Amazon Trip - Part 4

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Our bible (the lonley Planet guide) says sailing from Yurimaguas to the Atlantic coast is "hardcore and boring" but up to Manaus we had to disagree, it was quite the opposite. However this leg was just that, really hard work.

We boarded our boat, the Golfinho do Mar III, the night before we were due to sail, saves on hotel costs and everything was good. Only R$100 each, although food and water weren't included, no worries we'd got a few provisions and there's a bar on the top deck again. The following morning the number of people boarding the boat was alarming and by the time we set off at noon we were crammed in like sardines, it was a joke! We were in the middle lane of 3 columns of hammocks and the only was we could get out was to crawl under peeps! Someone had already knicked Mrs P's mambo t-shirt so it hadn't been the best of starts.

Time passed very slowly but we did managed to make a few friends amongst our neighbours, despite our complete lack of Portuguese, which helped to relieve the boredom a little. We had a family behind us with two young girls and a rabbit. We captured the rabbit in the middle of the night after it had escaped and the girls kindly coloured in some pictures for us as a thank you. We'd like to tell you about the scenery and the wildlife but we couldn't see a thing apart from hammocks with sweaty feet poking out. It was a real endurance but strangley rewarding. After yet another Policia Federal delay we finally made it to Santarem, we could almost smell the sea!

Santarem is a cute seaside town, promenade, restaurants/bars all along the front, fishermen trying their luck, it could have been Morecambe on a very hot day. Had a bit of a Mercedes thing going on with cars parading up and down the front, blaring out music. Big difference was that the peeps sat sides watching were drinking beer rather than tea! We had a pizza and then joined them, after all it was Saturday night. Santarém is bordered by the Amazon and the Tapajós rivers. Both run in the front of the city, side by side, without mixing. The Amazon's milky colored water carries sediment from the Andes in the East, while the Tapajós's water is somewhat warmer and has a deep-blue tone. This phenomenon is called "The meeting of the waters" by the locals. Strange sight.

We also visited the picture postcard town of Alter do Chao. Beautiful beach ideal for chilling, catching a few rays and swimming in the river.

All refreshed ready for the final leg.

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