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Hi everyone,
My final entry from South America! we set off relatively early from Santa Elena, some with heavy hangovers, others just really tired (me) The weather was steaming hot and just got hotter as we headed for the Equator and Brazil.
I have crossed the Equator many times as I'm sure lots of you have too, but always in a plane, this time I was going overland and physically going to cross it. Franz had warned us that it was not the grandest of declarations on Earth but anticipation could not be dampened. The road between Venezuela and Brazil is approx 1000 kilometers long. It is the only road and consequently used by everyone, hauliers, public, overlanders, locals, military, even natives carrying bows and arrows, and no I'm not kidding.
We reached the Border within 10K and immediately saw the difference. All produce, fruit, veg and commodities improved instantly. Where we had struggled to get much other than a tin of tuna and a toilet roll in Santa Elena, here was a heavenly selection of all the essentials and more.
We lunched, got money from a machine and had a proper poke around. One of the drawbacks to backpacking is that you can not carry too much. I found loads of things I would have liked to have bought for friends but sadly had no-way of carrying them. We returned to the truck and headed for the Equator and the long drive through indigenous lands and reservations.
The Equator is marked with what I can only describe as an enormous hockey stick! It points along the central line - obviously, but is covered in graffiti and a bit of a let down really. Photos taken, it was quite exciting to have stood either side of the World, silly I know but life has been full of fun and continues to be so,
The following drive was quite incredible, the road improves, deteriorates, nearly disappears and then reappears all in the same kilometer. There are acres of land which were once rainforest, now cleared for livestock but because the land is so poor, the farming is poor and failing. There are reservations along the way where the road is the only part of civilization to touch these parts, stopping is banned, you have to keep going.
A lasting memory for me will be the thousands of yellow butterfflies which are all over the place. They gather in small puddles in the road in such numbers that the road actually appears to be yellow. When a vehicle approaches hundreds with take to the air all at the same time and fill the area around the vehicle with a fluttering cloud of colour, really beautiful.
The scenery changes all the time from open savana's to wet lands with giant plants, occasionally you glance a lone person walking along the road side. We saw tribes people with bows and arrows, blow pipes and even a shot gun!
We stopped the night once we had left the restricted areas and found a suitable site by the side of the road. That night will remain one of the most memorable of the trip. We were miles from anywhere, totally alone. We erected the tents and I had one to myself. It was hot enough to risk having the flysheet pulled up revealing the mosquito nets front and back. I opened the flaps in order that I could see out, layed on my roll mat just staring at the stars on both sides of the tent. It was fantastic, on one side I had the Southern Cross and thousands of other stars, on the other I could see the Milky Way and yet more stars, it was one of the most amazing nights.
The next day we were up early around 6.30am, packed and off on the road again. We had a very long day and a rough ride as the road worsened. We finally arrived in Manaus about 7.00pm, showered and prepared ourselves for our final night together. Without going into details we had a wonderful evening and partied with a group of locals we picked up randomly off the the street, ending up in a Kareoke Bar where a Brazillian lad put Bon Jovi and Axel Rose to shame. We had a wonderful final evening.
The final day saw people departing in several stages. It was sad but quite special for me. We had started off as 8 total strangers, from differnet backgrounds and walks of life, with very different expectations. We were saying goodbye as friends who had supported one another through three and a half weeks.
2 of the group were returning to the UK, I was moving onto Chile, the remainder were continuing together to Rio De Jenero. I spent the day in Manaus saying Goodbye to my friends. The main group left at 7.00am LaLa and Joe left at 8.30 leaving Dion and me at the Hotel. He invited me to go to the Port with him to deposit the Truck (Elle) for her trip down river to meet the others later in their trip.
The temperature had risen to 37 degrees and was getting hotter. We went to the port and unfortunately Dion misplaced his passport, this resulted in him having to remain with the truck and left me to back to the Hotel by taxi and did what could to alert people on Dion's behalf regarding his passport. There was little more I could do so I ventured to the Opera House which is a grand building in the main squre of Manaus, to take photos. Having passed the remaining hours talking with people I had met in the short time there, I finally got myself to the airport for my flight to Chile. I was genuinely sad to be leaving but the journey continues.
Chris
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