Brazil

Day 8

Today, after a lazy morning in Sucre, we took taxis to the airport where we caught a flight to Santa Cruz, a very large and modern Bolivian city in the jungle. The flight was late and we did not get into Sant Cruz till it was dark and we have to get up early tomorrow for a flight to Puerto Suarez, where we will cross the border into Brazil.



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As a result, the only thing we saw of Santa Cruz is the Irish Pub where we had supper and a bit of the town around the main square in the evening. Very busy place - lots of people enjoying the cooler temperatures in the evening. Not sure just how hot it gets here during the day but it was plenty warm at night.





Day 9

This morning we flew from Santa Cruz to Puerto Suarez (about an hour flight). Sudden shock to the system as it is around 40 C with high humidity. Then we followed the basic procedures for crossing over into Brazil...

First, when you arrive at the airport, you have to find the guy who, for a 10 Boliviano bribe, will stamp your passport out of Bolivia and relieve you of the little piece of paper (Zarpa?) you have been hanging onto for dear life since you entered Bolivia.

Then you corner the guy with the sack full of money who will kindly sell you some Brazilian Reals for your US dollars. We are assured that his rates are much better than we will find in Brazil itself, if you can find a bank that will do it at all. ATMs are apparently also know for not accepting anybody´s card either.

Now, you get a taxi to take you the 10km or so to the Brazilian border, where you blast by the border guards since it is siesta and no-one is the least bit interested in stamping you into the country.

Change taxis, as now you need a Brazilian taxi to take you the few kms to the nearby town of Corumba, and check into your hotel.

Tomorrow, before we start our tour of the Pantanal, we will have to find the immigration office to get our passports stamped so we will be officially in Brazil. So, if all that goes well, we will be off on our jungle adventure tomorrow.

Corumba, by the way, seems to be a nice enough place. Brazil so far is a bit more expensive but still not too bad. And the beer is good, cold and relatively inexpensive. The hotel has a pool. Life is good.