What an ordeal. We got to the Iguazu airport, a pretty small one that had the stairs going up to the planes like I remember as a kid in the U.S. Our guide told us he was coming with us to the check-in desk. It seemed a little out of the ordinary to me but thank goodness he did! We stood in a short line to reach an agent, a young man, who looked innocent enough....Soon our tour guide (Chris) was having some words with the counter agent in Portugese, which is the National language of Brazil. Something seemed amiss. Then our guide told us we were overweight on our luggage by 29kgs..this is about 60lbs..say what? Immediately H started dialoging with the agent through Chris. We had purchased an "air pass" with GOL Airlines , which we are using for another 3 or 4 flights. Our luggage was suppose to be International allowance but they claimed they did not know of this. So it would cost is $150 per flight for the excess baggage-that is about $600 extra for baggage on all our booked flights. H explained that he confirmed with the US airline office and we would be getting International luggage allowance, not the extra charge. They did not want to budge..finally we got shuffled off into a corner while Chris spoke to the agents in very rapid Portugese. H and I talked about if we dumped half our stuff, it would be cheaper to replace than pay the extra! After what seemed like forever, Chris came and got H to come to the desk. After a supervisor came, H talked to her-she spoke a bit of English. At this point our guide said to "just pay the fee" and fight with the airline later. H kept talking and talking and finally, they gave us our boarding passes! We did not ask questions about how that was accomplished, we just got in another long line through security with 20 min. until boarding. The outcome was fine, we just hope we don't have to do this again! H will be printing out something for future flights that confirm our baggage allowance. This is one of the few hiccups we have had in many weeks of travel. They seem to be around air flights. H and I discussed that when we get really old, it will be impossible to travel like this-we get confused enough as it is!
We made it on board at last. Our seats were crammed into very tiny seats on the airplane. We gathered that they were selling sandwiches on board to which we said no, we will eat on the next flight. After a 2 hour wait in the Rio airport, we boarded our next flight. We got the exit row where we could stretch out for the 4 hour flight..Nice...only glitch in our plan was they only served peanuts on this 4 hour flight. Go figure! We arrived in Manaus, Brazil, some 1700 miles away for Rio, very late at night. After stopping at a sandwich place, our very friendly van driver took us to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel and were in bed by 12:30, which was 2:30 AM Rio time. I know, it is confusing--I am also confused. We gained another 2 hours and are now on NY time. I get hungry at the weirdest times with the constant time changes. And sleep..well..it is a lost cause!
We awoke at 6:30 AM to get transportation to our next destination-the lodge in the Brazilian jungle. We wandered to breakfast in the hotel. Weirdest scariest breakfast food ever! Most of the food was unidentifiable. I wasn't even sure what I was eating, except for bread..Hotel is very dated, floors stained, some areas ornate, others dilapidated. Must have been quite a hotel back in the day, way back..We found a small zoo attached to the hotel..yes that's right-a zoo! Monkeys, parrots and a Jaguar..in a cage..thank goodness! Very strange hotel. Manaus is the gate to this part of the Amazon jungle. This was the he best hotel in Manaus according to Trip Advisor..we were warned of it's "oldness". Hartley said it reminded him of Jack Nickleson and the movie with the shower scene..
At the Zoo!The Brazilians we have spoken to since our arrival to here are extremely friendly. Much different vibe than Argentina so far. Smiles abound here in Manaus. We awaited our van to take us to the jungle..
No comments:
Post a Comment