Events

A few days ao we wrapped up our whirlwind there-and-back business dash to Kyrgyzstan, and to the Kumtor gold-ore mine and ore-processing complex (aka – a gold-extraction factory: the first time I’d ever come across the term). Why the holdup in getting these write-ups published? Simply because, when you visit industrial sites, you usually need […]

We’d checked out the Natalka gold-ore deposit and the mining-and-processing plant of the same name, but what else was worth a contemplative look at out there – further down Route 44N-4 (also known as the Tenkinskaya Highway, or just Palatka–Kulu–Neksikan)? Why – the settlement of Ust-Omchug! -> Here it is on the map. Yes, it […]

Where should you head first in Manaus – the capital city of Amazonas? The fish market, of course!… It absolutely floors you with its sheer size and variety. They’ve got everything that lives in the Amazon and its tributaries here – well, except for Red Book protected species (dolphins, for instance). And in waters this […]

Alas, everything comes to an end sooner or later. Not only the Brazilian leg, but our winter tour around South America as a whole was drawing to a close. It was time for us to be heading back to Manaus, where there’d be a plane to São Paulo, and from there – back home. And […]

Bem-vindos de volta, pessoal! As promised, the second part to my report on our lodgings in the Brazilian Amazon. Land-based: done (yesterday); today… see the title!… If only I’d known beforehand, I’d have made a point of lingering aboard this vessel a good while longer. I’ll come clean right away: faced with several options, we […]

Olá pessoal! It’s time to tell you about the places we stayed at in the Brazilian Amazon – those on water and on land. Today: land – and there was just one: the Mirante do Gavião hotel. And since we checked in straight off the yacht – that is, from the river side – and […]