The Amazon Jungle

When you think of the Amazon Jungle, what do you think of? Bugs, Danger, Dirt and a vast amount of Trees, well its completely TRUE!! The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

We arrived in Puerto Maldonado which is the Peruvian side of the Amazon, we didnt know what to expect but the town of Puerto Maldonado was small, dirty and very basic, isolated from everything really.  We were excited to get to the Amazon as soon as possible and finally our tour guide picked us up on the oldest bus ive seen ever I think...

The ride was scary to get to the port to catch our boat to the amazon jungle lodges, the roads were bascially mud, and an old bus and mud, DO NOT MATCH... hehe but we made it finally.
We jumped on the boat, again it seemed very old and basic...looking scared we jumped in and we were on our way.  An hour and a half later we arrived at our lodges in the jungle, with a little rest and lunch we went for an evening boat ride on the Amazon river to look for Caymans, these are basically Peruvian Aligators.  We managed to see a few, it was a productive and interesting night.

The following day it was an early start and it was time to get dirty in the jungle, we began a jungle trail for the Amazon, with over 6 hours of walking and seeing a lot of the jungle, we were very tired and smelly but it felt good to have achieved it :-)

The next day was new years eve, to celebrate new years eve we went for a different trail walk again and catched a canoe, we started rowing around and spotting some beautiful birds.  gain we had to rest after this day before new years night came, to celebrate we first went for another trail in the jungle to look for insects, spiders, snakes and anything else which would appear...  This trail was the scariest but it ended up been fun and we did manage to see some snakes, toads and other weird insects.

We had a new years dinner and fell asleep before midnight even came upon us but it was one of the best new years ive ever spent.

Whilst in the Amazon it made us think about the outside world, we lived in little lodges without electricty, hot water or any electrical appliance, it was really interesting to do and it makes you think about how much we depend on this modern world we live in.  This experience has made us see how lucky we are to live in a world so beautiful but we made us realize how we have adapted in a modern era to make it even better.

People dont get to see the natural beauty of the world though which is a shame as it doesnt compare to anything else in the world, im very proud that we have seen somthing so special to the planet.  It was a great new years eve.

After 3 days of not washing were happy to be traveling to Cusco!





Lima

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru.  It has a population fast approaching 9 million, Lima is also the fifth largest city in Latin America, behind Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.  Lima has been defined as a beta world city.

Arriving in Lima, we never knew what to expect... was it going to be as crazy and dirty as Rio de Janeiro?  Well it was crazy but surprisenly not as dirty...the grass was very green and some parts of the city where really taken care of.

We had just one and a half days to see the sights of Lima so we had to move fast and limit ourselves on what was best to see.  Miraflores is a cute little neighbourhood with the beach, nice bars & resturants, with everything close by and a tourists heaven, but this isnt really Lima? so we took a trip into downtown, to the hussel and bussel and it was crazy, total LOCA! loud, with so much traffic, we noticed there isnt many traffic lights here or little green men to say when its safe to cross the road...  Also the taxi drivers have a cage wrapped around them whilst driving, I guess for protection?

Anyway the hitsorical part if Lima was nice, many beautiful squares, churches and buildings.  We took many hours going from one place to another, the heat was unbearable at times but we made it out alive!  People like to stare here, it felt like we were pop stars and that we were the attraction, one guy actually took a picture of us, how strange...but everyone was friendly enough which was nice.

We are now packing and heading to Puerto Maldonado for our trip to the Amazon Jungle!!

Easter Island

Iorana!!!!!  (Hello translated from Rapa Nui)

Easter Island ( Rapa Nui) is a polynesian Island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southerneastern most point of the polynesian triangle.

We arrived on Easter Island with a warm welcome from the local people, with music and flowers at the smallest airport we have ever seen!!

As soon as we got there, we were amazed of its beauty... we started to tour, of course seeing all the important Rapa Nui head stones, the beautiful beach and the extinct volcano with other sights around.

We spent a wonderful christmas day on Anakena beach,with crystal clear waters and tropical heat, at night time we went to see the  Rapa Nui culture dance show, it was very entertaining.

The culture was very interesting to see, the people were friendly, our local tour guides (the dogs) were very adorable, most were homeless but they became friends to us.  The sun was out most days, with one day only raining but in those sunny days, I did manage to turn mysaelf into a tomato.

This is just the beginning of our trip! we are in Santiago, Chile tonight and leave for Lima, Peru tomorrow!!

Were we spent Christmas Day :-)

Beauty & The Beast...

The beauty of Rio de Janeiro and below in the next post is the beast of Rio! Two sides to one city!

Guerra no Rio de Janeiro Brasil (War in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

Brazilian Election

The Brazilian public voted for the new president of Brazil to be Dilma Rousseff.  She is a former Marxist guerrilla fighter who was imprisoned and tortured under the military dictatorship. A trained economist, she then became a local and state government official and President Lula da Silva's chief of staff. Now she is the first woman in Brazil to be president. 

Brazils new Federal Deputy in Sao Paulo is Francisco Oliveira Silva - known as Tiririca or Grumpy.  His Quote for winning:

"What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and I will find out for you," was another of his messages.

He has just passed a literacy test.  Even though he can´t write...

As I learn about the Brazilian goverment it seems clear to me this is where the country has went all wrong, uneducated criminals have taken over the country.  They steal and abuse the public and the people are so uneducated that they don´t see what is happening right under their noses.  With high taxes, poor education  and so little jobs for the "real people" and so little pay for them.  I wonder what the goverment are actually doing or what they are planning to do to get this country up and running normally.  It is true, Brazil has taken the stage for international relations and providing economical growth but for the people who are homeless, without food and without education, I feel this should be the main priority for this country.  I doubt the goverment see this as this doesnt make them money, it looses them money.


Current president "Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva"



New Presiden t"Dilma Rousseff"

Where Brazilians vote

The president before and after plastic surgery!!!

Sao paulos new Federal Deputy, dressed as a clown, representing the people for sure...

Finding Solitude in Rio de Janeiro

Where to go when you want some silence and not see or hear anything of civil wars??

Arpoador...

On top of Rio de janeiro



Copacabana



Relaxing on a Hammock

Boat ride to Paqueta island