I was up early again, bug chasing. Fellow bug lovers are suddenly realising their passion and like me, they've risen before dawn to get the best pictures of moths, beetles and all manner of creepy crawlies. And there was a good selection today, topped off with a couple of giant water bugs. Fascinatingly ugly creatures.
Today's port of call is Alter do Chao, described as a "rustic beach community". We leave the Amazon to travel up the Tapajos River for around 20 miles or so. The flow of the Tapajos is what they call "black water", unlike the milky tea coloured Amazon, it's a dark peaty colour and relatively clear. It's also more acidic, which means mosquitoes can't breed in it and makes it bite free. Cool eh?
We arrived about 10.30. The ship let down anchor outside Alter do Chao and the zodiac (inflatable dinghy with speedboat engine) was sent ahead to check the pier for safety etc. We were expecting to be able to start disembarking by tender at around 11 o'clock but an announcement came over the tannoy system with bad news. The water was too low for passengers to climb from the tenders onto the pier. "We are working on it." we were told.
Peter and I looked at each other. We know the tenacity of the Marco Polo crew from old and knew they'd find a way, which they did. Joiners were sent to build a set of steps into one of the tenders. That tender was left in place next to the pier. When we arrived, we climbed out of our tender into the one with the steps, and then used the steps to climb up onto the pier. Good ole Marco Polo, they don't give up easily.
But this all delayed the disembarkation process and it was lunchtime before the first passengers were walking into town. We didn't get tender tickets until late and got ashore with only a couple of hours before we had to return. But we enjoyed our time there nevertheless. First priority was to get some superglue, (I broke my sunglasses yesterday), and free wi-fi. The superglue was a success, the wi-fi not. I was in charge of getting glue, and Wi-fi is Peter's area of expertise. So what does that tell you?
After that, we just wandered. I was looking out for birds and wildlife and Peter helped. Some of the most colourful finds are the Blue Grey Tanager (sorry, slightly blurry).
and the Oriole Blackbird.
This one is a Great Kiskadee
and here's a picture of the Marco Polo taken whilst we were waiting for our return tender. She does look pretty good eh?
So that was our afternoon in Alter do Chao. Tomorrow we're in Boca Do Valeria, a lovely little place that we always enjoy. Class.
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| Giant Water Bug |
We arrived about 10.30. The ship let down anchor outside Alter do Chao and the zodiac (inflatable dinghy with speedboat engine) was sent ahead to check the pier for safety etc. We were expecting to be able to start disembarking by tender at around 11 o'clock but an announcement came over the tannoy system with bad news. The water was too low for passengers to climb from the tenders onto the pier. "We are working on it." we were told.
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| Love Island at Alta Do Chao. You can see why the Amazonians call this the Brazilian Caribbean |
But this all delayed the disembarkation process and it was lunchtime before the first passengers were walking into town. We didn't get tender tickets until late and got ashore with only a couple of hours before we had to return. But we enjoyed our time there nevertheless. First priority was to get some superglue, (I broke my sunglasses yesterday), and free wi-fi. The superglue was a success, the wi-fi not. I was in charge of getting glue, and Wi-fi is Peter's area of expertise. So what does that tell you?
After that, we just wandered. I was looking out for birds and wildlife and Peter helped. Some of the most colourful finds are the Blue Grey Tanager (sorry, slightly blurry).
So that was our afternoon in Alter do Chao. Tomorrow we're in Boca Do Valeria, a lovely little place that we always enjoy. Class.
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