Holed up in Lencois

04 Apr Went on a one day tour of the area with 3 Israelis, 4 Germans and us 2 Paddys. Our mode of transport was an ancient VW bus that struggled all the way pulling 10 lads around the place and even broke down a few times. Along the way to our first attraction a bird flew in front of us and we hit it head on. We stopped and walked back to see if it was dead or if it could be saved. Not sure what type of bird it was but it was some sort of small hawk. The guide inspected the bird and told us, other than a cut on his leg, it had a broken wing. We put it in the van and the guide said he´d bring him home and try to get him better. Down the road a bit more the bird started squaking like a mad thing ( probably the shock subsiding and the pain hitting home) and jumping and flapping, with his one good wing, around the van. It was hilarious pandamonium, but the driver took it to the reception of the first attraction and as the staff were taking a look at it, it had a heart attack and died. Poor auld thing was terrified and probably wondered how its life had changed and ended in a matter of minutes.
Anyway we went down these caves and saw staligtites and staligmites and the silence down there, when the guide turned off the lights and told us to be quiet, was deafining.
Later on we went to rock pools where we swam and up this mountain for views of the surrounding valleys. It was a crap enough tour but had good craic with the lads.

05 Apr This morning at about 3am, I was awoken to the loudest bang Id ever heard in my life. It is coming into rainy season here and the thunder and lightening storms at night are getting more common. At the same time as that loud bang a bolt of lightening hit a hostel down the road and blew a hole in the concrete floor 6 inches across. All their electrics were melted and all appliances that had been plugged in were fried. All the rains of that night required us to take the 40 minute trek to the nearby river (known as the waterslide river, due to its natural waterslides) to watch the raging torrents swirl their way downstream. It was great craic hopping in and out of the pools enjoying natural swirlpools and jacuzzis. The water was really brown and is apparently full of healing minerals as the previous nights rainwater mixed with the forest floor which is on the outer edge of the Amazon.
That evening, Fiachra and a few of the other lads booked a 3 day trek for the following day into the national park. I decided to opt out of it as they were sleeping out in the open and probably going to get drowned at night.

06 Apr Today I went to the school for another morning of teaching the local kids. My job was to entertain and occupy the youngest kids (5+) while the teachers helped the older kids with their English and Maths. I had a pack of cards and played `Match the numbers´ i.e. put all the fours together and all the kings together etc. After a few rounds of that I moved onto `Snap´. They had never played it before and once they got a hang of it they were screaming with delight and hitting the table as hard as they could with their hands. The youngest ones were slamming down their hands and shouting snap even when there was no match. They couldnt undestand that they were not allowed have the cards. As I did not have the Portugese to explain it to them the older ones thankfully did that job. At the end of their 2 hour day (I was exhausted) I told them it would be poker tomorrow and to bring their pocket money.
That afternoon we (me and the teachers) went to the once weekly market but although it was interesting to see, I wasnt in the market for fish heads, boxes of un recognisable vegetables or chinese radio cassette players.

07 Apr Went on a one day hike today to see the Fumasa waterfall. It is a waterfall so high that the water turns to mist before it reaches the bottom. Getting there involves a 140km round trip by car and a 14km round trip walk from the car park to the fall. The waterfall was impressive enough but nothing like what Id seen before. Getting their was very scenic and the walking trails were lovely but the biggest laugh of the day was from this American girl. She asked me over lunch what the guides name was, as she had forgotten. I told her it was `Frango´ which means chicken in Portugese. We were howling with laughter as the guide was too polite to correct her and she was going on to him Frango this and Frango that.

08 Apr Is it that time of the year again? I spent a good deal of time this morning replying to birthday emails. I never knew how many one gets through Facebook. That evening the day was celebrated, over a few drinks in town, with a few people from the hostel.

09 Apr As we are pretty much stuck here over the Easter, Buses are booked out and nothing much happens in a Catholic country like Brazil at this time. The days are spent pottering about not doing anything much in particular.

10 Apr See above and add a visit to the waterslides and lots of people in town for the Easter break.