When I left for this trip I took a number of gadjets and gismos with me to try and enhance the experience and enable me to get the most out of it, however slowly but surely they are the things that are failing the test of time and the rigours of travel.
1) Extending Lens Attachment .... clouds up photos too much and is unable to be attached to the camera, only the phone which takes poor photos at the best of times. Sent Home.
2) Electronic DIctaphone ... bought to take interviews with friends and interesting people but the internal memory corrupted and would not let me format or delete any previous data so soon became full up and then useless for further recording. Left in Madrid
3) Mobile Phone Recharger ... wire at base of plug became frayed and then broke meaning that it would no longer carry the power or charge the phone, thus became useless and made the phone useless also til I manage to find a new recharger. BInned in Sao Paulo.
4) Laptop Modem Extender Lead ... somehow removed itself from my bagm or possibly just fell down the back of my chair and thus out of view, between Sao Paulo hotel reception and arrival in Santa Cruz airport. I bet it was the lepricauns that did it.
I have no idea what will be next, but as I only have my digital camera, the laptop itself, the modem itself, the cellphone itself ( currently dead ) and my small electronic two way Spanish / English translator I hope if any more that it is the last one and I further hope that when it goes it will be after I leave the Dominican Republic as by then I will be out of Latin America and on my way to the Pacific .
On my way to the airport I noticed a few things that I had not previously spotted, mainly more people and how huge Sao Paulo was going by bus.
It was an effort to find the right bus to go to Sao Paulo airport, at a cost of BR $24, as it was not very well sign posted ( but is anything in Brazil ) yet it was either that or get a taxi all the way or finally get a metro most of the way there and then either try and walk 5 kilometers along highways or again try to grab a taxi the rest of the way. For convenience and cost cutting I chose the bus route.
Journeying on the bus I am glad that I chose it sa it seemed to have almost a private lane or the dirver was related to Michael Schumacker, as we passed so many other vehicles I thought we was going to get a speeding fine.
At one point we slowed to a crawl and I was saddened at the sight of a disabled man in a wheelchair with one leg cropped at the knee and the other with signs of decay and damage rolling himself down the road and stopping at each drivers window to beg some small change with almost 100% success, which shows the generosity of the people in Sao Paulo.
At another stage we passed a car showroom and it was here that I saw my frist true Braziiian beauty, or perhaps it was the make up, tight fitting clothes and hidden padded bra, ( at these speeds couldn't really tell for certain), but up til that point I would have sworn that all the stunners you see in the Carnivals are not actualy real Brazilian women but robots that are kept hidden away in container crates and only brought out for show during the fiestas.
Arriving in the airport was not too bad, and it amused me that I couldn't find anywhere in the main town to get a masage ( apart from the x-rated ones in the back of the tourist guide ) but here in the airport there were at least three massage places all within spitting distance of each other, which also meant that there is a good chance there are more near the other gates and zones!
The Brazilians are so totally nutty about football, and not only local but any ones that are on, that in the airport there were more tv screens showing the Italian football seria A than there were screens for the departure and arrivals.
I touched down in Santa Cruz at about 7.30, which became 6.30 local time and my own Terminal Experience started, however I doubt that it will be as exciting as Tom Hanks version. True to form, the female flight attendants are some of the most striking women I have seen, and the Bolivians I saw put most of the Brazilians I met to shame, and their pristeen uniforms and smart hair was a sight to behold.
A local sports team, football I think, were all waiting for a local flight and could be seen all milling about in their track suit tops and sports shorts giving out autographs and having their picture taken with the locals who recognised them and were brave enough to ask.
The airport terminal itself was smaller than my local school, modern but with only 8 departure gates and a top floor that only had two esculators, one up and the other unsurprisingly down. All the stores seemed to close at around 9:00 local time, which was after the last flght took off and I am guessing that no more will be landing either tonight. I seem to be the only person left in the terminal upstairs and I am seriously considering if this was such a good idea of if i should have said hang the cost and got a taxi to the nearest hotel to spend the night there, but by now it will have closed and the taxis wil lhave doubled their costs, plus the currency exchange booth is also now closed so my alternatives have pretty much narrowed themselves down to none.
I hope to still have myself, my laptop and all my belongings in the morning but only time will tell.
1) Extending Lens Attachment .... clouds up photos too much and is unable to be attached to the camera, only the phone which takes poor photos at the best of times. Sent Home.
2) Electronic DIctaphone ... bought to take interviews with friends and interesting people but the internal memory corrupted and would not let me format or delete any previous data so soon became full up and then useless for further recording. Left in Madrid
3) Mobile Phone Recharger ... wire at base of plug became frayed and then broke meaning that it would no longer carry the power or charge the phone, thus became useless and made the phone useless also til I manage to find a new recharger. BInned in Sao Paulo.
4) Laptop Modem Extender Lead ... somehow removed itself from my bagm or possibly just fell down the back of my chair and thus out of view, between Sao Paulo hotel reception and arrival in Santa Cruz airport. I bet it was the lepricauns that did it.
I have no idea what will be next, but as I only have my digital camera, the laptop itself, the modem itself, the cellphone itself ( currently dead ) and my small electronic two way Spanish / English translator I hope if any more that it is the last one and I further hope that when it goes it will be after I leave the Dominican Republic as by then I will be out of Latin America and on my way to the Pacific .
On my way to the airport I noticed a few things that I had not previously spotted, mainly more people and how huge Sao Paulo was going by bus.
It was an effort to find the right bus to go to Sao Paulo airport, at a cost of BR $24, as it was not very well sign posted ( but is anything in Brazil ) yet it was either that or get a taxi all the way or finally get a metro most of the way there and then either try and walk 5 kilometers along highways or again try to grab a taxi the rest of the way. For convenience and cost cutting I chose the bus route.
Journeying on the bus I am glad that I chose it sa it seemed to have almost a private lane or the dirver was related to Michael Schumacker, as we passed so many other vehicles I thought we was going to get a speeding fine.
At one point we slowed to a crawl and I was saddened at the sight of a disabled man in a wheelchair with one leg cropped at the knee and the other with signs of decay and damage rolling himself down the road and stopping at each drivers window to beg some small change with almost 100% success, which shows the generosity of the people in Sao Paulo.
At another stage we passed a car showroom and it was here that I saw my frist true Braziiian beauty, or perhaps it was the make up, tight fitting clothes and hidden padded bra, ( at these speeds couldn't really tell for certain), but up til that point I would have sworn that all the stunners you see in the Carnivals are not actualy real Brazilian women but robots that are kept hidden away in container crates and only brought out for show during the fiestas.
Arriving in the airport was not too bad, and it amused me that I couldn't find anywhere in the main town to get a masage ( apart from the x-rated ones in the back of the tourist guide ) but here in the airport there were at least three massage places all within spitting distance of each other, which also meant that there is a good chance there are more near the other gates and zones!
The Brazilians are so totally nutty about football, and not only local but any ones that are on, that in the airport there were more tv screens showing the Italian football seria A than there were screens for the departure and arrivals.
I touched down in Santa Cruz at about 7.30, which became 6.30 local time and my own Terminal Experience started, however I doubt that it will be as exciting as Tom Hanks version. True to form, the female flight attendants are some of the most striking women I have seen, and the Bolivians I saw put most of the Brazilians I met to shame, and their pristeen uniforms and smart hair was a sight to behold.
A local sports team, football I think, were all waiting for a local flight and could be seen all milling about in their track suit tops and sports shorts giving out autographs and having their picture taken with the locals who recognised them and were brave enough to ask.
The airport terminal itself was smaller than my local school, modern but with only 8 departure gates and a top floor that only had two esculators, one up and the other unsurprisingly down. All the stores seemed to close at around 9:00 local time, which was after the last flght took off and I am guessing that no more will be landing either tonight. I seem to be the only person left in the terminal upstairs and I am seriously considering if this was such a good idea of if i should have said hang the cost and got a taxi to the nearest hotel to spend the night there, but by now it will have closed and the taxis wil lhave doubled their costs, plus the currency exchange booth is also now closed so my alternatives have pretty much narrowed themselves down to none.
I hope to still have myself, my laptop and all my belongings in the morning but only time will tell.
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