Small communities dotted the shores of the Amazon
Although the boat trip was slightly longer than the first it turned out to be quite a bit more entertaining and enjoyable than the previous one. We figured out that boat showers (small poorly ventilated stalls with a shower head over the toilet) aren't nearly as uncomfortable and pointless as we had thought they would be, at least they killed some time and saved us from being the stinky girls on the boat. We also found that the food served on board wasn't bad either (we had heard some horror stories). The river was much more narrow on this leg of the journey as well, therefore more scenic. There are small communities all along the way that use canoes as a main means of transportation, whole families, men, women and children paddling around the river in handmade canoes. Fascinating.
One of the best parts of the trip, and certainly the most entertaining was a group of men we met while having drinks on the top deck we quickly bonded with them over drinks and talk of American music. It turns out they were in Santarem training for their work, which was as a hired security force, basically rent-a-cops with automatic weapons. They gave us tips about things to do in Belem and kept us entertained by singing all the wrong lyrics to American songs. The trip flew by and before we knew it we were in Belem.
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