Author: Sparx

23rd February, Anavilhanas – Manaus – Campo Grande

8am departure to Manaus.

2.5 hour road trip.

Quick tour of Manaus:

– Opera House (photos accidentally deleted)

– Local food market

– Meeting of Rio Negro and Rio Solimoes
Lunch at regional restaurant

16:10 JJ3435 Manaus to Brasilia

21:16 JJ 3591 Brasilia to Campo Grande

Hotel DeVille

(Rain in Manaus)

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24th February, Campo Grande to Pantanal

Breakfast at hotel.

10am to airport.

Cessna 210 to Pantanal.

Fazenda Barra Mansa. Only guests. Middle of very wet season.

All meals at lodge.

Afternoon boat ride along Rio Negro. Caimans, caipiberas, otters, loads of birds.

Dinner at lodge. Lodge is very basic. Hardest beds in the world! We had a guide, Luis, with us the whole time.

(Rain in morning, clearing)

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25th February

Morning boat trip to Vasante or flood plain.

Lunch – wild pig!

Afternoon explore by tractor

– anteaters, macaws, deer, birds

Dinner at lodge.

(Clearing in morning. Lunch shower)

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26th February

Breakfast at lodge. Typical Brazilian.

Piranha fishing in morning. No one caught anything!

Lunch at lodge.

Lazy afternoon then short horse ride at 4:30pm.

Dinner at lodge. Rice, beans, chicken, salad.

(Mostly sunny but rain showers)

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27th February

Morning trip to salt lake. Ash’s tummy no good again.

Late afternoon horse ride.

Dinner – dorado soup, fried piranha and pacu.

(Mostly sunny, some showers. Hot and humid)

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OK so I was cut off pretty quickly last post. Just confirming that we are in Cartagena, Colombia. We are staying in a VRBO house in Getsemani which is the poorer, artier part of the old town. It’s hot, colourful, and old here. Nice walled city, plenty of character, completely different to the formality of Bogota. Back into Spanish after Grand Cayman too of course. It was also nice to get back to Latin America and directed to the front of the immigration queue as we had kids.

It’s currently Saturday afternoon. Ash continues to have tummy problems, the poor fella, so we are having a quiet day today. I get more and more worried about his tummy. He had an endoscope in Mexico before we left which fortunately found nothing, but unfortunately found nothing that could be cured.

This week we have tried to get into some sort of routine with school work for the kids. I don’t think we have done too well, but at least we have started. Kids are willing and able, but parents probably need to get a bit more organized. We have maths and English books from Singapore which are now used pretty universally which we will get through but that won’t be enough. Big kids will read heaps of course and we are sending book reviews back to school. Science and project work can come from where we are travelling (Africa, ancient Rome, global warming when we see the polar bears in Manitoba, etc).  The teachers from Humanitree in Mexico City have been hugely supportive.

Ash also did a “Mystery Skype” this week dialing into his class in Mexico. The kids had to ask questions to work out where he is. Was lots of fun. Thanks Mr Ben!

Yesterday was Nesi’s 3rd birthday! We had the morning at home with pancakes with hundreds and thousands, then went out into town for a walk around and some pasta. She was particularly happy with her new Frozen sandals and mobile phone. Happy girl. The highlight for me was the two of us having a long afternoon snooze in the hammock. As she had such a long sleep we went for a nice evening walk around town which was really nice – much cooler than during the day and a lot livelier.

Interesting comparing Nesi with Nicky at this age. We had Nicky’s birthday lunch at Betty’s Teahouse in York just before we moved to Chile. Very different kids!

MRT