Rare Adventures

Category: Adventures

Stories about travel and adventure

  • Manaus – where the Waters Meet

    Manaus – where the Waters Meet

    There aren’t many reasons to come to Manaus if you are a traveller looking for adventure. It is a big city, home to over 2 million people who have lots of cars and vans living busy and congested lives a long way from the rest of Western civilisation.

    It is hot and humid all year round, has very little in the way of architectural history apart from a few buildings that are the legacy of the Portuguese rule, and it is far off the beaten track so if you are here then it is probably to explore the Amazon.

    One unexpected discovery was that Manaus is home to a professional football team called Amazonas FC that is only 6 years old. This is very unusual as most teams count their age in decades and centuries. Apparently, they were formed because Manaus had fallen off the Brazilian football map in recent years, despite it being a World Cup venue in 2014.

    By sheer coincidence, they stayed in the Intercity Hotel on the same days as us. It is quite an interesting thing watching a professional football team building up to a game. Strict food consumption, then the team meeting in a conference room the night before and then just generally killing time before they departed for the stadium 2 hours before the game.

    To be honest, it looked a very boring lifestyle, but then again, 9-5 in a factory or office is boring as well, but a lot less glamorous if they are selected to play, and they had a nice bus.

    Manaus is in the middle of the Brazilian rainforest and is at the convergence of the two monster rivers that form the Amazon. Both rivers are significant in their own right, but when they combine, they create a huge waterway. The Rio Solimoes originate in the Peruvian Andes, whilst the Rio Negro originates in the Colombian jungle thousands of miles away. Everything going on in the city is related to these massive waterways which provide the most efficient transportation system through the surrounding jungle.

    The convergence of the two rivers causes a natural phenomenon, “The Meeting of the Waters”, hardly original!  The phenomenon is that the rivers converge but don’t mix, one is a dark brown, and the other is a light brown. So, there is a stream of dark water from the Rio Negro, which is slightly denser and colder than the water coming from the Rio Solimoes, which has a light brown coloured water.

    We went out in a boat to see the effect, and you can put your hand in the light brown water which is one temperature and 10m away put your hand in the dark water and feel that it is colder.

    Apart from the “Meeting of the Waters” we could not really find anything particularly interesting to do as we prepared for our jungle trek. We have seen plenty of old colonial buildings in our travels, so we restricted our activities to using the hotel pool before we headed off into the jungle on our adventure.

    We did take time out to visit the Manaus shopping mall in search of some additional trekking supplies, but to be honest, it seems that the jungle trekking industry is not particularly prominent, but we did manage to find a couple of long sleeve tops to prepare of the trip.

    We also discovered that Christmas comes early in the Amazon

  • 10 things I didn’t expect to find in Argentina.

    10 things I didn’t expect to find in Argentina.

    After 2 weeks travelling the length and breadth of Argentina, we discovered a few things we didn’t expect, here is a quick summary for those planning a visit.

    1. Buenos Aires is an amazingly beautiful city. It would be one of the most attractive capitals if it was in Europe. Big French and Italian influence come through loud in clear as you move around. I am sure that the grid system was great when it was first installed, now it is a well-established gridlock. The suburbs of La Boca and Palermo Soho are not to be missed.
    2. Italian influence.  Speaking Spanish I was fully expecting it a lot of Spanish culture, but it is much more Italian. All over the country the local’s area speaking Spanish with an Italian accent, it is very noticeable when they speak English as well.
    3. British music – wherever you go in Argentina, you will find 80s and 90s Britpop playing. The thing that is weird is that it all the songs are cover versions of the tunes by alternative singers, I suspect this may be to get around music licensing laws.
    4. Lovely People – happy, friendly and lots speak enough English to get by. In fact, there is a lot more British influence than they realise. They also don’t like using shower gel, it is clearly a big luxury in that part of the world.
    5. Stunning scenery – we have also concluded once you have seen one mountain you have seen them all, even if it is in mystical Patagonia. We have some really beautiful places, but it is also rugged and wild, the Argentinian side of the Andes is barren desert as the mountains take the rain. Unlike Europe, there are no foothills that build up to the range, it goes from flat desert to mountains very suddenly.
    6. Vaping – basically they don’t, there are still a few smokers around, but vaping is non-existent.
    7. Cash and credit cards – getting cash out of the ATMs is really expensive, minimum £8 service charge and often a lot more. I also found using credit cards online is hard work as UK cards seemed to assume I was a fraudster.
    8. Internal Flights – the country is huge, so air travel is essential, but it is expensive and more unreliable than we were expecting.  We had a very bad start with FlyBondi, but after that most flights were at least on the same day, but always late.
    9. Cost of living – it is pretty much the same prices as the UK, steak and Malbec is a bit cheaper but not massive. All their menus are digital as the prices are always rising.
    10. Homosexuality – Argentina is one of the most permissive countries from that perspective, they were the first to have same sex marriage, we even saw a gay pride march in Ushuaia, they all looked a bit nippy.  
  • Exploring “the end of the world” around Ushuaia

    Exploring “the end of the world” around Ushuaia

    Having travelled to the most southerly point in the Americas, it feels like you should so something significant to remember it. When I first planned the trip, I was hoping to stand on Cape Horn and see the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet as I had done in Africa. The problem with the southern tip of America is that it littered with little islands, so Cape Horn seems to be a bit more of an area than a specific point. 

    The same applies to the most southerly point, as the Beagle Channel is 200km long it is it along there somewhere. As the channel and surrounding mountain are the border between Argentinian and Chilean territory, there is a general disagreement on most things, so the Ushuaia claims the prize of most southerly point, but Chile has a village on one of the islands with a similar claim, but as it is an island it doesn’t count in my book.

    There are lots of tour companies in Ushuaia offering pretty much the same packages, either a cruise or a trip to the Tierra del Fuego national park. It is quite difficult to make sense of it all through Tripadvisor as the companies are all offering different sounding packages but they are the basically the same thing.

    The Beagle Channel cruises, this is the channel that separates Argentina from Chile, and giant catamarans ply the waters to 2 destinations. The first is the cruise to the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse out in the middle of the channel, the most southerly lighthouse in the world, then there are the all day cruises to the penguin colony way down the channel towards the Atlantic, so we chose the one to the lighthouse which was 3 hours.

    The Tierra Del Fuego national park trips were dressed up in many different ways, but basically it is minibus trip around the national park with something else. The big attraction if the “Train at the end of the World”, so we chose the 5 hour trip and the train ride. Other options included, canoes, rafts and even a game of golf, but it was still the same national park.

    Beagle Channel Cruise  

    We set off at 9am in a freezing cold wind blowing along the channel that separates Chile from Argentina.  The trip was sold out, mostly to  Germans doing a South Atlantic cruise, seemed a bit odd to get off a cruise ship and then go back up the same channel in a smaller ship.

    After bouncing around in the waves running down the channel, our first stop was a remote island and the last bit of land owned by Argentina, everything south of here is Chilean apparently. The landing was quite a surprise, the huge catamaran just ran up on the beach, and we all marched down the gangplank for the professional photo opportunity.

    Apparently, some guy decided to live on this island 100 years ago, and he must have been a very hardy soul, because it was freezing and very exposed even in spring or nearly summer.  We concluded he must have either been very unsociable or was kicked out of Ushuaia by the locals.

    Then we were back on the boat, with the wind behind us it wasn’t so rough as we ran with the waves. Next stop was a remote rock occupied by a range of seabirds, mainly cormorants and penguins, they made a spectacular sight. If you couldn’t see them, you could certainly smell them as the rock was covered in seabird poop that even the elements couldn’t clean up, we circled the rocks, so everyone got a good view and plenty of photos.

    The views along the channel were spectacular, the visibility improved as the day went on and we had a great view of the snow covered mountains on both sides of the channel.

    Next stop further up the channel was the most southerly lighthouse in the world. Once again it was a spectacular display of wildlife with the main difference being the sealion colony with occupied the rocky outcrops.

    The trip was about 3 hours in total and pretty good value for money as the views are unique.  We were very glad we didn’t commit to the 6 hour cruise to see the penguin colony, that must be a very long day in those conditions unless you are desperate to see a penguin colony.

    Opinion – must do having come all this way

    Here is a video of the highlights

    Tierra del Fuego national park.  

    This is the southern tip of Patagonia, and the tour took in some interesting places, but in general it was very similar to a lot of the other national parks we have visited in Patagonia, lakes and snow topped mountains and border disagreements with Chile.

    There are constant reminders of how remote this national park is, at the limit of civilisation and due to the wild conditions, the limit of human habitation. There were indigenous people here for thousands of years surviving in this wild climate, but they didn’t survive the arrival of the Europeans and their viruses.

    The start (or end) of the Pan American highway is one of the stops, it is difficult to imagine that this stretches all the way to the tip of Alaka, anyone cycling or driving to this point would probably wonder if it was all worthwhile, as it ends as a rough track, the last sign for the Highway 3 and a little plaque to commemorate your arrival.

    To be honest there isn’t a lot else to see, we dropped in to see the last Post Office at the end of the world, but apparently it is now shut. The postmaster is in his eighties and doesn’t turn up for work much, so wouldn’t recommend posting a card to anyone.

    The main event is the “Train at the end of the World”. Apparently, this was built by convicts who had been despatched to the penal colony back in the day. It wasn’t entirely clear why they built this railway as it doesn’t seem to go anywhere particularly useful other than the old prison, but it would certainly have kept the convicts busy for a few years.

    It is just a small gauge railway that trundles along a river, through some woods, stops off to look at a waterfall, and then tracks around the edges of a peat swamp that they are careful not to disturb and let off methane.

    If you have ever been to the Highlands of Scotland, you have seen everything this national park has to offer, in fact, one of the local jokes is that the Brits travelled all this was around the world to find the same weather conditions and scenery that they already had at home.

    Opinion – expensive, symbolic but not essential

    Here’s the video of our train ride

  • Highlights of a day in Ushuaia

    Highlights of a day in Ushuaia

    Ushuaia is that last bit of civilisation before you get to Antarctica, the tourist industry calls it the end of the world, and it certainly is the end of the road, the pan American Highway 3 starts or ends here depending on which way you are heading.

    Ushuaia is a wild and windswept place surrounded by towering snow covered mountains all around it, with the Beagle Channel separating Argentina with Chile just across the straights. Coming into land was a bit of an experience with a 70mph wind behind us and no sign of land until you hit the runway, in our case, with a bit of a bump.

    We had a nice little place called Hotel Austral the room even had a heated floor to keep us warm, and it was no coincidence that our hotel was located next to the Dubliner Irish Bar, this seemed a great idea until they all piled out at 2am singing.

    I’ve now been to the most southerly point of 5 of the 7 continents and this is without doubt the wildest, Cape Horn is on an island about 50 miles away on one of the myriads of islands they provide the barrier between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Antarctica is about 800 miles south and there are winds that reach 150mph.

    Ushuaia is the capital of the Malvinas, part of which includes the Falkland Islands, so we were not too sure how Brits would be greeted in this area. However, we had no need to be concerned as the locals were very friendly and welcoming, that having been said, I wouldn’t advise wearing a Union Jack t shirt and we left our England rugby bobble hats at home. The war is basically a subject to be left alone and generations tend to move on.

    Ushuaia has found it’s way into the global tourist industry by virtue of building a cruise liner port that is the stop off for trips to the Antarctic, it has also built an amazing airport on a spur of land that juts out into the Beagle Channel and is very exposed to the elements.

    The end of November is the start of their summer, and it is cold and windswept, so it is difficult to imagine how desolate it must be in the winter.  It is a major skiing centre, nearly all the shops are dedicated to skiing and outdoor sports, but the Argentinian skiers must be hardy souls as this is the equivalent of skiing in the Arctic, like the Norwegians!

    Ushuaia is basically one long waterfront, which has been adapted to cope with cruise visitors near the key. Unlike Mediterranean cruise ports, there is no bargain gold or watches shops, a few souvenirs are about it. The cruise clientele coming through are made of hardier stuff as they are on their way to Antarctica.

    It is also home to a very dull museum and a Hard Rock Cafe, that wasn’t exactly bouncing either.

    Running parallel to the waterfront is the main shopping street, another very long street with all the shops interspersed with coffee and cake shops, eating to stay warm seems to be the local pastime.

    There is a notable lack of bars anywhere. Apart from our local Irish Bar we only found one other proper bar, and that was our old favourite from El Calafate the Patagonian Brewing Company again.

    We worked out that, due to its location, it was almost certainly the most southerly bar in the Americas, so we grabbed the table in the window, which made it the most southerly table, and had a beer to celebrate drinking in the most southerly, place and followed up with more beers and a lamb burger to fully celebrate reaching the end of our journey south.

    To be honest, there isn’t much to do in Ushuaia other than walk along the waterfront and get a few photos. We visited a museum that was utterly boring and reflected a history of hard labour as a penal colony and the indigenous people who were largely wiped out by the arrival of the Europeans and their ailments.

    There is a poignant reminder of the Falklands War, with images of the Argentinian troops occupying the islands. For me, it was very sad to see the images of young conscripts, brave and totally ill equipped on a mission to regain what they saw as their national territory. The problem was that the British naval forces, supported by some of the best paratroopers and commandoes in the world were on their way to reclaim it, so there was only ever going to be one outcome.

    The main trips are the Beagle Channel and the Tierra Del Fuego national park, which I will cover in a separate blog.

  • El Chalten – the hard way

    El Chalten – the hard way

    Trekking capital of Argentina, but where do we start?

    This was a difficult trip to work out. El Chalten is known as the trekking capital of Patagonia, but I found it difficult to find an organised trip that went somewhere. The answer I had been seeking became quite straight forward when I arrived as there are no organised treks. The very helpful receptionist, Mattheus in our hotel explained that all the treks are well marked out so there is no need for a guide.

    Being in a foreign land, we didn’t really fancy wandering off into the Patagonian mountains in search of a good time on our own, but in truth, it was that simple. All the treks leave from the same car park, and you can choose the route you to take, ranging from an 8km return to a look out over Mt Fitzroy or much longer treks to the various refuges on the mountain where you can restock on provisions and spend the night.

    Knowing what I know now, I would not have done it the way we did I would have taken the bus, stayed overnight, and given myself 8 hours to enjoy the trek and the mountains. This is what a lot of the guidance says, and it was our plan, but the guidance also glorifies El Chalten, which to be honest is a bit of a one horse town and there is no reason to be there other than a hike or trek.

    We are also out of season, so I suspect in the high season there will be more group treks available to see the main sights and lakes up in the region. We were dithering over what to do when I spotted a one day excursion from El Calafate which included a couple of guided treks with a company called South Road, which seemed to solve the problem. It involved a transfer up to El Chalten, a picnic pack, and 4 hours free time to do a hike.

     At this point, their organiser called Liam intervened. The evening before he sent us joining instructions that involved a 630am start rather than an 8am as we had expected, plus links to organise a visitor’s visas to Chile and a ticket for the national park. This was an exciting development as we hadn’t realised we were going to Chile. After 2 hours of pain on websites with no English translations, plus battles with our credit cards who were reluctant to fund the trip, we finally had the necessary documentation ready to go. As the clock hit midnight, we hit the pillow looking forward what was now only 5 hours kip.

    Next morning we were up and ready for the tour, and in reception for 6.15 am and annoyed the breakfast lady by making a dawn raid on her croissants and coffee. She actually chased me out of the dining room at one point. At 630am we were ready to go, time ticked on, 645, 700, 715 still no bus. I contacted the tour company and discovered a moron named Liam had sent us the wrong details and the bus would be with us at 745 for an 8am departure – FFS. Thanks Liam, that was 3.5 hours of my life, or in fact sleep that day, that I will never get back.

    They even failed that target time, and the bus turned up sometime after 8am, I didn’t really notice as I’d lost consciousness with frustration. Eventually we got on a magnificent looking off road bus and had a bouncy 3 hours’ drive up the famous M40, which is part of the Panamerican highway and runs along the Patagonian range and into Bolivia.

    We arrived in El Chalten about midday, and if ever there was a one horse town this is it. You arrive out of the desert and joined the main street which ends at the car park where the trails start, along the road there is procession of single story coffee shops and gift shops that don’t really grab your attention.

    At the end of the street is a canyon with a milky glacial river, and through that canyon blew freezing cold winds and there was even a flurry of sleet to greet us, it was bitter.

    So, we piled on the trekking gear, and within 20 minutes we were stripped down to our t-shirts, that is how quickly the temperature was changing.

    With 4 hours to play with, our hike options were limited so we headed for Cerro Torre in the hope of seeing Mt Fitzroy and the massive glacier. We also hoped to get to Largo Capri, but the hiking was pretty tough with lots of ups and downs, so we settled for the lookout.

    The weather and visibility were changing all the time and occasionally supported by icy rain when closer to El Chalten and that valley. Whilst we sat eating our picnic overlooking the valley, we were lucky enough to get a break in the mist and clouds and caught a glimpse of the two most spectacular views.

    Mt Fitzroy suddenly appeared to our right, with a brief view straight to the peak, and then a break in the clouds along the valley exposed another massive glacier 10km in the distance.

    It was then back to meet the coach. The courier, Sandra, had warned everyone that the coach would leave at 1530 on the dot, and definitely no later than 1545 (already a compromise). Not surprisingly the coach didn’t leave at any of these times, in fact, we were stood by the coach in the freezing rain until gone 1600, at which point Sandra and the lunch brigade appeared from the restaurant, and after the various pickupss, we were well on our way 1 hour late.

    We got back to El Calafette at 7pm, roughly 13 hours after our journey started and we had a 4 hour hike, so you can see why there are probably better options.

    So, there we have it, we have done the trekking capital of Patagonia and did a hike to prove our credentials, now it is time to head south and the freezing seas of Antarctica and give some appropriate feedback to South Road.