Hello, faithful readers!! Sorry for the break in contact we have been in the Amazon the past 14 days and had very limited Internet access, so I have some catching up to do... here it goes...
We began this little portion of our adventure with a 28 hour boat ride from Manaus to Santarem. It started with a crazy rush to the port, so much so I thought we might miss the boat but, as with much of the transportation here, the boat did not leave on time and we made it aboard.
The loading was a little insane, at one point, while already headed down the river, a man in a small boat pulled up, threw his luggage on board and just jumped on in!
Seeing the "meeting of the waters" was pretty amazing, it is where the two rivers, one "black" and one "white," meet and don´t mix for several kilometers because of differences in speed, density, temperature, etc.
The boat ride all in all was definitely better than I expected it to be. It did begin to lose it's luster after the first night, and we were glad we decided to break up the full trip into two sections.
After getting off the boat in Santarem, we had to stay the night in a hotel there because it was too late to head into Alter do Chão, but we head there tomorrow!!!
We began this little portion of our adventure with a 28 hour boat ride from Manaus to Santarem. It started with a crazy rush to the port, so much so I thought we might miss the boat but, as with much of the transportation here, the boat did not leave on time and we made it aboard.
The loading was a little insane, at one point, while already headed down the river, a man in a small boat pulled up, threw his luggage on board and just jumped on in!
The boat itself was an interesting experience, so many people packed on to one vessel, all swinging from hammocks. Despite the number of people on board, we were the only travelling gringos. Needless to say, as usual, we stuck out like a sore thumb. Our neighbors were very pleasant people who were more than willing to answer any questions we had.
Seeing the "meeting of the waters" was pretty amazing, it is where the two rivers, one "black" and one "white," meet and don´t mix for several kilometers because of differences in speed, density, temperature, etc.
The first night we experienced the first of many Amazonian sunsets. The whole sky lit up like the trees were on fire. This was the moment it hit me that I was floating down the Amazon river, something I never imagined I would do, and yet, there I was, it was truly magnificent.
The boat ride all in all was definitely better than I expected it to be. It did begin to lose it's luster after the first night, and we were glad we decided to break up the full trip into two sections.
After getting off the boat in Santarem, we had to stay the night in a hotel there because it was too late to head into Alter do Chão, but we head there tomorrow!!!
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