Competition:Give me a good title for this post

Spent the last few days in the Amazon Basin in the North of Bolivia. It was well class, easily one of the highlights of the whole South American trip. We flew out Tuesday morning in our own little 15-man jet over, and sometimes actually alongside, a big mountain range and eventually landed on a grass airfield in the middle of the jungle. We went from 3800m and 5*C to 300m and 32* in one hour. It felt good to get back into the heat though, the coolness of La Paz was getting to me.

So we spent one night in Rurranabaque, which is a small town where the tours are based out of. Forgot what it was like to have to try and sleep in 25*C heat, i.e difficult. The next day 8 of us piled into a Range Rover and headed off for a 3 hour ride along a dirt track to the River Beni, passing traditional huts made of mud and roofs of reeds along the way. Then it was a 1 hour boat ride through wetlands to our Lodge on the river. We stayed there for 3 days and two nights. We were lucky in one way in that it was rainy season, or at least the end of it and while it did not rain while we were there the river was flowing fast enough so mosquitoes were not that much of a problem, i got around 6 bites in three days which is better than Rio. We were unlucky in other ways in that the river was around several metres higher than usual and so there were not as many creatures to be seen, during the dry season they are much less shy and more eager to get to the waters edge where you can see them.

Saying that though we still saw tons. On the first day we just went for a boat ride up the river and saw lots of monkeys, yellow, howler, weird ones. Lots and lots of freaky birds, river snake and alligators. That night we also went to see the sun set over the pampa's fields which was pretty cool. The next day we went anaconda hunting but since the water was so high, nearly crotch high, they could be passing within a few feet of us and we would not have known, when its dry you can find them actually slithering through the mud. We did see lots of funky insects and stuff, ant nests in bushes where the ants ran from plant to plant along the algae on the water surface, bees the size of you thumb, wasps as big as you little finger-at one stage we heard this huge drone as a swarm of something flew over the fields near us, sounded like a racecar in the distance. After that we found a pod of fresh-water dolphins that lived in the river. they were around 5/6 foot long, pink and blind. They would come up to you and nibble at your feet or arms to see what you were and after a while they would come over to us in the water and you could try and swim along with them. That was well class, so much so that we went back later to a different spot and swam with a different pod. After that then we went piranha fishing which was a bit scary. Had a bit of meat on the end of hooks and when you dropped it into the water it would be gone in a flash, any of us would have been screwed if we had fallen in, not killed but definately mauled in just a few seconds. Cathy the jammy dodger caught one, pictures are in the process of being put up on her site.

The last day was we just went on another tour just to see what we could find and also to go swimming with more dolphins that we found. Was a bit worried about the alligators and stuff that were around but then we found half an anaconda in the rushes. Apparently the dolphins are very territorial and will attack anything that comes into their turf. Good thing i did not know that or i would not have gotten into the water. Several times when i was in the water i was thinking 'what the hell am i doing here?', not only because the entire situation was so surreal but also because i am petrified of sharks and here i was in 20ft murky water waiting for a large carnivorous animal to come out of nowhere and gnaw at my feet. The whole experience was class though. Cathy is putting up pictures but its very slow going and they wont be proper ready i.e rotated, cropped and sorted for a few days, she does hate it when people see her unfinished photo sets.

In other news, kelly, the girl who was travelling with us until Bolivia, has come down with Dengue Fever. Its a nasty viral infection that is sweeping through Rio and Brazil at the minute. Spread by mosquitos its goten so out of hand that the military have been called into Rio to enforce and aid in containment measures, draining stagnant water places and stuff. There is no vaccine against it, you just have to avoid getting bitten. Its not life-threatening, at least if caught early, just like a really really bad flu and you white blood cell count is fucked. She got it in time however and is alright, although having to go to a hospital in a different country is never fun. SHe is grand now though, have yet to find out what her plans for the rest of her trip are though.

So give us a few days and there wil be class photos up on flickr. Heading to Peru tomorrow, going to spend some time on Lake Titicaca and then off to Cuzco and to organise the Inca trail, then back to Brazil for a final 2 weeks of Capoeira and beaches.

Bolivia is odd, very odd

So thought I would write a short one since I will be out of commission for the next few days I think. Left Santa Cruz on Thursday and had a very uncomfortable 16 hour bus journey where we travelled 4000m up to La Paz in the freezing cold, not a good nights sleep. Arrived in La Paz and staggered down to our hostel. Again the place is far better than its reputation says, have had no problems in the 5 days we were here. What I did have a problem with however is the altitude, I have had a headache since last Saturday and it is only now beginning to fade, I was also panting like a paedophile every two minutes and felt like I had a weight on my chest, used to wake up feeling nauseous. Was not that productive to an enjoyable trip but I still had a good old time. Yesterday we had possibly the most surreal experience so far in South America when we went to a Bolivian Wrestling match. It was standard enough affair, fat guys in spandex throwing each other around, there was always a good guy and bad guy and the referree was always in cahoots with one of them. Then as the night went on it got a bit weirdo when the fights started getting a bit more extreme, guys getting thrown not only out of the ring and into the crowd, one of them getting a concussion and others being thrown onto crates that never broke meaning he just bust himself up. Then the Angry Cholita’s arrived. A cholita is a bolivian woman dressed in the traditional shawl and cap and skirt, you see them everywhere overhere.What was different about these was thay were psychotic and beat seven types of shit out of everyone, then the midgets arrived…..

Bolivia

Arrived here in Santa Cruz, Bolivia early Wednesday morning and am leaving today for La Paz, the capital. Have to admit I am very surprised by the place. I was expecting dirt roads everywhere, and begger kids following you around the place while everything is bought from stalls on the street. What i got instead was just a regular South American city with wheelchair ramps on the kerbs, fancy shopping area and plenty of people who speak English. I know that Santa Cruz is Bolivia's richest city but I was told that the whole country was a Third World one. I think its a case as well of us getting more used to the South American way of life as well. We went up to the bus station today to get our tickets and it was no hassle at all, we are finally getting the hang of asking for basic things in Spanish and learning simple things like the numbers and what not. We were also walking through a market area on the way home and even though we both had our credit cards and passports we felt quite safe. I think it may have been because when we first arrived in Chile, even though its one of the safest countries in South America, we were completely paranoid and scared to death by all the horror stories we heard when really all you have to do is show a bit of common sense.

Only a few weeks left now before home, down to the vinegar strokes of the trip as they say.

Paddies day in rio, huzzah!

So here´s a slightlt drunken St Patricks post. The holiday dynamic is changing today. Kelly, the other girl bar Cathy who came over, left us today to travel the coast of Brazil and Argentina rather than endure the hardship of Bolivia and Peru. Myslef and Cathy are heading to the airport tomorrow to fly to Bolivia for fun and frolics, then onto Peru then going back to Brazil to meet up with Kelly again for a weeks to chillax on the beacehes for which its famous for. that should be a laugh.

As for St. Patricks Day, myself and the C-dog spent several hours drinking on Ipenema beachand now are back in the hostel watching Return of the King, that bit was not planned but its on so it must be watched. later we are going to the Iriah bar ( i know, i usually ahte the shit but its Paddies Day) to meet Bernardo and some of his friends, hopefully we will be still conscious.

Hurrah!!!

Its not all bad

Alright so i think a more cheerful post is needed. Since I wrote the last post i went away for a few days to an island called Ihle Grande and came back to Rio. For the last 3 days it has rained and been relativly cold and a lot of my homesick feelings have gone. I think its because i have gone so long without being stuck inside somewhere because its cold and wet outside and i got rose-tinted glasses about it, in reality it sux and makes you go a bit crazy.

So now i am ready and rearing to go again and get on with the travelling, Rio is actually quite boring when it is wet and you are trying to save money. Flying to Bolivia on Tuesday to start that leg of the trip. Only around 39 days left before i get home and mytself and Cathy have actually planned something for every day of it, should be a laugh.

Also, I am very jealous of the guys and ho going snowboarding, that would be a larf, might try and do it in Peru if such a thing is possible.

Do you ever have a song that can change your mood so much that it scares you? it has been 5 weeks since i left New Zealand and around 8, thats 2 months, since i said goodbye to my Kraut friends. But just now, while sweltering in a Rio de Jeneiro night i heard Leona Lewis Bleedin´ Love for the first time since i left and all of a sudden felt like crying again cuz i missed the gang so much. Its an incredibly sappy pop song I know but it was playing the whole time we were hanging around together. Came out of nowhere to be honest but still put a huge downer on the evening.

I have been feeling homesick for the last few days actually, for New Zealand and Ireland. Spent 9 months in NZ and did not miss home once but now i feel like its just been an incredibly long, prolonged goodbye and i would like to get back to one or the other. South America is great but i am feeling tired, jaded of travelling and I dont feel like I am appreciating all the stuff i am seeing. I know people will say that its stupid to miss home when i will be back there for the forseeable future and that i should just enjoy SA but i just dont care any more. The idea of spending an evening in Castletroy just hanging around doing nothing appeals to me infinitely more than another week in Rio or the idea of a weekend in Fanore is vastly more preferable to a trip to Machu Pichu. Ye probably cant understand how on earth i could think like that but its true and has been for a while, a huge case of the Grass being Greener on the Other side i think.

Introduction To Brazil

Okay, so just a quick update as this computer does appear to be very popular, the joy of sharing a hostel computer between 20 people. Arrived here in Rio de Jenerio two days ago after a 22hr bus ride from Iguazu Falls. Had a brilliant time there, saw the falls on day 1 and 2 and when we went to book our tickets out found that there was noone available for 4 days so we just proceeded to get very drunk for the next few days. There was a class bunch in the hostel, which was pretty nice itself with a big courtyard and pool. Very sucky thing happened thoughwas that Cathy was uploading her photos onto Flickr and while she had perhaps 30% done someone formatted the entire memory stick which sucked. Luckily she had them saved onto the desktop, except that was deleated when the computer restarted. Long story short we no longer have photos of perhaps the most impressive thing we have seen since we arrived. Kellie-Ann has a few up on her Flickr though so check that out.

We are thinking of spending perhaps five days here in Rio then heading out 150km to sea to an island called Ihre Grande to veg out for a day or two, lots of lovely surf beaches, chill out beaches and treks to do as well. Have to get onto organising that one. Met up with a friend of mine called Bernardo that i met in New Paltz all those years ago. Was pretty cool to see him, went out for a quiet drink last night on the lagoon but might be going for a big night out on Friday. There does be a huge club in the city that he can get us on the Guest List for, might be a larf. Then on the weekend might be meeting up with Carol and Manuel, two other Braziliens i met in New Paltz.

Have to organise a wee bit here as i am nearly halfway through the South American trip. Looking into a few flights to cut down on the travel time, weird how 15 hours seems like a short trip at this stage. Re-evaluating the route we had originally planned, might cut down the Amazon trip and get a flight to the coast. Really looking forward to the Brazilian coast though. Was on Ipenema beach today catching some rays. That was a humbling experience, never saw so many examples of the perfect human form before, dont know if i will be able to go to an Irish beach after that. The plan is to spend the last 2/3 weeks beach hopping from Belem (which is actually on the equator so will be stinking hot) down to Rio. If we time it right i should have enough money for the entire way.

Opening up a bottle of whiskey at the minute, its so god awful hot, around 33*. I also have a confession to make. I have a problem. I also have to apologise to Joan for ever giving her hassle over her Coke addiction, I have become ten times worse. I am now drinking a bottle of coke at least, every day, sometimes more. Just get so hot and crave nothing more than the sweet, sweet tast of a chilled coke, hmmmmmm. Think i will go buy a 2lt bottle for my whiskey.