Jungle experience II

On Saturday, 14th of April we took a boat from Manaus to Tabatinga. The ship was leaving at midday but we arrived before 9 a.m. in order to get better place and install our hammock: far from bathrooms and on the side closer to the shore to have wonderful views. There were already lots of people who had similar plan:)

M Monteiro, 'The boat', literally packed with hammocks

 
At the beginning we were concerned about how many children there were on the boat  that they would cry a lot or make noise in the night. At the end watching them was one of very few entertaining activities and all of them were pretty calm. We had a 3-year old neighbour called Pedrinho who was vary nice and cute. He looked very smart and was calm and a good observer. At the beginning was observing us (mostly Karo) concerned of how different we looked to people he was used to see. But finally we got on well with him and he started to trust us:) When he and his mum left on the fourth day of journey we got a bit sad but at least we got some more room for our hammocks.

 Pedrinho and his mum

 Karo lying in her hammock

It was a problem when waking up to find out that someone had put their hammock just next, above or under yours while you were sleeping. So, during the stops you have to be careful and keep as much place as you can for yourself, lying broadly for instance.

New passengers entering the boat in the middle of nowhere

Amazonian Sunset I

 Amazonian Sunset II

The food wasn´t bad, but it was just boring. Every day we were waking up with the sunrise and first thing to do was going to the kitchen to get your bread with butter and tiny piece of cheese and extremely sweet coffee. Already at 11 we could see people waiting for their lunch. During first days we decided to have our meal after 12 - just before closing - but finally it was a bad idea because  there was a risk nothing would be left for us. Lunch and dinner were almost the same: rice, pasta, beans and some chicken. Right now when we can already choose what to eat we try to avoid those ingredients as much as possible. There was also farofa - kind of manioc flour which Brazilians add to all their dishes. It is very tough and it's almost impossible to chew it - imagine to eat small stones. It seems European teeth aren't adapted to this kind of accompaniment while in Brazil people use it only to change the consistence of their meals.

Selling stuff even without stopping

Amazonian village of Amatura

We arrived to Tabatinga after 5 days instead of 6 and a half and to be honest we enjoyed it so much that we were a bit disappointed having to leave the boat earlier. It was very relaxing time and we got used to daily routine on the boat. We spent most of the time lying in our hammocks, watching beautiful landscapes, reading books or playing cards. We also met three more 'gringos' (Olly from England, Andy from Germany and Robert from Poland!) so we could hang out together in the top-deck bar.

After arrival to Tabatinga (still Brazil) we headed directly to the police station in order to get leaving stamp in our passports and the we walked to Leticia (already Colombia). We found there a host on couchsurfing but because we arrived earlier we decided to stay in the hostel for one night. We really liked this small border town. Everything was walking-distance what we really missed after visiting big cities. The next day we visited harbour which is at the moment floating due to rainy season - to some shops close to there you can get only trough primitive wooden 'bridges'.

Simpson Bar - Krusty burgers, hot dogs and others Homer's favourites

Close to Leticia's harbour

School parade in Leticia I

School parade II

We contacted Sevi - our German host in Colombia who together with his three flatmates lives in the most incredible place we ever seen. His house is located outside Leticia (11 km away) in the middle of rain forest. 

 Sevi's neighbours

Rainforest fruit (we can't remember the name of it)

That's Sevi's garden

 

The house is made of wood and instead of glass in the windows there is a very thick net. This way when you're inside you can hear and smell the jungle. We liked this atmosphere very much and spent there lots of  time, lying in our hammocks and listening to rain.

Sevi's house

 Upside down

 Crazy octopus-tree in Sevi's garden

 Find a frog

 Beautiful worm (Jordi didn't eat this one)

 Chia, the Amazonian cat

Walls in their house are full of drawings and we also left our sign there

We also went out with Sevi and Sofia to a small bar. It was Jordi's birthday so were happy to have a chance to try for the first time our salsa dancing skills and drink caipirinha (Jordi got one for free from the bar staff). 

 Jordi's birthday breakfast

25th Happy birthday

 Sevi and Sofia - thank you guys for wonderful stay at your place!

After three days we had our flight back to 'the civilization'. On Sunday, 22nd of April we went to Cali, also called 'capital of salsa'. You can see that we aren't very regular bloggers but we promise to tell you all we find interesting during our trip, although with a small delay.