Monday 29th January - Icoarici

Yesterday was a sea day with very little to comment on except that we went to watch the premier of a new show last night. This one is called Fiesta, and as always, the dancers made it shine.

Today we are at Icoaraci.  According to the ships' write up, there is nothing at Icoaraci, except access to Belem, which is a major city and has a panoramic skyline to match New York or Panama.  Peter and I thought that it looked interesting when we visited last year, so this year we decided we didn't want to do any escorting so that  we could have a look around. It's a tender port, and many passengers were booked on tours in the area.  Trouble was, there was no space on the pier for our tenders.  It was totally full of fishing boats and they weren't going to move just cos a cruise ship had appeared in the middle of the river.

There were regular announcements over the tannoy system, explaining why the tender process hadn't started.  Apparently the local police and port agent had been called to assist, but neither could, since the pier is a public pier, and anyone could tie up to it.  Eventually, the tenders managed to find a space, and then everyone was taken ashore - passengers on tours first of course, since they were already running late.

Peter and I finally got to the little town in the afternoon, and I am pleased to report that the CMV write up is perfectly correct. There is nothing in Icoaraci, except a river shore that seems to have been made up to look nice and then fallen into a state of disrepair, and a few bars. Peter and I turned left off the pier and took a walk along the riverside.  There was nothing of interest, except a load of egrets looking like they were made of stone as they fished on the beach

and the local people doing what local people do.  Hanging around chatting under trees and in the bars.

We got so far along the river front before the police appeared and turned all the passengers back, saying that it was dangerous for us to walk on any further.  As we walked back towards the pier, it seemed like the police kept multiplying, more and more of them appearing to the point where I wondered if they thought we were going to mug the locals.

It wasn't that of course, but they were obviously concerned to make sure we were safe.  Back at the pier site, Peter and I found a bar to use the wi-fi, before taking a short walk in the opposite direction to our stroll earlier (right from the pier, rather than left).  It was a very short walk, because I felt that it didn't look safe and wanted to go back to the ship.

So that was Icoaraci. Although I quite liked it, it's definitely not to everyone's taste, one of the lads that works in the Bistro described it as dirty and smelly.  So there you go.

And that was Brazil. We now head back out to the Atlantic and turn North, heading for the Caribbean.  On the way, we'll visit Royal Island of Iles Du Salut.  It's an amazing place and definitely one of our all time favourites. I can't wait.

Saturday 27th January - Alter do Chao

Today we woke to rain. So much rain that we couldn't even the shoreline as the ship dropped anchor.  Welcome to Alter do Chao!

The ships information sheet describes today's port like this:

"The rustic beach community of Alter do Chao lies on the bank of the Tapajos River... The sandy bay, overlooked by two hills, is not what you would expect to see in the middle of the Amazon...  The beaches of Rio Tapajos are pockets of paradise, and better still, they are mosquito free!... Relax in the shade of a palm tree and watch the locals and tourists go about their day"

I missed out quite a bit of the text, but you get the gist, it's Amazonia's answer to Scarborough.  We've enjoyed a day on the beach here before, watching the Brazilians play volleyball, sunbathing (I got sunburnt), and swimming. It's a tender port, so we had to wait before we were able to get ashore.  We managed to get on a tender about 10 o'clock, just as the rain started to ease off.  Last tender back to the ship was 12.30, so we only had a few hours.

Because we didn't have much time, Peter intended to relax in a bar and use the wi-fi (he always has quite a bit of work to catch up on), and I planned to go looking for wildlife as there are always plenty of birds and insects here.  Last year, we came across a magnificen iguana and since I've not seen one yet on this trip...  Peter settled down in the Mango Bar on the beach front, and I wandered off.

I never have to go far to see something different in Alter Do Chao. I only walked up and down the main beach a couple of times to see these:

Blue-grey Tanager

Oriole Blackbird

Gulf Fritilliary

I kept checking back on Peter, to see if he was ready to leave or anything, but he was beavering away and I left him to it.  As it got closer to the time for him to leave, I started to hang around the bar.  There was some waste ground next door, and I stood on a stage looking over the wall, looking out for birds and butterflies.  Then I saw a long nose and a pair of little black eyes come out of the grass, they looked up at me and the nose was pulled back slowly into the long grass.  I dunno what it was, but the grass stopped moving, and it had gone.

A few minutes later, I saw it again. I tried to take a photograph, but my pictures were so hit and miss I decided that a film would be better.  I am now the proud owner of 45 seconds of video of an Opussum sneaking around the undergrowth and then up over the bar.  David Attenborough eat your heart out!  OK.  Mebbe it won't get me a job on Blue Planet or the like, but I'm dead pleased of it.  This picture is a still taken from the film, which is why it looks a little blurry.

What was amazing was that there were easily 30 or 40 people in the bar, completely oblivious to this amazing little creature.  I showed the film to the bar manager, and even she was surprised that I'd seen it. Now all I have to do is work out what type of Opossum it is, (apart from a wet one).

It was back to the ship shortly after that.  Queueing for the tender, we watched dragonflies, butterflies, and a massive black bee forage through the flowers on a bush beside us.

The entertainment continued as we moved down the beach, but this time it was a musical band of enterprising Brazilians who filled our ears with Brazillian dance music as we waited.

Once we were all back on board, the ship set sail for our next stop.  Weirdly, we will have to exit the mouth of the Amazon, sail south for a little while, and then turn back into the Amazonia but this time we will be sailing up the River Para to Icoaraci.  The journey will take around a day and a half, so tomorrow is a sea day and Peter will run his art classes. Icoaraci here we come. 

Friday 26th January - Parintins

So today we arrived about lunchtime to Parintins, home of the Boi Bumbai.   It's a three day dance contest, where the red side competes against the blue side.  Half the population of 100000 people are red supporters, half the town are blue supporters. It seems to be dependant upon where you live as to which side you support, but don't quote me on that.

Peter and I have been to Parintins several times before and there isn't a lot to it. It's a tender port, and this year they have a new pier.    We've watched the Boi Bumbai show that is a tour excursion, and it is fantastic, we recommend it to anyone.  Today though, we are escorting the Highlights of Parintins tour.
As I said, we've been to Parintins before, and we didn't think there would be much to see on the tour, and in a way, there isn't.  Except we got to see the stadium, the training stadium and the old puppet floats from previous Boi Bumbai contests.  Our respective guides were really good, explaining the history, the story and the contest, and we both enjoyed the tour on our separate buses.  My guide got some dancers to go through a routine for us, Peter's guide got them acting out the story.

Peter and I have seen the Boi Bumbai show that is put on for cruise ships, and we thought that was fantastic.  Now, having seen the stadium where the real contest is held, and the size of the actual puppets used in the event, we are in awe.  Apparently it costs about $1000 dollars to get a seat in one of the boxes, methinks that if I had the money............

Tomorrow we are in Alter Do Chao.  Another tender port, but no escorting. It's possible to swim there, but we probably won't seeing as it's only a short day, and I'll want to walk around and Peter will want to use the wi-fi.  It's all go this cruising lark.

Thursday 25th January - Manaus Day 2

So today we are escorting one of our favourite tours, "The Amazonian Experience". We had to get up early to be ready on the quay at 8am. The tour has
 changed a little over the years, but basically it goes like this:

First everyone climb aboards one of the medium sized riverboats - they usually have two decks, toilets and a small kitchen area and carry around 80 passengers.
The riverboat takes takes us to see the meeting of the waters - there are nearly always a few dolphins about and today was no different, quite a few sightings were made.

A floating gas station on the Rio Negro

From the meeting of the waters, it's about an hour on the riverboat to Lake January. The guides (we had three today) provide various amounts of information about our surroundings, and point out things such as the floating gas stations, the differences between the waters of the Amazon and the Rio Negro, and info about the floating villages.

One of the most picturesque of the floating houses.

At Lake January, which is an ecological site, the river boat moors at a floating restaurant and we transfer into several smaller motorised canoes which carry 10 people. The motorised canoes travel around the edges of the lake, looking for wildlife. We got to see Egrets, Wattled Jacana, Large Billed Terns and Caciques as well as loads of butterflies and dragonflies that move far to fast for anyone to photograph. Peter managed to get a picture of a Southern Lapwing though, and I got one of this Jacana chick.

Wattled Jacana chick

The canoes head into one of the smaller tributaries of the lake, (called igrapes), where we our surrounded by the jungle proper. We can hear and see the flashes of birds around us. The butterflies are amazing, including the very large and beautiful Morpho. Our guide explains things about the forest, the trees and the way of life for the local people.

Squirrel Monkey at Lake January

After about 30 mins, it's back to the floating restaurant where we disembark the canoes and make our way to the back of the buildings to the edge of the lake and a to a raised walkway. The walkway takes you through the jungle to a pond of lily pads and to a massive kapok tree with it's enormous buttress roots. If you are lucky, the lilypads will be flowering, or you may see a Caiman, or even better still, you'll see the monkeys. If you are unlucky, you'll also get bitten several times by the mosquitoes in the area and get drenched in a downpour. Today was a good day, we got to see monkeys and a caiman, and some more beautiful butterflies.

Cookie Butterfly at Lake January

Back to the restaurant, and everyone tucks in to a locally prepared meal he food is very good, and prepared with clean water (not water taken from the river)and is safe to eat. I tried the local fish, which has a pretty mild taste to be honest - although the bones were hughe.
And then there is a wander around the very large craft hut. I bought a cute little owl, it looks like it's been made out of some sort of seed or nut. The colours have been sanded or polished out, and a little bit of carving has completed it. It's awesome.
Finally, it's a riverboat ride of 40 or 50 mins back to the ship. Everyone is very satisfied and quite tired by now, and watch quietly as the river goes by.
You can see why it's one of our favourite excursions, and we recommend it to everybody.

We arrived back at the ship around 2.30pm, and we decided to take a very quick look at the main square just outside the port gates. I'd thought that it looked different from previous years whilst we were on our bus tour yesterday, and I was right.  The main square has been tidied up and landscaped, and for the first time in several years, we visited the cathedral, which is in need of a little tlc, but is still a nice place to be.

Manaus Cathedral

The ship left Manaus at 5pm and we ended our day in the company of Ian the photography lecturer, and Chris, the Creative Writing teacher.  None of us can play darts, but that didn't stop us having a hilarious evening throwing darts at the board, playing round the clock.

Tomorrow we are in Parintins, home of the Boi Bumbai. A new day and a new city. Class!

Wednesday 24th January - Manaus, Brazil

I was up early and although a few moths and bugs had landed overnight, once again it was a relatively poor turnout, although once again, a couple that I'd not seen before.

So Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonia. It doesn't sit on the side of the Amazon River itself, (which is called the Solimoes by the Brazilians),  but on Rio Negro, or Black River, one of the massive tributaries into the Amazon.  The Rio Negro and the Solimoes are very different rivers, one black, one milky tea coloured, and they run side by side for several miles. I always find it fascinating the way the two waters can sort of sit on top and beside each other, not mixing, like oil and water, you can spend hours watching it. The ship sailed through the meeting of the two rivers as we approached the port, with all the passengers hanging over the sides taking photographs.

It's the biggest city and port Amazonia with a population of 1.7 million people.  Like all big cities, there are high rise office buildings, department stores and it has it's own international airport.  But it still very much a city of Amazonian Brazil, with hundreds of little boats and houses on stilts along the riverside.  The crumbling pavements and streets are bustling with life and bursting with colour.

Sadly it has earned a reputation of being unsafe, we have been warning people not to take anything ashore that they can't afford to lose, and to watch for pick pockets. We were greeted by carnival music and dancers on the quay when the ship arrived at lunchtime.  Peter and I were to escort the "Manaus, Capital of Amazonas" tour this afternoon so we were on the quayside after lunch, numbered lollipops in hand.

There are no photographs from my tour, because I realised almost straight away that I was missing my camera and that I must have left it in the cabin.  We visited an indian museum, the craft market and the legendary Opera House.  Legendary because of it's opulence and beauty, and always worth visiting if you are in the area.  Luckily we had an excellent guide who managed to keep everyone interested during the museum, kept a fatherly eye on them in the craft market, and added exactly the right amount of humour in the Opera House. Everyone enjoyed the tour.

Back at the ship, I realised that I hadn't left the camera in the cabin.  Oh oh!  Maybe I had dropped it on the bus.  I dashed back outside to catch the excursion organiser.  He rang the bus driver to ask him to search the bus.  As I waited to hear if the driver had found it, Peter's tour bus arrived back, so I kept an eye out for him, ready to explain that I had lost a £200 camera. As he walked over to me he lifted something out of his rucksack...... my camera! Phew!  Obviously I'd put it in the wrong one when we getting ready.

It's an overnight stop in Manaus.  We both needed a cold shower to cool off before dinner, and in the evening, we took advantage of the free wi-fi in the terminal building. Many of the passengers went to listen to a jazz band at the theatre, and the crew took advantage of the overnight shore leave and spent a lot of money in the bars.  Everyone had to be careful of course, passengers used taxi's to get about, and the crew maintained safety in numbers, but there were no mishaps and the day ended well.

Tomorrow Peter and I are escorting the Amazonian experience.  Awesome.

Tuesday 23rd January - Boca Do Valeria

I was up dead early today and up on the decks looking for moths n stuff.  Once again I was disappointed that there was very little about.   I’m coming to the conclusion that this ship is different.  Maybe the engines don’t hum in the right way, maybe the lights aren’t as bright.  I don’t know, but whatever the reason, there isn’t a lot for me in the early mornings. But there is still always something new.   I came across a German woman carrying a lovely little moth with zebra stripes, and I found a mangrove flannel moth, which I don’t think I’ve seen since the first cruise.

Now Boca Do Valeria is described as “typical of the thousands of small, isolated communities within the Amazon basin”.   It probably is, except none of the others regularly receive visits by cruise ships carrying several hundred people, which is when the residents of Boca Do Valeria and all the surrounding villages eagerly come out to welcome the visitors

Last year, a passenger described the village as fake, and many passengers can be heard to comment about how it is all just a display.  They are right in a way, because the villagers all leave their normal routines to see the cruise ship passengers and hopefully earn a few dollars from them.

The schools close and entire families climb into their respective little boats, bringing their items for sale, pets, and anything else they think will be of interest , and descend into Boca Do Valeria, which normally only has about 75 residents.  The adults set up stalls and the children rush to greet the visitors, showing off their pets and hoping to be rewarded with sweets or trinkets or dollars.  The children have practised the puppy dog look and can be demanding and ungrateful, but they will leave you alone if firmly refuse to let them hold your hand.  And I discovered during this visit that not all the crafts come from the village, and that they probably go to Manaus or Santarem to get stock.  Even so, there is still some local stuff if you look, such as hand painted table runners, crochet and little cloth dolls, and the people are friendly.  A couple of the women spoke a few words of English, which they learned at school which I thought was nice to hear.

As usual, Peter and I took the little river boat ride that we love, this time we were accompanied by Chris.  Peter took loads of photo’s of the boats and houses on the riverside so that he can paint them later. I just enjoyed the views.   We were taken to the village of Santa Rita again, where we were shown the school and the church.  Peter and I noticed the floor of the church was covered in really nice square wooden tiles, and that there were glass doors that we didn’t remember from previous visits.  We’ve checked old photographs and there weren't any doors at all before, and the floor was black lino.  It looks like our donations have been put to good use.

The visit ended in the bar and a quick walk around the village.  As usual, all the pets were on display, with the hope that people would take photographs for a donation.  The way the sloths and some of the other pets are kept doesn’t seem right to my western, animal right beliefs.  But then parrots and macaws are kept by Europeans in houses back home and at least here they are in an environment with plenty of wildlife and greenery going on around them, and are probably not as bored.

The ship pulled up anchor a little after three in the afternoon, and we set sail for Manaus, once again spending time on the decks, watching the jungle go by.  Such a  privilege.

We ended the day watching guest act Gerry Graham – very entertaining.  Tomorrow we should arrive in Manaus a little before lunch.  I know we’ve visited all these places before, but I always look forward to new experiences at each port every time.  Manaus here we come. 

Monday 22nd January, Santarem

Sadly, I've not had enough internet connection to add pictures to anything yet.  I promise I will as soon as I'm able.  This, and the sea day blogs have been uploaded from the cruise terminal in Manaus.

So we are on the Amazon River in Brazil, and as usual, I am up at the crack of dawn and on the decks to get photographs of the bugs that have landed overnight.  But there aren't any, or at least there are very few.

When I say there aren't any, that isn't strictly true, there are thousands of midges, hundreds and hundreds of scarab beetles and crickets, and quite a few small moths.  But there is nothing big.  The crew are cleaning up, sweeping and hoovering everything away, but they hadn't got everywhere.  I'm disappointed and a little puzzled.  Why are there not any of the bigger moths?  I hunted anyway, and I did find an awesome black witch and a parce sphinx, and someone else spotted an amazing little bat.  So not all was lost.

Peter and I were escorting today and we were going Piranha fishing. The ship was a little late berthing, but we were in the Magellan show lounge at 9.15 ready to go with all the passengers onto the river boats.  But this is Brazil, and we have learnt that nothing ever runs smoothly in Brazil. There seemed to be a problem setting up the gangway.  Out of the window, we could see a crane had been brought in to help, and there were constant announcements telling us that the Brazillian port authorities were not yet on board to clear the ship.  It was well over an hour before it all finally worked out, and my little river boat left to start it's tour an hour and a quarter later than planned. (Peter was on a different river boat).

It's an excellent excursion and everyone who goes on it loves the fact that you get to go up the tributary to see the jungle proper. It's not really thick in this area, but there is an awful lot of wildlife about. I got to see this amazing dragonfly, ringed kingfishers, a sloth and river dolphins.  I heard the parrots, but I never saw one, although Peter managed to get a photo (I'm jealous).

Because the excursion had started late, it was twenty past two by the time we got back, so it was a quick lunch and then a walk into Santarem.  We were hoping to be able to wander around the area we'd visited last year which was filled with butterflies, but sadly it seemed to be all burned away.  No matter, we walked on and I got some good pictures of a Wattled Jacana, (which I've never managed before), as well as of a Kiskadee and an Egret. We also got to see the pink dolphins at the back of the fish market.

The heat was draining though, and we turned back from there.  Back at the ship I managed to get this picture of a Fork tailed flycatcher taking off (very pleased). Then it was into the cabin and a cold shower.  We'll be taking several of those whilst we are here, it's the best way to cool off in this heat.

Tomorrow we are at Boca do Valeria.  Another favourite.  More news to come, and hopefully pictures too.

Sunday 21st December - First day on the river

I was up with the sun this morning and out on deck.  There were a few others, like me, bug hunting, as well as the birders on the front deck.  I wasn't expecting much this morning, since we weren't in the river proper, and very little had landed on the ship.  I did come across a bird that turned out to be Azure Gallinule. Very exotic sounding name, and in the books, it is very pretty, but in the early morning light, my photo is not so.  We got a few moths too, but nothing I haven't seen before.

We spent quite a bit of time on deck, watching the Amazon go by, but it's hot out there.  Peter is losing his voice, and at the end of his second class, he was down to a husky squeak.

The day ended with thousands and thousands of little insects of all types landing on the ship, quite unpleasant for anyone out on the lighted decks.  Peter and I went to the front of the ship where there are no lights and very few bugs.  There was very little wind either. Maybe that was why there where so many of the little critters at the back.  Still, it bodes well for my bug hunting plan in the morning. Oh, and we were back at the dart throwing again. I think we might be getting better, it didn't take us anywhere near as long to get all the way round this time. AND I beat Peter.

It's the first of our Amazon River stops tomorrow, when we'll be in Santarem. We've had some brilliant days there in the past so we are really looking forward to it. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Thursday 26th January - Icoaraci for Belem

Old Dockyard Cranes at Belem

We're not so close to the rainforest anymore, so I didn't get up early to go moth chasing.  This meant I didn't wake Peter and he finally got a lie in.

The ship let down anchor outside Icoaraci a little after lunchtime and the crew did the usual thing of checking the pier. Guess what?  That's right, once again the tender was too low for passengers to disembark onto the pier.  That set of steps they built in Alter de Chao came in handy for a third time (or is it the fourth?).

Peter and I are escorting the Belem Transfer which should be easy.  A bus out to the city, everyone has three hours there, then a bus ride back to Icoaraci and the ship.  The ship operation was slick, passengers checked with Susan from Shorex, she gave them a tender ticket to match their tour, and then everyone on that tour was sent across the river at the same time in the same tender and then directed onto their bus.

Except it wasn't as well organised at the other end. In fact it was chaos.  The bus driver let the passengers on before the guide could check tickets, and he opened both bus doors so that we had no idea how many people had climbed on it.  I'm shouting "stop" at one door, but people were still getting on at the other.

Eventually it was calm. But there's always one isn't there. We'd counted the passengers, checked tickets numbers and counted them again.  We were just about to set off when a couple shouted that thought they were on the wrong bus.  Honestly!  So now I'm off the bus, on the bus, talking to the tour manager, looking for Merle and trying to work out whether the passengers should be elsewere or not.  Other passengers kept chipping in "helpfully", as well as complaining.  In the end, we decided the confused passengers were on the right bus, but what a palaver, it took me the whole 45 minutes of the drive to cool down.  This escorting lark may have it's perks, but we sure have to earn them.






Anyway, we reached Belem and went off for a wander.  The bus had set us down at one of the main tourist areas, Estacao das Docas, a cultural centre of artisan craft stalls, restaurants and cafes. Old warehouses and dock buildings have been converted and the old cranes on the shore side are iconic to the city.

Palm Tanager

We didn't get far, because we found fast free wi-fi in the refurbished buildings. We spent our time gorging on it.

Once we'd had our fill we had less than an hour to look around before it was time to stand ready with the sanitizer for the returning passengers.

Belem Cranes

Micro Brewery inside the old dockyard warehouses.  We nearly bought some Amazon beer. 

We got back to pier by about 7pm.  We had to wait a few minutes for the return tender and used them to have a look around. Despite the fact it was dark, Icoaraci looked really interesting.  We've decided that if we come this way again, we'll dip out of any escorting duties and spend some time investigating the town.

Tomorrow is a sea day and Peter will be back to work.  It'll be Isle de Salut after that, one of our absolute favourites. Awesome. 

Tuesday 24th January - Santarem

So this morning, as a bit of a change from the moths, there was a butterfly on board.  Again I dunno what type it is.

As usual, I'd done the early morning tour of the decks looking for creepy crawlies then enjoyed a cup of coffee on the back deck, and this morning I watched as the ship docked.  I discovered something new, something wish I'd sussed out earlier.  As the ship pulled in to the shoreside, the birds came over, doing exactly what I'd been doing half an hour ago.... Bug hunting.  The birds have obviously learnt that the decks would be covered in scarab beetles, mole crickets and moths and they popped on board for breakfast. I went up to watch on the top deck.  Kiskadees tossed moths in the air to eat them the right way round, an Oriole Blackbird skittered across the helicopter deck, Tanagers nervously checked out the deck edges and Sparrows spread out in the fashion of a police search and swept the deck for anything the bigger birds had missed. It was like a clearance operation.  I managed to get some good photos.

Fork Tailed Flycatcher

Tropical Kingbird

No tours today, which we were quite pleased about to be honest, because it gave us a chance to explore, something we've not done for some time. So today's blog is a photo diary of our wander.

The first thing we passed as we left our dock was this riverboat equivalent of a Boeing 747.  The riverboats take everything, cargo, livestock, people and vehicles.  The people bring hammocks and set up home on the upper decks and it may easily take four days to get wherever they're going.  Watching these things load and unload is fascinating, especially when it's a truck that won't fit through the deck space.

And just past the riverboat before we saw this Yellow Headed Caracara, I've seen a few now, but this is the first time I've managed to get a photo of one that looks like a Yellow Headed Caracara.

Then we walked for about 15 minutes, out of the dock and then left towards the town centre and the fish market. It wasn't long before we reached a stretch of waste ground alongside and went in to explore

I think this might be a Thyrida glasswing.  (It's taken me ages to work that out, and I'm still not sure).

Black bellied whistling duck

30 minutes or so later we back on the road. The river, which is the real access to the town, was always on our left, and a constant source of entertainment and amazement.

We eventually reached the fish market which stands on stilts over the water. We stood at the back, watching and filming the pink dolphins for some time.  There were easily 8 or more of them, lazily circling, waiting for the land locked bipeds to throw them unwanted fish. Fascinating creatures.







Back then onto the path and into the increasing heat we walked on. Santarem has floating market made up of riverboats tied together. Loading and unloading is constant, people using all forms of transport.





There are Great Egrets everywhere.

And vultures.  Most of the vultures are black or turkey vultures, but I did get to see a few of the lesser yellow headed vultures.  I feel dead clever now I know the difference.

We finally reached the general market and the church.  What is it about markets in foreign countries?  They always seem much more colourful and lively than our own.  Perhaps it's the lack of wind and rain, or maybe it's just that we british are boring.  Anyways, you can always buy a colourful hammock in Santarem.

The church was closed, so we sat in the shade for a while, cooling off as best we could before the return walk.  We didn't have any Reals with us, so no beers in a local bar today, but we looked into all the shop fronts to see what was for sale.  Machetes, water tanks, combat gear and balaclava's, flip flops and t shirts, 25 litre drums of drinking water, fishing nets, timbers and toothpaste,  children's underway and pallet loads of foodstuffs.  Everything you could possibly need for a life in an Amazon village where you build your own house, catch or grow your food and only visit the town about once a month.

And the wildlife sightings didn't stop either. Peter managed to get an absolutely awesome picture of a Blue Grey Tanager on the way back. Sadly I didn't because my camera battery was flat. (Humph!)

So that was our fantastic day in Santarem.  We finished it off in the Marco Polo show lounge watching the passenger talent show.  Christine gave an excellent poetry reading, and Micheal Kieren who is a professional story teller, told one of his stories.  It was brilliant. 

Monday 23rd January - Parantins

Bug of the day from my early morning walk around the decks is this yellow black moth. I have no idea what it is, but it's pretty.

Ad, I don't know what type of moth this is. It's quite small and very pretty.

The ship was due to arrive at Parantins at about 11 o'clock and I spent most of the morning watching the river and the rainforest go by whilst Peter worked in the cabin.

Taking a bus trip on the Amazon

e approached Parantins and the captain made an announcement, (you know it's bad news when he comes on the tannoy system). We were told that there were problems with the usual pier, tenders would have to travel further and that there would be a shuttle bus into town from the pier we were going to be sent to.  As the ship dropped anchor and I looked across, I realised why we couldn't use the usual pier.  It wasn't there anymore!   

But the next pier had issues too. Once again the water was too low for passengers to climb out of tenders onto.  Once again the Marco Polo team pulled through and once again the steps that the joiners had built for Alter De Chao were put into service, as was a local riverboat. 

Peter and I hadn't rushed to get ashore, and ended up amongst the last passengers going across.  It was nearly 3pm, and I watched as the empty shuttle bus drove away from shore just as we were a minute or two away from arriving.  Odd?  I wondered if the next one would arrive quickly.

Nope! Once we were on dry land it took a good half hour before the bus came back, I was happy enough, I had my binoculars and camera and spent my time looking across the wastleland at the birds.  But it meant that by the time we got into town we had less than an hour there.  We took a short walk around anyway.

A busy street in Parantins. The preferred form of transport is two wheeled, either a motorcycle or a bicycle. 

As we arrived, so did about 300 others from the main excursion of the day, the Boi Bumba folkloric show. With only two shuttle buses, craft stalls took a lot of money in the hour following. I bought a very pretty pearly set of earrings.

Back at the pier, the queues continued, and again I took advantage. With my binoculars I managed to spot a ringed kingisher and yellow headed caracara.  No photo's though, they were too far away. 

We ended up on the last tender back, with group from the Boi Bumba.  They'd had an excellent time and were in full party mood.  Even though we had to wait awhile to make sure all passengers were accounted for, our tender boat was noisy with bad jokes and bad singing until we offloaded back onto the ship.

Back on board the atmosphere was sleepy and relaxed and as everyone settled into the routine. We sat in the Captain's club with a book and a drink. Then, at about 9.30pm, the alarm went off!  Seven short whistles and one long one. The alarm telling us to get our lifejackets and report to the muster stations.  And then it repeated, again and again.  Everyone, staff included, looked at each other confused.  We were in the middle of a river?  No-one had heard a bang or a thump, the ship hadn't started listing, the engines noise hadn't changed?  Was it a false alarm?

The alarm continued.  Seven short whistles and one long one.  It repeated and repeated.  And then Susan from Shorex came bustling through the lounge.  "Muster stations everyone!" she shouted, clapping her hands, the Captains Club started to empty.  

Peter and I went downstairs to get our lifejackets, and the alarm continued. Lucky for me Peter was in front and blocking my veiw.  The old indian guy from just down the hall was in the corridor in his underpants, wondering what was going on?

At that point, the message came over the tannoy that it was a false alarm, all down to an electrical fault.   It had taken them about 10 minutes before they'd been able to override the lockout and tell us it was a false alarm.  Hey Ho. It all adds to the fun.  Peter says he'll never be able to get the image of the indian guy out of his head though.   

So that was our Parantins day.  Tomorrow we're in Santarem, and for the first time in several years, we haven't got a tour.  This is actually really good news, cos we get to wander and check out the waste ground and boats and stuff. Another day we are really looking forward to.