Bom dia! Well we have now moved on from Venzuela to Brazil. We spent a couple of days in Santa Elena (Venezuela) and did a one day tour of the Grand Sabana. Really interesting tour actually. The guide, Roberto was an author of numerous books on the region and was more than willing to share his knowledge with us. The Sabana region is an area of rolling hills, Mochira trees, rivers and waterfalls and in the distance are the Tepui?s (flat top mountains made fom sandstone) which stand on the border with Guyana. Very dramatic. The guide was however somewhat spiritual and gave a resounding lecture on the frequent sightings of UFO?s in the area as well as the common experiences of ?energy?forces. hmmmmm. Unfortunately, neither Sarah nor I saw any UFOs and the only experience with an energy force was the feeling of ours being depleted by the stinking hot sun! Joining us on the tour was another Venzuelan called Henri. A real character and owner of a Posada (small hotel) in the area. So following a 2 hour taxi ride and a 12 hour bus ride, we arrived in Manaus (about 1,000 km south of Santa Elena, Venezuela) this morning. We managed to get a fair amount of sleep, though I do recall waking several times due to extreme speed and eratic cornering of the bus! At these times it is best to just go back to sleep and hope for the best! Manaus is large town on the banks of the Rio Amazonas - very humid and damp. We will stay here for a couple of days before making our way to Belem on a river boat which takes 4 days. Sleeping consists of a hammock so the next thing to do is go and haggle for one of these each! Until next time. Shane and Sarah xx