Category: South America

Brazil – The Final Dash

So my time in South America has come to an end. Decided to pack up stumps, book a flight and make a move. Before leaving I crossed into Brazil, from French Guyana, where I would catch a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Morocco before heading towards Europe.

For the last couple of weeks I was in South America I had beautiful glistening fingernails, nail varnish is definitely underrated. I honestly didn't think that getting my first ever paid manicure would end in this way. Not that I notice these sort of things but since when did men start wearing nail polish? My manicurist thought it was normal, she must have, she put it on. I thought "nah, she's not putting on nail polish, it must be something else that will get removed before this ends". How wrong I was. The distressing part was not that it was applied, but rather, how long it took me to take it off. Every time I would think about getting it removed I wouldn't be in the position to do so, and every time I was in the position to do so I wouldn't think about it. After all there are lots of pharmacies in Brazil. I honestly started thinking that my subconscious brain was telling me something that I didn't yet know about myself. 2 weeks of nail polish that you think (I think I think) you don't want to have on is a long time to have on. The lesson learned is don't get a manicure, it is far too confusing.

So from the nail polish town, Oiapoque, I caught a bad overnight bus to Macapa (10 hours, bumpy dirt track for a long period, arriving at 4am without a hotel. Not fun but part of the backpacking repertoire). Macapa is situated at the head of the Amazon where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. The river here is more like a ocean, quite rough and very wide. I came here not for my last view of the Amazon but rather to catch a plane south to Sao Paulo, another overnight experience which you try to avoid. I hadn't been in Sao Paulo since 1994. Really enjoyed my stay, walking around and unsuccessfully straining the brain trying to remember any sights.

After a few days I took a far more sociable day bus to Rio de Janeiro, my last stop in Sth.America. On previous visits I had done most of the touristy jaunts so except for a gondola up Sugarloaf my days were spent walking along Copacabana beach or the streets that were squeezed between it and the nearby mountains. It was in these streets that I found somewhere to stay and it was here that my landlord, Pedro, invited me out on his sailboat with his family, Anna & Marianna. Had a great afternoon on the boat, cruising past Sugarloaf to the other side of the harbour, beers were plentiful and another great memory was added to the plethora of previous ones which will define my adventure in South America. Oh yes, the nail polish came off my second last day in Rio. Morocco and nail polish combination, maybe, but I wasn't going to risk it.

Suriname & French Guyana

Suriname

The main giveaway that Suriname is an ex-Dutch colony is the number of Dutch tourists that all of a sudden appear once you enter the capital, Paramaribo. This being a rather safe, tranquil country probably helps to lure them, as would the official language being Dutch. Whatever the reason, for me, it meant easy travelling had returned. From the transport in and out of the country, the return of fast food outlets for that quick, easy meal once in a while, and walking around without having to look around (as much). Back in proper civilization, yes. The city itself is rather small but the character of the place comes from the many old wooden buildings, most of which look as though they were built yesterday rather than 200 years ago. The city is placed by a river and while there I hired an old style Dutch bike for a 30km jaunt that took me across and back via small boats. The land is flat but the temperature is hot and humid (nothing new here) so the ride was challenging. I also went on a boat tour to see more dolphins, supposedly cousins to the ones I saw in the Amazon. The only strange thing I noticed while there was the affection that seems to exist between men and small birds that they carry around in cages. I probably saw about 6 or 7 of these men walking the streets. I believe the birds are used for singing competitions, but don't quote me on that.

French Guyana

My first impressions of French Guyana came as a bit of a shock. Catching a minibus towards Kourou from Suriname's border our driver decided he needed to go, so he pulled over onto the side of the road. A beautiful woman (gorgeous) dressed in a tight skirt also thought this was a good idea. I was in the front of the van and as she exited I naturally thought she would disappear into the bush. But, to my surprise, she stopped about 1 meter next to my door in the wide open verge of the road. With me gawking and not sure that this was going to happen, she reached under her skirt to allow free flow and duly squatted right there in front of me. Now although shocked, I could only stare for so long, so I let her do her business in peace. Afterwards I thought 'good for you, why not', no harm done and we got to get moving again quickly. I travel to encounter new experiences, not sure this counts but yep.

Unlike Suriname and the Dutch, the French still own French Guyana. My main reason for coming here was not the extravagant cost of accommodation, ($US40 for 2 nights in a hammock) but to see a rocket launch from the European spaceport in Kourou. I read about a hill (Mount Carapa) that during launches the authorities allow 1500 people to ascend so I thought if 1499 other people go there it must be good. I wasn't disappointed. There were security checks and tickets issued. On the hill there were speakers linked to mission control, televisions and stepped areas so everyone could get a view. The view from the hill looked directly down to the launch pad although this was many kms away. The launch itself had a time window so as time progressed and with the countdown on hold things didn't look good. The other issue I had was my camera and my zoom lens were still not friends so I thought there was a good chance that camera meltdown would happen at exactly the wrong time. As it turned out the launch happened in the last minute of the window and my camera didn't play up (this time, others won't be mentioned, too upsetting). The main things I will remember was the amount of light the flames created and the trajectory of the rocket (initially straight up and then across the sky heading over the Atlantic). There was noise but much less than the music played in a minibus in Guyana (see Guyana post).

DAP8365-1004x1504

My last thoughts on French Guyana was the number of dumped, shells of cars left by the roadside as I traversed the country. Some of them looked as if dumped recently while others were rusted out. Not sure what the score is on this one.