Brazil - January 2022

Following on from my Antarctica trip and my short trip to Paraguay I went to Brazil for a few days.  I flew from Asuncion, Paraguay to Sao Paulo arriving there late in the evening of Tuesday 3 January.   I got a quick bite to eat at the airport before getting an Uber to my hotel - a nice one, a Hyatt.

View from the hotel in Sao Paulo

The next morning it was a gray and rainy day.   Not at all conducive to exploring Sao Paulo.  I had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and then set off to explore a little.  One good thing about Sao Paulo is that all bus and train transport in the city is free to those over 65.  So I just got on the bus and showed my Drivers License and that allowed me to travel wherever I wanted.  It wasn’t so much the saving of money as the ease of not having to figure out how much the tickets cost, where to buy them, dealing with a foreign currency, etc.

Near Iburapuera Park, Sao Paulo

I took a bus from outside the hotel towards the center of the city.  It is such a huge city and I wasn’t at all sure of where I was going.  I got off at a park, Ibirapuera Park, where there is a modern art museum.

It was raining again so I went inside the museum.  Not the most wonderful museum but when it is raining you can’t be too choosy.  I had a bite to eat for lunch and as it was still raining I made my way back to the hotel.  I just didn’t have the appetite for sightseeing in the rain.  

Sao Paulo Cathedral

The next day, it was also raining again.  After breakfast it had stopped for a while and I ventured into the center once more.  This time I got the bus to the Cathedral square.  The Cathedral is quite impressive and there was a mass going on at the time I was there.  I enjoyed sitting in the back observing.

Mural in Sao Paulo

In the square outside the Cathedral there was quite a large group of what might have been homeless people or just unemployed men hanging around.  It was quite intimidating and didn’t feel safe.

I had a cup of coffee and a cake and then when the rain came down again and looked like it was going to continue for the rest of the day I found my way to the bus station and took a bus back to the hotel.

So it wasn’t the most wonderful visit to Sao Paulo - the weather didn’t cooperate and the city is just so huge.  I had a ticket to fly from Sao Paulo to Manaus the next day and I was quite pleased to get out of the city.

The flight to Manaus was three separate flights.  First to Belo Horizonte, then to Brazilia, and finally to Manaus.  Belo Horizonte and Brazilia were both very modern airports and were very impressive.  Manaus not so much but quite adequate.

I arrived in Manaus late at night and got an Uber to my hotel, the beautifully named Casa Perpetua Hotel d’ Charm.  The hotel was in a wonderful old home that was very eclectically decorated.  

I went out to find food only to find that the hotel was right next to the Opera House on the main square of the city.  How fortuitous. 

 

Still Christmas in Manaus

I was also surprised that they were still celebrating Christmas in Manaus.  Not so much Christmas as Three Kings Day which occurs 12 days after Christmas.  The main square was decked with ornaments and lights and even late at night there were crowds of people walking around.

Street Cafe  in Manaus

I got a beer and some empanadas at a bar on the square and sat outside watching the people go by and listening to the live music coming from inside the bar.  What a great introduction to Manaus after a not so great time in Sao Paulo.

Christmas Decorations in front of Opera House

The next morning I was up early and took a walk around the city.  As I said, the hotel was adjacent to the main square so I was right there next to the beautiful Opera House.  I walked on without any particular destination in mind and eventually found myself  at the Praca de Policia, a nice park next to the old police station.  The police station now houses a museum.  The park was well manicured and was being swept clean by a group of city workers.  Very neat and tidy.

Praca de Policia

Back at the hotel I had breakfast and tried to extend my stay there.  Alas there were no rooms available but they did have a sister hotel closer to the Opera House, the Casa dos Frades.  Frades means friar or monk and the hotel was next door to the Cathedral.

Teatro Amazonas from the Hotel

After moving down to my new hotel I bought a ticket to tour the Opera House.  It was an English tour and I was the only one on it so I had a private tour.  The Opera House or Teatro Amazonas as it is known, was built when Manaus was the center of the rubber boom and there was lots of money around.  Construction was started in 1884 but the theater was not opened until 1896.  It is a truly splendid building.

Interior Teatro Amazonas

The building materials were all imported from Europe - marble from Italy, roof tiles from France, steel from Scotland, interior furnishings from France.  There was a air ducting system them funneled cooler air from outside into the auditorium and released it in vents under the seats. Caruso sang there as did Pavarotti.

The Stage and Curtain - Teatro Amazonas

In the age of horse drawn carriages they were worried about too much noise from passing carriages so they had special tiles made using the local rubber that deadened the sound of the wheels and the horses hooves.  A section of these tiles is still present.

Palace of Justice

Next stop was the Palace of Justice, another impressive building behind the Opera House.  I got a tour from one of the attendants there who spoke reasonable English.  It is a beautiful building and the interior offices and courtroom had some wonderful old wooden furnishings.

Port of Manaus

I next walked down to the port area where there were many large riverboats waiting to take passengers to the surrounding area - as far as Belem to the east and Iquitos the west.  It is the easiest and cheapest mode of transportation in the area.  Passengers bring their hammocks and string them up in the open deck areas.  I booked a trip on a tourist boat to see the meeting of the rivers and various other sites for next Monday.

Palacio Rio Negro

I then walked to the Palacio Rio Negro which was the home of one of the richest rubber barons, the German born Waldemar Scholz.  It became the Governor's Mansion for many years and now is open to the public as a museum of the Belle Epoque period. 

A nice dinner in the evening at one of the finest hotels, the Opera.  I had some amazing ceviche from the local Aruana fish.

Three Kings Night Celebrations

In the evening there were thousands of people in the Opera Square celebrating Three Kings day.  What an amazing party - music, dancing, food, and literally thousands of people.

Three Kings Night Celebrations

I don’t know what time the party stopped that night, it was still going on close to midnight.  The next day, Sunday, I went out to the Museum of the Amazon or MUSA as it is known as.  This is a park just outside the city where the wonders of the Amazon jungle can be experienced.  There are walks through the jungle, exhibits for snakes and spiders, a tower so you can climb above the treetops.

 

In the Museum of the Amazon

I had just been into the arachnid house to see all sorts of fearsome spiders in glass cages when I was walking down the trail and I saw a big brown thing scuttle across the path ahead of me.  When I got to that part of the trail I saw in the undergrowth a magnificent giant spider.  It was a Aranha Golias or Goliath Birdeater, a member of the tarantula family.  What a magnificent specimen.  It was stationary and well camouflaged in the leaves and twigs.  I took some pictures and then perhaps I got too close and it darted off further into the undergrowth, scaring the daylights out of me, it moved so fast.

The Goliath Birdeater Spider

The tower was interesting.  It had platforms at three different levels, the top one 140 ft above ground looking down on the jungle below - quite impressive. 

View of the Jungle from the Tower

I Ubered back to the city for a late lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around.  It is not a huge city and I covered much of the same territory again.

  

High Water Marks for the Amazon

Down at the port again I noticed that there was a record of the high water levels of the Amazon over the last 100 or so years.  Of course it was quite clear that the high water marks for all the recent years were well above those of an earlier time.  There’s global warming for you.

The Meeting of the Waters

The next morning it was time to take the boat trip from the harbor.  There were maybe 30 or so people on the boat and we embarked from the dock at the port.  First we motored downstream past the industrial areas of Manaus to the confluence of the Amazon and the Rio Negro.  Manaus is on the Rio Negro but just outside of the city it joins with the Amazon.  Where the waters meet there is a distinct line of the dark water of the Rio Negro and the muddy brown water of the Amazon.  Because the two rivers are a different density, different temperature and a different flow rate they do not immediately mix and there is a sharp delineation between the two flows for several miles downstream.

Pirarucu

We then motored upstream for a short distance to some small floating buildings where we were given the opportunity to see some giant fish.  The Pirarucu is a large freshwater fish, in fact the largest freshwater fish, and it can be in excess of 6ft long.  The floating huts had crude ponds contained in them where several of these fish were kept captive.  The locals had crude fishing poles with pieces of fish tied to the end of the strings.  The idea was to hold the fish parts just on top of the water and the pirarucu would snap the fish off the line in a lightning fast snap of their mouths.  They are indeed very impressive fish.  Good eating too I am told.

Monkeys begging for treats

After we had become tired of watching the fish perform we moved on to an area where there was a walkway through the jungle.  This was quite an interesting area.  There were several monkeys in the trees and they had become adept at begging for treats from the visiting tourists.  They were quite cute and quite used to human contact.  There were some amazingly large trees - one in particular, a ceiba or kapok tree.  Also in a lake are some huge water lily pads.

Ceiba Tree

At this point it was lunch time and we were due to visit a floating restaurant but before we could disembark the wind whipped up and the rain came down.  It was just too risky to put out into the river in such weather so we stayed tied up for a while until the wind had died down.

Storm Clouds brewing

When the winds died down a little we motored over to where the floating restaurant and tied up there.  We had a nice buffet lunch of fish, chicken and rice and then set off once more.  This time to visit a native village.

Natives dancing for the tourists

We moored the boat in a small inlet of the main passage and walked up a very muddy trail to a village sitting above the present river level up a slight hill.  Probably the village was built above the high water level in rainy season.

I don’t like these sort of shows put on by natives for the benefit of tourists.  It always seems a bit demeaning.  Sure it is interesting to see how they live or perhaps these days lived but we don’t need to see them performing for tourist dollars.  Anyway they didn’t ask me and so I had to go along.  There were photo opportunities with the wild life - caymans, sloths, pythons, monkeys.  There were dancing exhibitions and face painting.  Quite embarrassing.

The new Rio Negro Bridge

Back on the boat we then motored a good ways up the Rio Negro, past Manaus, under the big road bridge over the river and tied up alongside more floating cabins.  This was the chance to see the pink dolphins.  I thought at first the dolphins might be captive but no, they were free swimming.  The hosts slapped the water with planks of wood to make a sound that the dolphins associated with feeding time and then folks got into the water while one of the hosts held up fish for the dolphins to come to the surface and eat.  A lot of folk went in to swim with the dolphins (not really swimming but more bobbing around in the water) but I resisted (easy when I didn’t have a towel.

Swimming with the Pink Dolphins

Back in the boat again, we returned to the dock in Manaus.  The native village visit was a bit contrived and unnecessary, and the dolphin swim would have been better if we just observed the dolphins but all in all it was an interesting day trip.

Manaus river front

Next morning, my last in Manaus, I walked down to the port again and then went out towards the market area.  I was amazed at how many other boats were moored on the shore downstream from the main port area.  Literally hundreds of them and early in the morning there was a lot of activity.

  

The old public market

There is an old market from the early 1900’s that is quite a beautiful building and then there is a larger more modern market that is not so attractive but probably more appropriate for today’s environment.  I enjoyed walking through the markets, particularly the fish vendors.  Fish are a staple of the diet there and there are some wonderful creatures they fish out  of the Amazon and Rio Negro.

Fish Market

It started to rain so it was not the best of times to walk the streets.  I went to the Palacio Provencal which now houses a museum and art gallery.  That provided a nice escape from the rain.  The art gallery was surprisingly quite good.  There were also exhibits in the museum of military paraphernalia from the Colonial times, and then for some reason an impressive collection of old coins from around the world.

I went back to the hotel to dry out and get ready to go to the airport.  The first flight was to Brasilia where there was a long (3 hr) layover before the flight to Sao Paulo.  I arrived in Sao Paulo at 1:00 am and got a room at an airport hotel, in Guarulhos.  The next day it was still raining so I killed time in the hotel before going to the airport again for my evening flight to Chicago and then home to Sacramento.

There are more photos here.   

Paraguay - January 2023

After arriving back in Buenos Aires following the Antarctica trip, I went on to Paraguay to spend a few days in Asunción and the surrounding area.  I switched out my heavy warm Antarctic clothing for lighter and cooler tropical clothing.  Thankfully Mary Ann was heading back to Sacramento and could take my extra bag and clothing back with her.

I caught an early morning flight on New Year’s Eve from Ezeiza airport to Asunción.  The arrival in Asunción was straightforward with no customs issues.  I got some money out of an ATM - around 7,400 guarani to the dollar and took a taxi into town, to my hotel, a very nice restored old hotel, the Palmaroga.

Governors Palace, Palacio Lopez

After checking in I went for a walk around the city. It was very hot and quite humid and I was soon quite damp.   For a Saturday, New Year’s Eve, there were remarkably few people around the streets and even fewer shops and businesses open.  The main part of the old city is quite small and was easily walked around that afternoon. There is a beautiful Governor’s Palace and a modest Cathedral next to a shabby park, two or three shabby parks with a few statues and a lot of nice murals. 

Murals in the old town

This old part of the city was a mix of older historical buildings from the colonial period and more modern buildings.  All of them, even the newer ones, were looking a little disheveled and in need of attention.  The damp humid climate ages things quickly there.  Mildew and mold grows in the damp climate and it particularly seems to attack concrete buildings that while perhaps not too old are stained with black mold.  Then there is the scourge of every poor country (and a few rich ones) - pavements cracked and uneven. 

Derrick Cranes in the Old Port

I walked down towards the port which is on a bay off the Paraguay River called the Bahia de Asunción.  There were some beautiful old derrick cranes that one time ran on rail tracks along the dockside.  Nowadays they are no longer functioning but they look nice 

 

The Bahia de Asuncion

I returned to the hotel in the evening only to find that for New Year’s Eve the hotel’s restaurant was fully booked and they couldn’t squeeze me in.  When I asked about nearby restaurants all I got was no, there’s nothing open.  I walked out onto the street and the street was indeed empty and all was quiet.

 

New Years Eve Asuncion

All I could do was room service - a hamburger and fries. Not what I had expected for New Year’s Eve but it sufficed and I was tired.  I went to bed early and then got up just before midnight and went up to the roof of the hotel.  There were a few people up there already in anticipation of the celebrations. 

Fireworks at Midnight, New Years Eve

Strangely the streets by the hotel were completely quiet but then as midnight approached fireworks started going off in the distance.  There is a modern area of town some miles away and that looked like where all the action was.  There was a great cacophony of fireworks over that side of town and it went on for quite a while.  The old part of the city where I was was quiet. I watched for a while and then returned to my room.

Palacio de Lopez

The next morning, Sunday, New Years Day, I set off for another walk around the town.  By 10:00 am it was already quite hot and humid.  The old town was almost deserted again, though perhaps that was not surprising as it was both a Sunday and New Years Day.  I walked down to the Governor’s Palace, the Palacio de Lopez, a beautiful red colored building, perhaps the most impressive building in the city.  It was built to be the residence of Governor Lopez in the 1860’s.  Unfortunately the Triple Alliance War (Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia versus Paraguay) prevented him from taking up residence and it fell into disrepair.  It was later renovated and, in 1890, it became government offices, still its function today.

Mariscal Lopez

Monument in Plaza de Indepencia

Next to the Governor’s Palace is a park, the Plaza de Independencia. It was in the process of being renovated and parts of it were fenced off.  There are several statues and monuments in the park.  A statue of Juan de Salazar de Espinoza, the founder of Asuncion in 1537, with his sword outstretched.  Another of Mariscal Lopez on his horse.  He was the president of Paraguay in the 1860’s.   There is also a monument in the form of a tree trunk.  This is to commemorate the founding of Asuncion.  Apparently it was the habit to place a tree trunk in the middle of a fort in those early days.  

Asuncion Cathedral

The Cathedral is at the other end of the park.  It is relatively simple and plain inside for a Catholic church.  It was empty too, even though it was Sunday.

Railway Station with statue of Carlos Antonio Lopez

Steam Train, Asuncion

I next came across the old Railway Station.  President Carlos Antonio Lopez initiated the building of a railway, one of the first in South America, in 1854.  By the time it was finished his son Mariscal was the president and the triple alliance war put an end to the glory days of Paraguay.  The railway was eventually extended to the Argentinian border and it was in operation until 1999.  The station itself is a lovely building and there are a couple of old steam engines inside along with some old carriages.  Alas the Station, like everything else on a Sunday, was closed.  A short way away there was another old steam train by the side of the road that now ran through where the tracks once lay.

Jose Artigas in Plaza Uruguaya

Just south of the railway station was Plaza Uruguaya.  A pleasant park with a few statues, one being Jose Artigas the National Hero and Liberator of Uruguay.

Casa de Madame Lynch

Nearby was the Casa de Madame Lynch.  Eliza Lynch was a very interesting woman.  She was born in County Cork, Ireland and escaped the famine to live in Paris spent time in ALgeria with her first husband then returned to Paris where she met Mariscal Lopez and followed him to Paraguay.  They never married but she bore him 6 children and at one time was the most important and powerful woman in Paraguay.

The Panteon

Walking on I found the Plaza de los Héroes.  This is a large park comprising 4 separate parks, Plaza Juan O'Leary, Plaza de la Democracia, Plaza de la Libertad, and Plaza de los Héroes.  In the corner of Plaza de los Héroes is the Panteon, a beautiful building that houses the mortal remains of several Paraguayan heroes. 

 

Palmaroga Hotel

Back at the hotel in the afternoon I went up to the roof of the hotel and cooled off in the pool.  Quite nice but it soon got very hot again and drove me indoors.  

Beach on the Bahia de Asuncion

Afterwards in the late afternoon I again walked down to the port and out along the waterfront.  There was a small beach area further to the east.  Not a great beach but the only place where I saw a lot of people congregating during my entire stay in Paraguay. For some reason there is a Gandhi bust on the promenade above the beach.

Gandhi

I returned to the hotel where I was able to get a seat in the restaurant and a good evening meal.

The next day I arranged for a driver, Pedro, to take me on a tour of some of the surrounding area.  There is a route called the Circuito del Oro that is a circuit of some of the old Jesuit and Franciscan towns to the east and southeast of Asuncion.  I wouldn't have time to visit all of these towns but in a 5 or 6 hour tour I could sample a few of them. 

Conmebol Football Complex

We drove out of Asuncion over to the newer modern part of town known as Luque.  This is where all the new growth seems to have been going on.  On the way we passed the center of South American Football, the CONMEBOL complex.  Football is huge in Paraguay, as it is in all of the South American countries and the governing body for South American Football is located in Luque.  There is a museum there but that was not high on my list of places to visit.

Church - Aregua

Leaving Asuncion and Luque behind we drove to Aregua.  This is a town that is the center of the ceramic and pottery industry.  We stopped and walked up the main street which consisted of many shops all selling the same colorful pottery.  How can so many shops survive when they all sell the same items, I don’t know.  On top of the hill in Arequa there is a beautiful old church.  Alas it was not open.

Train Station - Ypacari

We moved on to Ypacarai where there was an old railway station with a steam train in front of it.  This was a station on the line from Asuncion to the Argentinian border.  The steam engine was a beautiful machine just sitting on the rails outside the station.  In the hot and humid climate it perhaps is suffering some damage and that is a shame.

Church  - Ypacari

Moving on from Ypacarai we next stopped in Paraguari, another small town with a small church.   Again this church was not open though you could see through the window that it was a relatively simple interior.

Interior Yaguaron Church 

From Paraguari we drove to Yaguaron where there was the most beautiful little church.  It had a relatively simple exterior but the interior was wonderful.  It was covered with the most elaborate and beautiful wood carvings - simply amazing.  As seems to be the norm here the church was locked but Pedro knew the caretaker so we stopped on the way to pick him up and he let us in.  The church was definitely a real treasure. 

Steam Train - Paraguari

We then drove back to Paraguari to the other side of the town to visit another train station.  Again there was a beautiful old steam train sitting outside the station. 

Church - Caacupe

We moved on to our next stop in Caacupe where there was a relatively modern large church.  This church has become a pilgrim site and many people make their way there on foot from the surrounding area.  Indeed there were a large number of people in and around the church.  I was not particularly impressed by the more modern church.  The older and simpler churches were much more attractive.

Lago Ypacari, San Bernardino

Next stop was San Bernardino which is by the side of Lago Ypacari.  This is quite a large lake and it looks like in the right weather it could be quite nice.  There is a beach and restaurants and bars.  However on this day it was not so inviting.  It was gray and cool and quite windy.  We didn’t stay long.  As we left town we passed by a fine old hotel - Hotel del Lago.  Apparently Antoine de Saint Exupery stayed there - that is its claim to fame.

That was the end of my tour and we headed back towards Asuncion and my hotel.  Pedro did a good job as a guide.  It was late afternoon when I arrived back in Asuncion and I again went out walking around town.  I enjoyed taking photos of the decaying buildings and there were some lovely murals to photograph too.

Asuncion

The next day, Tuesday 3 Jan, was to be my last day in Paraguay.  I had an evening flight from Asuncion to Sao Paulo.  In the morning it was again gray and raining.  I took an opportunity to get out during a break in the rain but I didn’t get far before the rain came bucketing down again and I beat a hasty retreat to the hotel.  

Military at the ready

Finally later in the morning there was another break and I got out for another walk around town.  For some reason, there was quite a prominent military presence around town.  Armed combat vehicles were parked around the government buildings with attentive soldiers on guard.  Previously whenever I had seen a soldier or policeman they had been either sleeping or looking at their cell phones.  Today they were paying attention.

I went to the Cathedral again and then tried to get into the small museum next to the Cathedral.  It was closed though the sign said it should be open.  There were 5 or 6 others waiting to get in the museum and when someone came out we asked what was happening and they said it wouldn’t be open until February.  Our dismay made them reconsider and they opened especially for us.  It wasn’t that great a museum - mainly religious artifacts from the 18th and 19th Century.

Back at the hotel I had lunch, and then after a late 3:00 o'clock check out I took a taxi to the airport.  An early arrival at the airport and an uneventful short flight to Sao Paulo where I arrived around 10:00 pm.  Paraguay is perhaps not the most exciting place to visit but I got to like its shabby rundown appearance and relatively small city feel.

There are more photos here.