Photos: Brasil

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Blogs: Brasil

Belem to Venezuela, Part 4

Overcast and early, we arrived in Boa Vista to find the next bus leaving for Venezuela at 12 noon. Having read the following in the Lonely Planet, I ventured into town to take care of business:

borders, Brasil, Venezuela

Remember the paranoia, well I half ignored it in pursuit of our bus to Boa Vista from Manaus. The Kiwi Nigel speaks fluent Portuguese and he seemed to not be in a big hurry to get to the bus station any earlier than we needed, so I didn't hurry myself as I normally do to arrive well before the scheduled departure.

Brasil, Manaus, public transportation, buses

Belem to Venezuela, Part 2

Having already visited Manaus, I knew it was hot, muggy, and not really full of excitement. We were interviewed on the street one night by a few school girls about why we were here, did we like it, etc. I kept my mouth shut to be nice while Alex, who actually liked the city, gave the girls an A for their assignment. I stayed inside most of the 3 recovery days, but one afternoon was spent visiting The Zoo.

villages, boats, Careiro, Brasil, Manaus, rivers, locals, Amazon, houses, animals

Belem to Venezuela, Part 1

After my long long long bus ride up to northern Brasil, I jumped upon a boat heading back into the Amazon. I'd not yet convinced myself I wanted to do the boat thing again, but I met up with a Kiwi and a Bloke the night I arrived in Belem so I figured what the hell, its cheaper and its good company. Six days of card playing, vodka drinking, book reading, and hammock sleeping were about to begin.

Santerem, boats, Belem, people, Brasil, public transportation, Amazon

Stood Up!

Maybe for the first time in my life I have actually, categorically, been stood up by a girl. The story started while visiting Salvador on a simple Saturday night at a bar/club called Borracharia. Now apparently I was the only one to find this name quite amusing out of the group in attendance. Not laughing yet? Let me explain.

beer, party, girls, Brasil, Salvador, public transportation

paranoia

Phew. Almost thought I lost the bus there. I now have extreme paranoia for missing buses, planes, what have you. It most likely is the product of missing, usually by sleeping though, departures in the past. Once I was 10 feet from the gate at Austin-Bergstrom and dozed off just before the boarding call only to awake 45 minutes later no plane in sight.

Brasil, public transportation, buses, food

dance, dance, dance

Tomorrow we move into a nice, albeit small, apartment in the historical center of Bogota, La Candelaria officially ending the last 6 weeks of living on the road in hostels and homes of new friends. But before the next chapter of life in a foreign country begins, lets go back a few weeks to the point where I ended off last...

dancing, beer, party, Brasil, music, couchsurfing, Recife

delayed...again

The plan was to arrive in Colombia yesterday, the capital city of Bogota, but instead I find myself in a posada in the middle of Venezuela not even half way there. How did I exactly end up here?

boats, Brasil, public transportation, Monte Roraima, Venezuela, updates

so there i was...

standing in the maternity ward of a hospital...Just one of those moments in life where you go, how did I get here? Why am I here? What is going on here? Well thankfully in this case I have all the answers, no tests to run, no people to inquisition. My couch surfing host is visiting a friend who is having a baby and as I am virtually living inside his life for the next few days, this places me inside a very nice, clean and rather pleasant smelling hospital ward.So sit back down, everything is okay.

Brasil, Salvador, couchsurfing

random Brazilian differences

Often while traveling, I enjoy noting the differences between the way life functions in the country or city I am visiting compared to back home. Here is a collection of various things I've noticed over the past few months in Brasil.

beer, Rio de Janeiro, shopping, Brasil, drugs, weather, food

the "tourist bus"

Only once, in Dublin, Ireland, have I boarded a "tourist bus", but my couch surfing host suggested it as a good way to see most of the city of Salvador since he was busy working. For U$15, Salvador Bus is cheaper than cabs and buses between the spread out metropolis.

churches, tours, Brasil, Salvador, buses, food

the first couch

I arrived in Salvador to meet up with my first couch surfing experience on Tuesday evening. Walking out of the airport baggage terminal, Victor was already waiting, 30 minutes early and recognized me immediately. Car parked on the curve 5 steps away, I tossed my bags and we went off to grab some grub. Salvador is a seaside city full of seafood dishes so he ordered up some boiled oysters and shrimp pastries to compliment the beer. A good start to my first couch surfing experience if you ask me.

insects, Brasil, Salvador, couchsurfing, beaches

2 weeks and counting

The day go by. It's hard to believe 3 months ago I was moving into this house I will now be leaving in 2 weeks time. Seems like just yesterday, but Carnaval seems like forever ago. I guess that's what happens when you spend the majority of your days working and sleeping and saving.

who, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, where, updates

My Carnaval, Not Everyones

The closest thing I can think of to relate what Carnaval (in Portuguese, everywhere else, Carnival) here in Rio de Janeiro was for me like is to go back to my small town semi-roots: "street dance". If you are unfamiliar with the term, "block party" might be more adequate, but I cannot imagine many of these go on these days with all the laws regarding underage drinking, liability litigation, etc.

drinks, beer, party, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, holidays

hammocking

Sleeping in a hammock for 3 straights days isn't all its cracked up to be. Sleeping next to a cute Brazilian girl who dresses like she's hitting up the non-existent club every day on the boat however, is.

boats, Brasil, Leticia, public transportation, Amazon