Adoption

A lot of people have asked us about how we’re doing with this. Well, it’s taken us a year to get to the point where we have some sort of verifiable income, so now we feel we can proceed. We are at the stage of putting the paperwork together, and then we will be approaching the children and young persons agency here to register our interest. This will hopefully happen before the end of July. After that we need to go through the hoops of interviews, assessments etc., and when we emerge at the other end we will hopefully then be eligible to adopt and be placed on the register. The whole process is a bit long-winded but there are other things going on at the same time which may shorten the process somewhat. I’ll provide a further update when some progress has been made. Thanks to all for asking.

Wildlife update

We found this earthworm trying to get into the house the other day. There’s a pound coin there for perspective, and I guess the thing was about a metre in length. That’s some worm. He was rescued after his photo shoot and deposited gently at the bottom of the garden.

The other shot is of an impressive chap we found lurking on a wall when we visited the town of Rio Preta da Eva (80km East of Manaus). Nothing available for perspective, but I would estimate his body length at about 4 inches head to tail.

Kelly, our Heinz 57, had a bit of a fight the other night when she unearthed a Common Opossum near the chapeu de palha. Poor thing (I mean the Opossum) was pretty beaten up by the time we got there, but lived to tell the tale after we pulled Kelly - who is not much bigger - off it. Kelly will eat anything (hence having to rescue the worm, too), although she’s not stupid enough (yet) to have a go at snakes. She found one of those in the chapeu a few weeks ago, but apart from barking and growling at it until I got there, she didn’t attack it. Fortunately for all 3 of us, the snake did a runner as I approached.

Finally, our gardener, Claudionor, was bitten by a black scorpion last week while tidying the garden. Fortunately it was a relatively small one and he got away with losing the feeling in his right side for a few hours. Next time he has promised to wear his boots while working, rather than go barefoot. Good idea, methinks.

Trip to Casa da SIlva

Here are a few pics of our recent visit to Naice's parents house on the other side of the river. This was the first time we had tyaken our own boat, and although the total distance was 71km, it took us 3.5 hours to get there after a short-cut we took turned out to be blocked by floating grass (capim), and we had to paddle the boat through the igapo (flooded forest): it's all very well in a dug-out canoe with a wee motor you can haul inboard, but with a 6m aluminium boat with a 50hp 4-stroke stuck on the end of it it's a not-to-be-repeated ordeal involving cuts, bruises, extremely painful red ant bites (they don't call them fire ants for nothing) and profuse and profound cursing and sweating. On the way back...we got stuck again, this time in the middle of another floating grass blockage we couldn't avoid, but fortunately a young guy came past in a dugout and pulled us free. We avoided the same route we'd used on the outward leg and further problems were avoided. It still took us 3.5 hours, although knowing the way (and without getting stuck) I reckon we could do it in 2.5.

Anyway, once on the Rio Solimoes, and all the way through to the Rio Negro, the water was as calm as you like, and during the 10km crossing of the Solimoes, it was like being on a lake. Marvellous.

The next planned trip will be to the small town of Novo Airao, on the west bank of the Rio Negro, about 110km upstream of Manaus. There to find lunch and swim with the dolphins. I'm hoping we can do this before the end of July.

The pictures show a few of the igarapes we passed through, a couple with Naice. The others show journey's end (Casa da Silva), and Naice's parents and brother Romulo inspecting the boat.

Voltamos!

We are back on the air again, after a considerable amount of time waiting for the local telecomms company to sort out our phone line. It’s still not back to normal, but it will have to do. I know, I know – “But what about the river levels?” I hear you ask. Okay, well we’re approaching the peak water level now, which will occur on June 22nd. Although it’s higher than last year, it is not going to get anywhere near record-breaking levels. At present it’s sitting at around 28.6 metres (the Port Authority website is down at the moment – perhaps they’re having the same problem we had), and will probably rise to about 28.7 or thereabouts. Anyway, it’s high enough to make the those parts of the Amazon not normally reachable, reachable. We have about two months to make good use of this, so we have trips planned to Careiro do Castanho, Naice’s parents’ house via Anveres, and to Novo Airao. I’ll let you know how we get on.

I notice there seem to have been a number of visitors coming to us from China while we've been off the air, so hello to you and thanks for coming. I would write "hello" in Chinese, but don’t know where to begin – perhaps someone can help?

A lot has happened since my last post, so this will be a (relatively) long one. I would break it into smaller individual posts, but then someone will complain that they missed some of them. So you’ll just have to wade your way through it.

First of all, we’ve now been here a year, incredible though it may seem. We’ve had our ups and downs, but all in all we’re in pretty good shape. Financially, this month will be the first month we will break even on our costs, so we’re happy about that. Emotionally, I suppose I’m still struggling to adapt, but I’m definitely getting there. And anyway, when I’m having my doubts I only have to look out over the forest to feel good about the whole thing again. The house is in good shape, the dogs are fine, we’re in good health, we still have some money in the bank, the phone’s working again; the house, car, bike, boat and furniture are all paid for, and there’s food on the table. Can’t be bad, can it?

The challenge at present is to decide what direction we’re taking: opportunities have begun presenting themselves, and most of them are mutually exclusive. We’ll let you know what develops.

So what’s been happening? Well, we bought a mobile beer cooler (see earlier post), and I’ve passed my test to ride it. We’ve had lots of people staying at the guesthouse, and are fairly well booked up through to 6th July. The guesthouse website has been updated, and we’ve started charging in Brazilian Reais instead of the declining Greenback. We’ve had two wonderful guesthouse reviews written up on Trip Adviser, which is really nice. We’ve finished a third bedroom for ourselves downstairs, and I’ve been reasonably successfully wiring and/or re-wiring various bits and pieces (this 110v stuff is easy!). We’ve finally managed to stop the rain leaking into our office. Our beautiful Brasileira tree (I think it’s called a Brasileira) has been attacked by some sort of mite. I broke our Sky box, so now we have no TV. I also scraped the car, and a friend of ours reversed into it on the same day. This was after one of the brake discs cracked. Fun fun fun. We’ve managed to get Skype working with a landline call forwarding option now, so if you want to phone us for free you can (e-mail me if you want the details). Naice is starting two new courses this month – tourism and logistics management - and I’m well on with the soon-to-be-bestseller ‘The Wisdom of Oz’. Someone has put me forward for teaching Portuguese, which is at the very least amusing (well, probably not for the student), if not terrifying. We’ve had a couple of Golden Tegus (pic) visit the garden, as well as a rash of Sauim de Colera monkeys (pic). The horn and voltmeter on the boat have stopped working, but I’m sure I’ll get it sorted out soon (anyone know how to wire a voltmeter?), and I had to replace the prop after I pranged it on some iron rails. Tsk.

We had an old friend of mine visit us from Boa Vista, which was great fun and naturally led to much drinking and singing and what-have-you. Although he’s now gone back, there may be a joint project for us coming along, and I’m looking into this at the moment.

And I think that’s about it. To those of you awaiting an e-mail, our apologies. We figured we should do the blog first and then tackle the backlog. We will be catching everything up over the next week. We miss all of you back in Ireland. Yes, even you. So take it easy and enjoy your woefully inadequate summer, and remember we’re ready for your visit whenever you can come.

Wildlife Update

This one’s just for Peter. Naice came across this banana spider in the kitchen, so I leapt into action, bagged him in one of the dogs’ food storage buckets and took a photo before releasing him near a suitable banana plant. There’s a 20p piece in there just for perspective, although this chap would probably be considered a smallish specimen (but plenty big enough when you find him crawling over your pots and pans). Just don’t ask for any photos of jaguars please Pete...

The other shot I took on the way back from spidey’s photo shoot. The frogs and toads like to gather around the swimming pool of an evening, presumably to catch flies or mate, or sing "half way up the stairs" or something. This wouldn’t be so bad, except that they also like to crap in the pool from time to time, and well, you know, big frogs = big frog turds. So I have to get the pool vacuum out every morning to get rid of it all. Most annoying. Anyway, I noticed this chap was stuck in the pool. To explain, I cleaned the filter today, which means pumping water out of the pool through the filter. If the water drops below a certain level, the frogs, once they’re in the pool (they jump in to avoid the attentions of Ozzie and Kelly), can’t get out again. So I scooped him out, subjected him to a few photos, and left him to it. No doubt he is even now pooing in the pool, the ingrate.

As usual, click to enlarge the photos.

Latest News

“Irreverent, mischievous, fun”, they said about Boris Johnson. I used to think so too, until I read his biography. It would seem, based on this, that in fact “arrogant, cynical, elitist” would be more appropriate epithets. Born into a privileged family, cosseted and pampered through Eton and Oxford, competence far outstripped by ambition, he has spent his life totally isolated from most of the issues the populace confront. In fact I suspect he has about as much in common with your average Londoner as Atilla the Hun. But you have to hand it to him – he acts up wonderfully. Best of luck London.

Meanwhile, back in Amazonas, we are told that it has become common practice for mayors to move around from place to place in order to continue their professional mayoral careers (a euphemism for sustainable white-collar crime). Although in Brazil the basic principle is that you can’t run more than two consecutive terms, there’s a slight loophole. If you move to the next city down the road, you’re eligible to run for mayor there instead. So that’s what they’re all doing. It’s like a mayor-fest, with the same people popping up –now here, now there – time after time; and the record is currently held by Yves Ribeiro, who is up for his fifth consecutive mayorship. Well, if you ask me, just like their London counterparts, the electorate only have themselves to blame.

The biggest domino competition in Amazonas starts today. Hundreds of people will compete for the chance to be one of the 64 teams to go on to the next phase in June and ultimately compete in July for the top prizes: 2 new cars and 2 freezers full of beer. I’m almost tempted to compete myself.

A new Latin American dancing season is upon us, and the dance schools have opened their doors once more to any beginners who fancy their chances on the dance floors of Manaus. Why is this news, you may ask? Well, chiefly because Naice and I have taken the plunge and signed up for a bit of Salsa. After two lessons we can both already move forward, backward and sideways, although regretably not always at the same time. Never mind - with two lessons a week over the next couple of months, we hope we’ll be successfully Salsa-ing through the Amazon summer.

Hello, Hola, Privyet.

Just like to welcome our new readers from Australia, Argentina and Russia. Oh, and konnichi wa to Andrew in Japan. Thanks for stopping by folks!

Front page news this week

Viagra consumption amongst young men (25-32) in Manaus is on the increase. The use of such stimulants is not controlled in Brazil, so anyone can buy them, which may be part of the problem don't you think? Anyway, apparently the latest thing is a product called Vivanza, which alledgedly lasts for 12 hours and can be taken with alcohol. I see in the newspaper that in the photograph they have of the product, the boxes are clearly labelled "Amostra Gratis", or "Free Sample". Hmm. No doubt someone is making a bob or two on these. Well, boys will be boys I suppose - making money, having (lots of) sex etc...

...but perhaps if they could just rest up for a while they might have time to look at the filthy state they're making of Manaus. Apparently Manaus spent R$4m last year on cleaning 2.8m tons of cr*p out of the city's streams and rivers - everything from fridges to dead dogs, and no doubt empty viagra boxes and used prophylactics. To the outsider, it is no doubt depressing that there is no apparent sense of responsibility amongst the majority here with respect to litter and hygiene. And of course the local government is right to complain about it. But then the lack of education, lack of infrastructure, lack of money, lack of opportunity and lack of healthcare probably don't help the situation, and who is it that provides this...?

A local politician and his wife have been charged with 8 counts of, amongst other things, operating a gang, corruption, fraud, contrabanding and money laundering. I can't see what all the fuss is about, given the propensity of the majority of Brazil's finest for, um, the opportunistic diversion of such goods, cash and services as may be required for the maintenance of a pleasant lifestyle - but it seems at the moment that the problem is this pair have been put in a clink along with common criminals. Shock horror - that really is front page news, isn't it...

Iranduba

Last weekend we took a trip to Iranduba on Charlie’s intergalactic battlecruiser the Sammy III. Owing to the relative absence of beer on board, I actually arrived sober for a change, and in spite of Robson’s ability to mix cachaca, limes, sugar and water into some excellent caipirinha, I managed to maintain my relative sobriety for the whole day. Indeed the weather was excellent, the company good, and all was generally sweetness and light. And I must add that Naice caught her first fish - and we even managed to get it on camera. There is nothing quite like a trip down/up the Amazon to recharge the batteries and put things in perspective. I’ve nothing to add to this except some photos which I managed to snap en route. So there you are. Have a nice day and all that sort of thing.

River level

Must post this for the many river-level fans out there. The level now is 26.63m. This time last year it was only 25.06m, and eventually rose to a maximum of 28.16m on 21st June. If the level continues to rise as it has been doing, we may see the highest level in Manaus for over 50 years. This would result in a fair degree of flooding in Manaus itself, as well as causing problems for many of the cattle farmers around Iranduba and beyond. Of course it may not come to pass, but by the end of April we should know - normally in April the river rises over 2m, which would put us at over 28m at that point. [As a point of interest, avid fans will remember that the low point this season was just under 18m (October 26th)]. My camera is at the ready.

Scientific Research

We set off on a pleasant Sunday morning. The river was calm and peaceful, the boat was ticking over nicely, God was in his heaven etc etc. Our mission was to map the Rio Taruma. More specifically, to survey the infrastructure. In fact, to acquaint the general public with all the floating bars on the river. We knew it was a tough assignment, and would require all our diligence, courage, commitment and stamina if we were to pull it off successfully. But we felt we had the right team. Ian, our software engineer (and Team Leader), apart from being able to publish the results and make them available via mobile commuinications technology, was also an experienced drinker; Professor John, our resident biologist and guide, would help ensure we didn't run aground or miss anything of botanical interest; Captain John, taking a break from command of the Alyson, would provide much needed ballast and keep us on our toes with his enquiring mind; and I was there to steer the boat and add my local knowledge of some of the relevant infrastructure.

Our first stop was at the floating petrol station, to fill up with cans of Skol, and then we were off! It was a gruelling time, as we zig-zagged up and down the Taruma, stopping to replenish supplies of Skol, take photographs of anything of interest (freshly caught Tucunare, for example), and ask the names of various hotels and floating bars. We navigated as far as the junction of the two principal igarapes which join to form the mainstream Taruma, and slid gently back down to make our first serious stop. This was a quiet floating bar situated away from the mainstream entertainments area. At least it was until we arrived, at which point several other vessels also tied up and proceeded to flood the bar with the usual high-volume, distorted pagode music and discharge various crew and passengers. But it was too late - we had already ordered our food, and were in mid-Skol (pic.). After this we continued our journey until we came to the Marquee bar, near the local jumping off point for speedboat taxis going up the Rio Negro. More Skol, increasingly silly conversation, and suddenly it was time to head back home. The whole trip had taken us 6 hours, and we had survived - tired, but content. For more on this, with various pics., take a look at Ian's blog: http://ianlawrence.info/random-stuff/river-trails. He will be creating a website for this stuff in due course, and we will all be rich and famous.

Large photos

I can't keep trying to upload loads of photos to the blog every time I write something, so I've started uploading some of our photos to a Google web albums, and if you would like to view them I think you can access them at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/clive.maguire. I'll load more up when I have nothing better to do than sit and watch the upload screen for 5 hours. The whole idea was to save some time, but now it looks as though I may have to edit every photo to reduce the size etc. Gawd...

Rhythm of the Rain

It rained so much last night, and so hard, we thought the whole house would be carried away down the no-longer-so-little stream running by us. But here we are - another day, another Real. I looked up the average rainfall figures for Manaus and it looks like we're in for a total of around 300mm (what's that in inches anyway?) this month and next month. Interestingly, this doesn't influence the river level as much as you might think at first - in March the level is pretty static at around 25.5m amsl (it actually falls in the first part of the month), but we can expect a whopping 2m+ rise in April and May. So the level is determined primarily by the rainfall further upstream, which I suppose is pretty obvious when you think of it. Duh.

The practical impact of all this rain is a) my tan is fading and b) it's almost impossible to dry any clothes. So now I'm turning white again and the whole house smells of badly dried clothes (isn't that the name of a pop group or something?) Ah well, never mind

MFI in Brasil?

Naice and I have just finished putting together the most appalling piece of cheap MDF/chipboard/hardboard bedside cabinet I've seen since the 1970s (or rather, that I've been told about - I'm much too young to remember personally). True, it came with the correct amount of screws and nails (nails, hmm..), which technically elevates it above 1970's MFI standards, but then it had a marked absence of pre-drilled holes, which puts it right back down there again. And of course the diagrams were made for the little men in blue coats who designed the thing in the first place, and to whom no doubt it is quite obvious where everything should go. But for we of the great unwashed, it's a case of 'guess where this nail goes?'.

Yes. Nails. Around the back of the unit, where presumably no-one is supposed to look once the thing is backed up against a wall, there is clearly no need for either any finish, or any screws. Just raw chipboard/hardboard full of nails. However I'm pleased to report that previous experience stood us in good stead and when we'd finished, all that was left over were 5 nails. The drawers were almost square and there was barely a wobble from it. It now has pride of place in the double en-suite. The wardrobe I put together, on the other hand, is in the twin en-suite, screwed to the wall for extra support and from where it will never be moved in case it completely collapses. I think a picture of the latest effort is warranted, don't you...?

Zounds

I have found a new toy. It's a program called Raven, developed by Zoundry. It enables you to write your blog offline, add whatever pictures you want and publish the whole lot when you connect. Oh it's alright for you lot in the "developed" countries to scoff, but out here in the wilderness with a 45kbps dial-up connection, this is a major break through. Yippee.

Technorati : Zoundry Raven

ClustrMaps

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that I've added a ClustrMap to the sidebar of the blog. This purports to show the location of the blog readers. I'm amazed to see that we have visitors from Scotland and Spain and from what looks like Brasilia in Brazil - but since it's based on IP address, maybe it's just something to do with the service providers people are using. Anyone like to comment?

Technorati : clustrmaps

Motorbikes and Boats

This weekend we visited Naice's brother Romulo and his wife Vanusa in Careiro do Castanho. We crossed the Rio Negro and Solimoes, passing over the famous meeting of the waters, and arrived safely on the other side with the car and Ozzie intact. The fact that the ferry was quite obviously shipping water as we crossed didn't seem to alarm anyone except us. On the way, there was a group of motorcyclists sitting on their bikes drinking beer (what else?). One of them had a Honda Biz (photo), which is marketed here with aplomb by Honda as a cheap and effective way to get around Brazil. One of its main features is the 'boot' under the seat, which is so voluminous it can comfortably take a helmet and a few other oddments, um, to boot. Well, the chap with the Biz had obviously been studying this feature, and found an alternative use. He had filled the thing with ice, and had at least 8 cans of Skol chilling nicely inside. Damned good idea if you ask me, and I'm now seriously thinking of buying one of these instead of one of those silly cooling box things which you have to lug around with you...

We reflected on our luck at crossing unscathed (apart from getting our feet wet from the ingress of water), compared with the fate of the 106 people who went down last weekend with the Almirante Monteiro (pic) when it collided with a barge at night in the middle of the Amazon. The present body count is 16, and since no-one is quite certain how many people were aboard, looks set to rise further. This has prompted calls for the proper navigational signage to be implemented along the Amazon - although the likelihood of this ever happening is pretty remote - and better policing of the state of the thousands of boats plying their trade along the 2000 kilometres of waterway. It was ironic that I first heard this news while I was at the Port of Manaus registering the Shamrock with Capitania. Although Shamrock (and to be fair, many many other boats), is fit for service, there is a distinct lack of policing, particularly of pleasure craft. Conventional wisdom has it that the Capitania will only stop those boats that look like the owner/captain may have a lot of money (more scope for bribery, obviously). I don't know how true this is, but I've certainly never been stopped, and people think I'm mad having the boat MOTd at all. I figured that, me being a gringo, it was worth doing if only because gringoes tend to attract more attention than the locals. However there is another good reason, too, and that is that by registering your craft and paying what is a relatively small fee, you are automatically insured for 3rd party damage. An excellent idea, I think, and it would be nice if more people would do it (or were forced to do it, as the case may be)

Baby you can drive my car...

Local government here has proudly announced that it will be using a new, improved type of asphalt on the roads in Manaus. I laughed so hard Naice had to pick me up off the floor. As a stupid announcement this ranks alongside the stunning news from federal government that in future politicans may have to justify their expenses...

PRINCE2 (Manaus) project work packages for roadmaking:

1. Scrape loose vegetation off surface.

2. Drive something heavy over surface.

3. Scatter mixture of (new, improved) asphalt over surface.

4. Drive something heavy over surface

(5. Cheaper alternative to 4 - pat down surface with shovels).

Strict quality control demands that the final depth of the asphalt should not exceed 3/4 inch, otherwise unwanted side effects may be experienced (like reduced profits).

Fishing II

Well, I remembered to take the camera this time. Not that much in the way of pics, though, as the sun steadfastly (and happily) refused to shine throughout. Charlie and I set off to Lago da Piranha on Saturday afternoon on the first leg, me in the Shamrock, and Charlie in HMS Invincible (pic), to Paulo’s flutuante (pic) in Iranduba, where we spent the night with Paul, Robson and various others whose names I can’t remember. After numerous caipirinhas (cachaça, limes, ice and sugar) and sausages and rice, I spent a good night in my Hennessy Hammock, slung on Charlie’s battleship.

On day two, we took off up the river Solimões, stopping to refuel at Manacapuru. A mild panic attack took place at the petrol station when I had to use all my money for petrol and had none left for beer, but Charlie stumped up for 24 cans, which we felt was probably enough for the one night we would spend at Lago Piranha, so I proceeded in relaxed form. We crossed Lago Cabaliana and entered the canal for Lago Piranha, stopping at Francisco’s flutuante to get permission to continue on. This caused some discussion, as Francisco’s flutuante is, erm, rather basic. The main room has no furniture – I mean none, and there is no electricity, no TV, no radio, no road…just miles of water, kind of surrounded by, um, water. When we arrived, Francisco’s (understandably large) family were seated comfortably on the floor in the spacious lounge. Doing exactly what, is a mystery to me, but there they all were. Anyway, Francisco joined us, permission evidently granted, and we were off again to the lake, some 6km further on.

After wandering round the lake for a while, we fixed on a spot at the south side, near some trees (flooded forest, or igapó). I thought this would be a good time to open the beer, but Charlie had other ideas, and I was persuaded to accompany him and another guy to set a fishing net in the igapó. Out came the little boats (pic), and we were off. I vaguely remember Charlie saying something about carapana (mosquitoes), but nothing could prepare me for what was waiting. It was like walking into wall of mosquitoes. What they had been doing all year without us to feast on, I have no idea, but I can only suppose that while we were at Francisco’s, the word had gone round the mosquito grapevine - and they were ready for us. So we spent about 45 minutes paddling around fighting them off pretty unsuccessfully and laying the net, and finally returned to the boats. Up to this point, I never could understand how Pizarro’s team, attempting to find El Dorado in the Amazon, lost something like 9900 of his original complement of 10000 men and animals. Hmm. Now I do.

Anyway, back at the boats, a bit of alcohol soothed away the effects of the bites and I was quite looking forward to a pleasant, drunken night’s sleep when suddenly it was time to check the nets. Did I want to go and help them check the nets, Charlie asked. Did I want to cut off my left leg and eat it for supper? 'It’s okay', I was told – 'it’s dark now, and the carapana are sleeping'. Ha ha, very funny, I thought. But I went anyway, and right enough, it was much better this time. So there you are – mosquitoes do sleep at night, it appears.

Back at the boat, more beer, more of Robson’s excellent caipirinha, and this time I decided to sling my hammock in the Shamrock. Well, the Shamrock is a lovely boat, but it’s not really ideal for hammocks. I slept fitfully and had to get up to adjust my bits every now and then (and get rid of some of the beer and caipirinha). But the night passed, and I awoke to an excellent 5:45 sunrise. Since everyone else was still sleeping, I decided to push off on my own to do some fly fishing. Fly fishing is not very common in Brazil, and with good reason – an hour and a half later I returned with nothing more than a lot of weed wrapped around my propeller. In my absence, the rest of them had gone off to check the nets again (and welcome to it), and this time returned with a modest catch (pic), including Pirarucu, Tucunare (Peacock Bass) and Piranha. Yeah, but fly fishing is more fun, isn’t it…?

We were off again by mid morning, back to deposit Francisco at his flutuante, have some lunch, and then head off to Paulo’s place at Iranduba. We arrived just as the rain did (thankfully), and settled down to more beer and caipirinha. While we relaxed, Junior was tasked with washing down the horses (pic), while everyone else shouted encouragement and directions from the comfort of the verandah. Good plan. An excellent dinner of bacon and rice followed for me, while everyone else tucked into fish I think (what else, I suppose?). While Paulo went off to watch a soap on TV, Charlie, Robson and I polished off the rest of the caipirinha (well, we left Robson to it eventually – he’s younger than us and needs his alcohol more). Charlie and I headed off to bed (in Charlie’s case) and hammock (in my case).

I slept well, and Charlie and I headed back to Manaus early in the morning, before the weather got its act together. The cruise along a flat-calm Rio Negro at a steady 20 knots in the early morning sun was fantastic, and I arrived back at my marina at 09:00, with some of the catch which Charlie had given me for Naice. Tired, but very happy.

Economic Activity...?

It has been some time since my last blog. Kelly has settled in in the meantime, somewhat to Ozzie’s disgruntlement. Notwithstanding this, Ozzie is doing fine now, with no further tummy troubles. We are also doing fine. The weather continues mercifully cool and damp, although this has brought unexpected problems with damp – most of our clothes and shoes went mouldy, and we nearly lost a lot of old photos and wooden things which we had packed away in the snake pit downstairs. Fine for snakes, but not for ladders, it seems (well, wooden ones at least…).

We’ve had two bookings for the guesthouse now, mysteriously both within 24 hours of eachother and both from Canadians (maybe they had a “Manaus” day on the Canadian internet, or something). Somewhat ironically our first guest - now been and gone, in a serious of disasters that Fawlty Towers would have been proud of – was Mary, from Dublin (well from Canada, but really from Dublin). To cut a veeery long story short we picked Mary up from the airport here at midnight and delivered her to her waiting cruiseliner at Manaus docks at 01:00. Still, she was happy enough and duly paid for her keep, so we were happy, too. And she was very nice. Thanks Mary. The next guests are due in March and I have no doubt we will discover they are from Omagh or some such.

Naice has lost her English language student after she (the student) split up with her boyfriend and decided to move to Rio. On the other hand, after a suggestion from friend Charlie, we placed an ad offering lessons in how to use a GPS, and have been – well, not quite flooded with, but certainly trickled with – responses. The first course was given last Friday and Saturday, and was a success to the degree that they both understood my Portuguese and paid up. I thought it was great fun, and can’t believe people are willing to pay me to enjoy myself pontificating about Garmin products and geocaching up and down the river Taruma in the Shamrock. We’re fully booked for the next two courses, which takes us up to 15th February. With a bit of luck we’ll have enough money now to pay the vet bills for Kelly and Ozzie.

The river level is comfortably high (there, look, no figures), and I’m off fishing to the Lago da Piranha with Charlie this Saturday. Since it’s 150km away up the Solimoes with the entrance reportedly a closely guarded secret, it looks like being an excellent jolly. Forunately or unfortunately, we’ll have to sleep in our respective boats – fine for Charlie, as his is sort of aircraft carrier-sized, and he has his own cabin, whereas my sleeping accommodation will be either on a blow-up bed which I reckon can just about squeeze into the area behind the second bench seat, or in a hammock which it may be possible to sling between the farthest forward portside strut and the farthest aft starboard side strut (or vice versa, I suppose). Well, if nothing else, at least I will have learned various salty technical terms, like “strut” and “mosquito”. Naice, probably very wisely, has declined to go, in favour of taking Ozzie across the river to stay with Mum and Dad. Kelly will be looked after through intermittent appearances by Dona Fatima, our woman-who-does (occasionally). Yes, that’s her name.

Our gardener, Claudionor, has had a bad time with a leg infection he got in someone’s garden (where else), aggravated, he insists, by eating pork. This latter fact provoked heated debate with the Cavadini family at a recent outing, and the argument as to whether this is total, um, hogwash, or not has not yet been settled. Anyway, he’s a really nice guy, Claudionor, so we’re hoping his leg will mend soon. Especially since in the meantime the triffids and Kelly are having a field day in the garden.

Well that’s all the news for the moment. I shall end here so as not to risk the further wrath of those whose preference is for pictures over prose. More pics later - honest. In fact, if I remember, I’ll take the camera on Saturday and photograph the fishing trip.