The Venezuelan military woulnd't grand us a break until we got to the Brazilian border. That's in the middle of nowhere, far from anything called civilization. Nature is wild in the Amazon, but the nature of Amazonian people is simply fierce.
The very curious architecture in Boavista shows a contrast between simple buy-and-sell gold shops and fancy tinted glass banks - Brazilian AND International. There are also a few large houses where mangoes and cashews cover the ground in abundance. After we got the information on how to extract cashew nuts from their shells, we bluntly followed instructions, and ended up voiceless and with peeling skin on our hands. The thing is, the oil around the shell contains urushiol, which is used to produce industrial products such as insecticides, resins, break pads and so on. Ouch!
We hitched a ride to the South, envisaging Natal or Recife. In one of those rides we jumped into the trunk of a 4 by 4 full of cashews. Our clothes were tinted with this curious stain, which you can only see in cashew picking time. We where also advised by this old native guy not to piss on the rivers, even if they look shallow. The reason for that is they either have piranhas or candirus. (Ouch! Ouch!) If you like fishing, click on the links bellow to appreciate data on them. After riding for 5 hours on those roads my internal parts seemed to have moved. We booked into the furthest dormitory I have ever been to, but we had to leave in the middle of the night because it was impossible to deal with the roaches. Ooooooooouch...
Sightseeing in the Amazon is not what you expect, at least from ground level. You see lots of open spaces, where people raise cattle. You also see foreigners - especially north Americans. The few trees that still stand and the majestic Brazil Nut trees. Cheers.
When you get to the border of the Ianomani Indian Territory after 6 p.m., the buses equipped with reinforced suspension stop, and no one will dare to go through until the next morning. On that road, you see such huge quagmires, cars and buses can only go through with the help of a large carabine.
After loads of kilometers we got to Manaus, the capital of Amazon fruit sorbet, good river fishing and mosquitoes.
You can't be a drag in Manaus.
The very curious architecture in Boavista shows a contrast between simple buy-and-sell gold shops and fancy tinted glass banks - Brazilian AND International. There are also a few large houses where mangoes and cashews cover the ground in abundance. After we got the information on how to extract cashew nuts from their shells, we bluntly followed instructions, and ended up voiceless and with peeling skin on our hands. The thing is, the oil around the shell contains urushiol, which is used to produce industrial products such as insecticides, resins, break pads and so on. Ouch!
We hitched a ride to the South, envisaging Natal or Recife. In one of those rides we jumped into the trunk of a 4 by 4 full of cashews. Our clothes were tinted with this curious stain, which you can only see in cashew picking time. We where also advised by this old native guy not to piss on the rivers, even if they look shallow. The reason for that is they either have piranhas or candirus. (Ouch! Ouch!) If you like fishing, click on the links bellow to appreciate data on them. After riding for 5 hours on those roads my internal parts seemed to have moved. We booked into the furthest dormitory I have ever been to, but we had to leave in the middle of the night because it was impossible to deal with the roaches. Ooooooooouch...
Sightseeing in the Amazon is not what you expect, at least from ground level. You see lots of open spaces, where people raise cattle. You also see foreigners - especially north Americans. The few trees that still stand and the majestic Brazil Nut trees. Cheers.
When you get to the border of the Ianomani Indian Territory after 6 p.m., the buses equipped with reinforced suspension stop, and no one will dare to go through until the next morning. On that road, you see such huge quagmires, cars and buses can only go through with the help of a large carabine.
After loads of kilometers we got to Manaus, the capital of Amazon fruit sorbet, good river fishing and mosquitoes.
You can't be a drag in Manaus.
The Amazon is like that - baffling. That's its nature.
For piranhas, see http://fish.mongabay.com/serrasalminae.htm
For candirus, see http://www.fishbase.org/summary/speciessummary.php?id=8811
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