PHOTOS: CAPOEIRA DANCERS OF SALVADOR

Capoiera Dancers of Salvador performing in Praca De Se

overlooking the bay of Salvador

Friday 18th to Tuesday 22nd August 2006: BRASIL, Salvador

After a very smelly twelve hour ride (our seats were right near the toilet!) we arrived at the bus station in Salvador (aka Bahia) where we used the tourist information centre to find a cheap pousada right in the heart of the historical centre of Salvador. Arriving at our pousada we were really pleased with its location, pricing and the friendliness of everyone working there (much better than the place we stayed in Olinda!). Our pousada was located right in the heart of the Pelourinho which is the liveliest part of Salvador and the most beautiful with colourful colonial buildings, narrow cobbled streets and lots squares with churches and restuarants.

Salvador is dubbed the 'Africa' of Brasil as this is where the slaves where first brought to during the colonisation of Brasil and the influence this had on the city is to be found everywhere; in the music, food, art, dance and people. Each night we would witness the 'Axe' drummers parade through the streets always with crowds of people (tourists and locals) following behind them, dancing to the rhythm of the beat that was undeniably contagious and extremely loud! Whenever we´d walk through the small historical centre we´d always see the 'Capoeira' dancers performing in the street. This martial art/dance orginated from Senegal and is now an integral part of Brasilian culture, especially in Salvador where there are numerous Capoeira schools. It was truly amazing watching these people (male and female of all ages) perform this incredibly physically demanding sport in their bare feet on the pavements! They would backflip and somersault and pirouette on their hands as if it was as easy as walking down the street!

Whilst in Salvador we also managed to meet up again with Ricky and he showed us around one our first day to the places he´d discovered in his time there. We also enjoyed a great night out together; drinking caiprinhas in a square whilst watching the live music performance by a salsa band followed by salsa dancing till the early morning at the local club which was so much fun and this also where Oliver got his first taste for salsa dancing having been taught the basics by a Wayne Sleep lookalike who was also enjoying a night out in the club!

Our four days in Salvador were very relaxed (no need for guided tours or museum visits here!) as we just enjoyed being in the city soaking up the vibrant atmosphere, walking around the beautiful streets admiring the views (dancers, musicians, ladies in traditional African dress), choosing our favourite pieces of art (the streets of the Pelourinho are lined with local art work displayed outdoors), and enjoying the excellent food of Salvador. Our favourite dish was the Shrimp Moqueca, a speciality of Salvador, made with coconut milk and palm oil served in a earthenware dish whilst piping hot accompanied with rice and some extremely hot chilli sauce; truly delicious with a ice cold beer!

Salvador is definitely the best city we have visited on our travels so far!

The Pelourinho

Celina & Mona Liza

(the lovely local ladyboy who braided her hair in the square!)

Oliver, Celina & Ricky enjoying a night out
(loving those Caiprinhas!)

AXE drummers performing in the streets

AXE drummers parading past our pousada balcony

Wednesday 16th to Thursday 17th August 2006: BRASIL, Olinda

We were excited about visiting Olinda, a UNESCO world heritage site, thirty minutes from the city of Recife as we´d read that it was a pretty colonial town of cobbled streets and brightly coloured building. Olinda is also steeped in history as it was first founded by the Dutch in 1537 and was the first capital of Brasil, so we were looking forward to visiting the museums and learning more about the town.

Arriving in Olinda we were disappointed to see that the local beach which we´d look forward to swimming in had signs warning you not to swim there because of the sharks!

By the time we arrived in the old town (the better part) of Olinda it was getting dark so we didn´t want to hang around with all our belongings, walking from hostel to hotel in search of cheap accomodation as our guidebook had advised against this due to the frequent muggings that take place. However, we had to go trawling to a few places as again our guidebook was completely inaccurate with the pricing but these places were awful for the prices they were charging so we ended up returning to the first place we looked at and paid the extra hoping it would be worth it!

Annoyed and disappointed with our first impression of Olinda (this was certainly not a safe welcoming place like Pipa!) we went to the internet shop to check our emails and to try and get a different feel for the place but along the way we were constantly harrassed for money from beggars which did little to endear us to Olinda! On checking our emails we´d just received an email from Ricky who had just arrived in Salvador, Bahia (our next stop) and he only had good things to say about it so we decided that we would leave the next day and head straight for Salvador - one of the perks of travelling being you can up and leave when it takes your fancy.

Olinda did have some good qualities; they had a nice pizza and crepe restaurant next door to our pousada! However, we were sorely disappointed the next morning when for our breakfast buffet the pousada actually laid out the same pizza we had eaten the night before except this wasn´t fresh just reheated! The rest of the breakfast options were equally poor and just made us want to leave as soon as possible!

In order to pass a few hours before it was time to check out of the pousada, we decided to walk up to the top of the old town hill where there were good views over the Olinda all the way to Recife.

Finally at midday it was time for us to Olinda (it couldn´t have come sooner as to us this place was completely over-rated and over-priced!) and we looked forward to having a much better time in Salvador, Bahia, and to meeting up with Ricky.

Views over Olinda (Recife in the distance) from the top of the Old Town

The colonial church of Olinda as viewed from the top of the Old Town

Sunday 13th to Wednesday 16th August 2006: BRASIL, Pipa

We arrived in Pipa at midday and from the moment we stepped off the bus we knew we would be having a great time here. Pipa is a very small beach town frequented by Brasilians and Europeans and has a real charm to it - small shops line the main street which is made of cobbled stones as is the rest of the town. We managed to get a great deal (cheapest accomodation yet in Brasil!) at a Pousada (small hotel) along the main street which was great for people watching from the balcony. Plus they also had a swimming pool and served a huge variety filled breakfast which we enjoyed a lot!

In Pipa we had our first experience of the Kilo Self Service Restaurants typical of Brasil. At these restaurants are rows of dishes of a huge variety of meat, fish, vegatables and salad and you just choose what you want and then pay for the weight of the food on your plate. We´ve really started to enjoy our food again after not eating much for the past months due to the monotonous food of Central America but here in Brasil the food is much more to our liking as there is greater variety and eating at these kilo restaurants is very cheap and tasty!

Our 3 nights in Pipa were the best time we´ve had at any beach town we´ve visited throughout our honeymoon. The beaches of the North-East of Brasil are so beautiful and uncrowded - long stretches of golden sand and turquoise blue sea! Pipa also has a beach called Dolphin Bay where each day you can swim with the dolphins at low tide as at this time of day they come very close to the shore in order to try and catch the fish being washed up on the shore. Each day we walked the twenty minutes along the gorgeous shore to Dolphin Bay to soak up some rays, to swim and to watch the dolphin display . Sadly were we again unable to catch the dolphins on camera (not for lack of trying - we had about thirty pics of the sea!) but their image will be etched in our minds for a long time yet.

Pipa is also known as a party town for the celebs of Brasil but we didn´t experience any of the big parties, just a few caiprinhas at night in the bars along the main street which have lovely views of the town and beaches. On our first day we also managed to meet up with Ricky for an afternoon of laughter (it´s great hanging out with another person who has an English sense of humour!) but he left the next day to head to Salvador where we´d agreed to meet up in a few days time.

After three wonderful days of complete relaxation by the beach we were sad to leave Pipa but it was time to move on to our next stop of Recife and Olinda, a four hour bus ride away.

Dolphin Bay at Pipa

Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th August 2006: BRASIL, Natal

The bus we took from Fortaleza to Natal was great as it was a night journey that allowed us to sleep the whole way so we only awoke once we arrived at the bus station at 7am on the Thursday. As our guidebook has been so wrong in terms of pricing the hotels we decided to visit the tourist information booth at the bus station to see what accomodation they recommended. The tourist information ladies were extremely helpful and were able to find us the best accomodation we´ve had since we started our travels (excepting Eric´s house in San Juan Del Sur!). Our accomodation was a chalet complete with kitchen, bathroom, air-conditioning and cable tv in a small family run complex with swimming pool, free internet and breakfast included (this was huge and delivered to our door each morning in a woven basket!), plus they came and picked up us from the bus stations and all this for just two pounds more a night than the hostel we had just left! The people who ran the place were really lovely and helpful advising us on the best places to eat and drink and when we went to the restaurant they recommended we enjoyed the best meal we have had during our honeymoon - a huge meal consisting of typical Brasilian food that was extremely yummy!

Natal was much prettier than Fortaleza and much more to our liking in terms of beach towns; relaxed and small in its population. We stayed away from the centre of town at Ponta Negra, the best beach in Natal. The beach was very long (great for our long walks) and there were also huge sand dunes along them that you were able to ride along in dune buggies.

We spent our days enjoying the beach, our chalet and the swimming pool so much so that we decided to stay a few days longer than planned. The weather was hot and sunny with the occasional rain shower but on the last day it was stormy which was when we knew it was time to leave and head on to the next beach southwards, Praia Pipa.

The beach at Ponta Negra

The famous 120 meter sand dune of Ponta Negra beach
(this used to be used as a sand skiing slope!)

Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th August 2006: BRASIL, Fortaleza

Having arrived at the port of Belem we headed straight to the bus station in order to catch the next available bus to Fortaleza and the start of the north eastern beaches of Brasil. We were lucky enough to get on a bus that was leaving half an hour later and so began the extremely long (30 hours) and bumpy (the roads are not good in this part of Brasil) road trip to Fortaleza.

We finally arrived in Fortaleza (with very numb legs and bottoms!) on Monday night at 10pm and headed straight for the main beach area in search of a cheap hotel. We searched a few hotels and hostels and were again surprised by the pricing which was considerably increased from the information given in our 2006 South America Footprint guide (this book is turning out to be rather useless considering it´s the newest edition!) so we opted for the cheapest available option and stayed in a dorm in the Hostelling International Youth Hostel of Fortaleza.

Having freshened up in the hostel we headed to the nearby beach to stretch our legs and see what the night life was like. We´d sat on the roadside and had a snack from the local food sellers (as is the custom) and we were just walking along the road to find a bar when we had someone approach us from behind and start speaking to us in a northern English accent - we turn around to see Ricky who we´d met on our day spent at Laguna De Apoyo, Nicaragua back in April - he was one of the English lads who we´d spent the day with talking Premiership Football!!!!
Ricky was sitting outside his hotel killing time until his taxi came to take him to the bus station when he´d seen us walk past! We were all really shocked to have bumped into each other so randomly so we went for a drink together and caught up on each others travel tales and got the lowdown on Fortaleza. It turns out that Ricky will be in Brasil for the next month until he flys home to London and he´s also travelling down to Rio De Janiero stopping at most places we´ll be visiting! After one hour it was time for Ricky to leave so we said our goodbyes looking forward to seeing him at our next beach stop!

Ricky had informed us that Fortaleza wasn´t that great as it´s really developed and this was confirmed to us the next day, however, we decided to stay two nights as we didn´t fancy taking another long bus ride so soon after the last one! We spent the two days in Fortaleza walking along the beach and swimming in the sea and catching up on emails until it was time to take the 11pm bus straight to Natal, a smaller beach town 12 hours from Fortaleza.

The beach at Fortaleza

Wednesday 2nd to Sunday 6th August 2006: BRASIL, Manaus to Belem: AMAZON RIVER CRUISE

We arrived in Manaus on the Wednesday at 3pm and checked into a cheap hotel (Brasil is considerably moe expensive compared to Central America & Colombia!) right next to the Teatro Amazonas (Theatre Amazon) and the beautiful surrounding square. As there was a boat leaving the next day we only spent one night and morning in Manaus but we did enjoy our short time there and loved having our morning coffee in the Teatro Amazonas square in the glourious sunshine listening to classical music that was being relayed on speakers throughout the square - a great way to wake up.

Teatro Amazonas of Manaus

At 1pm we were picked up from our hotel by the Captain´s manger and boarded the boat earlier than others, a sign of the better service that was to come! This boat wasn´t as nice as the previous one as the cabin only a small bunk bed with en suite but no tv or fridge however, the service was much better than the last. For meal times people staying in cabins we were called to dine after those staying in hammocks had finished we which made us feel special! The food was lovely with salad and veggies at each meal and for breakfast we had a much more substantial breakfast; fresh fruit and eggs where as those in hammocks only got coffee and a roll!

This journey was the same as the last (3 nights, 4 days) but there was a long 12 hour stop over in Santarem where new passengers arrived including the only two English men we had in Brasil, Ed and Andrew who are teachers enjoying their long summer holidays travelling around Brasil. With people to hang out this boat trip was much more fun and we enjoyed spending hours playing card games and having people to talk who could understand us as our portugese in non existent although being able to speak spanish helps a little!

Passing the time playing cards

Again the scenery during the journey was beautiful and it was great being able to sunbathe on the top deck as this boat had proper sun lounges!

Along the way we passed a particular community of Amazonans who would paddle up to the boat in their canoes and the children in the boat who make a 'whooing' sound whilst waving their hands which was when people throw floatable containers into the water that contained gifts for these people. Some river dwellers even managed to come alongside our moving boat and attach their canoes to the side (very daring of them as our boat wasn´t moving slowly!) then they climbed aboard and sold fruits and nuts to the passengers.

On Sunday at midday we arrived in Belem marking the end of our time in the Amazon and the start of tour of Brasils beaches.

Houses of the river communities built on the Amazon

Saturday 29th July to Tuesday 1st August 2006: BRASIL, Tabatinga to Manaus: AMAZON RIVER CRUISE

The Voyager IV cruise ship left Tabatinga around 3pm on Saturday and we had been fortunate enough to sleep on the boat the previous night whilst it was still docked in the port enabling us to save some money by not paying for a hotel.

We decided to pay a little extra and reserved a cabin instead doing the usual backpackers choice of sleeping in hammocks, and we were very glad we chose this option as the boat was extremely crowded and hammocks were hung from every available space! Our cabin was perfect with a small double bed with a single on top, en suite, refrigerator and a tv, but this was useless to us as there was only one channel in portugese.

The boat had three levels (our cabin was on the second) and it had a bar on the top deck (with music constantly blaring out of the speakers!) and there were sun lounges and showers there for those who wished to sunbathe. There were a few stops along the way to load and unload cargo and passengers otherwise the journey was just one long boat ride however it was made bareable by the ever changing spectacualr scenery and weather as we headed towards Manaus.

We spent the next four days (3 nights) reading lots (we each finished two books in this time!) and waiting for the knock on our door to let us know when each meal was ready. We were glad we´d stocked up on fruit and snacks before boarding as the food did become very monotonous and there was no fruit and very few vegtables with the meals but after four months of not really enjoying the food in Central America we weren´t that bothered.

Finally on Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Manaus, happy to be back on land and looked forward to a few days on 'still' ground before taking another boat to Belem and the end of the Amazon river.

A sunny afternoon on the Amazon river

Storms brewing over the Amazon

Sunset over the Amazon river

Friday 28th July 2006: COLOMBIA, Leiticia: AMAZON RIVER TOUR

Having spent a few days recovering from our jungle tour we were ready to leave Leiticia for the Brasil section of our trip, but not before we had taken a full day river tour of the Amazon and its surrounding tributaries.

Daniel had organised a boat tour that began at the port in Tabatinga, Brasil which is the neighbouring town to Leiticia - in this part of the Amazon there is no formal border crossing between Colombia, Brasil and Peru due to the vastness of the river, all you need do is make sure you have your entrance and exit stamps from the relevant countries when arriving and leaving.

We packed our rucksacks ready to leave Colombia after the river tour and were driven to the port at Tabatinga by Daniel where we got on the small fishing boat and met our guide for the day, Orlando. From Tabatinga we ventured 70km up the Amazon river into the Peru section of the river where our day would be spent. Along the way we saw the famous Amazonian Pink Dolphins and the normal grey ones. These pink dolphins moved too fast for our camera so sadly we were unable to catch these strange looking creatures.

Once we reached the Peruvian Amazon we moored our boat and took a short walk inland to find the river where the biggest water lilies in the world grow wild.

Victoria Regia Water Lilies in the Peruvian Amazon

When we returned to our boat we ventured a little further to a prime piranha fishing spot. We spent the next few hours fishing for piranhas which was a highlight of our Amazon adventure. Celina caught four piranhas (1 red, 3 white) which were all caughtby either being hooked in the eye or the head; one was even 'caught' by the getting its teeth jammed in the lead weight of the fishing line! Oliver caught six fish but not one of these was a piranha which he was not happy about!

Celina and her white piranha

Celina´s other white piranha caught by its teeth being stuck in the lead weight!

Oliver relaxing as we cruise down the Amazon

Fishing time over, we spent the next few hours cruising back down the Amazon into Brasil, enjoying the beautiful scenery. We ended our tour back in the port of Tabatinga and spent that night on our ferry docked in the port, which would leave the next day for Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas.

MORE PHOTOS: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR

Sergio with a green mouth from taking Mambe

An Amazonian butterfly

The Amazonian Jungle

PHOTOS: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR

The bark of the Yahai Tree

Coca Leaves

The Yahai Ceremony Hut

William (aka The Chaman) making Yucca in the Maloca

Monday 24th July 2006: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR: Day 3

We awoke the next morning soon after sunrise hoping Sergio had been successful with his hunt, but sadly he was not. However, he did manage to come upon a huge hairy tarantula right near our campfire and he wasn´t at all afraid to pick it up and play with it so we could take the next picture!

An Amazonian Tarantula

After breakfast we packed up camp for the last time and started back on our 10km trek back to the Maloca we had visited on day one. During this walk we saw pineapple plants which neither of us had ever seen before so Sergio went and found us a huge ripe pineapple for us to take back to Leiticia. It was quite heavy and awkward to carry for the rest of the day but when we did eat it it tasted extra sweet!

Pineapples in the Amazon

We also went in search of Incense Trees to find the white sap as we had loved the smell so much that we wanted to take some home as a souvenir. Sergio found lots and carefully wrapped us a bundle in a banana leave; the rest he took home to burn in his house, not just to repell the mosquitoes but also because it is believed that it brings good energy to the home.

A half hour walk from the Maloca we stopped for lunch by a river in the pouring rain! Sergio was still able to light the fire and cook throughout the downpour as he cleverly designed a banana leave cover to keep the rain off the fire - Sergio could definitely show Ray Mears a few tricks!

Masterful Sergio cooking lunch

(the rain cover is on the left)

Lunch was earlier this day as later that evening we were taking part in a traditional Amazonian ceremony of drinking Yahai and this requires each person to have an empty stomach due to the stomach cleansing effects of the ceremony.

Yahai is a tea made from the bark of the Yahai tree combined with Coca leaves that is slowly boiled with water for hours and is made by the Chaman who is the only one with the special knowledge of making of this hallucinogenic drink. The entire tribe frequently partake in this spiritual ceremony including children above the age of ten and we were eager to experience this special ritual that enables you to have 'visions' and learn even more about the lives of the indigenous people of the Amazon.

The Yahai ceremony is always performed at night in complete darkness in a specially made square hut that is a few metres away from the Maloca. Before entering the Yahai hut we met the Chaman (aka William) who is also the Chief of the Hutoto tribe in the Maloca as he briefed us on the ceremony and what we should expect to happen. The first effects after drinking Yahai would be vomiting and diarrhoea which would then be followed by the body relaxing to the point where walking would be difficult followed by these 'visions'. The 'visions' you see when drinking Yahai are entirely individual and dependent on the concentration you maintain once you have chosen what you would like to see, i.e. some choose to see their future, others have chosen to see like an eagle. We were slightly sceptical about the 'visions' and nervous about taking part in the ceremony due to the sickness effects of Yahi but William calmed our fears informing us that his role was look after all those taking part (which included escorting each individual to the toilet!) and assured us that nothing bad would happen.

Having been shown the western toilet next door to the Yahai hut and the 'vomit window' (literally a hole cut out of the hut where you just needed to lean over) we entered the hut barefoot, as is the custom. There were two others taking part in the ceremony (Sergio and another tribe member Sebastian - both very experienced in this ceremony) and we all sat in a circle in the middle of the hut (lit by the tiniest flame of an oil burner) facing the Chaman. We then each had to tie a white band around our head and in turn drank a small cup (roughly 50ml) of the Yahai tea, down in one. Once we had all drank the tea we were advised to move under the 'special' window so that we were sitting with our backs against the wall as we would soon be needing the support and the nearness of the window! Once we´d repositioned ourselves, the flame was extinguished and we sat in complete darkness listening to William´s chanting, waiting for the drink to take effect.

After roughly half and hour, Celina (having been the first to drink the tea) started vomiting and shortly after Oliver followed suit! Celina continued being sick (Oli counted at least six times!) and after each time felt increasingly strange in body and mind. Moving to use the window became more and more difficult - the support of the wall was much appreciated by this time as it was the only thing preventing her from falling over in a 'drunken' stupor! When the time came to use the toilet it was extremely hard for Celina to walk un-aided (William had to practically carry her to the loo!) and the light from William´s flashlight seemed to turn the floor into moving blue swirls of light! After the toilet excursions Celina remained unable to do anything but breathe very heavily and slowly and try to keep her eyes open! During this experience it seemed that the chanting exacerbated the strange effects of drinking Yahai.

Oliver didn´t have nearly as weird an experience as Celina - no strange feelings or inability to walk for him! Where Celina felt that time had stood still during the four hour ceremony, it was long and drawn out for Oli! However, it was quite comical for Oli hearing Celina stumble around trying to put her wellies on to use the loo and listening to her constant heavy breathing!

Just before the end of the ceremony we were each called individually to sit by Williams´ side (he remained in the middle of the hut) where he took off the white headband and recited a mantra whilst patting our heads with some nice smelling and cooling liquid. For Celina to move towards William took a great effort which could only be managed by crawling on hands and knees - standing at this point was just not possible! Once the ceremony was over we all headed back to the Maloca (Celina now guided by Oliver - "There´s a step here love!") to our hammocks and a good nights sleep.

The next morning we spent some time talking with William about our different experiences during the ceremony - Celina was the only one of the four to have had such a strong experience! Oliver was much cheered on learning from William that he has a clean and strong stomach as he didn´t have any need to use the toilet! Sergio also explained that to experience no 'strangeness' during the ceremony is very normal as the ceremony is entirely natural and therefore cannot promise an effect everytime. All in all the Yahai ceremony was a interesting experience and did enable us to have a good laugh about it the next day.

A few hours after waking (having seen William and his wife make Yucca) it was time to say goodbye to William & co and the Amazon jungle and head back to Sergio´s village where Daniel would be waiting to take us back to Leiticia.

Our three nights in the jungle was the most awesome experience for both of us where we learnt so much about the Amazon and its people. This tour has definitely been the highlight of our honeymoon and will be a memory that we cherish forever.

The Goodfellows at the end of their Amazonian trek

Sunday 23rd July 2006: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR: Day 2

We awoke on this gloriously sunny sunday morning to the sounds of birds and had to experience an Amazon bath - washing in the river - strange but effective! After breakfast we packed up camp and started on another long walk deeper into the Brasilian Amazon (we had crossed over from Colombia the previous day - no immigration here just a small trail marking the divide).

During our walk we often stopped by specific trees and plants which have medicinal properties and other uses. Sergio showed us the tree that cures the symptoms of Malaria (which is now being used by the local hospital) and the Incense Tree which repels mosquitoes when the sap from the cut bark is burnt.

Early afternoon we arrived at our second camp site. Again we were next to a river and as we were considerably deeper in the jungle the mosquitoes where rife, vicious and even able to bite us through our lightweight tops but thankfully not our jeans! It was at this point that Sergio went in search of the white sap of the Incense Tree and returned with enough to drive away the horrid insects and it was a lot more effective than our chemically made repellent which is so strong that it burns our skin!

After dinner had been eaten and all dishes washed (Sergio taught us how to wash the dishes in the river with no detergent - using the sand off the bottom of the river acts as a great cleaner and scourer and is natural and not harmful to the jungle) we sat around the campfire for a bedtime story of Munaj Hurama - the legend of this Hututo Tribe Chief. The story took a long time to tell as Celina had to understand it fully before translating to Oli, but the long task was well worth it as the story was truly gruesome, original and enchanting and one that we'll remember forever!

After our bedtime story Sergio headed off into the darkness of the jungle to hunt but we decided to stay behind and sleep as we were exhausted from two days of solid walking and we also didn't fancy another night walk - once was enough!

Our Amazon Bath

Oliver on an Amazon chair - a log!

Celina the Fire Starter!

Saturday 22nd July 2006: AMAZON JUNGLE TOUR: Day 1

Daniel arrived at our hotel at 9am with wellies, hammocks complete with mosquito net and all the food we would need for our tour. We each took a small rucksack of the bare essentials as evertyhing we wanted to take would have to be carried by ourselves and for the next three days the only mode of transport would be our feet! Having organised our packs with the added weight of food and hammocks, we were driven 8km outside of Leiticia to the small village where our guide lives. Sergio, our indigenous guide, lives in a village right on the edge of the jungle with other members of his tribe, and it was from here that we would begin our trek. Whilst at Sergio´s house we had to re-arrange our packs again this time to fit in the additional water needed and the necessary first aid kit complete with syringes and anti-venom, just in case anyone was unlucky enough to get bitten by one of the many deadly venomous snakes living in the jungle! Finally around 11am we were all set to begin our journey into the jungle. We said our goodbyes to Daniel until the tuesday morning when he would return to take us back to Leiticia. Our time in the Amazonas Jungle (aka 'El Pulmones Del Mundo' = The Lungs of the World) had begun! Our first walk (the shortest of the next three days) was thirty minutes long, towards the Maloca. A Maloca is a round traditional building of the indigenous peple of the Amazon. Sergio belongs to the Hutoto Tribe and he explained that he and the whole community helped build the Maloca entirely by hand (machete allowed!) and only using materials from the jungle. The Maloca is used by the tribes people as a meeting place for celebrations, rituals and for making Mambe (a product of coca leaves) and Yucca (made from the plant for eating).

The Hutoto Tribe Maloca

Inside the Maloca it was very cool and refreshing and Sergio explained that this was another purpose of its making - to be a contrast to the outside, i.e. cool when it´s hot and warm when it´s cool. We sat in the centre of the dark Maloca (no electricity here!) on tree stump stools placed in a circle whilst Sergio explained the purpose of Mambe and described the four stage process of turning a pile of coca leaves into a fine green powder. Mambe is continually used by all members of the tribe (from the age of 8 upwards) because as well as being hunger and tiredness suppressant it is also used for spiritual reasons. They believe that whilst taking Mambe they are more in tune with the spirits of the jungle and that it enables them to connect their mind and soul with the energy there. After this explanation of Mambe making and its effects, we were invited to try it! Sergio showed us the correct way of taking it (1 - Place a spoonful in the side of your mouth; 2 - Keep mouth closed waiting to saliva to form and swallow slowly when necessary; 3 - Wait for the Mambe to form into balls in the side of your mouth and leave there until dissolved) but it was awkward, especially trying hard not to swallow it all in one (we were warned that doing so causes violent vomiting!) but we managed and the three of us sat there in silence waiting for the Mambe to take effect. After ten to fifteen minutes the Mambe had formed into balls so with renewed energy and numb mouths (thanks to the Mambe!) we headed deeper into the jungle to our camping spot for the night.

Walking through the jungle was really quite spectacular and with the sunlight streaming through the dense and vast leaves along with the constant sound of of the birds and monkeys, it all seemed quite magical and very special.

Walking through the Amazon Jungle

We also felt like jungle explorers as we followed a machete and shotgun wielding Sergio and crossed rivers by walking across the log ´bridges´ which was slightly scary as the rivers below do contain caimans!

Traversing logs to cross rivers!

After four hours (with regular stops along the way to rehydrate), we finally reached our campsite for the night which was alongside a small river for ease of washing and water for cooking. Sergio´s friend (another tribesman) arrived shortly after we did and helped construct our campsite for the night. Whilst Sergio and his friend Tuto built the camp we stood back in awe at their ability to make something from seemingly nothing. Small trees were cut to act as the frame of the camp (to hold the tarpaulin and support our hammocks) and vines were used to bind the frame together. Everything used in our time in the jungle would be 'of' the jungle! Once camp was built we enjoyed a snooze in our hammocks and awoke later to the smells and sounds of Sergio building the campfire from where we would cook our dinner. A short hour later a delicious simple dinner of rice, salad and meat had been prepared and was devoured by the four trekkers around the campfire. At 8pm we left camp for our night time jungle walk in the hope of hunting some fresh meat for the next days meal and also to spot caimans. Once again we were walking across logs to reach the other side of the rivers and this time it was a lot more scary as you could see the caimans eyes below and the logs were a lot more slippery due to the recent downpour. After one hour we returned to camp without any fresh meat but looking forward to the comfort and safety of our hammocks. We fell asleep to the "Sounds of the Jungle" live version!

Our hand made campsite!

Friday 21st to Saturday 29th July 2006: COLOMBIA, Leiticia

After a short flight (hour and half) from Bogota we arrived in the Amazonas and Leiticia, happy to be back in a tropical climate and eager to experience all the surrounding rainforest has to offer. Touching down at the airport gave us some idea of the vastness of the Amazonas as all we could see was miles and miles of jungle. The airport had literally been ´cut out´of the jungle - when landing it looked liked the wings of the plane would hit the trees!

Leaving the airport we met a recommended (from our Footprint South America Guidebook) local guide called Daniel, a lovely man who organised and arranged our tours of the jungle and rivers. After being offered lots of different options we agreed on taking a three day jungle tour and a one day river trip.

Visiting the Amazon has also been a lifelong dream of Oliver´s so everthing we experienced in this time had an extra special feel to it as we were finally "living the dream".

Monday 17th to Friday 21st July 2006: COLOMBIA: Bogota

Having arrived in Bogota on the evening of the 17th, we were surprised by the sudden drop in temperature. We learnt that Bogota stands at 2,600 meters above sea level, so we therefore spent the next few days feeling quite cold and looking forward to more tropical climes!

Having booked our internal flight to Leiticia (for the start of our Amazon tour) for the Friday, we spent most of our time in our hotel due to the cold and also because of the reports we had heard and read about the undesirability of Bogota, especially at night. These reports seemed justified to us as there was a constant police presence throughout the day and at 9pm the streets surrounding our hotel were deserted, even the police had disappeared! We later learnt (from Bogotans we met in Leiticia) that we had been staying in the worst part of Bogota i.e. downtown and had we stayed in the suburban north we would have experienced a very different Bogota!

However, in spite of our nervousness of the city we still managed to have a good time and we very much enjoyed visiting one of the best museums in South America, Museo Del Oro (The Gold Museum) which was full of amazingly intricate and fascinating gold artifacts centuries of years old.

We were also fortunate enough to witness Colombia's Independence Day procession on Thursday 20th - a national holiday. The procession lasted ours and included what looked like every different military group of Colombia, from the military college, injured war vets, marching bands, provincial fighters and the calvary and they even had a fly-by but the weren't as good as The Red Arrows! The streets were packed with locals, young and old, who cheered and clapped as each different group marched by. Evidently this was a very special day for al Colombians and we were glad to have experienced it even though after hours of standing we were freezing!

Colombian Independence Day March in Bogota

Tuesday 11th to Monday 17th July 2006: PANAMA: Panama City

After three glorious weeks at Eric's house in San Juan Del Sur, it was finally time to leave Nicaragua and start on our travels through South America. After a thirty hour bus ride (and a few changes) we arrived in Panama City where we would catch a short flight to Colombia.

Having booked our flights to Bogota, Colombia, leaving on the 17th July we looked forward to spending the next six days in the most developed city of Central America.

Quite funnily, whilst enjoying a post breakfast cigarette outside our hotel (most of Panama City has a no smoking indoors policy) on our first morning, we happened to bump into another Londoner we had met three months prior when surfing at Playa Madera in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Maciej was not in San Juan long but long enough for Oli and him to build a friendship - they're both avid Arsenal fans! When we last saw Maciej he was heading for Costa Rica to meet up with his girlfriend Josey, also from London, who was flying out to meet him. Josey and Maciej were also now in Panama City arranging flights to Colombia. It was such a nice surprise and completely random to see someone we knew!

Our next six days were great fun and were spent hanging out with Josey and Maciej, enjoying the hotels rooftop pool, playing pool, eating good old Dominos Pizza, talking football (the girls were glad to have each other to not talk football!) and visiting the amazing Panama Canal.

Monday 17th July arrived and it was time for both couples to leave for Colombia (Josey & Maciej were heading for the caribbean costal town of Barranquilla). We said our goodbyes promising to meet up in London and we looked forward to Colombia.

A huge boat passing through the Panama Canal (Pacific to Atlantic side)

The view of the financial district of Panama City as seen from the roof of our hotel