I was thinking the other day about Paddington Bear. I can´t remember whether Mr Bond tells us how Paddington made his journey from darkest Peru to his new refuge with the Browns in London. I don´t think so, but I´d like to think that he managed to have a bit less of a haphazard journey than us - after all he was only a little bear, and he was all by himself.
Monday 4th July
First priority was to pack up and get out to the San Antonio boat at Pucallpa´s Monte Blanco port. The bad news there was that departure wouldn´t be today. Now scheduled for tomorrow (or was it always that way? we´re not too sure).We headed into town to pass some time, but it´s not the best place for that - just has a few cafes and not much else, but we did make a few purchases in the market and headed back to deck out our cabin with mosquito net, makeshift curtain and a few other luxuries! So when we settled in for a pre-voyage night in our new home we were comfortable enough.
Tuesday 5th July
Woken pretty early by the noisy kerfuffle of boat engines and shouting as the port woke up for business. Cargo loading was now in full swing - everything by hand with a team of blokes lifting huge amounts and weights to get it done. After breakfast in town we returned to spectate at the loading spectacle and await departure (supposed to be 5:30pm). The hammock deck downstairs was buzzing with people and throughout the afternoon vendors came and went, climbing between boats or braving the steep muddy hill down to ours from the lorry park at the top. Tom enjoyed this immensely - producing slices of cake, lollipops and soft drinks from the various ladies who came on board. The boat´s cargo included water pipes, office furniture, sofas (all packed carefully with life jackets to pad them from each other), fridges, washing machines, barrels of oil, sacks of cement, floor tiles, compressed air cylinders, hundreds of crates of cheap fizzy drinks and the most eggs I have ever seen in one place in my life (thousands...). It became clear we wouldn´t be going anywhere at 5:30 as more and more lorry loads arrived, even brand new mototaxis were being loaded. Now would have to wait for morning to get moving. Everyone on the boat was Peruvian, apart from us, Dave (from Preston) and Ohad (from Israel) so we four headed back into Pucallpa for a last supper and chance to get to know each other before another night on a tethered boat.
Wednesday 6th July
Woke up to the sounds of engines and getting going - yippee. Went back to sleep till woken by the cook knocking on our door with breakfast. She is a lady of impressive stature - just the size of woman you want in charge of the food. Buttered baps and sweet black coffee eaten on deck watching the jungle go by on the banks of the river - pretty happy times! Here the river is very windy, bending every couple of hundred metres - and very brown! The banks are fairly organic - bits fall away fairly regularly and produce big bits of tree as debris that float down the river. The trees are a big mixture of leafy, palms, elongated sticks, etc, and there are lots of settlements near the river, most with mud brick houses with leaf roofs. The river is home to many boats - lots of little canoes with speedboat engines attached. The weather was warm but the breeze at the front of the boat very refreshing. We went down to the dining room on the hammock deck for lunch and dinner - llama and double carbs (chips and rice) for one, chicken and double carbs (rice and chips) for the other. After dinner the cook executed a dozen chickens in the kitchen and started prepping them for tomorrow´s meals. Nice. Meantime we were playing cards with Dave and Ohad, dodging the large flying beetles and enjoying the stunning sunset on the river.
Thursday 7th July
Too much food!! Breakfast of egg fried rice, big lump of very fresh chicken and a ham bap. Mad. Lunch was fish and many a carb again, and dinner more and more of the same. Really could become very large on this journey, what with that and total lack of exercise. Much hotter today as the sun was out in the morning heating us all up. We stopped a couple of times at villages on the banks, people got on selling us fruit and fizzy drinks, and more cargo and passengers were loaded. In the afternoon we saw some river dolphins and lots of birds, and when I went for a cooling off shower was surprised to find the water hot, all thanks to the baking sun! The view constantly changes - with little beaches going past sometimes and other times big high mud banks, with steps cut in where people live at the top and keep canoes on the water. My favourite part of the day is sunset - today´s a really pretty orange that made the tree silhouettes against it look amazing.
Friday 8th July
My hair is having a great time in this humid weather - all the excuse it needs for huge frizziness every morning. The kitchen staff have given up delivering breakfast to our cabin so we were able to have a light meal of fruit and not much else, a bit of a relief. Made up for it later of course! The day passed remarkably quickly, despite being really hot again. Made a few more stops, including one at a village where half a dozen massive crates of fish were loaded on - rumour has it they´re to be shipped to America, hope they stay fresh in the heat! We have been reading a lot to pass the time - my latest book is about a cruise on the Amazon that Sir Edward Elgar took in 1923, although he only went as far as Manaus in Brazil, but still interesting as we will end up there soon enough.
Saturday 9th July
This morning sat on deck with journal in a shady spot enjoying the breeze. Unsurprisingly we have adjusted to this slow pace of life pretty easily! We are scheduled to arrive in Iquitos tonight but will be late so we will sleep another night in our cabin before disembarking in the morning - getting quite attached to it now! It´s definitely the most deluxe there is - has a fan which is pretty effective during the hours that electricity is available (sadly not in the hot afternoons). The trip has gone quickly really and it has been great watching the jungle go by. The hammock deck is less busy as lots of people have got off at their various villages along the way. The river is now much wider and today it joins with another, forming officially the Amazon.
This afternoon we had our first rain. Awesome. It came on pretty fast from when the first dark clouds were spotted and it was proper rain. Its instant cooling effect was wonderful and as the sun never really returned we enjoyed a mild evening for once.
Sunday 10th July
An adventure-packed day. Disembarked at about 9 this morning and took a mototaxi with a tout who had appeared on our boat before we were awake (can they smell tourists from 100m in this town? beginning to think so...). This chap ended up tailing us for ages and being a pain, but we stubbornly continued with our own agenda and eventually he got the message. Tom visited a stack of hostels and chose us a great one near to all the action (not that there is a huge amount really) and nice and cool inside. It´s very hot here! At breakfast we were given a copy of Iquitos Times, a monthly newspaper in English that is really great on local recommendations, and provided all the inspiration we needed for our two days in town.
Iquitos town is odd. It was once great when making money from the rubber boom, but is now in serious disrepair with some of its stunning colonial buildings falling down. It´s also another place saved by the Irish (or so I like to think). Fitzcarroll was one of the biggest rubber merchants in the boom and the town still has a street and a restaurant named for him (shame the service in the latter is so bad), although they have added the obligatory "o" to the end of his name to sound more authentic. The town now suffers from an overload of annoying touts trying to sell everything including anaconda skins and framed tarantulas (not while I´m eating, thanks).
This afternoon we met up with Ohad and headed out to the nearby Mariposa (butterfly farm). The journey was made by boat, a beautiful short trip past part-submerged forests and featuring a stunning rainbow on the way back. The Mariposa has a butterfly house (native species, amazing colours) and nursery for eggs and cocoons (they release 90% of butterflies back into the wild as soon as they emerge - they only live about 2 weeks each). It also acts as an animal sanctuary for some that have been rescued by ecopolice from the animal black market trade. So we also saw pick-pocket monkeys (now kept caged as they were terrorising visitors!), a jaguar, a massive local rodent, a soft-nosed bear, several macaws and an anaconda. Incredible place, and an enthusiastic animal-loving guide.
Monday 11th July
Another wonderful day in Iquitos. We enjoyed breakfast with both Ohad and Dave - boat reunion - and then got caught in a massive rainstorm just as we were heading off to the nearby Quistacoche recreation area. There we paid 75p each entry and got amazing value. There was a big zoo and we saw loads: a jaguar, pumas (really scary eyes), spider monkeys, macaws, other monkeys, lizards, alligators, huge birds, an owl, more huge rodents, anacondas (kept in same cage as the chickens waiting to be their next meal - rough), spiders, fish, massive eels, turtles, other big cats and a dolphin. Loved it. Next we explored the botanic garden area, with flower garden and area of massive trees, before stopping at a cafe next to the beach (it´s all arranged next to a lake). Gave swimming a miss as we wanted to get going to make a stop on the way back to town at the manatee research centre.
Manatees are river mammals that eat lots (10% of their body weight per day) of weed plants, thus playing an important part in the Amazo´s ecosystem. They are cute in an ugly yet irresistible kind of way and the baby ones were being bottle fed while we were there - Tom got involved! Strangely the centre also had an anteater so we had a look at that too. Great place. In the evening we dined in Iquitos´s only French restaurant, recently opened by some ex-pats there. Fabulous food and a great night with Dave and Ohad who we were sad to say goodbye to afterwards.
Tuesday 12th July
6am speedboat departure to the border on a trip that took 10 hours, but was about as comfortable as an aeroplane ever is, so not a bad way to cover the hundreds of kilometers that we don´t have time to do in a slow cargo boat. Not such a good view of the jungle going by though. Arrived in Santa Rosa late afternoon and visited immigration to officially take our leave of Peru. Then it was into a little boat to cross the river to Tabatinga, Brazil. Tabatinga is right next to Letitica, Columbia, and it´s fine to go from one to the other while you´re in the area. The confusing part is that Tabatinga is one hour ahead of both Columbia and Peru. Anyway, on arrival in Tabatinga we were filled in on all such information by Miguel, who met us down at the wharf and took us to his hostel nearby. He then escorted us around town as we changed money and withdrew more at an atm, and he and his associate then tried very hard to take most of it off us again as they tried to sell us their jungle tour experience. Even after a few discounts were applied it became clear we would only be able to afford a one-night package and we deicded to sleep on it and investigate other options tomorrow.
Wednesday 13th July
Tabatinga is an average port town that wouldn´t be out of place in Peru - certainly doesn´t feel like being in thriving-economy Brazil yet. All the taxis are motorbikes - tricky when you have lots of luggage... The poshest thing here is the ferry terminal for departures to Manaus which we checked out this morning - we can leave from there on Saturday. We visited the police who organised our immigration stamps so we are now legally in Brazil for the next two weeks. It is extremely humid here and the sun is very strong so we´re doing everything slowly! We wandered to Leticia (across almost non-existent border) to check out other jungle options but concluded Miguel´s would be best after all. When we went back to book we met two other English blokes who had just arrived and wanted to go as well - Luke and Sam - so we were now a group of four and all ready to head out in the morning.
Thursday 14th July
Immense adventure today. We spent over 5 hours in a little boat making our way to base camp, crossing the Amazon back into Peruvian territory and turning into a small tributary which was a short cut. On the way we saw sloths up in the trees, and toucans flying around. Also a brown eagle, a myriad of butterflies and red as well as blue dragonflies. The short-cut section involved some pretty close encounters with part-submerged jungle and at one stage we got very stuck on an underwater tree trunk - the boys all had to climb out onto it and together heaved the boat, and me, across - very chivalrous!
We eventually arrived at the house where we would stay, in hammocks and mosquito nets in a very basic room, but it was perfectly nice and even had a loo out back. All was on stilts as in wet season the river rises significantly. The family living here provided our meals, and our native guide Enrique. We headed off pirhana fishing while lunch was cooked for us - didn´t have any luck though as the clever little blighters ate all our bait time and again and escaped unscathed. Later the boys tried again in another place and had much better luck with smaller different fish. That was just after we spent some time watching the grey and pink river dolphins jumping around. Beautiful, and very peaceful.
After dinner we headed back out with Enrique in the boat, going alligator hunting. I kid you not. Apparently the full moon was bad as it makes them wary of coming off the banks but Enrique found several (tell tale sign is a red glow of the eyes in torchlight). Thankfully the one he actually caught was only 40cm long, but still it was a struggle. We let her go again after we´d had a good look and a photo session and returned triumphant. Wind was slightly removed from our sails by frog-gate (infestation in loo which Tom valiantly went to shift for me and ended up being jumped at) but we went to sleep with the (very) noisy jungle sounds in background having thoroughly enjoyed our day.
Friday 15th July
Up before the sun had time to make everything really hot and off into the jungle for a trek with Miguel and Enrique. Apart from getting soaked to the knees crossing a river we had a wonderful time. Saw three tribes of monkeys - one squirrel, one black and one white - and learned about loads of trees (rubber tree, one with poison sap, one that gives fresh water to drink when chopped, one that helps with malaria symptoms, etc...amazing). We also saw giant lillies and Tom had fun swinging his machete. Our guides were wonderful and we really enjoyed the walk. By the time we finished it was hot again, so we were pleased to get lunch and then relax in the boat as we headed back to Tabatinga in the afternoon. (I was even more pleased to have avoided up close and personal encounters with snakes and jaguars!)
Saturday 16th July
Today we boarded the Navio Sagrado Coracao de Jesus for our 1100km trip from Tabatinga to Manaus. The whole process was very different to our experience on the San Antonio. Here there is a proper terminal, and a queueing and bag search system (conducted by the federal police, and fairly thorough). We bought tickets for the hammock deck (cabins way over-priced at 400 quid for the 3 day voyage!) and made our way on, happy to be fairly early so we had our pick of spots for stringing up our new beds. The police were on board the boat too, constantly watching and searching. This is a prime route for drug smuggling into Brazil and they are trying to crack down.
We set up camp in the middle of the deck, and Sam and Luke joined us. Good to have friends around to help keep an eye on each other´s luggage as there is nowhere secure for it to be left. Settled in with books and watched the place fill up. By the time we set off in mid-afternoon there were close to 100 hammocks in place around us, pretty tight. The facilities on board were good, even providing drinking water so we didn´t have to bring lots of bottles with us, but as it doesn´t carry much cargo and depends on passengers paying pricey fares it feels a bit more like any ferry you might board at home (except for the double carbs dinners and the plethera of hammocks of course).
The chap who runs the cafe upstairs produces burgers and toasties (after a long debate between us all about how to ask for one in Portuguese it turns out they´re just called toasties here too...simples...). This is handy as meals are served crazily early (eg lunch from 10:15 till 11:45...why??) so not always ready for the big feeds at the right time. Really good to be moving again, and the relief that the on-board breeze provides from the heat is a treat.
Sunday 17th July
Last night it got a bit nippy in the hammock so had to layer up with jumpers and pashminas draped all round. Nice to have the fresh air though, especially when sharing a sleeping deck with so many strangers! There are a fair few tourists on this boat - today met Swedish Albert and Dutch Martin, among others - but plenty of locals as ever, and also quite a few Haitiians. Many people have been coming to Brazil from Haiiti recently seeking a better life. They generally arrive via Peru so we met some in Tabatinga and there were groups on the boat who were making their way to Manaus where jobs are a bit more plentiful. This morning there were more police checks on board, and we made some more stops along the way. The towns are noticeably bigger and much more developed than those we encountered in Peru. They all have concrete jetties too, a change from the muddy banks we would draw alongside on our other boat. The river is really wide now, over 1km in some places, so not always getting good views, but nice to be passing time lazily again.
Monday 18th July
Starting to understand the concept of cabin fever. There are so many people on this boat, and yet somehow it´s not as interesting or enjoyable as our previous voyage. I´m reading a great book, but still looking forward to seeing land and being able to walk around wherever and whenever we fancy. Feeling cocooned in hammock, but don´t think I´ll be ready to emerge as a butterfly by disembarkation time tomorrow. Meantime, played plenty of cards with friends on board and finished my serial-killer-mystery book. Very much enjoying guarana - local fruit juice that is carbonated and nicely sweet, supposedly good for you too (but not teeth I suspect).
Tuesday 19th July
Arrival in Manaus! This morning we passed the meeting of the waters - where the green/brown water of the Amazon meets the very black Rio Negro coming down from northern Brazil, and the two don´t mix for a while, creating a crazy stripey effect. Impressive. Manaus itself is a huge place, a city of over half a million people. If it wasn´t for the intense and constant heat you could be forgiven for forgetting that you are in the middle of the jungle here. We found an air-conditioned (yippee) room in a very nice hostel and settled in with a walk round the area. We soon came across Manaus´s most famous building - the Amazonia Opera House. This was built by the Portuguese using taxes levied on the rubber being exported through the port in the late 1800s (the city first boomed because of this trade). It is a wonderful traditional colonial building, featuring on top a huge dome that is decorated with multi-coloured tiles. Beautiful. The surrounding square is full of well-preserved buildings from the same time and plenty of leafy trees, perfect place to dine al fresco in the evening.
Wednesday 20th July
A day of exploring Manaus, very slowly, with regular breaks for rehydration! We visited the old governors´ mansion which was originally built by one of the barons of the rubber industry for his family. Stunning place. Also a museum of Amazonian artefacts which was fun, but only labelled in Portuguese so required a bit of guess work on our part. Once again the best part of the day was the evening (not just because the heat lets up slightly when the sun goes down - not so the humidity though). We went to a jazz concert in the Opera House, given by Kenny Davis and his band. Inside is even more spectacular than outside. Apart from the stalls on ground floor the entire audience is arranged in a series of little boxes, on three levels, so it feels quite intimate because of the lack of tiered seating (especially when in the cheap seats up the top!). Fabulous music, we really enjoyed it. At dinner in the square afterwards we met a Brazilian chap who loves England - big time - and was reminiscing about the six years he spent living in Croydon. Small world!
Thursday 21st July
Last day in the tropics. Catching up on blog and taking things very easy in the heat. Tonight we fly out to Rio and can´t wait for the sea breezes and lower temperatures! After a long weekend there in a wee apartment one block away from Copacobana beach will be flying home to Heathrow early next week. Can´t believe it´s that time already!
Monday 4th July
First priority was to pack up and get out to the San Antonio boat at Pucallpa´s Monte Blanco port. The bad news there was that departure wouldn´t be today. Now scheduled for tomorrow (or was it always that way? we´re not too sure).We headed into town to pass some time, but it´s not the best place for that - just has a few cafes and not much else, but we did make a few purchases in the market and headed back to deck out our cabin with mosquito net, makeshift curtain and a few other luxuries! So when we settled in for a pre-voyage night in our new home we were comfortable enough.
Tuesday 5th July
Woken pretty early by the noisy kerfuffle of boat engines and shouting as the port woke up for business. Cargo loading was now in full swing - everything by hand with a team of blokes lifting huge amounts and weights to get it done. After breakfast in town we returned to spectate at the loading spectacle and await departure (supposed to be 5:30pm). The hammock deck downstairs was buzzing with people and throughout the afternoon vendors came and went, climbing between boats or braving the steep muddy hill down to ours from the lorry park at the top. Tom enjoyed this immensely - producing slices of cake, lollipops and soft drinks from the various ladies who came on board. The boat´s cargo included water pipes, office furniture, sofas (all packed carefully with life jackets to pad them from each other), fridges, washing machines, barrels of oil, sacks of cement, floor tiles, compressed air cylinders, hundreds of crates of cheap fizzy drinks and the most eggs I have ever seen in one place in my life (thousands...). It became clear we wouldn´t be going anywhere at 5:30 as more and more lorry loads arrived, even brand new mototaxis were being loaded. Now would have to wait for morning to get moving. Everyone on the boat was Peruvian, apart from us, Dave (from Preston) and Ohad (from Israel) so we four headed back into Pucallpa for a last supper and chance to get to know each other before another night on a tethered boat.Wednesday 6th July
Woke up to the sounds of engines and getting going - yippee. Went back to sleep till woken by the cook knocking on our door with breakfast. She is a lady of impressive stature - just the size of woman you want in charge of the food. Buttered baps and sweet black coffee eaten on deck watching the jungle go by on the banks of the river - pretty happy times! Here the river is very windy, bending every couple of hundred metres - and very brown! The banks are fairly organic - bits fall away fairly regularly and produce big bits of tree as debris that float down the river. The trees are a big mixture of leafy, palms, elongated sticks, etc, and there are lots of settlements near the river, most with mud brick houses with leaf roofs. The river is home to many boats - lots of little canoes with speedboat engines attached. The weather was warm but the breeze at the front of the boat very refreshing. We went down to the dining room on the hammock deck for lunch and dinner - llama and double carbs (chips and rice) for one, chicken and double carbs (rice and chips) for the other. After dinner the cook executed a dozen chickens in the kitchen and started prepping them for tomorrow´s meals. Nice. Meantime we were playing cards with Dave and Ohad, dodging the large flying beetles and enjoying the stunning sunset on the river.Thursday 7th July
Too much food!! Breakfast of egg fried rice, big lump of very fresh chicken and a ham bap. Mad. Lunch was fish and many a carb again, and dinner more and more of the same. Really could become very large on this journey, what with that and total lack of exercise. Much hotter today as the sun was out in the morning heating us all up. We stopped a couple of times at villages on the banks, people got on selling us fruit and fizzy drinks, and more cargo and passengers were loaded. In the afternoon we saw some river dolphins and lots of birds, and when I went for a cooling off shower was surprised to find the water hot, all thanks to the baking sun! The view constantly changes - with little beaches going past sometimes and other times big high mud banks, with steps cut in where people live at the top and keep canoes on the water. My favourite part of the day is sunset - today´s a really pretty orange that made the tree silhouettes against it look amazing.Friday 8th July
My hair is having a great time in this humid weather - all the excuse it needs for huge frizziness every morning. The kitchen staff have given up delivering breakfast to our cabin so we were able to have a light meal of fruit and not much else, a bit of a relief. Made up for it later of course! The day passed remarkably quickly, despite being really hot again. Made a few more stops, including one at a village where half a dozen massive crates of fish were loaded on - rumour has it they´re to be shipped to America, hope they stay fresh in the heat! We have been reading a lot to pass the time - my latest book is about a cruise on the Amazon that Sir Edward Elgar took in 1923, although he only went as far as Manaus in Brazil, but still interesting as we will end up there soon enough.
Saturday 9th July
This morning sat on deck with journal in a shady spot enjoying the breeze. Unsurprisingly we have adjusted to this slow pace of life pretty easily! We are scheduled to arrive in Iquitos tonight but will be late so we will sleep another night in our cabin before disembarking in the morning - getting quite attached to it now! It´s definitely the most deluxe there is - has a fan which is pretty effective during the hours that electricity is available (sadly not in the hot afternoons). The trip has gone quickly really and it has been great watching the jungle go by. The hammock deck is less busy as lots of people have got off at their various villages along the way. The river is now much wider and today it joins with another, forming officially the Amazon. This afternoon we had our first rain. Awesome. It came on pretty fast from when the first dark clouds were spotted and it was proper rain. Its instant cooling effect was wonderful and as the sun never really returned we enjoyed a mild evening for once.
Sunday 10th July
An adventure-packed day. Disembarked at about 9 this morning and took a mototaxi with a tout who had appeared on our boat before we were awake (can they smell tourists from 100m in this town? beginning to think so...). This chap ended up tailing us for ages and being a pain, but we stubbornly continued with our own agenda and eventually he got the message. Tom visited a stack of hostels and chose us a great one near to all the action (not that there is a huge amount really) and nice and cool inside. It´s very hot here! At breakfast we were given a copy of Iquitos Times, a monthly newspaper in English that is really great on local recommendations, and provided all the inspiration we needed for our two days in town. 
Iquitos town is odd. It was once great when making money from the rubber boom, but is now in serious disrepair with some of its stunning colonial buildings falling down. It´s also another place saved by the Irish (or so I like to think). Fitzcarroll was one of the biggest rubber merchants in the boom and the town still has a street and a restaurant named for him (shame the service in the latter is so bad), although they have added the obligatory "o" to the end of his name to sound more authentic. The town now suffers from an overload of annoying touts trying to sell everything including anaconda skins and framed tarantulas (not while I´m eating, thanks).
This afternoon we met up with Ohad and headed out to the nearby Mariposa (butterfly farm). The journey was made by boat, a beautiful short trip past part-submerged forests and featuring a stunning rainbow on the way back. The Mariposa has a butterfly house (native species, amazing colours) and nursery for eggs and cocoons (they release 90% of butterflies back into the wild as soon as they emerge - they only live about 2 weeks each). It also acts as an animal sanctuary for some that have been rescued by ecopolice from the animal black market trade. So we also saw pick-pocket monkeys (now kept caged as they were terrorising visitors!), a jaguar, a massive local rodent, a soft-nosed bear, several macaws and an anaconda. Incredible place, and an enthusiastic animal-loving guide.Monday 11th July
Another wonderful day in Iquitos. We enjoyed breakfast with both Ohad and Dave - boat reunion - and then got caught in a massive rainstorm just as we were heading off to the nearby Quistacoche recreation area. There we paid 75p each entry and got amazing value. There was a big zoo and we saw loads: a jaguar, pumas (really scary eyes), spider monkeys, macaws, other monkeys, lizards, alligators, huge birds, an owl, more huge rodents, anacondas (kept in same cage as the chickens waiting to be their next meal - rough), spiders, fish, massive eels, turtles, other big cats and a dolphin. Loved it. Next we explored the botanic garden area, with flower garden and area of massive trees, before stopping at a cafe next to the beach (it´s all arranged next to a lake). Gave swimming a miss as we wanted to get going to make a stop on the way back to town at the manatee research centre. 
Manatees are river mammals that eat lots (10% of their body weight per day) of weed plants, thus playing an important part in the Amazo´s ecosystem. They are cute in an ugly yet irresistible kind of way and the baby ones were being bottle fed while we were there - Tom got involved! Strangely the centre also had an anteater so we had a look at that too. Great place. In the evening we dined in Iquitos´s only French restaurant, recently opened by some ex-pats there. Fabulous food and a great night with Dave and Ohad who we were sad to say goodbye to afterwards.Tuesday 12th July
6am speedboat departure to the border on a trip that took 10 hours, but was about as comfortable as an aeroplane ever is, so not a bad way to cover the hundreds of kilometers that we don´t have time to do in a slow cargo boat. Not such a good view of the jungle going by though. Arrived in Santa Rosa late afternoon and visited immigration to officially take our leave of Peru. Then it was into a little boat to cross the river to Tabatinga, Brazil. Tabatinga is right next to Letitica, Columbia, and it´s fine to go from one to the other while you´re in the area. The confusing part is that Tabatinga is one hour ahead of both Columbia and Peru. Anyway, on arrival in Tabatinga we were filled in on all such information by Miguel, who met us down at the wharf and took us to his hostel nearby. He then escorted us around town as we changed money and withdrew more at an atm, and he and his associate then tried very hard to take most of it off us again as they tried to sell us their jungle tour experience. Even after a few discounts were applied it became clear we would only be able to afford a one-night package and we deicded to sleep on it and investigate other options tomorrow.
Wednesday 13th July
Tabatinga is an average port town that wouldn´t be out of place in Peru - certainly doesn´t feel like being in thriving-economy Brazil yet. All the taxis are motorbikes - tricky when you have lots of luggage... The poshest thing here is the ferry terminal for departures to Manaus which we checked out this morning - we can leave from there on Saturday. We visited the police who organised our immigration stamps so we are now legally in Brazil for the next two weeks. It is extremely humid here and the sun is very strong so we´re doing everything slowly! We wandered to Leticia (across almost non-existent border) to check out other jungle options but concluded Miguel´s would be best after all. When we went back to book we met two other English blokes who had just arrived and wanted to go as well - Luke and Sam - so we were now a group of four and all ready to head out in the morning.
Thursday 14th July
Immense adventure today. We spent over 5 hours in a little boat making our way to base camp, crossing the Amazon back into Peruvian territory and turning into a small tributary which was a short cut. On the way we saw sloths up in the trees, and toucans flying around. Also a brown eagle, a myriad of butterflies and red as well as blue dragonflies. The short-cut section involved some pretty close encounters with part-submerged jungle and at one stage we got very stuck on an underwater tree trunk - the boys all had to climb out onto it and together heaved the boat, and me, across - very chivalrous! 
We eventually arrived at the house where we would stay, in hammocks and mosquito nets in a very basic room, but it was perfectly nice and even had a loo out back. All was on stilts as in wet season the river rises significantly. The family living here provided our meals, and our native guide Enrique. We headed off pirhana fishing while lunch was cooked for us - didn´t have any luck though as the clever little blighters ate all our bait time and again and escaped unscathed. Later the boys tried again in another place and had much better luck with smaller different fish. That was just after we spent some time watching the grey and pink river dolphins jumping around. Beautiful, and very peaceful. 
After dinner we headed back out with Enrique in the boat, going alligator hunting. I kid you not. Apparently the full moon was bad as it makes them wary of coming off the banks but Enrique found several (tell tale sign is a red glow of the eyes in torchlight). Thankfully the one he actually caught was only 40cm long, but still it was a struggle. We let her go again after we´d had a good look and a photo session and returned triumphant. Wind was slightly removed from our sails by frog-gate (infestation in loo which Tom valiantly went to shift for me and ended up being jumped at) but we went to sleep with the (very) noisy jungle sounds in background having thoroughly enjoyed our day.Friday 15th July
Up before the sun had time to make everything really hot and off into the jungle for a trek with Miguel and Enrique. Apart from getting soaked to the knees crossing a river we had a wonderful time. Saw three tribes of monkeys - one squirrel, one black and one white - and learned about loads of trees (rubber tree, one with poison sap, one that gives fresh water to drink when chopped, one that helps with malaria symptoms, etc...amazing). We also saw giant lillies and Tom had fun swinging his machete. Our guides were wonderful and we really enjoyed the walk. By the time we finished it was hot again, so we were pleased to get lunch and then relax in the boat as we headed back to Tabatinga in the afternoon. (I was even more pleased to have avoided up close and personal encounters with snakes and jaguars!)Saturday 16th July
Today we boarded the Navio Sagrado Coracao de Jesus for our 1100km trip from Tabatinga to Manaus. The whole process was very different to our experience on the San Antonio. Here there is a proper terminal, and a queueing and bag search system (conducted by the federal police, and fairly thorough). We bought tickets for the hammock deck (cabins way over-priced at 400 quid for the 3 day voyage!) and made our way on, happy to be fairly early so we had our pick of spots for stringing up our new beds. The police were on board the boat too, constantly watching and searching. This is a prime route for drug smuggling into Brazil and they are trying to crack down.
We set up camp in the middle of the deck, and Sam and Luke joined us. Good to have friends around to help keep an eye on each other´s luggage as there is nowhere secure for it to be left. Settled in with books and watched the place fill up. By the time we set off in mid-afternoon there were close to 100 hammocks in place around us, pretty tight. The facilities on board were good, even providing drinking water so we didn´t have to bring lots of bottles with us, but as it doesn´t carry much cargo and depends on passengers paying pricey fares it feels a bit more like any ferry you might board at home (except for the double carbs dinners and the plethera of hammocks of course). The chap who runs the cafe upstairs produces burgers and toasties (after a long debate between us all about how to ask for one in Portuguese it turns out they´re just called toasties here too...simples...). This is handy as meals are served crazily early (eg lunch from 10:15 till 11:45...why??) so not always ready for the big feeds at the right time. Really good to be moving again, and the relief that the on-board breeze provides from the heat is a treat.
Sunday 17th July
Last night it got a bit nippy in the hammock so had to layer up with jumpers and pashminas draped all round. Nice to have the fresh air though, especially when sharing a sleeping deck with so many strangers! There are a fair few tourists on this boat - today met Swedish Albert and Dutch Martin, among others - but plenty of locals as ever, and also quite a few Haitiians. Many people have been coming to Brazil from Haiiti recently seeking a better life. They generally arrive via Peru so we met some in Tabatinga and there were groups on the boat who were making their way to Manaus where jobs are a bit more plentiful. This morning there were more police checks on board, and we made some more stops along the way. The towns are noticeably bigger and much more developed than those we encountered in Peru. They all have concrete jetties too, a change from the muddy banks we would draw alongside on our other boat. The river is really wide now, over 1km in some places, so not always getting good views, but nice to be passing time lazily again.
Monday 18th July
Starting to understand the concept of cabin fever. There are so many people on this boat, and yet somehow it´s not as interesting or enjoyable as our previous voyage. I´m reading a great book, but still looking forward to seeing land and being able to walk around wherever and whenever we fancy. Feeling cocooned in hammock, but don´t think I´ll be ready to emerge as a butterfly by disembarkation time tomorrow. Meantime, played plenty of cards with friends on board and finished my serial-killer-mystery book. Very much enjoying guarana - local fruit juice that is carbonated and nicely sweet, supposedly good for you too (but not teeth I suspect).
Tuesday 19th July
Arrival in Manaus! This morning we passed the meeting of the waters - where the green/brown water of the Amazon meets the very black Rio Negro coming down from northern Brazil, and the two don´t mix for a while, creating a crazy stripey effect. Impressive. Manaus itself is a huge place, a city of over half a million people. If it wasn´t for the intense and constant heat you could be forgiven for forgetting that you are in the middle of the jungle here. We found an air-conditioned (yippee) room in a very nice hostel and settled in with a walk round the area. We soon came across Manaus´s most famous building - the Amazonia Opera House. This was built by the Portuguese using taxes levied on the rubber being exported through the port in the late 1800s (the city first boomed because of this trade). It is a wonderful traditional colonial building, featuring on top a huge dome that is decorated with multi-coloured tiles. Beautiful. The surrounding square is full of well-preserved buildings from the same time and plenty of leafy trees, perfect place to dine al fresco in the evening.Wednesday 20th July
A day of exploring Manaus, very slowly, with regular breaks for rehydration! We visited the old governors´ mansion which was originally built by one of the barons of the rubber industry for his family. Stunning place. Also a museum of Amazonian artefacts which was fun, but only labelled in Portuguese so required a bit of guess work on our part. Once again the best part of the day was the evening (not just because the heat lets up slightly when the sun goes down - not so the humidity though). We went to a jazz concert in the Opera House, given by Kenny Davis and his band. Inside is even more spectacular than outside. Apart from the stalls on ground floor the entire audience is arranged in a series of little boxes, on three levels, so it feels quite intimate because of the lack of tiered seating (especially when in the cheap seats up the top!). Fabulous music, we really enjoyed it. At dinner in the square afterwards we met a Brazilian chap who loves England - big time - and was reminiscing about the six years he spent living in Croydon. Small world!Thursday 21st July
Last day in the tropics. Catching up on blog and taking things very easy in the heat. Tonight we fly out to Rio and can´t wait for the sea breezes and lower temperatures! After a long weekend there in a wee apartment one block away from Copacobana beach will be flying home to Heathrow early next week. Can´t believe it´s that time already!
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