Day eighteen, Wednesday 16th February, Parantin

No tours today, just a visit this morning to the little town of Parintin.  It doesn’t have a dock big enough for the ship, so the Boudicca anchored in the middle of the river, and we went ashore by tender.

It was pretty uneventful really. Two lifeboats and two of the local riverboats were used for tenders. The thing with the riverboats is that they are the main means of transport along the river, like buses, trains and articulated lorries. Some trips easily take 6 days in these boats, and when they are used by the locals for transport, the customers bring their own hammock, using them for seating and sleeping in.

But us tourists don’t have hammocks, so the riverboats suddenly produce a load of plastic seats that we would use as garden furniture.  They are not very substantial or secured to the floor which means they slide and around and you don’t feel that safe in them.  One large guy proved they weren’t safe n as much as the chair leg snapped underneath him and he landed on the floor.  Not very dignified, poor bloke.

We had a quick wander around the town which is actually quite nice, and a refreshing change from Manaus.  We visited their cathedral which is pleasantly large and airy, and wandered down one or two of their main streets.  Bikes are the main form of transport:- push bikes, motorbikes and taxi’s in the form of a backwards trike, (Can’t remember what they are called, see picture). The telephone booths put a smile on our faces, (cows!) and we enjoyed a cool drink at a little bar on the edge of the river before returning back to the ship.  A grey dolphin even popped up to say hello whilst we were there.  It was very hot but still very pleasant.

*A quick note about Manaus by the way, we’ve heard about a few muggings there. Two passengers have had gold chains ripped from their necks, and there was an attempt to snatch a camera from another passenger’s hand.  She had the cord wrapped round her wrist so the attempt failed – but other visitors beware!

Now for the real news......  THE SHIP HAS BROKEN DOWN!  We left Parintins at 1pm as scheduled, travelled down river for a couple of miles, and then stopped, because there is a problem with the steering.  The captain has been making regular announcements about the attempts to repair it, but so far, at 7pm, no go.  Maybe they can’t fix it?  The speculation from passengers is going to be so much fun.  I can’t wait to hear it all.

If they managed to fix the problem short time, the Captain is going to have to put his foot down to catch up on lost hours. We have three sea days, (including checking out at Macapa Pilot station tomorrow), before Tobago to do it in.  But this repair seems to be taking so long to fix, who knows what will happen?

UPDATE

Well, they managed to finally fix it and we set sail (Funny term that, setting sail. There are no sails on this ship.) at 8.45 which makes us 7¾ hrs behind schedule.  We’ll have to get the crew to pedal faster and not have any breaks.

PS We are still having difficulty with the phones.  No signal, and when we do get one, there’s a foreign guy keeps repeating the same message.  I think he’s telling me I can’t phone home.

PPS I have no mosquito bites, not one. Poor Peter on the other hand is covered in them!  

Parintins visit 2012

Day seventeen, Tuesday 15th February, Manaus

Jungle trekking tour today.  Yippee.  Just so you know, today it got to 32 degrees C.  It’s been really hot and humid throughout.

We got up and breakfasted quite early, so as to be ready at 8.30 as per jungle trekking ticket instructions.  I was looking forward to this one. I know that we are not expecting to see much, because as was explained during one of the guest lectures, the birds and animals live up high in the trees, don’t make any noise, and can hear a noisy, gossipy load of old tourists from miles away.  But I was excited anyway.

The tour started with a boat ride up the Black River or Il Negro to one of the hundreds of islands in the middle of it.  We’ve been learning a lot about these rivers whilst we’ve been here.  Today’s guide explained that because the Black River is more acidic than the Amazon, there is less flora and fauna, including mosquito’s. 

Once on the island, our guides were joined by local experts of the jungle, (i.e. guys who know how to live in it without the help of wi-fi, loo roll, matches and insect repellent), and we were taken on a trail through the jungle.  It wasn’t a long walk, we paused every hundred yards or so for an explanation by the expert and translation by the guide.  We learnt about different vines, grass that can leave really sharp cuts, big 1 metre long worms, medicinal plants, and flowers.  We saw another gigantic moth (as per picture).  Hunting techniques were explained (like disturbing a load of ants so that they spray formic acid at you, that way you smell of formic acid, not of human), traps were demonstrated, and survival techniques were shown.  Did you know that you can use two AA batteries and a brillo pad to start a fire?  Sadly, the tarantula that they tried to persuade to come out of its hole to say hello decided it had had enough of tourists and being poked with a stick, and remained firmly hidden.  (Another group saw it and showed us the pictures.  It was HUGE!)  

Once the walk was finished, we rested in a restaurant area where we were treated to cold cans and the Amazonian alcoholic drink made with sugar cane and lime, called something like assaye.  It’s about 35% proof and is like drinking neat vodka.  Knock out!  Peter managed to get some film of a caiman in the pond nearby.  Bonus!  After that we were taken on the river boat back to the Boudicca and arrived in time for lunch.

It was all very interesting, but I suppose, for us, the real attraction was the fact that we were actually walking in the Amazon rainforest.  We sort of wished the women ahead of us would shut up, and we could just walk in the quiet, listening to the insects and the odd bird call. We could have watched for birds and maybe monkeys, and walked for a lot further than we actually did.  We wouldn’t have missed it tho, cos we can now say we’ve done it.  We wouldn’t do it again for the money tho (£50 each).

After lunch, we went to have a look at the city.  Manaus used to be very rich because the only place you could get rubber was from the Amazon rainforest, and obviously Manaus was the main trading city for the stuff.  The wealth of the place was astounding, they paid for buildings to be shipped over from all over Europe, to be rebuilt, brick by brick, in Manaus.  The Opera House is the finest and most lavish example of this, apparently well worth a visit because of the sheer opulence, quality and cost of the furnishings that were shipped over.  The dock we were tied to was also imported, from England I think.  It’s unusual because it is a floating dock that rises and falls with the annual flooding of the Amazon.

Then some Englishman had the bright idea of sending the rubber plant seeds abroad and Brazil lost its monopoly on rubber and became poor again.  And what you see as a result is ugly modern buildings next to ramshackle run down looking huts and warehouses next to beautiful old buildings

During our city jaunt we first went to see the Opera House, we didn’t make it in time to fit in a tour because we had to get back to the ship, so we had to settle for a few pictures of the outside.  We then took a wander in the area just outside the port. 

 The city is absolutely teeming with people.  Like Santarem, the roads and paths are in poor state of repair, with plenty of rubbish to decorate.  The city centre is full of shops, and the paths are absolutely crammed with market stalls.  We had a look at the cathedral and sat in the grounds for a few minutes people watching.  An amazing place, but I don’t think I would want to live here.

We got back to the ship and generally stayed on deck through the sail away party, the point where the ship go to “the wedding of the waters”, and the sunset.  Tomorrow we have Parintins, which doesn’t have a dock big enough for the ship, so we’ll be using the tender again.  

Manaus visit day 1 2011
Manaus visit day 1 2012
Manaus visit day 2 2012

Day sixteen, Monday 14th February, Manaus

It’s Valentine’s Day, my nephews birthday, my bro in laws birthday and my sisters wedding anniversary, (I think) AND we are as far up the Amazon as we are going to get.  Manaus is the largest city and the capital of the Amazon.  It started in 1669 and is home to one of the most famous opera houses in the world.  But we haven’t seen the city bit yet.

As usual, I woke up early, and ended making Peter get up too.  We’d booked ourselves onto the “River Exploration” tour and Peter was made an escort.  This means he didn’t have to pay for his place, but he did have to count heads, carry the first aid kit, dispense hand cleanser at mealtimes and loads of other stuff instead.

Basically the tour goes like this:-

Climb onboard larger riverboat for a 45 min ride to Lake January’s floating pier and market.  Tour guide gives load of info abut the area. (Accents are a bit strong, and sometimes it was hard to understand, but we learnt loads)

At Lake January’s floating pier, get off the boat and spend 20 mins in market trying not to spend loads of money on the local crafts (some of that stuff is awesome!).

Go out of the market and walk along a raised wooden walkway to a giant lily pad pond.  On the way be lucky enough to see a troop of spider monkeys make their way under the walkway and through the forest.  Avoid getting bitten by ants or mosquito’s.  Take hundreds of photo’s including the one of the gorgeous orange flower.  I have no idea what it is.

Return to floating pier and climb into motorised, 10 seater canoes.  Driver and guide will take you on a tour of the small creaks (or igrapes).  From the boat you will see and learn about the homes and lives of the river people (ribeirinhos), floating grass, lily pads, floods and droughts.  You will see great egrets, little birds that look like moorhens and other birds you are going to ask Moss about later.  Mostly you get a feel for what it is like travelling all the time in this way.

When canoe returns to floating pier, climb out and go inside to enjoy the buffet meal provided in the restaurant.  Try 3 different types of fish including the black piranha, also known as the amazon cod.  Absolutely delicious.

Once you have finished your meal, get back on board the river boat which will take you  to the meeting of the rivers, where El Negro, (or the black river), meets the sandy coloured Solimoes (other name for the Amazon river).  The tour guide will explain why the two rivers do not mix (ph value, temperature and river speed apparently).Enjoy the continued, relaxing river boat trip to the Tera Nova Island.  Disembark and walk along another wooden walkway to visit a local Cabocia community.  The tour guide will explain the way of life, show you how rubber is harvested, and then turned from it’s liquid form into big black rubber balls.  (Roast it on a stick, turning constantly, as per woman in picture).  You will also learn about the tapioca root, and how it is harvested and roasted for eating.  Around the village are all sorts of plants and trees.  Chocolate trees, (well, cocoa bean trees anyway), rubber trees, grain fruit trees (not edible) and many more.

The locals have a large market garden outside the village.  With fish from the river, they have all the food they need.   Notice birds of paradise plants growing freely and take pictures.

Return to riverboat for final hour long trip back to the ship.  Tour guide will point out various features such as the Navy base, and the floating petrol stations, which are wonderfully different. Apparently there are about 60 of them, and we passed them in a big long row, all competing on fuel prices no doubt

Finally get back to ship hot, sweaty, tired and thoroughly satisfied with the experience.
A brilliant day out!

Then tonight, another treat.  Because we are stopping in Manaus another night, this evenings entertainment was “Simetria Norte”, a local show.  Peter’s previous experience of local shows has not been good, therefore we were not sure what to expect, but to be honest, although the beginning of the show did not look promising, it turned out to be quite spectacular, mostly because of the costumes which were incredibly colourful and bright. The routine seemed to be taking us through the various history of dance and entertainment of the country. Unfortunately, they all sang in Portuguese and we couldn’t quite follow the storyline, which was a shame, because it looked interesting.  It ended up as a carnival of glamour and colour on the stage, with the audience being pulled up to join in.  I really enjoyed it.

And that’s all for today folks.  Tomorrow we have another day in Manaus, and me n Peter have tickets to go on a jungle trek, cameras at the ready. 

The adventure continues..................

Manaus visit day 2 2011        Manaus visit day 1 2012     Manaus visit day 2 2012