Again, we had no idea what to expect today. Almeirim is a town with a population of about 31,500, and without a quay big enough for the ship. The Marco Polo anchored in the middle of the river and everyone took the tenders across to the town.
And what a lovely town it turned out to be. Very friendly, colourful, and interesting. It also had plenty of bars, which is where most of the passengers ended up. There are no tours here, and like everyone else, we just went for a walk.
It sort of reminded me of an old town of the wild west, Brazilian style. Lots of little businesses in wooden houses along the streets. Motorbikes are the favourite form of transport, and speed limits do not apply. The townspeople were as interested in us as we were in them, taking photographs of us, and even asking us to pose with them. They all have mobile phones and huge satellite dishes were in abundance, but when we asked for wi-fi, nobody was able to help. But no matter,it was a lovely, lovely place.
Back on board, we haven’t done much, except watch the Amazon go by. We’ve also been adding to the collection of photographs of weird and wonderful bugs and moths on board. The most amazing so far has to be the giant cockroach thing which was huge and ugly and no way do I want to be in its path when it flies. It was also absolutely fascinating.
Tomorrow is Alter de Chao. Also known as the Amazon Caribbean. Swimming costumes I think. Awesome!
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