but was not limited to; baggy pants and a backwards turned baseball cap.
3: Any and all synchronized swimming events should asplode as soon as possible.
Amen to wanting to go to brasil! Why am I working to convince the Max to go for carnival when we could easily team up to see the sites together later?... we should compare notes!
As for the agenda, i so sadly relate, i've started to consider any travelling agenda as a flexible outline for something to fill my time IF alternative plans and adventures don't develop their own changes and delays... i imagine its extra frustrating when you're changing continents!
But i certainly can't wait to hear your new adventures in new lands.. and with travelling recruits too!
And I had to look up the word asplode, because I just couldn't believe someone would use such verbage to describe something so beautiful and tender as synchronized swimming! For shame...
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