Another Day In Manaus

Yesterday was disembarkation day for passengers not returning on a new cruise to Fort Lauderdale. But, due to the snow and adverse weather in the Southeast U.S., the scheduled charter flights coming to Manus from Miami weren’t able to fly on Friday night for their early Saturday morning arrival. Passengers totaling 350 were held onboard for the evening and eventually departed the ship this morning (Sunday) at about 8:00am. This caused them to miss scheduled connecting flights due to the 24 hour delay. We are now beginning to receive the new passengers who arrived from Miami on the charter flights. These new passengers all appear to be exhausted.

We have been watching the riverboats come into and depart Manaus this morning. The boats pictured are similar to one that took us some 2 ¾ hours into the jungle via tributaries. It’s interesting to watch the boats arrive and people climb off of them onto smaller boats which take them to their connecting riverboats. These riverboats serve as their airline and the pier area is like their airport. People carry their luggage, food and any things they may have purchased onboard with them. All of the river boats have hammocks hanging everywhere since these boats travel the length of the Amazon which is well over 1500 miles.

Cindy says....Now it's time to go shopping.

Adventure

At 9:00am yesterday we arrived at Manaus, Brazil. Manaus lies a thousand miles upriver from the mouth of the Amazon, near the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes—the two major arteries that form the Amazon River. By 10:05am we were off the ship for our 14 hour excursion called the Elite Amazon Adventure. First a city tour around Manaus. See the photo of the Opera House built in the 19th century for the barons of the rubber trade.

Afterward we arrived at the ferry pier and boarded one of the river boats and headed East on the Amazon nearly 2 hours. En route we saw the Meeting of The Waters where the Rio Negro (black water) joins the Rio Solimoes (brown water). These waters don’t mix together for over 10 miles. Then, we turned off into a tributary and head upstream for another 45 minutes arriving at the Amazon Lodge. This lodge served as our headquarters for the day.

After a brief lunch we headed out on a jungle eco-walk. This was great except for the extreme heat and humidity. We got to see wildlife and learned a lot about the native plants and trees. The walk lasted about 1 ½ hours up through the jungle hills. Shown are a couple of photos from that walk.

Checkout the tarantula and yes, they did have to use machetes to cut through the jungle as we walked.

 Following a cool down period we were off again, this time by canoe to a native village some 6 or 7 miles away.

The village only had about 5 houses and some out buildings. There we got to see the locals make manioc which is tapioca. Around the village were many birds called nest builders that make massive hanging nests. Shown here are some of the local children getting their late afternoon bath in the river.

On our trip back to the Amazon Lodge we diverted up many waterways through heavy jungle. Monkeys could be seen in the tree tops and several king fishers were spotted as we traveled in the canoe. Once back at the lodge we had dinner in the open thatched buildings by candle light. The lodge uses only torch light since they don’t have electricity. Just after dinner it started to rain and then a massive thunderstorm hit. We proceeded out to the canoes and headed off down the river to search for caimans. The further we went the heavier the rain and wind became. It continued to rain and blow for the next two hours and the lightning got closer all the time. Finally, the guides on the canoes cancelled the hunt for caimans and we made our way back to two riverboats in the river some 6 or more miles away. Everyone was totally drenched and cold by this time. As we boarded our riverboat, Cindy came face to face with a small four foot caiman.

This didn’t scare her at all because she was too cold and wet by now.

The riverboat crew had food, hot coffee and local juices for us. Everyone had brought a change of clothes, but the problem was where to change. Two small restrooms were about the only private areas available. Once everyone was onboard, we headed out for a 2 ½ hour riverboat trip back to the Royal Princess as the boat fought 6 knot current and heavy thunderstorms. But we were all now dry in our warm clothes and enjoying the trip back. The saga continues as we pulled up to the pier next to the Royal Princess. The rain intensified and we made a bad dash for the ship’s gangway. But of course, the ship’s security people held everyone up and most ended up wet all over again standing and waiting on the gangway outside the ship.

Now the logical question should be—would we do this excursion again? Yes…even though we got cold and wet, the day was a great adventure.

Parintins, Brazil

Last night we anchored in the middle of the mile and a half wide Amazon River off shore from Parintins, Brazil. It’s an island-town located halfway between Santarem, near the river’s mouth, and Manaus. Parintins is the home to just over 100,000 people and can be reached only by ship or plane—no roads. The city is the site of the Boi Bumba, the second most popular Brazilian festival after Carnival in Rio.

This morning we tendered into the town and walked the streets, looking through the shops, bakeries, and stores. On our return trip we plan on taking one the hour long tricycle tours of the city. The tricycles are pretty large and only cost $10 per hour. Note in one of the photos you will see the Coca-Cola signs done in both blue and red. The Amazon is the only place in the World were both colors are used. Sometimes Coca is Red and Cola is Blue in the same sign.

At 2:00pm we weigh anchor and head up river for Manus arriving at 10:30am. We have a 13 hour tour on the river and through the jungle/rain forest tomorrow and won’t return to the ship until almost midnight.

Boca Da Valeria

We visited the tiny isolated village of Boca Da Valeria today. It is one of many villages scattered throughout the Amazon Basin where people fish and utilize the resources from the rainforest. Boca is neither a city nor town. It has only a dozen or more modest homes on stilts; a tiny school, church, and about seventy five people. The people of the village have opened their homes to us today. Cindy and I spent time with one family and really got a firsthand look at their kitchen; bedroom with hammocks and mosquito nets, and other modest furnishings. The villagers had their pet sloths, monkeys, birds,Tortugas (turtle) and other animals out on display.

We took the school supplies that we had brought to the school and placed them in a container for the teacher. As we walked through the village we gave the children small elastic hair bands of many different colors. These bands were a real hit among the children.

Shown in these photos are some of the houses; boats; fish they caught and one of the local girls.

Santarem, Brazil

This morning we made our first extended stop at Santarem, Brazil some 500 miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean and 2 ½ degrees south latitude of the Equator. It is near the confluence with the clear blue waters of the Rio Tapajos and the muddy water of the Amazon. The city of Santarem was originally carved from the jungle by Henry Ford to develop a rubber plantation (Fordlandia) which was never successful. Some 200,000 people live in the city and the region is rich in natural resources, including major deposits of bauxite and gold.


The photos in this Post show a thatched-roofed house along the Amazon with no window coverings and the laundry hanging outside. There no roads in the Amazon so the very small villages are totally isolated and lie great distances from towns and cities. Small boats take the people from these villages to the cities.

 Shown in the other photo is a small river boat that is heading upriver to Manaus some 321 miles away. The people bring their own food and hang hammocks inside for seating and sleeping. I watched them load all their possessions and purchases onboard. There was even a mattress and complete bed frame loaded by one passenger.

Tonight at 7:00pm we head out again up the Amazon for the very small village of Boca Da Valeria. This could very well be the highlight of this trip. Boca Da Valeria has only 75 inhabitants and we are bringing small school items for the children. Really looking forward to visiting this village

Down The Amazon

Today we made good progress heading West on the Amazon.  We arrive in Santarem, Brazil at about 9:00am in the morning.  At 12:15pm we crossed the Equator and will remain below it throughout our trip down the river.

The bugs are getting heavier.  I opened the balcony door just before sunset and forgot to close it behind me.  When I came back into the stateroom I had to begin killing mosquitoes and grasshoppers.  We started taking our malaria meds 2 days before reaching the Amazon.  Hopefully tomorrow we will get some good photos to post here on the Blog.

Fresh Water/Salt Water

Here is a photo taken 20 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.  The brown water is the fresh water from the Amazon River flowing out to sea.  They say that some days this travels over 70 miles out.