Yesterday’s gallery tour took a lot of energy. With the help of a few caipirinhas, a very hot, hot shower, I managed to recover enough to go on the free city walking tour. Although I didn’t manage to do the WHOLE tour, which is over four and a half hours. I still wanted to find and visit Batman Alley as well. The tour met at the metro entrance on Republican square. A lovely tourist office was there as well. I was a tad early so I had to wait. There was a local craft market and it was a pleasure just to look and walk around.
São Paulo is home to 21 million people! It has more sky scrapers than could be counted! The building on this photograph has its own postcode!! You can imagine that three days is absolutely nothing, it doesn’t even scratch the surface!!
The walking tour visited the Theatro Municipal, although we didn’t go inside. This building was begun in 1903 in the style of Paris’Palais Garnier. It’s facade is heavily ornamented, combining every style possible!
It would have been awesome to also visit the theatre on the inside! I just have to go back one day! We walked on to the cathedral Se. I know it took an enormous amount of time to finish this cathedral. I was shocked by the contrast between the elaborate cathedral, that cost billions, and the enormous amount of homeless, old people living in tents, surrounding this building! 
It was very in your face, unexpected, and very, very hard to deal with. The tour guide just skipped over this, like it wasn’t that important!
We did enter the cathedral, where the ” benches” were divided into ” chairs” so homeless people couldn’t stretch out on them, or God forbid, sleep on them! By now I had a hard time dealing with these destitute people. Most of them elderly and a majority of them black. It makes me feel that organised religion seems to miss the point that Jesus tried to make , love ” your neighbour” like you love yourself!!
The tour went on, I was tired, cold and quite shocked by what I had just seen. We all went to the oldest cake shop in São Paulo, but somehow I had lost my appetite. My knee was giving me grief, and I was feeling miserable. I said a polite good bye and caught the metro back to Vila Madelana, the artistic quarter, where my hostel was. I had had my map with me and this time I managed to find Batman Alley!
An area full of little boutiques, cafes, art and an enormous amount of murals. I walked for about an hour, visited two galleries and one shop. Then the rain started and I was back to being cold, wet and miserable! 
I had a hot chocolate. Did some drawing, and when the rain eased of a bit, walked back to the hotel. It was time to pack, sort and prepare myself for my flight to Santiago tomorrow. Then home! Another great trip has come to an end! I am ready! My body has had enough! Time to go home, relax and plan my next trip! Bon voyage!
After a restful bus ride, I arrived early in the morning at the HUGE bus station in São Paulo. I was very fortunate that the tourist office was open, two friendly young people, who spoke excellent English, gave me instructions on how to catch the metro to Vila Madalena wher my hostel is situated! I am catching metros as if I do this daily!! Easy peasy!
Touristy day today! I had to walk to the nearest bus stop. Dear Marina, the receptionist at the hostel gave me excellent directions! There is this amazing BIG park, Ibirapuera, where the Museum of modern art, the African Brasilian museum and the museum of contemporary art are situated! It is just HUGE!
The museum of African-Brasilian art was my favourite! There was the story of the slavery, integration in Brasilian way of life, and the people who became famous. One of them was Pele, the Brasilian football player, whose poster used to be on my wall when I was a kid! There was art, sculpture and photography. I was fascinated by it all. Most photographs I took on my camera as the tablet keeps telling me there is NO storage space!
It was across a scary walk way, and this young man, Vitor, walked with me. His big dream was to come to Australia and work as an architect here. This museum was huge! Eight floors of art, plus a magnificent view from the top. It was exhausting. But incredibly interesting! Catching the bus home was quite an adventure as I couldn’t remember how to get to the bus stop!! With a bit of help of very friendly people, I managed to return just before it was completely dark!!
Getting up, shower, breakfast and saying good bye. Always very hard to do. This family has embraced me, looked after me and locked me into their hearts. Their incredible hospitality was overwhelming. Never to be forgotten. Saying good bye to Jayme at the bus station, a big lump in my throat and I had to hold back my tears. It is without a doubt the hardest part of travelling. Meeting beautiful people and then saying good bye, over and over again! The bus trip to Macae wasn’t too bad. I fell asleep as soon as the bus left, woke up for lunch four hours later, only to sleep a further four hours!
Gina and Maria came onto the platform just as I arrived! Gina and I had met eight years ago, when I looked for accommodation in Rio de Janeiro, not realising that this was a province as well as a town! It was like we only met yesterday! We went to Maria Eduarda’s flat. Dumped my luggage and hit the town! The foreshore was amazing! Lots of restaurants, pizza places and bars. We shared some drinks, ate some food and were home by eleven. The next day we caught an Uber to the foreshore, walked along the beach and the lake. Our waiter told us that tonight there would be life music. Of course! There is life music EVERY night! Ah, Brasil! How I will miss you!
We all went to watch an amazing sunset, over the lake! There was an empty derelict hotel across the road and Gina and I fantasised bringing it back to its former glory! We then joined the party on the foreshore. My favourite song was played, “Let it Be” and “imagine”, and lots of Brasilian music afterwards! I even got up to dance! Later that night we all snuggled in the lounge to watch “Rocketman”, another magic day had passed. In the morning Maria Eduarda and Daniela needed to go to work, while Gina and I caught the bus to Barra de Sana. The bus took about an hour to Casimiro de Arbeu. Beautiful scenery, mountains, rivers and sunshine!
Gina and I talked about a lot of things, as Gina is a painter as well, also she told me about the Hawaiian meditation of Ho’Oponopono. “I love you, I am sorry and I forgive you, THANK YOU! “I had never heard of this before, but since then I have googled and read about this meditation. It is a better form of what I have been doing for years. Some people come into your life just to change your life! Gina is my guide, my inspiration, I think it works both ways, but I will certainly look into a course I can do in Oz!
Inside the church of Francis of Assisi.
K
The packing of my bag didn’t take very long! Discarded a lot of my ” rubbish”! I am allowed ten kilos of hand luggage on this flight, and I am determined to manage this!! The wonderful cleaner and cook at the hostel seemed very pleased with her bag of ” goodies”! Dear Amadeu had promised me on Friday a free ride to the airport! He also has very, very good wifi in his agency. So of the historic town I went! I have no idea WHY I thought it is ” incredibly” far! It all seems so close now!
The lovely driver, who took me on the weekend tour, also dropped me off at the airport! He spoke a bit of Spanish, and slowly in Portuguese, so we chatted all the way! I had been able to reduce my backpack to seven kilos! Very impressed!
The room was simple. Single bed, which is very unusual. Hot, hot water in the shower! After sending loads of messages to Vitor, his family and Nina’s friends, I finally went to bed at eleven at night! Slept like a babe, another very hot shower and an amazingly good breakfast buffet, one of the best so far! Vitor’s dad, Jayme, was coming to pick me up! I was invited to stay with them! A room had been prepared for me! I didn’t expect this at all. I thought may be a meal together or a few drinks one night, instead the Brasilian hospitality showed itself in full force!
On Wednesday I had planned to go to Inhotim, the largest out door gallery space in the world! Jayme dropped me off in the morning and I spend the whole day in artist heaven!! It was totally impossible to see it all. There are over twenty galleries. Each with their own exhibitions. My most favourite was the black and white photography from Claudia Andujar. A Swiss born artist ( Claudine Haas) who lived with the Yanomami, in the village of Maturaca (Amazonia) for over seven years. Her photos were just awesome! I took photos on my camera of the black and white photos, I spend a lot of time in this gallery and it was by far my favourite.
A lot of the art were video installations, in the dark, I felt I was living in the dark as most of it I didn’t understand! The complex is so incredibly huge that in the end it was my legs that decided where I would go to! Several of the pavilions were closed due to exhibition changes. Some of the galleries had long queues waiting to enter. These I skipped altogether, as I had only limited time. I have learned in my life that it is humanly impossible to see all that life has to offer us, one needs to make choices all the time! Although I do my best to see as much as I can, I am aware of my personal limitations.
The grounds of Inhotim are also impressive. Many artificial lakes reflect the pavilions into the water. Creating spectacular images for photographs. I wish I had taken more notes, but by the end it became a survival of slowly going from one to the next with the least amount of pain! There were small tourists carts driving around, but I should have bought my ticket at the entrance, which is interesting as there was nobody at the entrance when I arrived! All together it was an amazing day spend in fabulous surroundings, seeing so much creativity made me one to go home and draw and paint again!
Afterwards we went out and had lunch, I was in desperate need for a strong coffee, to keep the body moving. In the afternoon we went to the Fiat exhibition, were I saw my very first car on show, a Fiat 500, except mine had the door handle at the other side! I also took a photo of a sculpture and was told off, no photos! Interesting as the Paul Klee had no such restrictions except that you were not allowed to take “selfies” at the exhibition! Go and figure!
This park consists of 1500 sq kilometres of rolling white dunes. Rain water forms crystal clear lakes between the sandy hills. The main town is Barreirinhas’ on a bend of the river Preguicas.
At two o’clock there was lots of confusion of who should go where. In the end instead of sitting on the top of the truck I sat inside with Carla and her eldest daughter, Ellen. The 4×4 needed to be loaded onto a ferry, which was then pushed by a little boat to the other side! Fabulous. Our car played up at one stage, lots of rattling and screeching noises, nothing a lot of water in the radiator couldn’t fix! As soon as the radiator was filled up we went on our merry way! Slipping and sliding.
When we arrived at the desert we had to climb this enormous sand dune! So much for not having to walk with my crook knee! Quite steep! The view was amazing! Just a shame there were hundreds of other people doing the same thing on a Saturday afternoon! My Italian friends went for a four day hike, with a guide! How magical that would have been! Although walking in the sand dunes was certainly not easy. This sand dune desert is unusual as it has lakes every where.
Walter, Carla’s husband, explained that it was underground waters that filtered through into the desert. It was most certainly impressive. I sat down and swam for awhile, waiting for the big mob of people to disperse. Then I wandered of in a different direction, where it was possible to sit, watch and take photos. I was making large abstract paintings in my head, it was not easy tuning out other people, but I am practising silence in the market place, and I am getting quite good at it!
We watched the sunset from the top of the first hill and hundreds of people stood with their backs to this spectacular sight, just to get the perfect selfie, or social media shot. I left my iPad in my bag. I locked the picture in my head, and smiled at the antics of my most favourite “animal” on this earth, humans! (Human behaviour interests me enormous, and I should have gone on to do a Master’s in Social Science!) and lately I am more and more baffled, but still humoured, by some strange behaviours! First their backs to the sunset for the “perfect” shot, than the rest of the time is spend “watching these perfect shots”, meanwhile nature gives a free show of gigantic proportions, witnessed by a few die hards!!
Time to return in our wild west fourwheel drive! Wheelies on the way! By the time we arrived by the river, there was a huge traffic jam of tour vehicles needing to cross, so we were all let out, just in front of, yes, you guessed it! Souvenir shops, bottle shops and people selling food!! Ah, a cold beer! One of the people who crossed through the water to the boat, was bitten by a snake! There was a lot of screaming, while her guide told her it was not a poisonous snake! How could het Ell in the dark? The woman showed us the bite and her very swollen foot! According to her it was a cobra. I would have shat myself, but every body around me was rather blase about the whole thing! Another fabulous day! Mind you, I realise now that it would have been smarter to go on a longer, smaller, more private tour, but time and (by now) money, constrains made me choose a ” tourists packed tour”. These tour I normally avoid at all costs, but………..ah, choices!
Somehow I fell asleep after my wonderful, hot, shower! First one in a long, long time. My back has been giving me grief on top of the knee! It took me awhile to realise that this must be due to the fall I had two days ago! Shit, this body is getting old! Can’t even fall flat on my face without consequences! (No, I had NOT been drinking!) The back injury from Tanzania, flared up big time! Sigh. Luckily I had some Ibrufen left over. Two pills, a hot, hot shower, and NO jazz! ( which was a shame)
At seven it was breakfast time. I put the iPad on the charger, asked Carla to tell the owner about the ” black out” which only happened in my room! Ah, the Power of ONE! I enjoyed one of the bests breakfast yet! Lots of different fruits, fruit juices without sugar, fresh crispy bread rolls, eggs, cheese and ham. It was a magnificent spread. Four different types of cakes that needed trying! I ate too much, but as I only eat once a day again, it should keep me going till tomorrow’s brekky!
At 8.30 am there was our boat pick up. Fast and crazy ride along the Preguicas river. Lovely and early, first stop more sandy desert with lots of lakes. Here there were wind mills generating energy. It was like watching a silent ballet! I had learned from yesterday, to walk away as fast as I could! Along the shore of the river I walked fast to the furthest away sand dune! Climbed up and was rewarded with spectacular views across the desert! Without any people!! By now I have been working on a series of abstracts in my head, and I took photos with these compositions in my mind. Hope I can hang on to these images for another four weeks when I am able to paint again!
There was a bit of confusion, trying to find ” my” boat amongst the enormous quantity of moored boats!! They all looked alike! I should have taken notice of the name ” India”, but I didn’t! Last one on board. We went of to a little fishing village,a light house, and souvenir shops!! Lighthouse was not open, so no climbing up to see the view. There was a lot of alcohol for sale made out of cashew fruit! I regret not trying any of it! There is another interesting drink, no idea what it is called, but it is strong and has crabs or lobsters inside of the bottles! This baffled me, until I was told that the bottle is cut, animal preserved inside, bottle glued back together, decorative rope over the cut and voila! Delicious interesting drink, which I didn’t try either!
Another hot, hot shower, scrubbing all the sand of my body. My hair is a different matter! Dreadlocks are an enormous amount of work! Who would have thought?? Sand and water needs to be washed out, re rolled, let them dry, which I didn’t have time for! So wet and sandy hair, fell asleep in the bus on the way home. Ah, life it is just so amazing! I arrived back at my hostel just after ten o ‘clock and found a man in my bed! Oops! Prayers answered? There was NO staff on duty, until eleven o’clock that night! Shower, sleep until I was woken up by two screeching cats in the dormitory! The red tomcat was willing and able, the grey one wouldn’t have a bar of him. Great! Was having a marvellous dream. Michelle, my daughter, and I at a party in El Viajero! Colombian! Welcome to my life!
Thanks, but no thanks. I am not getting up at four after just spending over thirteen hours on a bus! Plus I have decided that it is better to do a one day tour. The hostel is way out of the old town. In the afternoon Nico, Kate and I caught the local bus to the historical centre. (Soren had to work!) The old town is not large, but fascinating. 
We walked around, visited some souvenir shops, and the others needed to go back much too soon for my liking! Before we reached the hostel, the bus stopped and we were sort of kicked of, onto another bus, the trip back took incredibly long. Kate went on and on complaining about this, and everything else what is wrong with South America.
I get this, when one travel a long time, one can get tired, this means you need to move on. But Nico had just arrived from France after three weeks on a cargo boat and everything delighted and fascinated him. (If Kate said one more time ” oh, but you just got here, give it time” , I swear I was going to slug her one!) That evening we all walked to the beach to watch the sunset. For one reason or other I tripped over and fell smack bang flat on my face! I had forgotten to put on my shoes and was wearing my thongs! ( flip flops for the foreigners reading this!) Beside a few dents to the ego, no damage was done, (I thought.)
The next morning the bus picked the young ones up at eight! So much for an early start! After a leisurely breakfast it was too overcast to go to the beach. I caught the bus into the historical centre. Oh, what a delight, to wander by myself, into little alley ways, climb the stairways, walk into galleries, shops and musea at my own speed. It was an immense pleasure. Finally I came back to the tourist information centre, where the only person speaking English or Spanish was very busy. (I can understand Portuguese, but I can’t speak it, only Spanglish comes out of my mouth).
Beer time, while waiting for this woman to find time. I passed an hour watching people go to and fro, only to find out that the tourist information woman now had gone for lunch! I had hoped to discuss a few tour options. As luck would have it there was a travel agency right next door. Due to the very poor wifi at the hostel, I had not gotten very far in my search for flights south, and the main one, a flight to Santiago de Chile, for my return home! The wonderful owner, Amadeu, spoke awesome English, and before I knew it, I had booked and paid for my flight to Chile, and a flight to Belo Horizonte ( five times more expensive!)
It is possible, in Australia, to get a flight pass for Brasil. The problem here is that you need to know your days and cities that you want to visit, more than six months in advance! I find this impossible, and I find it hard enough, when a flight is booked, that I NEED to be there, and miss out on other things on the way. Anyway, two flights all done and dusted in fifteen minutes!
Just before I left I asked if he did know of an agency that would do tours to the desert. Of course his agency did!! Except, oops, four people had not shown up, and there was nobody for a day tour! ( minimum of four people required, always) Ah, well, you can’t win them all. It was obviously not meant to be. So be it! Life goes on. I walked to the palace of the lions, where a delightful young woman, Julia, guided me through the five rooms with excellent English! All musea, galleries are free! This impresses me greatly! Also the tour was free. She showed me a tapestry, made by a Moroccan/ Brasilian woman, which was stunning! ( I wrote down her name somewhere! Can’t find it!)
Later that wonderful day I caught the bus back. I wanted to go for a long beach walk. I snoozed on the bus, suddenly woke up, thought I recognised the gourmet supermarket behind our hostel, and got off the bus! Of course, there are more then just ONE gourmet supermarket and this wasn’t the one remotely near my hostel. Oops! Now what? Trying to ask people where the hostel’s street was, was a waste of energy. It gets dark here rather fast. As soon as the sun sets, the dark rolls in. Great. I am somewhere, it is getting dark and I have NO idea where the hell I am! Welcome to my world!
Suddenly there was a car beeping! As I looked up, this man is waving at me madly! Great! Now I am lost in the dark with a lunatic on the loose! Until he called my name! It was the owner of the travel agency! All exited! As I hopped into his car, he told me he had been thinking of me all afternoon! ( yeah, I know, I have this effect on people! Poor man!) he had found four people for a two day tour, but as I had left NO phone number, nor contact details, nor my hotel’s address, he had NO WAY of letting me know! He was beside himself! He had recognised my dress at the bus stop where I was asking people where I should go!! Now to me this is Serendipity, a meaningful coincidence! (Happens to me! A LOT!!!)
The boat arrived very early on Sunday morning. The hostel that Vitor booked was within walking distance of the port. Just opposite the main square, where on Sunday all the craft and food sellers have their stalls. We dumped our gear, showered and changed, and explored the various foods of the region. The others all went to the markets afterwards, I had a snooze, and explored more of the gorgeous old buildings around the square.
There was an incredible theatre, which was closed. The old buildings in Belem are amazing. The city is big, dirty, full of homeless people, but fascinating and interesting. The old market is stunning. The open air market is the biggest in South America. So much to see and do. I just wandered. Visited the cathedral, musea, and any gallery that was open. The large Contemporary Art gallery was closed for another month, as they were changing their alarm system.
Just wandering and wondering. Having a beer and watch all the people, my favourite past time. The market just fascinated me. As you sit down, the world comes to you. An old man on a bike, with an enormous boom box on the front, playing extremely loud music, he was selling something but I never found out what exactly. Old, poor, homeless, sellers of gadgets, cords, cards and interesting looking stuff, that people could or could not need was being sold, without me moving an inch.
On a very rainy Monday night I met up with two young people, Daniela and Gabriel, friends of my friend Nina. They took Luiz and me to the foreshore, Estacao Das Docas, where they have turned the old dock into a trendy area, full of amazing restaurants and boutique little shops, beyond my normal budget. We had a fabulous meal, fish, rice and the necessary Farinha, a mashed up manioc/ yukka plant with different spices. This is one of the mains staples of EVERY meal. It comes in different crushings, fine, medium or rough. You put it on your watery soup meal to thickening it up. I thought of it as over sized breadcrumbs! On the first boat I mistook it for Parmesan cheese, and loaded it onto my pasta meal. Ever since then I am rather careful with my application. I prefer the finer Farinha, as the rough one gets into my broken tooth and hurts.
I have learned to say that “I don’t speak Portuguese”, in Portuguese, which confuses the sellers. “Thank you” is another word which comes in very handy and I use all the time. On the last day Luiz and I walked to the old jail, which has been turned into a gem stone museum and lots of boutique gem stone jewellery shops. Way out of my budget. There was a wonderful courtyard with huge crystal boulders, surrounded by a moat full of different coloured crystals! Also a lot of security cameras, so Jenny, I didn’t get one for you!!
There were flamingoes, but not the brightly coloured ones I saw in Colombia. Lots of bright red little birds, I have no idea what they are called, but they were stunningly beautiful. Lots of turtles in the water, and iguanas on land. The maritime museum was fascinating. It started of explaining how the Brasilian navy was formed. When the Navy first started, they would not allow Portuguese men to join. Their loyalties would be divided between Portugal and their new country, Brasil.
The fiesta lasted till 2.00 am in the morning! When a Brasilian says “let’s have a last one”, it means let’s keep on drinking!! You learn something new every day!! Five in the morning the alarms went off! Great! Three hours sleep! Just what my body craves, not! Caught the bus to Santarem. We had brekky at the market, with the greatest coffee yet! Then we watched the pink river dolphins. There were a big mob. This man tied a fish on a rope and played with a dolphin. Vitor got a great video of this. Then the dolphin ate the fish and the guy, of course, wanted money! Since non of us asked for this display, we didn’t pay! It is much better to ASK tourists first! I was very happy to see so many pink dolphins, though. Their noses are much lager and thinner than the regular dolphins. They are also fatter and more square. The nose has evolved so they can look for food when the river floods the mangroves, so the dolphins have adapted themselves.
The boat was much, much smaller than the last one! By the time we bought our tickets and came on board, the deck was chocker block filled up! We tried going to the top deck, but this was NOT allowed! How Vitor found three hooks is beyond me! But he did and for the time being we are practising to be sardines! Silently I apologised to the old lady, who I THOUGHT was in my face on the first boat! She wasn’t even CLOSE!! This is what Travelling is all about! Extending your comfort zone, at all times! This time however, I was too tired to extend anything, I crawled into my hammock and promptly fell asleep! I must be honest, I was glad that Vitor and Luiz had decided to come on the same boat! There were very, very few foreign tourists. A handful of Italians, two Spanish women, and a German couple, who managed to close themselves off completely!
The second day, people one by one, started to move their hammocks to the top deck! So we did too! It was colder up here, but so much more comfortable! At one stage Raoul and Luiz left the boat to buy, cheaper, booze at the shore! The boat left without them!! You have to understand that, when a Brasilian says thirty minutes, it can mean anything up to an hour!! Luiz hauled a boat, and the guy started ROWING!! Well, Luiz nearly shat himself! So he rowed while the owner turned on the motor!! There was a bit of a scary spot, when Raoul panicked, ( he is a city boy), and rocked the little boat! The small boat could have easily be run over by the large river boat, thank god Luiz is an experience sailor, he managed to calm Raoul and get them both safely on board without any damage to any vessels or to the two men!
The scenery on this part of the river was very different again. First of all we were on a side river, much closer to the shore. Also the last part we were sailing near the Large Island, with its gorgeous beaches! Ilha Se Marajo. This island is larger than seventy of the world’s countries! Most of the island’s interior, however, is inaccessible. The island is notable for its friendly and hospitable people,( aren’t ALL Brasilians like that??) and the Carimbo, the colourful dance that I had seen in Alter do Chao. Most of the “boat people” went to this island, known for its beautiful beaches! But I was ready for some culture and less drinking and partying! The mind and heart are willing and able, but the body is starting to show signs of its age, and I needed some desperate resting time!
We spend the rest of the afternoon catching up on e mails, face book and business. The Suriname embassy still hasn’t responded! I have to go on line during their office hours. In the mean time I did my research into flight to French Guyana, expensive, get my visa there and then fly to Paramaribo. Also expensive! I was wondering WHY the flies had gone up so high, when Wine suggested it was school holidays in the Netherlands, and a lot of people from Suriname will return there. Flights from Paramaribo to anywhere else in South America were more expensive than my flight from Oz to Souh America!!
Ah, well, was it John Lennon who said that life happens when you are busy making or plans? It is hot here, humid, and life just slows down. There is lots to do, but I have found my perfect spot, the hotel’s swimming pool! Cold beer available! Watching the world go by! On the Monday I had my dreads fixed by Fredson, husband of Audrey, two lovely people , whom I had met on the first night during the fiesta.In the afternoon I managed to get in touch with the Suriname embassy , who told me there was NO problem with their website! Well, obviously there is, as I can’t get in, and I have been trying for over three weeks!
It was just magic, absolute magic. Very romantic setting, fabulous meal and conversation and an amazing sunset. Unbelievably beautiful. Life is just magical! How absolutely fabulous it is to be ALIVE!! I will never be able to take it for granted, I am just incredibly grateful. When we got back about eight o ‘clock, we found out that there was a special fiesta going on, the Quinti dos Mestres, the Thursday of the Masters, with the special kind of music called Carimbo. Ah, another fiesta!! Dancing the night away! Eh, tomorrow morning we need to be on the boat to Belem! Hm! Let’s get our priorities right! First a FIESTA!!
It was quick and easy to board this new boat. The Ana Beatriz. As I was stringing up my hammock I noticed two very young people, a Dutch couple, Kim and Wine, we started chatting, and soon a very, very tall young man from Germany, Silvio, joined us. Somehow we all ended up on the top deck, joined by Luiz from Brasil, but who lives and works in Barcelona, and Tomas, from Brasil. Vitor, from Brasil. There was a bar on board, with the prices the same as on land! Probably because most of the passengers are Brasilians! A pleasant afternoon was had by all. I crawled in my hammock at five and slept till three in the morning!! Must have needed it!
There are a lot of travel blogs out there that emphasise the ” dangers” of Amazonian boat travel! You MUST lock your bags to a post, you MUST have a mosquito net, you MUST take malaria tablets. All this I found untrue. There are NO mosquitoes while on the water! There is a fresh breeze blowing at all times. People are to busy with their own stuff to be interested in my bag full of dirty underwear! And malaria tablets I have only taken on my very first trip ,ever, and never since!!
I watched the comings and goings of new passengers arriving from Parintins. There was one more stop, which brought the police on board! Checking bags! Silvio, the tall German, was concerned about his stash of weed! He asked me if the police were looking for drug Smuggling? How the hell would I know?? I only have had my dreads for four weeks!! ( and I don’t do drugs!) The suggestion was made that he could hide it on the top deck, behind the gazebo’s plastic roof!
We took another turn and there it was! Not even the centre of town! Life music, people dancing the salsa in the street, what a wonderful place this is! I was exhausted, but as I would never ever been able to find my jungle hostel again, I had to stay until the muchachos, or at least one of the young ones, got tired and wanted to go back! The big Queensland bloke found us again and sat next to me for awhile, discussing the terrible problems of getting older! How boring! After politely listening to him and his ailments, I told him I needed to find my mob. Look, getting older happens to all of us, unless you are unfortunate and die young. However, discussing it and your ailments when there is a life band playing salsa, in the middle of the Amazonian jungle, is completely and utterly boring to me! He went of to find another audience! (Thank god!)
In the small hours of the mornings few of us returned to our humble abode. I slept like a babe in my, by now cosy hammock. Couldn’t wait to see the place by day light! It was every thing I had expected and more! There are two tree houses, a ceremonial house (in which we slept for the first night) a large kitchen space, and a huge sleeping area. It is rustic, cosy and very, very arty farty! For less than ten dollars a night, we are in a touristy place in the middle of the Amazonian jungle! I have to keep pinching me, to know that I am NOT dreaming!
The Amazonian tour started at nine o’ clock. Pick up, drop back pack at the office and a drive to the other harbour. I was in the car with three older people from Austria. They asked where I was from, Australia, we had a laugh about the fact that people always confuse Austria and Australia! Then asked asked how long I was travelling and after that never spoke another word to me again! Oops! Is it the dreadlocks?? Weird!
We had to take a boat ride. This boat stopped at the meeting of the waters! This is where the two rivers, rio Negro and rio Soliminos. There is a distinct line. The Rio Negro, the black river, is much warmer, much slower and the water has a different density.for these reasons the two rivers don’t immediately mix. So for kilometres the rivers run along side of each other, before their waters mix and become the Amazon river. In English we call the whole river the Amazon, which has to be so, if they want to claim that it is the longest river in the world!! Due to the fact that it was cloudy, the line was difficult to see.
After the boat ride we went on to a bus!! Unbelievable! I had NO idea that there were ROADS and a BUS service in the jungle!! I am aware how terribly ignorant I am! I am learning new things daily! When we finally arrived, I have no idea how long it took as I promptly fell asleep! We were all given a most delicious lunch. All together we were ten people in the group. Four young people from Italy, a young couple from Spain, the three Austrians and myself. So much for never more than EIGHT!
A couple of us had a swim in the Amazon! I can’t tell you how incredibly exciting it was to have a swim in the Amazon!! I have now swum in the Nile, Zambezi river and the Amazon!! Hm! Might see if I can swim in the five major rivers! Afterwards we went to a jungle bar. Amazingly the price of the beer was the same as the price at the Manaus hostel! On the way back we stopped for the sunset! And what a sunset it was! Unbelievably stunning. Another great day was finished!
That evening we all went to the camp’s bar. It was time to have my first caipirinha. The bar man, Toucanero, was a recently widowed elderly man , who has fourteen children! No television in the jungle I reckon! Since he was in my age group he took a shine to me, and my caipirinha although lovely, totally floored me! My father always told me to lead a balanced life, so I had a second one, one for each leg!! Marina, the Italian girl and Tiziano, played the guitar and started singing! Then one of the young guides, Sarmento, joined in. Stunningly beautiful voices. How unbelievably beautiful. Here I am in the middle of the Amazonian jungle listen to live music of total professionals. How blessed I am. How incredibly blessed!
I was up at five am the next morning, walked to the boat ramp. James and four people in his group were already there. In what should have been a beautiful quiet morning was disturbed by angry voices. His group was meant to go on a boat for a sunrise tour, but their boat driver didn’t show up. So lots of yelling, angry voices, no dolphins no monkeys, the man kept saying, but they also missed all the birds waking up. Poor James kept saying “why are you yelling at me?I am HERE!” The woman wanted him to ring the driver, except there is no reception out in the Amazonian jungle!! In the end there was NO sunrise as it was too cloudy! But all four people had missed the Here and Now of another beautiful morning.
When we came back from the walk after four hours of walking it was lunch time. People got terribly upset that I wanted to miss lunch!! Couldn’t make them understand that normally I only eat once a day!! My stomach is upset again, which has a lot to do with the two caipirinhas last night! James fussed over me like, I was going to say an old woman, but since I never fuss over anybody, I can’t use this expressions! So he fussed, a lot! Made me lemon grass tea. This did help, but since it was self inflicted, I didn’t want ANY fuss whatsoever!! An afternoon nap, and I declined to go Pirahna fishing. I had already done this before. Three hours on a boat without a toilet nearby didn’t seem such a good idea!
Instead I sat at the boat ramp, solitary, silence, meditation, and nature just came to me!! Canaries flew in sat nearby. Bright yellow, orange and birds that were mixed. I took photos with the camera, but didn’t want to disturb this precious moment with getting the iPad out of my bag! It was just like Henry Theroux wrote in Walden Pond. All you need to do is sit still , be quiet and nature will roll at your feet in pure ecstasy. It is just so silent, boats puttering along, staff going home, and me taking it all in, to be alone for a couple hourswas pure, undiluted bliss!
One of the guides, who was waiting for his boat ride, heard monkeys nearby. We went in search of them, and right there, not ten meters away, was a group of Capuchin monkeys in a nearby tree. Ismael grabbed some bananas from the kitchen and we watched the action. Ismael tried capturing the action on my camera, but I had not set it on the movement setting. I just watched in awe! Then the group returned with nine Pirahnas. It was dinner time! Pirahna is not my favourite fish to eat! Too many bones, too small, although utterly delicious, a lot of work for a few mouthfuls.
That night, after eating the Pirahnas, we went caiman hunting. This was a bit of a farce. Gillman caught a baby caiman, we got to hold it, several photos were taken,( non on the iPad) and back we went. Mosquitos, the size of helicopters, had been biting me through my travel trousers, on my bottom! Great, now I walk around all day scratching my backside!
Then next morning I was back on the jetty, for another attempt to see a spectacular sunrise on the foreshore. This time it was Sarmento with the four Chinese people. He asked if I wanted to join them for a river sunrise. I believe whole heartedly that one should never, ever say NO to unexpected offers. So of I went, on the boat, waiting for a new day to begin. The Chinese man played one video over and over, the sound effects getting on my nerves. A beautiful quiet morning, constant chatter of the two Chinese girls, the video making its intrusive noises, while birds flew over our heads, starting their new day with a spot of morning fishing!
The next day we visited a native house! We knew this as the sign on the wall said so! We had a look around, didn’t buy anything, walked through the garden and returned to camp! Another great day!!
The sunrise was beautiful, it all happened very fast, one minute waiting and waiting and suddenly the new day has arrived.We walked amongst butterflies to the dinning area. One huge blue one, like we have in Queensland. After breakfast, it was time to pack, a morning boat trip and getting ready to return to Manaus. The trip back was so much faster then the getting here. David and Jennifer, from Barcelona, had to get to the airport, but not until much later that night. We agreed to meet each other in my new hotel’s lobby. Ah, a hot shower, change of clothing, and I felt like a new woman. Tomorrow I am catching the slow boat to Santarem. Another adventure awaits.
The boat arrived at four o’clock in the afternoon. There was no police check on arrival. Laureano led the way, I followed. Finally we stood outside the port buildings. I realised I should have e mailed the hostel, asking how much a taxi would be from the harbour to the place I was staying. As it was the driver over charged me, but since it was in reals, it didn’t bother me too much. Manaus Hostel is fabulous. Lots of wood carved animals, which are painted. A jungle in the courtyard! Lovely friendly staff. I settled in to my bottom bunk in the all female dormitory. Showered and changed. When I got back to the lobby to check my e mails and log in on Facebook, I found that Briyan, from the boat was staying at the same hostel! We arranged that we would go for a bite to eat, and may be have a beer as well! He walked to the hostel and it took him less then fifteen minutes, with all his luggage. He is also just twenty two years old!
The main square was fascinating. A young woman was just opening a museum. As I was in need of a toilet, I ordered a coffee and used their loo. My stomach is rather upset and I am wondering if it can have anything to do with all the carbs I have been eating for four days. I walked around the square and found the Theatre Amazonas. A magnificent building, build in the rubber boom era. I went in, received a half price old farts discount, and waited for an English tour to start. I was in awe. It was just stunning. There were just two of us on the tour, an unfriendly fellow from Queensland and me. The whole tour lasted less than half an hour, and soon I was to be on my way again.
I decided to look for Hotel Manaus, which is supposedly around this square somewhere. A man, speaking excellent English, asked if he could help me, and I told him what I was looking for. He told me he used to play cricket against Australia, in the Ian Chappell days. So we talked about cricket, of which I no nothing about, just being honest here! Anyway, I reached the hotel, he said good bye and I booked a room for when I get back from my tour on Wednesday. It is central, close to the harbour. When I get back from the tour I need to buy water, fruit etc. so a central place is what I need.
From the hotel I wandered to the harbour, where I booked and paid for my boat trip to Santarem. I met a lovely young man from Suriname, so we ended up sitting in his office talking Dutch! I have been trying to apply, unsuccessfully, to apply for an e visa so I can visit his country. There are problems with the website. As he had to get back to work, and I wanted to see more of this city, I left. Who would I bump into outside? Laureano, from Argentina. He had trouble contacting his couch surfing host, and for some reason or other, his phone wouldn’t work. We went back inside, I introduced Laureano to Stephen, from Suriname, who promptly let him use his phone! We then shared a beer, and both realised that we probably would see each other again in Santarem! This is one of the fun parts of travelling, bumping into people who you have met before!
I wandered back to the hostel, totally exhausted. My knee is still giving me too much grief for my liking, and although I had planned to go to a performance at the Theatre Amazonas, I was too exhausted to do anything else. Manaus is very hot, and humid. I can’t say it is a pretty city. The main square has been beautified, but the city could really benefit from a total overhaul. Here, too, all the buildings are just tagged. A lot of the amazing old buildings are derelict and falling apart, which is such a shame. I walked around fantasising of repairing and restoring these stunningly beautiful places, and bring the city back to its heyday splendour. This kept me amused!
Part of the deal with the tour company is that I need closed shoes to do a jungle walk. Unlike the tour company in Leticia, they do NOT provide boots! So shopping I had to do. I went to the huge market, which is housed in an incredibly beautiful building, but only sold souvenirs and fruit and vegetables. What I had not realised is that it was Sunday and all the cheap stalls were closed! Oops! Luckily I found a shop open with cheap canvas shoes! Just for one day! Hmmm! Wasteful!
On the way to the shops a lovely old man, from Colombia, selling something, called me over and asked where I was from. He was lovely, eighty years old, looking sixty. We talked about the state of affairs of the world, fixed all the problems of what we thought was wrong with it! He lives high in the mountains a week away and was in town to organise some paperwork for the government. He invited me over to his place, while pouring me some concoction, as my stomach is really giving me a lot of grief right now. Since he was drinking the same stuff, made from plants, I figured it couldn’t do any harm. It helped!
He was a shaman, from the mountains in Colombia, who has lived in Brasil for over forty years. A Pachamama worshipper ( Mother Earth) he proceeded to tell me the mythical believes of his native tribe. Since this always fascinates me enormous I sat down and listened for quite a while. My Spanish is getting so much better as I understood nearly everything! I did ask if I was allowed to take a photo, on the camera, which didn’t do him justice at all. His incredible energy, youthful appearance were much more evident in real life. Time to go! Searching for another toilet!
Amazonia exists of almost 7 million square kilometres. Hard to grasp. It covers more than eight countries. The Amazon river is the longest in the world being more than six thousand kilometres long. What I wasn’t aware of is that the river has several different names. Here I am thinking I am travelling along the Amazon, but it is called Solimoes. It isn’t until after Manaus that the river becomes the Amazon!! There you go, learning something new every day! Since then I learned that that this name changes only here in Brasilia! For English speakers the whole rivers is called the Amazon! Phew! So glad to hear this!! Which WHY it is the longest river in the world, which is disputed by Egypt, which thinks it is the Nile!
On my last day in Leticia, I got up very early in the morning. I needed to find a cable for the camera, as it is no longer recharging. It is either the cable or the battery! Also I wanted to watch the comings and goings at the market. I wanted to visit the a Ethnological museum, which is housed in the library, it is free and opens at 8.30 am. It was an amazing museum.
I took lots of photos, but barely any notes, which I regret now! There are many different tribes in the Amazonian region. One of the tribes locks young girls away from the community when she first menstruates. While locked away, she learns all about being a woman. After a few months, all her hair gets plucked out, strand by strand until she is completely bald. Then covered in feathers, bald and painted she is welcomed back as a woman into the tribe. The party can last for days or weeks. What a way to celebrate becoming a woman!
There were dress up clothes as well, which I understood to be for funerals. Although the museum was extensive, the translation into English was rather thin. Three boards of extensive Spanish writing was translated into one paragraph. The Spanish made the assumption that all indigenous peoples were cannibals. So they tortured, slaughtered and dismissed the First Nation people.
Apparently this bus didn’t go anywhere near the city centre! All people got involved! Off the bus, ah, all you need to do is cross the huge road with the overhead walkway! Duh! I suffer terribly from vertigo, so not on your nelly! Finally this man stops a cab, puts my bags on the floor in the back, locks all the doors and gives me a lecture on how terribly dangerous Bogota is! Great, I am freezing cold and now shit scared as well!!
The taxi driver got me in the right direction, but kept going in circles. Meter ticking away! I told him to stop! Paid, got out and sorted it myself! He was two streets out! Finally arrived at Casa Sabella, where they slugged me for an extra 25,000 pesos on top of the bill! Nobody spoke English, I was tired, cold and very miserable. In the end they rang somebody who spoke some sort of English who told me that booking dot com actually mentioned this! She was right, I had just not read that far ahead! Now I was tired, cold, miserable and very, very, embarrassed.
Hot shower, and a nap. Always makes me feel better! I asked for an extra blanket as the blanket I had was see through! Received another one the same. Started my explorations the next day. Great National museum. Found a lovely place to eat.
Visited the Gold museum as well. This was mightely impressive. It had a fabulous display of traditional objects. It was packed! I forgot that my camera’s memory card was at the photoshop! Duh! Hours were spend here, best gold museum since San Jose in Costa Rica.
On Sunday I decided to visit Zipaquira, where the famous salt Cathedral is located. I had wanted to do it on a tour, but as I am only one person, it was much too expensive. So I took the bus to the Portal del Norte, where I caught the local bus to Zipaquira.
It didn’t take all that long, and I was quite content to look out the window and see the world go by. Zipa, as the place is locally known, isn’t very large. The historic centre was in walking distance to the bus station. Lovely old town being restored slowly and carefully. Would have been nice to stay here for a few nights!
The Cathedral of salt wasn’t too far away. The steps up to it did agrevate my dear knees, though. I wish they would just get over it! I mean my whole body is the same age! Why would he knees be the ones to demand extra attention? The cathedral is something else. You walk into a tunnel of different coloured lights, and then slowly, slowly you walk downwards. There are fourteen stages of the cross. There are all these different crosses hawn ( is that the word?) out of salt. The spotlights on them turn them into different colours all the time!
Kitsch, indeed, but magical. Slowly you descent into the depth of the earth. I couldn’t help but think of these men who made all this beauty. After a hard days work, they then work on this cathedral. A 180 meters deep, you reach the main nave, with the altar. Ere are salt and sandstone sculptures everywhere. Mightily impressive!
I spend quite a long time underground, feeling like I was in outer space. When I finally surfaced, I visited the archeological museum, had a beer on the plaza de Independencia, and slowly wandered back to the bus station. Catching the bus home was challenging, as I recognised absolutely nothing! It was by now dark, and the beggars were all on he bus, telling their sad stories. Tears were rolling over my face, listening to their woes. Most of the beggars are from Venezuela. My heart just breaks when people are forced to leave their countries of their birth. I did this voluntarily , which is hard enough, let alone if you are forced to leave, so your children can survive. By now the whole bus is involved where and when I should get off, as the lady at the station had given me the wrong information.
The next day I moved to a different section of town, which is where I should have gone I. The first place! Calendaria is the ” happening” place! Just passed the gold museum is a barrio full of murals, music and action! My Cranky Croc backpackers was right in the centre of it all. Set up by an Australian, it was a magical place. Friendly staff, hot, hot water, thick quilts and awesome beds! As it was Monday, and raining, I decided not to check out the other hotel until it was time to go. Working on my blobs, diary and notes, having a restful day, as all the musea are closed on a Monday anyway! So, took my time, settled into the new place and wandered around!
An amazingly vibrant barrio. Lots to see and do. I was determined to walk the graffiti tour. Then on the Tuesday I walked all the way over to the Botero art gallery only to find out that here, in Bogota, all the galleries are closed on a Tuesday! Bummer!
Lots of people from Venezuela here, selling objects made out of Venezuelan money. One young man painted famous prior traits on the money! Also a lot of older people begging in the street. I now keep my two thousand peso bills for the beggars. ($1) They are flying out. As it started to rain again, I decided to go back to the hostel and warm up. Signed up for, what I thought was the graffiti walking tour, and had a great afternoon, learning lots about the history of Bogota and Colombia.
Finally on the Wednesday I managed to get to the art gallery of Fernando Botero. What an absolute delight this was! How fortunate that I booked my flight tomorrow, this gallery was not to be missed. It has three galleries in one. I spend over four hours just wandering about.
I was so fortunate that a class of Indigenous Kindergarten kids, we’re giving a dance demonstration. Their teacher made them look at the dancers, a painting by Botero, and then the children gave a performance. It was just delightful! And very, very cute. One of the girls whacked one of the little boys , who obviously made a mistake! Proud parents and teachers and all of us fortunate visitors clapped and cheered as if it was a Broadway show. 
La Ciudad Perdida, or the Lost City in English, is known as ” Teyuna” and “Buritaca” in Colombia. The city was build in 800 AD and is six hundred and fifty years older than Machu Pichu. The Lost City was discovered in 1972, by some fortune hunters. High up in the mountains, difficult to access, they hoped to find fame and fortune. To the tribes of Arhuaco- Kogi and Wiswas this place is known as Teyuna.
The Kogi, Cogui or Kagaba, which means jaguar, are an indigenous ethnic group in the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. Their forefathers were the Tairona people, about 2000 to 8000 people, who lived in this city. The Taironas were an advanced civilisation who build stone structures and pathways in the jungle.
The clothing that the original people wore is still what the Indigenous people wear today. Men wear a loose tunic and simple pants tied with string. Women wear a single length of cloth. The women pick, card and spin the wool or cotton, while the men weave the cloth. The KogI wear only pure white clothing. White represents the Great Mother and therefore the purity of nature. All indigenous groups still wear white clothing as far as I have seen. Everybody wears the traditional shoulder bags, which are crochet with abstract patterns to represent where the people come from and belong!
Kogi marriages are arranged by the Mamos, ( will talk about them later) to ensure fruitful communities. These marriages are NOT forced, nor are women sold or bought. Most women are about fourteen years old when they get married. Even in this day and age, the indigenous women and men marry very young. The Kogi don’t allow mistreatment of the women. Not all marriages are arranged, but the Kogi disapprove of breaking arranged marriages.
The Kogi live in villages, which are called Kuibolos, in circular huts made of stone, mud and palm leaves. Men live in seperate huts. Each village has a large hut, a Nuhue, or temple. These Nuhue, or temples are for the men only. Women are not allowed, as they are much more connected to the Great Mother and have no need for a temple! There are women priest however. Alumna is the Great Mother. Mother Earth is a living being and humanity are her children. The Kogi say that our actions of exploitation, devastation and plundering of resources is weakening the Great Mother and will lead to our destruction.
Fields, houses and livestock passes from mother to daughter as well as from father to son. This is called a bilateral inheritance. Personal items, such as ritual objects, which are male passes down from father to son. But certain rights, names or associated descents are passed down from mother to daughter.
One of the most sacred objects for men, is the Poporo, a small, hollow gourd filled with “Lima” a type of powder that is made from crushing shells to produce lime. The men chew coca leaves and suck on the line powder in their potoroos. They then rub the mixture on the stick to form a hardened layer or crust. Maturity and age determines the size of the Poporo. The traditional bags are made by the women for the men to put their sacred objects in them. To this day you can still see the Indigenous people around Colombia, even here in the middle of the city, using heir Poporo. In the gold museum there were several Poporos on show, covered and decorated with gold leaf.
From birth a selection is made to chose a priest, which are called mamos ( meaning Sun) . Priest are selected for guidance, healing and leadership. They are not to be confused with the Shamans or curlers. The selected male children are put in a dark cave for nine years. Elder Mamos and their mother train, feed and teach the child to attune to Aluna.
In the past the Lost City has not always been safe to visit. In 2003 eight foreign tourists were kidnapped.
Wednesday the 10th of July. I was picked up at 11.00 am. By now I was very excited and scared. Both at the same time. The rains have come and I really don’t know if my Keens can hold their grip! They are quite worn out by now. Anyway I had committed myself and paid for a five day hike to the Lost City! For the first day I had booked a motor bike to the top of the first very steep mountain. It was extremely scary, going on this steep road, with a gully in the centre, and lots of rocks on either side. Of course the road was also very muddy after last night’s rain. My goal was to see the Lost City, the hike there is secondary! Motor bikes, horses or donkeys, my aim is to get there and see it for myself. ( I wrote this before I started!)
My driver was really good, he kept telling me to relax, he must not have liked the extremely tight hugs I was giving him!! I have no idea how long it took, but we got higher and higher and suddenly we were at the top! This is where I was to wait for the cook, who would walk with me to the first camp, Mamey camp. I chatted away to the two men and one woman who were there. A lovely two or three year old delighted in trying to run me over with his tricycle. The more mister Bean faces I made, the more he tried. Time past fast.
Yair, the 30 year old cook, arrived and together we walked down the mountain. I had to leave my wonderful walking stick, which I found on the beach yesterday, with El Jefe, José Maron, instead I could hold Yair’s hand. This is of course much more pleasant! We passed an indigenous school. The teacher, Edward, told me he had eighteen indigenous students. Some of these students live over two or three hours walking away! Incredible. They start very early in the morning, and finish by one in the afternoon. It is probably due to the incredible humidity. The two hour walk down was no hardship, that starts tomorrow!! The camp is primitive, very basic, but has good mattresses AND mosquito-nets! This is extremely important. There are mozzies here the size of helicopters!
There is a river with a small waterfall within a ten minute walk. I changed out of my completely soaked t shirt, which probably won’t dry for the rest of these five days. The humidity is enormously high. Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday as well, are the two hard days for me. I have had my freezing cold swim. Chatted with two four year olds, about horses and did lots of animal noises. Gave away one hair tie and two bracelets. Now sipping coca leaves tea!! My feet up in the hammock!! Hasta mañana.
Well, these were the last words I was able to write, while actually on the trail. That night the heavens opened and it rained all night long. Having had a taste of the rough road ahead, I was mortified! There is no way my worn out Keens are going to cope with this. After a delicious diner, Maron told me I had to be up and gone by five thirty. An hour ahead of the main group. Yair, the cook, told me to come and get coffee as soon as I woke up. Luckily I have been up every day at about five every day. I had an early breakfast and while the others were still eating and packing Blanca and I started out. The first two hours were not bad at all. Slippery but nothing to worry about.
The group of five donkeys carry the heavy load of supplies, while the cooks run to the next camp as soon as they have finished cooking. Maron suggested I leave my backpack behind, only grab the necessities for the night. We were spending the last night back at the same camp Mano Romualdo ( camp 3) we arrived and after dinner I went to bed as soon. As possible. My clothes were all soaked! But you are either wet because of the rain or the humidity! Should not have bothered bringing anything, just walk in one set of clothing!!
There are altogether about 1200 hundred steps, give or take a few hundred. I told her that she was thinking of doing them all in one go. Walk ten steps, than deep breathing, after I told her that I am turning seventy next year and she is only twenty three, how embarrassed she would be if she didn’t go on. There were four major tour groups on the trail, total of eighty people and I was the eldest! There was an elderly couple, sixty and sixty one. The rest was way under sixty if not fifty. Blanca had told me of this young man who arrived at the steps and refused to climb them , only a week beforehand! We had one young man who disappeared after only one day! It seemed he was not well. José Maron was quite worried about him! It is a lot of money to pay for one afternoon walking and one night in a camp!! So I didn’t feel too bad!
Slowly but surely I climbed up. Scary, hard, but with Blanca dragging me along, I managed. As soon as we got up there the group sat down and we had our talk! This is all very well arranged as two tour do their talks at night. So that at all time there is only ONE group on the top of the Lost City! Maron explained about how they discovered the Lost City, how it was robbed in the seventies. The Lost City was build over seven hundred years ago by the ancestors of the Kogui tribe. As all the houses were build in mud, and straw, they no longer exists, but pottery, graves, low quality gold and other items were found here. After much more talking of which I took disjointed notes which make no sense to me right now, we climbed to the top.
Here I met my group! I haven’t actually been able to interact with a lot of them but the father and son, Colombian Americans and a lovely couple from Ireland, and a young couple of Germany, these six people would often stop, chat or buy me a beer after a long hard day. Our total group had seventeen people in it. ( it was 18 but one left) So on the top we had recess together, took lots of photos, when I was told I had to leave. This upset me greatly as I just got here!!
Until after lunch. The cold, the sitting still, the moment I got up I knew I was in trouble. I put my knee brace on my other knee and tried to do some warming up. Still a four hour walk to go! Well, to be honest I have no idea how long we took but it seemed like it was forever and ever. The knee ached constantly, and every stone jarred it with a stabbing pain. To top it all off the rains came down, heavy. We made up the end of the group, the couple in their sixties, the crying, fat girl and me! In the end it was me who was last!
However I did get to see toucans, only the small ones, but six of them very close up! Also many vultures and one big fat bush turkey. I have made it sound as if it was just one big hard slog, but Blanca and I joked a lot, laughed a lot and talked.
Maron was very funny, he tried to give me stern looks, like my father used to do! I told him off for looking like that at an old lady! He is the same age as my son and as he called me mami, I called him mi higo. The two of them had been married for eighteen years, I believe, and still as much in love as ever. On easy stretches the would walk ahead of me, hand in hand, smoothing when ever they could! Turtle doves they were! So sweet. So it wasn’t all hard slog, the three of us bonded very strongly. Though the joking, laughing became harder and harder, not one dry stich on me, cold, in pain, slogging on. I needed my glasses to see where I was putting my feet, but I was in need of windscreen wipers! Maron kept telling me only five minutes more, but he did this for hours!
When I finally was ready to drop, my legs refused to move, the camp was in sight. It was dark! The main group was eating. I plonked down, and when the wonderful Irish man came to congratulate me and offer a me a beer, I burst out in tears! So embarrassed I was! Couldn’t stop at all. His wife came up to me, Saoirse is a dentist and carried painkillers, which she gave me. Then she gave me a talk that I wouldn’t be able to walk the next day. I told her I wanted to see how I felt in the morning. Sometimes it gets itself right.
However, Maron came to put some magic cream on my knee, and in a very sweet way told me that the walk had ended right there and then for me. I was deeply disappointed, couldn’t stop crying, embarrassed as well. Mind you poor Maron and Blanca have been dragging me up and down these mountains, it has been so hard for them as well. I was blubbering my apologies for being old, slow and a burden for him, his wife and the complete group really. He kissed me on the top of my head, called me mami, and said the nicest things, I was the ” light of the group”, I was positive, helping others along the way. Cheerful, helpful and positives!! Yeah, sure! I blubbered even harder. Just couldn’t stop. So incredibly embarrassed I was. That evening Maron gave a talk about the customs of the indigenous people. I missed most of it. But people from the group came, hugged me and then said nice things about me!!
The things I do to get attention! ( not on purpose believe me!) there was a strong déjà vue, as I had damaged my knee on Machu Pichu as well!! Hmmm!! There is a lesson in there somewhere! I can walk on flat ground forever, but up or down seem to be a problem for me. Of course I owe an apology to the young man I booked the tour with, as he told me my hiking sandals wouldn’t do! He was right! The uneven ground really means you need to support your ankles, so I made it extra hard for myself! Hiking poles are an other great invention, and I will buy both items when I get back home. More practise would have been good too! I mean sun baking for ten days is great, but no good preparation for a four day hike! A donkey for me!
The whole group formed a circle, and waved to the queen of the donkeys! Mind you, after this Keto weight loss, I was glad that my bottom still has sufficient padding on it! Because, man, my arse hurt more than both knees together. The last stretch was on a motorbike like I did on the first day. They say you are only as old as the man you feel! I hugged my twenty nine year old rather tight!
Although on dry ground it was much better than on day one, when we slip and slided all over the place! Then a beer at the end, waiting for the others. Lunch, shared stories, lots of hugs and promises to keep in touch. Mental note to self! Never again!! ( which I will promptly forget about!) back to El Viajero, were I rested up, drank a lot, and turned my knees and ankles back to the normal size again!! One of the boys asked me if I enjoyed my hike! I couldn’t answer him then, but now I can say I enjoyed the bonding with Blanca and Maron, I loved the beautiful surroundings, the birds, butterflies, I enjoyed interacting and meeting all these wonderful people! The food, all was a great experience! Would I do it again? NEVER!
But I am extremely pleased and proud that I did this, I got to see the Lost City, not in a photograph, but in real, real life! Was it worth all the suffering? Oh god, yeah, yeah for sure! All the hard stuff is forgotten! It was even hard to remember it for this blog. It is the kindness of the people I met, the beauty of nature and the magical, magical Lost City which I will remember for EVER
P/s some of the photos are from the google search! I took quite a few, but mainly on my camera!
On the second to last day in Tayrona, I decided to go to Palomina. A small village about an hour away. As I walked to the beach I saw a sign saying, ” dreadloks”! Since my first visit to Africa I have liked the Rastafarian people, peaceful and loving. No war would ever be started by a rasta! Never before my hair has been long enough till now! I was already half way there, my own dreadlocks started to form. Anyway, on the spot I decided that that is what I would do! Get dreadlocks.
How come my rasta friends never told me it hurts?? And it takes literally HOURS to do! Carmel started at about at eleven and finished five minutes to six. I had discovered that I didn’t have enough money on me, but promised that I would come back early the next day. That way she could finish the last three locks as well. As I was running to the bus, as the last bus left at six o’clock, and no other options to get back to the hostel, I saw it drive by. I was too late! I had to run yell for a motor taxi and yell the famous line ” follow that bus”!!! Ah Colombia, how I love Thee!
Palomino itself is full of shops, hostels and backpackers. It was chokkers! I am so glad that I stayed at El Viajero. Here in Palomino the beach was crowded, dirty and lots of hustlers. Nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to stay here. Mind you, to be honest I saw most of the Palomino life from Carmen’s shop! She started on me at eleven in the morning, after I came back from the beach! Finished just before the last bus left!!
