Saving Brazil and the Amazon for Another Time

Me and my brother, Greg last year.

I did not make it to Brazil as planned for October 1st. I had my hotel reservations, two flight tickets (one to Rio and one to Manaus), and my eVisa for Brazil. I even had my boarding pass downloaded to my phone. I was all ready to leave later that day to Rio de Janeiro for a few days and then fly up Manaus to being my Amazon River trip. The only question was whether I wanted to take a boat into Peru and Ecuador, or head back to Bogota, Colombia afterwards. All that changed in the blink of an eye. Looks like I will have to try to do the Amazon River another season.

Why? Well, early that same morning I got a message about my brother who was found unresponsive after somewhere between 24 and 36 hours alone in his apartment. 'Nuff said. The Brazil tickets were now useless to me. I booked a flight to Texas and was on a plane within hours. I got back and my brother, Greg was in ICU, but stable. I thought he was good to go at that point, only to realize my hopes were lost the next afternoon. An aneurysm from complications with high blood pressure took out my brother at 47 years of age. The whole experience seemed unreal. My sister, Camille was on top of things. She's a nurse and her training was definitely indispensable in helping my mother and family understand what was happening. Beyond that, she was hugely helpful in organizing the arrangements for my brother's funeral and cremation. I'd have needed a couple of weeks before even thinking about contacting a funeral home. And if that wasn't enough, my grandfather died two weeks later. Even though it was not that much of a surprise at his age and condition, the reality of it still took a toll on all of us. October was the worst month of my life. But I'm not going to get into a bunch of "Woe is me" rants. Its done.

My Grandfather's burial site, next to that of his beloved wife who proceeded him.

I spent the entire month in Texas and then I flew back to Colombia on November 3rd. I am currently back in Colombia's capital city, Bogota. I decided to come back here and give this city some more time. I have never really appreciated capital cities that much, so I only scheduled 3 days here on my original visit in September. I quickly deduced that I was wrong. My stay at Selina Hotel was excellent. I met 2 or 3 new people that quite frankly, were very impressionable. And then I took a walking tour of the area I stayed in and learned some more about the city's history as well as where it all fit into Colombia's history as a whole. I may just take that tour again. Fernando Botero is from here and his museum is just down the street! And its free. That was something he was insistent on. No charge for exhibiting his work here.

I re-booked the same Selina Hotel as when I was here in September, but I got the upgraded, Rockstar room for my first 3 days. Its was a beautiful room, but I honestly think the last room may have been preferred. Sometimes it works out like that where the best room on the property actually isn't. Possibly, that's just me, though.

Four balconies (one behind the bed)

That is a stairway to the left that leads to the downstairs living room and bathroom

I wanted to stay in the same district area of La Candelaria, which is the oldest  (500 years old) section of the city. So after leaving Selina, I booked a week at La Candelaria Hostel, near Parque de los Periodistas, or Journalist's Park. Its much more of a basic room compared to my room at Selina, but its also more typical of the hostels I stay in to save money. It's also close to Monserrate, which is another thousand feet of elevation that I'll hike for its excellent views of the city. I'm going to stay here in Bogota for at least a month, but I'm not certain exactly when I'll head out or exactly to where. I know I'll go through Ecuador and see the Galapagos Islands, but I don't know how much I'll see of the county in all. I have to be in Lima, Peru in January. That much I know. My daughter and her husband, along with my cousin and her hubby are coming to meet me there.

So the adventure continues. I'm back on the road and continuing with my journey. So when will I do Brazil and the Amazon River? Good question. The rainy season is well under way there now and flooding is soon to follow. I'd much rather not boat up the Amazon on such flooded currents with the banks overflowed. So possibly, I will likely pass through Paraguay and head into Brazil stopping in at Rio de Janeiro, by next March or April...that's a guess. As for boating up the Amazon River, I can't say for sure. The only possibility is maybe after I am coming back UP South America after Argentina and Chile. Its an option and I'll just have to keep exploring them.

More About Planning My Trip Up the Amazon River

Anonymous Model in Nicaragua, Shot on Fujifilm X-E2, ©2014 Terrell Neasley

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” 

– Sir Richard Burton

In March, I wrote about traveling up the Amazon River and at the time, I had no real knowledge on how I was going to do it. I'm happy to report I've come closer to some solutions for the "planning stage" that are viable, practical, and a most-likely scenario.

So I'll start this South America venture, early September in Colombia, flying into Cartagena, playing around there and up north, before coming back through Medellin and Bogota. The plan is to be there for about a month. Now my previous problem was figuring out where I'd begin the Amazon trip and here is what I have figured out.

1. I'm not going to do ALL of the Amazon River. Just half of it.
2. I'm starting in the heart of the Amazon Rain Forest in Manaus.
3. I'm going UP the Amazon instead of DOWN.
4. October is a good time to do it, just before the heavy rains hit.

Anonymous Model in Nicaragua, Shot on Fujifilm X-E2, ©2014 Terrell Neasley

So here's the theory on all that. Once you get past Manaus, the Amazon really opens up when it merges with the Rio Negro. You're talking 5 miles or more across and when you're going downstream, the boats tend to stay in the center to save fuel. Its hard to tell the difference from being out at sea when you've got a couple miles between you and the shoreline. Conversely, going upstream, they stay closer to the banks to avoid the faster moving opposing currents in the center. Starting in Manaus and going upstream is still a 1500 mile trip over close to 10 days depending on the boat. Manaus is a million population strong city in the heart of the rainforest. I think it'll be a good decision to explore it for a week and find my boat there.

My initial plan was to fly there from Cartagena, but that's an $800 one way ticket that can take up to 30 hours. I've found another route that splits that cost to less than half that, by flying out of Bogota to either Rio de Janeiro or Sau Paulo first. I can stay a few days there and then fly from either of those cities to Manaus. Flight time is greatly reduced to maybe 5 hours total direct flight time. I like this option way better. Point goes to "Research"!

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” 

– Ibn Battuta

Anonymous Model in Nicaragua, Shot on Fujifilm X-E2, ©2014 Terrell Neasley

From Manaus, is where it gets a bit tricky. The boat ride itself does not seem very fun. I think you have to MAKE it fun. Hopefully, I'll have a model with me to shoot to help with that. Don't ask me who or how, cuz I have no clue at this point. On top of that, the plan was to boat to Iquitos, Peru and stay in a that treehouse resort they have for a few nights and proceed on upriver into Ecuador. However, I just realized, that price for $700 double occupancy for 3 days/2 nights is PER PERSON, which is ridiculous.  $900 for that same deal if you are by yourself. I can't see it. Not as I presently understand it, anyways. I have to check into that a little more. Interestingly enough, at that point, I will have traversed borders via plane, bus, walking, and then by boat. Nope...nope...I've done boat before. Forgot about Belize to Guatemala. So now I have yet to cross a border by...um, subway? No, HORSE!

Anonymous Model in Nicaragua, Shot on Fujifilm X-E2, ©2014 Terrell Neasley

Planning for the Amazon Later this Year

Art Model Viki-Vegas back in 2011

The rainy season is about to get under way here in Central America. Just had some of our first rains that I've experienced this past night. This will present challenges and opportunities for the next few months. I've never done much photography during rainy season in the mountains and I'd like to see what can be accomplished here. Challenges are that way the hell up in the mountains it can still get really cold at night. Trying to be outdoors doing night time photography can be challenging as I'll have to secure some camping and cold weather gear as well as wet weather gear. I'm not interested in buying all that. I won't need it after Xela and I am doing what I can to REDUCE the weight on my back. (As it stands, I have to redo the back procedure I had done this past October!)

Art Model Viki-Vegas back in 2011

Most days have been slow. Especially the last two days where I've had to stay off my feet a bit. I'm pretty sure the change in the weather is having a big affect on my knee. I've experienced abnormal pain that hasn't been attributed to anything physically taxing. So I can only blame the weather. I've used this time write and look at some of my planning for later this summer. I'm pretty sure that when I leave Xela, I'm heading to Colombia. So I've been looking at opportunities there. Primarily, I'm looking at spend considerable time in Cartagena and Medellin.

Art Model Viki-Vegas back in 2011

And then I'll keep pushing south along the South American west coast. But the PRIMARY research gig that's got me occupied so much is how to travel down the Amazon River. My only options to reach the Amazon are from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and of course Brazil. So what's the best place to do this from? My best research so far says Peru. But I can't miss Bolivia. I got stuff I want to do there! So, yeah...I gotta work those details out. I'll be getting down there during the low river part of the season so its a great time to do it. And I want to do the full length. Practical? Who knows. I'm telling you I want to do it. I was reading a post on it that you can boat it in 5 days. I'm think of doing it much slower to stop off at different places and get some shots. Wanna know what'll be really good to shoot...A MODEL! I'm definitely going to see about making that happen. In fact, I'm pretty certain I can not do that excursion without shooting somebody.

Art Model Viki-Vegas back in 2016...five years after out first shoot

After that part of the Amazon, I guess I'll have to make my way down to Rio de Janiero,  São Paulo, and on to Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. So those are all doable destinations. I just have to figure out how to best go about it and when. Where it gets interesting for me is the next big excursion. So yeah...from Chile, this is what I'd like to do... Find a sailing crew heading out to Easter Island and then onto cruising the South Pacific islands like Tonga, Bora Bora, Tahiti, etc. I think getting dropped off in Tonga would be another ideal place to stay for the full length allowable for a visa, which is 30 days unless you get approved or an extension. Afterwards, I'd just island hop all the way to New Zealand and Australia, then head North.

Art Model Viki-Vegas back in 2016...five years after out first shoot

I don't know anything about sailing. I don't know anything about getting on board a sailing vessel or anybody who's going that way willing to let me ride along for some great pics. All I know is that I have to figure it out or go to Plan B which is to fly to Vietnam and pick things up there. I'd rather do Southeast Asia AFTER I have conquered the South Seas! It all sounds like a beautiful adventure and I want to make it all happen. I'm GOING to make it all happen. Oh! Thanks for those tips, John Kompare!