Manaus to Belem - The journey

Once under way we sat and chatted about lots of things but mostly biking. They have taken Wing under their wing (sorry about that pun) and clearly get on well together. Just before dinner Catchya presented me with one of their tour Shirts and a sticker for the bike! Typical of how friendly the people have been on this trip.

There were two choices for dinner - take it or leave it. Actually it was ok, meat with rice and spaghetti.

The river banks slip effortlessly by and at some distance from the boat. The scenery doesn't change very much! As it got dark it seemed to get hotter and more humid, the night also brought out lots of flying bugs. It was at this point I decided to shower and head to the comfort of my air conditioned cabin.

I slept really well (no large waves here) and woke to a similar scene from yesterday. More shoreline slipped by and the excitement for the day was provided by pulling in to three ports along the way. At each we tied up on a jetty and watched the cargo and people change places. It was all manual labour and done at quite a pace, especially considering the heat.

At one port the Police boarded the boat with dogs and checked all the cabins, it wasn't too thorough and they were very nice about it. Although some of my clothes are now offencive, they didn't arrest me.

At the same port they loaded a warehouse full of Brazil nuts & all by hand, it took several hours. They sell them from barrows on the street and I was expecting them to be cheap but a small bag cost £2.50. 

We awoke to find ourselves in port - Santagem which is one of the larger towns on the Amazon but nowhere near as big as Manaus. We were here some hours as cargo was unloaded and loaded. The strangest thing was a Hummer. It arrived at the docks on a car transporter and judging by the fact is was pushed across the planks on to the boat I assume it had broken down and was on it's way to the nearest Hummer Dealership - God know where that is!

Our bikes get moved around depending on what is happening with the rest of the cargo and they are not always strapped down (it is very flat water) so i expect they are fine but i couldn't help but put a few cargo straps on mine.

Again a rather lazy day watching the world go by, the only real interest being each port we stopped at, some of them quite small. a horde of people trying to sell their wares come aboard of throw it on to the boat from the jetty. There are large bags of shrimp which look fantastic but I am not going to risk them. I did buy a coconut and sugar cake which was ok but very sweet.

Given the long day of doing nothing, other than chatting with the other bikers (and getting a Spanish lesson in the process) I have read quite a lot. Ozzy Osbourne's Autobiography (although as a dyslexic I suspect he had some help) - very funny with "laugh out loud" moments but the language is not for the overly sensitive.

This evening we are passing through an incredibly wide part of the Amazon with there being no land on the horizon in parts. The highlight of the day was a pair of Toucans flying over the boat. Their enormous and colourful beaks make them easy to spot. They are not the most graceful birds, having short stubby wings that they flap wildly interspersed with short rests.

The last full day on the boat was the best. We had been travelling through the wide parts of the Amazon and hence were far from shore to see the much. Today we were in narrow straights with the shore sometimes no more than a few meters away. The noise from the forest was audible over the engine and the Brazilian music played in the bar. It is like sparrows in a hedge but x 1000. We didn't see any monkeys but we did see a Pink dolphin! The highlight of the trip.

They are meant to be along the whole length of the river but don't play with boats the way the ocean going dolphins do so are harder to spot. We were past this one before we saw it but I did get a picture of it just in time!They are thought to be the most intelligent of all the Dolphins (perhaps that is why they are difficult to photograph).

This is what they look like when you have a camer man with you!

The other interest, on this narrow part of the river, is that you see the remote homes of the locals. not only that, on sight of the boat they (mostly women and young children)  take to their canoes and paddle like crazy towards it. It is obviously a local tradition to throw your old clothes and food in to the river for them to collect (all wrapped in plastic bags obviously). I didn't have any clothes (no one would want to be seen in my "fashion" wear anyway) so I wrapped some notes around some coins, put them in a bag and tossed that to them.

The next excitement was the traders, these are guys who paddle like furry towards the boat and then throw a long hook 2 or 3 meters long (made of re-bar) to catch one of the tyres/fenders on the side of the boat. Once attached (and they only get one go at it, the pull themselves along side the boat and tie up. They then scamper up the side of the boat to sell Shrimp and fruits from the forest Acai. I didn't risk the Shrimp but a Brazilian lady gave us a taste of the purple fruit "puree" called Acai. Despite here putting a lot of sugar in it - it was bloody horrible and Catchya managed to lose it overboard when she wasn't looking!

If you are ever coming this way make sure you have your music and lots of reading material and perhaps a pack of cards.