CIGS, The Military Zoo

This zoo houses animals which were mistreated and illegally held in captivity.




































After being attacked by this Jaguar phone booth the soldiers came and took it away. As they did so the parrots and monkeys went crazy sounding their alarm calls.

Manaus city centre

The Teatro Amazonas, built during the rubber boom of the late 1800's.

The ceiling is supposed to look like you are standing beneath the Eiffel Tower, looking up.

The not-blind (un)Justice on top of the courthouse was built to reflect the times. Instead of the sword being held up high it is pointed down, instead of Lady Justice being blindfolded she can see, and instead of the scale being balanced it is askew.

the cathedral

The INPA in Manaus

An update from Peru -Come and canoe up the Napo river with us!

Tired of your job, the weather, traffic jams, bureaucracy? Come and join Laura and me in Iquitos, Peru where we are looking into purchasing a 10 metre long dugout canoe with peki-peki engine. We will then travel up the Napo river for the next month or so into Coca, Ecuador stopping at villages along the way. Once in Ecuador we intend to sell the boat and catch a bus to Quito. This plan may have to be altered depending on a number of factors but we just thought we would throw it out there since we hear airfares are quite low at the moment. Here is a photo of our boat´s little sister. Ours will have a tarp roof ;)

We have found a boat and motor. The only thing we are missing is two or three people to share the adventure (and expenses). There is still time but speak soon :)



P.S. Fast internet is harder to come by now so our posts will no longer be as frequent as they have been recently.

Oi Brasil!

Our first visit to Brasil was extremely memorable. From the minute we crossed the border from Santa Elena people were bending over backwards to help us. From Santa Elena we took a night bus through Boa Vista to the large Amazonian city of Manaus. Once in Manaus we met Edison and his family who treated us like gold for what was supposed to be a couple of days but turned into a couple of weeks. We will be eternally grateful for their incredible hospitality.

Our friends Edison, Milton, and Livia strike a pose with the Amazon dancers

Edison and Agatha

Our Brasilian mum

Milena and Sophia

Brad

Okonomiyaki (Laura still thinks she is Japanese)

Cupuaçu

Suco de cupuaçu, pao do queijo, and delicious banana cake made by Señora Mirian

An assortment of delicious Brasilian breakfasts

Tapioca roll filled with fried banana, cheese, and tucuma (Laura's new favourite fruit)

A tribute to Suco do Carambola (starfruit juice)

The neighbour's starfruit tree

The fresh starfruit juice we drank almost everyday in Manaus has spoiled us forever. We suggest you never try it so that you will not know what you are missing.

Just when we started to worry that the daily bolo was going to make us fat...

...we all got (quite) sick from drinking some bad street juice... this is a special drink to make my stomach feel better which was prepared for me by our Brasilian mum, who also gave us some great and much needed haircuts (after we were feeling better).