Wednesday 14 November 2007

Manaus, The Jungle City and Isla Margarita, What a Pity

So, I ended up staying in Manaus for about a week. I kind of got stuck there and couldn´t get out. As I said, I was sick when I first arrived so I laid low for my first two days in the city. When I was feeling better, I walked to see the Teatro Amazonas, an old theatre in the center of the city. It was cool, but definitely not incredible. Then, I met Marcello and Carolla, a married couple that are friends with my friends Merle and John. They picked me up by the theatre and took me to their house for a nice meal. Then I met some of their friends in the neighborhood, and walked around and saw the area. The next day, I once again didn´t do too much. I took care of a lot of stuff I needed to do online, and that night I went out with two guys that were staying in the same hostel as me. It was a fun, but slightly expensive night. The next day, I went back to Marcello and Carolla´s house, where we relaxed and had another meal. The day after that was definitely my most productive day in Manaus. I woke up early, and went to a fair in the center with a couple people from my hostel. Basically, every Sunday a main street gets closed off, and people set up stands with all sorts of things all over the street. Many of the stands sold jewelry, while others sold Guarana (a natural, frozen drink made of nuts and fruits blended together), honey (accompanied by a glass box holding a bee hive), clothing, and handmade souveniers. Then, I met up with Renato, a man who I had met on the bus going to Marcello and Carolla´s house the night before. When I met him on the bus, he and his wife, Julia, said they would take me to Marcello and Carolla´s house because the bus attendent told me I was on the wrong bus. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but then decided it was fine because they looked pretty innocent. At first, I actually thought they were mother and son! Renato is a police officer, and Julia is a professional masseuse. When we arrived at their house, I asked Julia if she could take a quick look at my back because it had been hurting me the past few days. She ended up giving me a thiry to fourty-five minute massage, and my back has felt totally fine since. Then, we went to Renato´s parent´s house for a nice, traditional Brazillian meal. Then we went to Renato´s police base and he showed me all the horses they have there. After this, we went to Punta Negra, a nice beach on the Amazon river. It was really nice, and I couldn´t believe I was at a beautiful beach in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest! We arrived just in time to have a swim then watch the sunset, and after this they took me back to my hostel. It is funny, I met these people totally by chance and they turned out to be extremely generous, kind people that really showed me a good time. The next day, I attacked my problem of not being able to withdraw money, then spent time figuring out what I would do for the next couple weeks. I found out the self-sustaining Amazonian community I planned on going to was not what I thought, so I decided to go to an island of the coast of Venezuela to take Spanish lessons for a month. After my parents decided Venezuela wouldn´t be too dangerous, I headed off to the Island! I had a great time in Manaus, but my one regret is that I think I spent too much time not doing much. I could have seen and done a lot more, and from now on I will make sure I do not waste time.
In Manaus, I met a guy named Gustavo who is from the South of Brazil. He is a friend of the owner of the hostel I was staying at, and he was also planning on going to Venezuela. I told him I was going to Isla Margarita, and he read about it and decided to come with me. From Manaus we got a bus (about 16 hours) to Santa Elena, a small town just across the border in Venezuela. Six hours after our arrival, we got another bus (again about 16 hours) to Puerto La Cruz. In Puerto La Cruz, we got a ferry that took us to Isla Margarita! We got to Porlamar, the main city on the island, at about 12 at night and we just got a hostel and fell asleep. The next two days we spent relaxing on the beach, which was beautiful. The only problem was, I found out my money wasn´t worth half as much as I had expected it to be, so I was spending TONS of money. I was worrying about it the whole time we were on the island, and I decided to go back to Manaus with Gustavo three days after out arriving. The trip back to Manaus was long, and we arrived here this morning. I am quite annoyed about how everything turned out. I was really frustrated and worried about what I should do the whole time I was in Venezuela, and it made it hard to enjoy the beauty of the island. Now I am going to fly to Rio Branco and then take a bus followed by a boat to a the self sustaining Amazonian community. There, I will meet my two friends Merle and John. It will be good to see some familiar faces. Wish me luck!