twofunkyhearts

I arrived in Alto Paraiso, the main town in the region of Chapada dos Veadeiros last week. After renting a car from the airport I figured I had a great plan: stay a couple of days then return the car to Brasilia before catching a bus to Rio and eventually making my way south to Uruguay to get back to Spanish lessons and perhaps hit the beach.

That plan didn’t last long. This place seems to suck you in and not let you go – I’ve met several people who came for 10 days and it’s now two years later. I might be one of them.

The natural beauty of Chapada dos Veadeiros is stunning. Within 25km you can visit over 30 major waterfalls. There’s a national park nearby where I’ve been running on trails of quartz. In fact, this place is the brightest spot on earth if you’re looking down from space. The light from the sun hits the quartz crystals underground and is reflected, making me think of it like the giant metal saucer covered in sled wax from National Lampoon’s Family Christmas. This natural phenomena may also be responsible for the number of crazies here. Actually they probably don’t appreciate that term – “alternative” is likely better (especially since I’m now one of them!). Not only is there a thriving hippy community (which is amazing… Thank you to all the organic farmers and the lady who makes homemade ghee – I love you), but there are also regular visits from aliens. The Alto Paraiso region also has one of the highest rates of UFO sitings on Earth. Add to this that the stars are incredibly bright – one guy told me the views are better here than in the desert (and he owned a telescope, so I consider him an authority on these matters). It’s really rather magical and I have no plans to leave.

Off-roading

Vale de Lua

Organic Market!

Cutting down on travel costs… Juan and I are thinking about changing to a slightly healthier and significantly more stylish form of travel.

Canada or Bust!

…Just need to figure out that whole Darian Gap situation…

..There’s no cats in the yard, but the place is pretty great. Juan and I have been staying at TerrAmor (http://terramor.com.br), with newfound friends. We’ve got a cute little casa all to ourselves, overlooking wild jungle and Lago Verde, which sources it’s water from the connected Rio Tapajos (which in turn is connected to the greater Amazon).

I’ve been loving the secluded beach that is accessed through a 1km walk through the jungle. I go down almost every day to swim, often wondering what snakes or never-before-discovered prehistorical sea creatures might be lurking beneath me.

Every Friday night there’s a street dance party in Alter do Chao… The music is incredible, the dance moves are sweet. Unless you’re a white person. Then you kind of suck.

For Juan’s birthday today we decided to take a little excursion. Wake up in Colombia, take a stroll in Brazil, and lunch in Peru.

Leticia (Colombia), Tabatinga (Brazil), and Santa Rosa (Peru), are sister towns straddling the ti-country border, each with shores that share the Amazon river. It’s incredible to me that you can distinctly feel a different culture in each of the cities/towns. Leticia has the laid-back, easy feeling of Colombia. Tabatinga feels more frenetic and more policed. Santa Rosa, a one-street town, plays Peruvian music, and serves up traditional ceviche to die for.

I have to say, I think Santa Rosa was the highlight for me today. For a few pesos we hitched a ride with a 14 year old boat driver across the river from Leticia and walked the street, stopping to chat with (wild) parrots that hang out in the local bar over a beer and Inka Kola. I can’t believe I’m admitting this publicly, but Inka Kola is incredible! It’s the most delicious, artificially coloured, disgustingly good substance I’ve ever been introduced to. It’s a reason not to go to Peru – after years of never drinking soda, Inka Kola could make me a junkie. We walked further and in the early hours of a Tuesday afternoon, I think I found my purpose: daytime bar singer. Following the ‘music’ we came across another bar, ordered up ceviche and sat down the enjoy the local musical talent. We made friends with the ‘artists’, and loved how they would dedicate their songs to specific people (the place was completely empty except for us), and between each song they would welcome us to their bar, always emphasizing it was “International”.

I also had the chance to meet the famous pink dolphin in the form of a statue. He’s a popular guy – local girls like to have their picture taken with him and his exaggerated anatomy, famous for the apparent seduction of human women along this stretch of the Amazon.

Yesterday was a day of transition – since I leave to take a boat down the Amazon in a couple of days, I packed up my bags, said my goodbyes, and handed Chicharrita over to her new stewards. I spent the day walking the backstreets of Barichara on the edge of town and met some new friends:

Well, actually yesterday there were only three in this little pen. I was shocked at how skinny these guys were. Apparently it’s been really tough around here for them to find grass as there’s been very little rain. And I guess it’s also tough for the owners to feed them…

Anyways, it broke my heart to see these poor guys on such tough times. I turned around and walked to the market and bought a few pounds of carrots, apples and a loaf of bread (I wanted something with higher calorie content than just vegetables). However, when I returned someone had opened the pen so my three amigos could go to the farm and get saddled up. Not wanting to insult the farmer by feeding his horses right in front of him, I decided to return today instead. This turned out to be a good thing because I didn’t quite realize how many carrots I’d bought in relation to horses yesterday and was happy to feed 6 more of them.

This guy was clearly the boss and made it tough for the others to get their share, so we air dropped carrots and pieces of bread for the other horses (which wasn’t brilliant as many were skittish and veggies flying through the air beside them didn’t calm any nerves).

Many people have asked me why I have chosen to stay in Colombia for so long. The natural beauty, great people, weather, etc, etc, are all factors. But a little known-fact is that the country is an intensely spiritual place, providing all sorts of experiences that challenge you to go inward, explore the limits of the self, transcend the physical experience to find something truer, deeper.

I am writing you from a bus, hurtling towards Santa Marta on the coast from Bogota. It is both literally and metaphorically a journey of perseverance, self discovery, and learning the limits of this flimsy physical body. It is the perfect practice of transcendence. I am almost grateful.

In the last 60 seconds we’ve gone from 101km/hr to 29.4km back to 74km/hr and down to 14.3km/hr. This teaches me about the need to be adaptive, flexible, and the importance of bringing a puke bag.

The man ahead of me, talking on his phone in his outside-voice at 2am is teaching me to respect each persons’ unique story, to have patience in relating, to treasure my own inner stillness, and to bring either ear plugs or a baseball bat on my next voyage.

Additionally, I have learned to transcend the body as I go beyond the various garments I’ve adorned myself with – socks, leggings with shorts on top, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, a man’s running shirt, and a knit tank top as the outermost layer, two scarves (one around my head and eyes like a turban, the other around my neck just in case things become really desperate). The in-cabin thermometer says it is 14 degrees in the bus right now. The A/C is relentless in the darkness… I only have 6 more hours before the sun is off and they turn off the A/C as it gets hot outside, teaching me there is no such thing as reason or rationality, that all there can be is surrender.

So the other night I went to a poetry. I know what you’re thinking – “Wow, Daryl. You are so cultured!” I know. Not knowing if this next sentence will further impress or destroy my refined and genteel image, I’ll mention it was in Spanish about something I’ve never heard about – Nadaism (that’s a link to Wikipedia). Essentially it is an avant-garde poetry movement that occurred in Colombia during my dad’s childhood.

These Colombian Beatniks, almost all of whom seemed too young to have been very active in the original movement, read poetry, captivating their audience. I must say, Colombians are fantastic orators – even in a language I barely speak I was thrilled by the gusto, the punctuation and passion behind the words. I wasn’t the only one – after a song, fireworks unexpectedly went off behind the open-air stage. The church next door also felt threatened by these “nothing-sits”, cranking their gospel louder and louder through outdoor speakers.

As the night came to a close, it seemed only fitting that the night end with a grande finale. As the final reading finished, Celine Dion’s voice cracked through the still night air… From the popular movie soundtrack, Titanic, she sang “My Heart Will Go On”. A perfect ending to a rather strange evening.

After carefully considering the many signs from the evening, the music, the poetry, the fireworks, the sombreros, we decided to become a Todo-ists instead. We will embrace everything – which we figure is pretty much the same thing as being a Nadaist anyways.