Sun and Moon | Silver and Roses, Henna and Myrrh

Events

This won't be a diary. But whenever there is a significant event in my life, I'll jot a note:

The Latest First:

April 21, 2008. About noon, I boarded an Ormeño bus at Camargüí Terminal in La Paz, a district of Caracas, Venezuela. We made Cúcuta, Colombia about 4 AM on Tuesday, April 22. In Cúcuta, I boarded a minibus for Bucaramanga, and from there I went by taxi to Aguachica. This took 8 hours. In Aquachica, I caught an Empresa Brasilia bus for Barranquilla, my present location. This took another 7 hours. In Barranquilla, I got a room on Calle 39, at the Tintán Hotel at about 11PM on Tuesday.

View of Barranquilla, Colombia

January 30, 2008. I boarded an Eucatur bus at the Rodoviaria de Manaus, Brazil on Friday, January 25, 2008, with a destination of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. The ride went smoothly, with a transfer from one bus to another in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima, the Brazilian state north of Amazonas. We left Manaus at 6 PM and throughout the night we were still in the Amazonian rainforest, but by daybreak we were in the savannahs and low hills of Roraima, with scattered small mountain ranges here and there. We passed the Venezuelan frontier in midday Saturday with only minimal formalities and rolled for several hours in continued grasslands, but eventually we were in thick jungle again, making hairpin turns on tortuous mountain roads drenched in shade. Nightfall came and I lost track of the terrain. We arrived in Puerto La Cruz at 3 AM Sunday, but I was able to get a room quickly. By 10 AM, I was on another bus bound for Caracas, where we arrived at about 3:30 PM. I got a room quickly, but the operator of the hotel swindled me, charging me three days rent for two days. With 100 of baggage, I was in no position to argue or walk out indignantly, so I swallowed the loss. Later in the day I met a number of Palestinians resident in Venezuela, and I sold them US dollars at a rate very favorable to them, because they helped me get an inexpensive room in a very handsome neighborhood called El Paraíso, where they also live. My room is in an attractive white stucco building with red tiles on the roof and high wrought iron fences all around, in an area with a high Islamic population. There's even a mosque a couple of doors down. Finally, today, I'm in and settled. The owner of the building is a Venezuelan doctor. My visa expires April 26, but in view of the comfortable and secure accommodations that I have in this city infamous for its crime rate, I may seek an extension before that time:

Panoramic View of Caracas, Venezuela

September 28, 2007. I got a three-month visa extension at the Policia Federal at Avenida Domingos Jorge Velho, #40, in Manaus this morning. I was worried that they might make me buy expensive passage out of the country, but they hardly paid attention to this requirement. The procedure took just a couple of hours, and the fee was only about $35. Now I may remain in Brazil until January 28, 2008.

September 17-18, 2007. I sailed with a party of about 10 on a small ship northwestwards from Manaus, Brazil, along the Rio Negro about 60 kilometers to a lodge built on a pier in the middle of some igarapé (tributary). In the afternoon, we went out on the water in a small motorized wooden boat to fish for piranhas. There were eight persons, including the guide, aboard. The catch, after an hour or two of fishing, was six piranhas, about six inches long. In the evening, we went out on the boat again, in the dark, down many watery backwaters, looking for alligators. We reached a spot where several alligators could be heard clicking, and the guide went out and caught two small alligators, which we all examined, before he let them go. We saw a larger alligator on the shore, with the help of a flashlight. Around 10, we returned to the lodge, which was not electrified. We used candles in our rooms.

The next day, rising at 5:30, we went out on the water to see a sunrise that didn't happen. It was mostly cloudy till mid-morning. What we did see was dozens of botos (river dolphins) leaping out of and back into the water. Then we returned to the lodge for breakfast. Later, we went on a jungle hike. We came to a spot where two or three caboclas (women of mixed Indian and Brazilian ancestry) were milling cassava flour. They had a big stone quern or mill, with black iron implements, and seemed to have about 50 to 100 pounds of cassava all ground and sifted. They had an open fire going, under a little ramada, and with them they had a baby, a dog and some chickens. It was all very primitive. In the next couple of hours, we walked through heavily grown jungle, walking poles across creeks, and tripping over roots and vines, but we saw no significant animals, though the area is supposed to have monkeys and snakes. We returned to the lodge again, and about 4 PM, I departed in a ship with two others, while some of the party, who had booked five days, remained.

Amazon river dolphins are pictured below, while further below is pictured cassava, also known as mandioca, manioc, manihot, yucca and yuca (not to be confused with the agave of the southwestern US also called the yucca). This is a starchy, tasty, potato- or yam-like plant that is a staple in South America as well as Africa and Asia. Tapioca is made from cassava, which is not sweet in itself. Sweeteners are added.

Boto (Amazon River Dolphin--Inia geoffrensis)

Cassava (Mandioca)

The Port of Manaus, Brazil, on the Amazon River

August 4, 2007. I arrived in Manaus, Brazil after sailing 31 hours down the Amazon from Tabatinga, Brazil, in addition to the 10 hours it took to sail from Iquitos, Perú to Tabatinga This was a swift launch, about 3 times as fast as the ship I sailed in from Belém to Manaus in 2006. Manaus is the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, the largest city on the Amazon, and the largest city in the South American jungle. My Brazilian visa doesn't expire till October 30. At that time, according to my current plans, I will go by bus to Caracas, Venezuela. Iquitos, Manaus, Belém and Caracas may be see on the map below. Tabatinga is right opposite Leticia. Colombia.

PUERTO TABATINGA

The Port of Tabatinga, Brazil, on the Amazon

August 1, 2007. At 4:30 AM, I went with my baggage by cab to Embarcadero Huequitos in Iquitos, Perú. There I boarded a motorized launch that sailed the Amazon River to Santa Rosa, Perú, putting in at 4 PM. From there, I went by a very small motorized boat (see picture) to Tabatinga, Brazil, a distance of 2 or 3 kilometers. The Port of Tabatinga is a primitive operation. I had to report to the Federal Police in Tabatinga to present my passport, visa, and yellow-fever vaccination card. I got a room for two days at the Hostal Internacional on Rua Texeira in Tabatinga. My next step will be to sail August 3 to Manaus.

The Amazon at Iquitos, Perú

July 13, 2007. My present location is Iquitos, Perú, at the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañón Rivers, from which the Amazon flows. This city is in eastern Perú, beyond the Andes from Lima, in the heart of the jungle, and cannot be reached by car, bus or train. Access is by ship and plane only. My Peruvian visa expires on August 7, so by that time I will have booked passage to sail down the Amazon to Manaus, Brazil, 950 miles east. I have already sailed up the Amazon from Belém, Brazil to Manaus, in January, 2006. So this voyage will enable me to say that I've sailed the whole length of the river. I have been in South America for 2 years and 7 months.

In the map below, Iquitos is in the upper right-hand part of Perú: