On the Amazon to deepest, brightest Peru

Our arduous bus journeys of the previous weeks ended where the dark, tannin-rich waters of the Rio Negro flow into the light brown waters of the Rio Solimones, the only road access linking Venezuela to Brazil stopping at the city of Manaus. Discomfort and an uncertainty of where we'd rest our heads over the next week halted there too. From now on, our transport and accommodation would be on the biggest river in the world, the mighty Amazon.

Down the road from our Hotel Ideal (BRL 30,000/USD$14) was Manaus' main market trading in everything edible brought in from the surrounding areas of the Brazilian state of Amazonas (and beyond). Fish, fruit and vegetables we'd never seen before was laid out on neat tables and benches and a whole dedicated warehouse to market huge bunches of bananas and plantain.

One evening while in town, we were lucky enough to be given free tickets to the Teatro Amazonas, an opera house built in 1896 on the fortunes of rubber extraction. That night, featuring performances by three of Amazonas top vocal talent, the audience was seated on the stage, the amazing theatre behind providing the backdrop.

Just ambling along the busy waterfront after our inspection of the Monday morning market, we casually asked a passing boy where boats destined for upriver are moored. He fetched someone who led us to a man sat under a large umbrella with a large board of pictures of boats. Within minutes we were on the Rio Negro in a taxi canoe pulling up alongside a large ship, the cleanest and newest looking of any docked that we had motored pass. These ferries act as the trucks and buses of the Amazon.

Shown around the empty decks of the Sagrado Coraçao de Jesus (the Sacred Heart of Jesus) and introduced to the captain and cook, we were very impressed. We paid a deposit of 200,000 Brazilian Reals right there and then for their Wednesday departure of a 6 day voyage up the Amazon to the triple frontier where Columbia, Brazil and Peru meet. Instead of sleeping in hammocks swinging amongst the masses on the main deck (BRL250,000/USD$115 each), we forked over BRL700,000 (USD$325) for us to stay in a cabin. Above the main deck, Cabin Simples 02 had its own en suite (toilet and cold-water shower), a TV (only one public channel of mostly election campaign ads), a small fridge, air conditioning, and best of all, its own small private balcony.)

Saving a night's accommodation costs, we stayed on-board the night before departure and spent that evening watching trucks back up to the edge of the dock to have men haul loads off to heft the goods in long chains of hands that gradually filled the hold of the ship to the ceiling. On the day of departure the lone hammock of Diego, a traveller from Germany who had also spent the night aboard, was crowded amongst the hammocks of fellow passengers heading toward Tabatinga, the boat's ultimate destination.

Everyone ate the same meals at the same time. When I say the same meals, I mean that the meals were the same for lunch and dinner, from day 1 to day 6. Lining up along the railings for a seat for breakfast at 7 would reward you with a bun (sometimes with a slice of cheese) and access to large jugs of coffee and hot milk. At 11am, seated on a long bench on one side of the table, you could be reaching for or asking to be passed a large bowl of rice, spaghetti, a plate of salad or a meat dish of some kind. Plates were arranged for about 15 a side and disposable plastic cups were provided for drinks of juice. Dinner was the same, except that the drink was water and there was a tiny cup of guava jam doused in cream as dessert. You could eat as much as you wanted, but you had to be quick - not much time for talk as the next seating was waiting. Gina and her assistants in the kitchen ran a tight operation, much to the appreciation of everyone aboard.

Sharing our voyage up the Amazon were some other tourists along for the ride. Diego and two German compatriots Jacob and Simon, then an American, Jackson travelled as the locals did, in hammocks. Upstairs, in another cabin were a French couple, Sandrine and Olivier. The majority of the passengers were Brazilian, with a mix of Columbian and Peruvian. Waiting in line for meals provided us all the opportunity to mix and get to know each other during the passage.

Our days were mostly occupied reading on our deck with many glances across the river to the jungle-lined banks to watch parrots screeching flights across the tree tops, or watch large kingfishers race ahead of the ship. During the day colourful butterflies would flit past, by morning a collection of amazingly varied large moths would be clinging to the walls of the passageways or on deck.

The occasional call into a port brought most people to the railings to watch the loading and unloading of people and cargo, plus it gave us the chance to walk in a straight line greater than 50 metres. The towns were all small, with enough paved roads to provide for a small fleet of motorbikes to serve as taxis to its environs. The Amazon remained the main transport link.

By the end of the journey we were really pleased to have spent a week on the Amazon. A cruise it was not, but it was still a wonderful way to travel and see some of mighty river.

Now we are in Peru, a country that has treated us with friendly people and tranquil villages. At 3,700km from its mouth, and at only 106m above sea level we will bid the buzzing city of Iquitos and Amazon basin farewell and fly across the Andes. Our roads to travel will resume in Lima.

Location: Iquitos, Peru

Merida, Ciudad Bolivar, Angel Falls, Venezuela

The highlight of our journey to Merida was a trip up the to Pico Espejo. Merida is located at an altitude of approximately 1640m. In 4 separate stages, the teleferico takes passengers in cable cars along 12.5 kms of cable to an altitude of 4765m at the summit. We were very lucky, as although our ticket was for 12 noon, one of the women working at the base where we bought our ticket advised us to come early and maybe she could help us go earlier. When we arrived at 7:30 the next day, she motioned for us to go on the very first car up. This meant that we beat the cloud cover, and the views were spectacular, up to and down from the highest points of the Andes in Venezuela plus down to the city of Merida below. Ascending so quickly left our ears a little blocked, and any exercise at the top left us breathless!

After saying goodbye to Merida, we made our way by bus (about 23 hours in 3 different buses) to Ciudad Bolivar, in the eastern part of Venezuela. It´s a lovely old city, with colonial architecture, cobblestone streets, and our first views of the Rio Orinoco. On the advice of a man from Caracas whom we had met at the teleferico, we went to the Art Museum of Venezuela´s beloved Jesus Soto, where we became part of the art in his `penetrable´ works.

The next day, we left on our 3 day tour to Angel Falls. After 2 hours in a van, which brought us to the end of the road closest to the settlement of Canaima, we boarded a 5 passenger Cessna plane (along with sacks of flour and bottled water) for the 25 minute flight to Canaima. The views along the way were wonderful - the jungle, rivers, and waterfalls below, and views of the tepuis - the table top mountains that the area is famous for. Our group of 6, plus our guide Daniella then climbed into a wooden boat for the 2 hour ride to our first base camp. On the way, the skies opened up and showed us that we were truly there during rainy season. After dinner and a little local rum we all climbed into our hammocks for the night. Then the sky put on a real show, with lightning like we´d never seen before, and rain and thunder so loud we had to yell to be heard.
The next morning, we donned our lovely garbage bag ponchos for the 2 hour boat ride to our second base camp. The skies were clear, but the rapids we had to shoot ensured we were all wet by the time we arrived. After lunch, we walked for about 1 hour through the jungle to the foot of Angel Falls. This time, the weather was with us - the skies were sunny and our views were clear to the top of the falls and the tepuis across the valley. We tried to follow the water as it plunged down 979m, but the best we could do was to count to approximately 15 or 16 seconds before we lost track. It was very special to be in such a secluded and beautiful place.
The third day, on our way back to Canaima, we stopped at the Canaima Falls, where we were able to explore these falls, and actually walk behind one of them, between the water and the rock wall. The water pelted down in front of us, and then completely over us as we walked around and over the falls. We then retraced our steps (boat, plane and van ride) back to Ciudad Bolivar, before hopping on our night bus to a little town, Santa Elena, near the Brazillian border. After crossing the border, and taking a second night bus, we have arrived in Manaus, Brazil, where we had our first shower in 5 days, and will sleep in our first bed in 5 nights.

Location: Manaus, Brazil

Hola de Venezuela (hello from Venezuela)

Greetings from Merida, a small university city at 1,500m in the Venezuelan Andes.

We can hardly believe how much we've travelled since landing in the early hours of Wednesday, the 2nd of August. Barely six hours after arriving into the country we were back at the airport looking for a flight to take us offshore. For US$100 each, we found flights to take us to Los Roques Archipelago, a group of about 50 islands and cays half an hour's flying time north of the capital Caracas.
Once we found ourselves on the largest of the islands, it became obvious very quickly that we didn't bring enough money with us. The credit cards and traveller's cheques we'd brought weren't accepted, which severly limited our options. The cheapest room we found was US$100 per night (we later heard of a couple paying US$80) and a scuba dive cost US$85 each. Our room had aircondtioning (and we needed it!), but not much else.
The island wasn't as special as we'd hoped for (lobster wasn't in season) and although everything on the main island was within walking distance, we ran out of things to see in one twenty minute walk. Having said that though, we did enjoy watching the pelicans dive bomb for fish.
Back on the mainland we booked a bus to take us from Caracas to the Veneuelan backpacker haven of Merida. The bus drove 14 hours through the night and was freakin' freezing! We measured the temperature in the bus at a low of 16.4C - outside was over 30C at midnight! We were glad we had our fleece tops to wear, but they weren't enough.
Ah, Merida! We arrived, found a place to stay (US$12 per night), and have spent the afternoon exploring. We have booked a trip up the teleferico (cable car ) for Sunday (the earliest booking available).
Merida seems nice. There's a festival atmosphere and a big party-like gathering outside in the square at the entrance to the teleferico. We're going to sign off to join it.

Location Merida, Venezuela