Amazon Boat Trip

Our arrival into the city of Belem, the gateway to the mighty Amazon River was made with out incident apart from it being May 1. It turns out that that they don’t round all bank holidays up to the Friday or Monday so we found every thing shut on a Thursday apart from our hotel. It being May Day we find a large protest march running through the city. Sores of people waving reds flags, chanting and wearing red noises with cops in full riot gear looking menacingly on. We never did find out what was going on but it all ended peacefully enough.
After a night we made our move to the river boat that would be our home for the next 6 nights. It was only supposed to be four nights but this is how things work in the Amazon apparently. The boat had three decks. The bottom for cargo, the middle for people in hammocks and the top was a makeshift bar. The middle deck was full by the time we set off three hours late. About 80 hammocks cramed into a space made for half that number. We were at the end of this hammock line but still had people in very close quarters Hammocks were strung above and below each other all through out the deck. You got to know your neighbors very well. We were well fed for the 7 days we were on the boat albeit the meals were the same very day. The showers and toilets were a bit grim but nothing too bad even though you were sharing them with everybody else.

Nothing prepares you for how beautifully amazing the Amazon River is. It can be so wide that you are sure you are out at sea only seeing the faintest line of trees in the distance. You are also surrounded by dense jungle on either side with the odd clearing every now and again for a few small houses. Kids as young as 4 or 5 would row out to the boat to play in the wake or get a small gift thrown by one of the passengers.
7 days on a boat is not as boring as it first may sound. There is always something to look at. We would see pink river dolphins almost every day, toucans, macaws and a world of bugs would greet you in the night. You could also just chat everybody else on the boat. My Portuguese is a little better because of it. We also acted as makeshift babysitters on a few occasions. I don’t think I’ll forget little Gabriel and his mother who we nicknamed “trouble” for reasons we haven’t got time to mention in this entry.
I would recommend this trip to any one who loves a bit of adventure. It was a experience I for one will never forget.