Whirlwind week of October 12 continues. Less than 72 hours after skiing the slopes of El Colorado, TotalAdventure was bodysurfing at Ipanema Beach in Rio.

Waves were small, about 3  to 4 feet, but perfect for bodysurfing.

Rio is now getting ready for the 2016 Summer Olympics – which in August,will be their winter – making it easier for outdoor sports like long distance running.

For TotalAdventure journeys in Brazil – CLICK HERE.

A five hour journey from Rio de Janiero, via Brasilia, landed TotalAdventure in Belém – capital of the vast Pará State – about 80 km from the Mouth of The Amazon. The 450 year old Cidade Velho is closest to the River and there is a surprisingly  large modern city with skyscrapers not far inland.

TotalAdventure boarded a ferry for the one hour ride to the river town of Barcarena, which would be a 10 hour car ride by circuitous muddy roads through the jungle. These elevated cabins are not connected to the power grid, but many have generators to run their satellite TV’s.

In the Old City.

Galinhas Comem.

Ver O Peso Market.  Belém has a refreshingly remote feel, with few tourists – yet is only about 6 hours via connecting flights from Miami. For all TotalAdventure’s Brazil Adventures – CLICK HERE.

BEL-MAO-MIA   In the morning TotalAdventure packed ( still carrying  ski jacket from Chile ) and boarded TAM for the 2 hour flight to Manaus – Amazonian Capital – and  hopping off point for many jungle and river adventure trips.

Coming into Manaus.

Time To Return Stateside –

The 4 1/2 hour journey offers beautiful aerials of the Northern Amazon, Venezuela’s Gran Sabana, the Guajira Peninsula, Cuba and finally into Miami.

On the morning of 10/28/11 I travelled from São Paulo to Bogotá on my way home to Miami. The flight takes off from the second biggest city in the world, and within a couple of hours is flying over one of the most remote areas on the world.

Avianca’s twice daily A 340 flight is about 6 hours.

Vegans who want to save the world – guess what ? Soya farms are eating up the jungle !

Western Amazon.

Down below, Lost Tribes gaze up at the Big SIlver BIrd – too high for their poison arrows to hit.

The cloud cover thickened over the rain forest and we did not see anything the last two hours – missing views of the Colombian Andes until we landed at El Dorado Internacional.

Time to connect for Miami !

An ideal sailing trip to visit all the Atlantic Islands would take about 12 to 18 months, leaving Iceland in the late spring ,witha first stop in the Azores. By the beginning of the Antarctic summer, the boat would be in the far South Atlantic , visting Tristan da Cunha,South Georgia and the Malvinas ( known as the Falklands by the British), before turning back north to visit the Brazilian islands, on to Bermuda, St. Pierre and back to Iceland.

2008 saw several trips to the Far South. Above, a forest road in Southern Chile. In March.

Surf in Pichelemu, Chile. March.

Western Argentina highway – March.

Mexico – June.

El Popo Volcano – Mexico , June.

Pie de la Cuesta , Mexico – June.

Pie de la Cuesta , Mexico – June.

Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – August.

Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – August.

Rafting, Rio Novo ,Brazil – September.

Night forest fire,Jalapão, Tocantins,Brazil – September.

São Paulo,Brazil – September.

Andes crossing – Chile to Argentina – November.

Mendoza, Argentina – November.

Springtime – Mendoza, Argentina – November.

Cafayate, Argentina – November.

Salta, Argentina – November.

Buenos Aires, Argentina – November.

2009 plans include Asia and the Middle East.

Adventure Travel in Latin America has just gotten 30 % cheaper in the last two weeks. Worldwide economic volatility has has caused flight to the US Dollar from many fearful investors in Latin America. As a result :

The Chilean Peso is now 622 to the Dollar. This compares to 390 earlier this year.

The Argentina Peso is pegged to the US Dollar, but has still slipped from 3 to 3.22 and probably will go lower.

The Mexican Peso was 10 to the Dollar a few weeks ago and is now 13.2 !

Most dramatically – the Brazilian Real was 1.5 to the dollar in August – and is now 2.2 – in effect – 50% more spending power for the US Dollar.

As a long dark and financially dreary winter takes hold in the North – now is the time to enjoy the incredible Nature, Sunshine and Adventure of Latin America. Book now on ArcticTropic Direct Booking.

This morning we climb Mirante da Serra – a tabletop mountain that is about 300 meters high. The landscape here, and all over Jalapão is very reminiscent of parts of West Africa – hundreds of millions of years ago it was all one land.

This is explained by the theory of continental drift – and the very obvious fact that the continents of South America and Brazil fit together like pieces of a puzzle. To read more on Continental Drift – CLICK HERE.

We then walked across the Serra – dry scrub with interesting plants – here we see latex dripping from a tree.

At the other end of the Serra, about 5 km from the climbing trail – there were incredible rock formations, similar to those in Arizona and Utah.

Wasp Nest.

State of Bahia in the distance.

The rest of the day was spent swimming and lounging at the base camp.

FOR ADVENTURES IN BRAZIL, CLICK HERE

The sun comes up about 6: 30. A wakeup swim in the river is followed by a light breakfast. We are off for kayaking in the Rio Novo.

We go over some class one rapids. Overall it is an easy trip with only a few tipping over. The Korubo truck brings us back to camp.

In the late afternoon we drive to the giant sand dunes in Jalapão National Park.

One of the great things about the Korubo truck is riding on top of it – a great way to observe and take photos.

We stay on the dunes until sunset.

In the camp one must be on the lookout for snakes.

Cats guard the perimeter – they are faster than the cobras !

FOR ADVENTURES IN BRAZIL, CLICK HERE

Special thanks go to Alexander Kazantsev of Otkrytie Travels in Moscow, for providing many great photographs in these posts. Many of the rafting photos are courtesy of the trip provider – Quatro Elementos.