Belem to Manaus - Journey down the Amazon

---

BELEM

Woke up early today to put our hammocks up on the 7-day boat slog to Manaus. We stayed in Belem for 2 nights to recharge our batteries after the marathon 28hr bus journey from Fortaleza. Manaus which is the basin for the amazon river can only be reached from the south by boat. The road networks arnt extensive enough, the river is the highway of travel.

Like i was saying, we woke up early to cement our places on the boat, i use the word cement loosely. The boat (May 11 or Onze de Maio) departed at 6:00pm, we arrived at at 10:00am, a cool 8 hours in advance....You would have thought... We still arrived to a packed boat. We managed to squeeze ourselves between a few people. The hammocks we bought a day earlier, were no use to us without something to string them up with.... Ignorant fools.. we thought there would be hooks, simple enough, everyone gets there spot. NOT IN BRAZIL... more of a every man for themselves attitude. We managed to buy some rope off a peddler and struggled to secure our hammocks sufficiently to support our weight. The locals, as you would, found this hilarious. Only when an old Lady (who we refereed to as 'mama´ due to her constantly looking out for us) came to our aid and whipped out a fisherman's knot did we feel it safe to give it a go. Ole... it worked..

After securing our spot and leaving out luggage we took a stroll down to the town to get some food, playing cards and other essentials for the trip...(bog roll)... We had ample time as the boat was still not due to leave for at least 6 hours.

4:00pm... On the big brother boat.. and we arrive back. Now what we thought was packed before.. was nothing in comparison to the carnage we gazed upon our return. Struggling to even find my hammock in the mayhem was a strenuous task in itself.... MY HAMMOCK!!! it had been moved. Coming down at 10 seemed pointless now, and i definitely could have done with the lie in. Roughly in the same place but moved towards a large pole. A lady with her small infant ( later come to know them as Jessica and Gabriel), had moved in and shafted me aside. I unraveled one end and tired to extend it a bit.. Alas.. wasn't going to get any better than this..

As i write this, i am in between probably 250 people on a deck no bigger than 15m x 5m. I actually don't feel to bad... quite the opposite.. i am enjoying the banter of it. The pole.. yes .. will annoy me, the lack of space will hurt but i don't know.. It just doesn't matter. Everyone is in the "same boat" (excuse the pun) and i quite like the cosiness of it all. Lets see how i feel tomorrow, after what i can only imagine to be a disastrous nights sleep....

This is hilarious. Raz has just come back from the toilet to find his hammock strung against the ceiling. It seems you have to guard your turf. Until the boat moves, and all passengers are settled I am not moving out of my hammock.

Jessica with her baby Gabriel, have basically told everyone where to go. Literally no space and people where trying to move in. She has a 4 month old baby and basically told the captain were to go. DO NOT MESS with a MOTHER and her new born baby.. I am having so much fun, Jessica kindly gave me Gabriel to hold. Stunning baby, with a cool Mohican of a haircut. He seems to have taken to me, smiling away. I am saying all of this now, but some how sleeping next to a new born infant poses some problems.... see what happens..

10:00pm the boat finally leaves. I guess the departure time was rather flexible. They seemed to be loading up alot of cargo which caused the delay. Eric, Linda and Cecilia (3 Swedish people..well Eric is Peruvian who just lives in Sweden...) were on the same boat. We had briefly met them in Olinda for a coffee and our paths seem to have crossed again. Although they splashed out and got a cabin, which cost them around 350 reais each.

The toilets on board are disgusting. Honestly i cant describe how bad they are. I can barely pee in them without the stench of feces making me gag. Objective ... Not to poo for 6 days. Wish i had some Imodium.. would definitely OD on that.

The locals are incredibly friendly. Sometimes its difficult to determine weather they are laughing at us, or with us. As we (Raz, John, Conor and I) are all on opposite ends of the boat, we have made mini families with our neighbours. My family is Jessica, Gabriel, Jessicas husband Sosamo and two other lads on my other side... whose names i cant remember. Raz and Conors family consists of Mama, Sarah (a local girl) and a couple of others.

John is yet to interact with his neighbours although he has got quite familiar with an older gentleman's bottom who is in a hammock above him. Literally there is an inch between his face and the guys hammock.. First time i have ever seen a bunk bed hammock. Absolute class.. John as expected is pissed.. SO funny... he couldn't even get out to go to the toilet.. lets see how this pans out...

DAY 2

My first nights sleep, I'm sure your curious to find out.. was... Awful..

Got into my hammock around midnight, at which point most of the locals were asleep. Navigating my way through the madness i manged to find my hammock with more ease than the last time. As a rookie in the art of hammocking, i learnt a valuable lesson last night. WRAP UP! My shorts and T-shirt were definitely not enough. The breeze flowing through the sides of the boat, coupled with the thunderstorns made it pretty nippy. I tried to cocoon myself up tightly, but this reduced my comfortability. This constant battle of warmth versus comfort kept me up all night.

Breakfast is served from 6-7:30. As i was already awake, i got out of my hammock and headed the queue for food. Before embarking on this journey i was under the impression food was free. Although still relatively cheap, it was more money that Brazil was taking from my unemployed pockets. Finally food is served, 7:15, the queue at this point was starting to stretch round the boat. The menu for today, bit of bread with cheese and a cup of coffee. This is getting better and better. To be honest at this stage, I'm still pretty content. Things arnt going to bad considering.. I´m still hungry, no sleep and my back is ruined from sleeping in the hammock. Don't get me wrong, would love to be home right now in my double bed watching my 37inch TV...but im not. I am sailing down the amazon, an experience not many people get to experience. Whilst having my coffee we spotted some dolphins, not sure if they were the infamous pink dolphins, but still early days.

What made me feel better and me chuckle, was Johns reaction. We woke him up for breakfast this morning. Definitely not amused and could care less for out surroundings.

Its around 5:00pm now and the day seems to be dragging on. I guess the days tend to be long when your up at 6 and have nothing to do.

A young German couple are abroad with their 2 kids, a young boy of 8 and a young girl probably 6. This kids are an absolute pain. Running round causing anarchy and annoying everyone. This contrasted to a young Brazilian boy of 5, coming aboard with his parents selling shrimp. This i guess is a source of income for some of the amazonian fisherman. Regular boats run down the amazon from Belem to Manaus and visa versa. The fisherman are familiar with the with the timings of the different vessels an hang around in their canoes waiting for the ships to pass by. The canoes paddle in front of the boat, wait for it to pass and come in at an angle, hooking themselves on and dragging themselves in. This is a very difficult task and something i guess they have mastered. If they miss, the boat goes past and they miss their opportunity. The boats speed is too fast for them to try and catch it. This happened today, a young boy with his mother tried and failed to hook themselves on...they drifted off in the distance.

Anyway this young boy came on board with his parents to sell shrimp. He walked around the boat just holding 2 bags of shrimp to sell for 2 Reais each. The comparison between the German child and the Brazilian of similar ages is something that stood out to me. The Brazilian child, even at such a young child has to work and learn his parents trade. Everyone has different backgrounds and cultures but this really did strike me. It is interesting to think how these 2 boys, at one point in time, stood side by side, but will grow up to lead very different lives.

Whilst looking out on the top deck of the boat, the Amazonians let their kids out to play in the amazon. We see kids playing in the water, swimming and others in their canoes, on their own just wondering about. I would be nervous to go for a swim, not knowing what lies beneath. For these kids, it is their playground. Chilling out, going for a swim of just drifting off and exploring the river.

The boat is split up into 3 decks. The bottom deck is where engine is, this doubles as storage for the cargo that is transported between the different ports. Due to the amount of people on board, a few passengers have slinged their hammocks up.

The second Deck is the living quarters. An area of about 15x5 metres is home to around 150-200 people. With hammocks hung up everywhere. The toilets, eating area and showers are also on this level.

The top deck has an open area for people to chill out. A few tables and chairs, with a little confectionery shop. This deck is home to the card players. I am pretty sure i will know every card game by the time the trip is over.

DAY 3

After feeling pretty rough, i.e. not showering, i finally surcomed to going to the toilet. I had a better nights sleep, in my hammock for 12 and woke up for breakfast at 7. 7 hours sleep is probably the most i will get. My neck is in agony from sleeping in the hammocks. Mama, noticed me in pain and offered to rub some oil into my shoulders and neck. Reminds me of when my grandmother used to do things like that for me, and how i miss her.

After breakfast i could feel my stomach rebelling. I closed my nose and entered the toilet. The toilet lock was broken, so after giving the seat a good rub down i took the plunge. Keeping one had on the door, to make sure no one entered. Surficied to say, i had to keep the door shut a few times as people tried to enter. Took a shower straight after, one of the benefits on having the toilet doubling up as a shower. Nothing more could go wrong, or could it. The water stops.

I'm still content by the way, learning to be at one with the locals. Eating, showering and sleeping together gives me a better taste of their lives and appreciate the luxuries i have at home so much more. Saying that, they all have showers in the morning, put on fresh clean clothes ready for the day. On the other hand, their is us, who haven't showered and are wearing the same clothes since we arrived. I am pretty sure they think we are disgusting.

Its difficult to find things to occupy the day, but I'm coping. Tomorrow i think we get to Santeram. The half way point, i think alot of people are getting off here and more getting on. We dock i think for 6 hours, gives us a bit of time to check out the place, reload on some fruit and food.

INTERESTING DEVELOPMENTS... The boat started to spew smoke on the right side of the boat. We docked at a little town called Almerium to get some parts and fix the engine. We were told that it shouldn't take longer than an hour. So at around 3pm we docked, and ventured up to the town to get some food. The town reminded me of something out of an old Western. After half an hour we arrived back to the port, the boat in the same shape as we left it. Nothing seemed to be happening, a few of the crew returned in a taxi empty handed. No parts, no nothing, although they brought an engineer with them. As it was Sunday, and like everywhere in Brazil, everything was shut. We were not getting any straight answers as to when the boat would be fixed, or what time we would be leaving. Hearing conflicting stories on what was going on, we didn't know what to do. It was starting to get late now and having docked 5 hours earlier, their were concerns on whether we would actually be leaving tonight. People started to flock off the boat to grab some dinner in a restaurant by the port.

One Brazilian seemed fairly angry about the whole thing and in Portuguese started to complain to the 2 English lads. They understood 'nada´ about what was being said but just nod in agreement.

Pedro a Brazilian from Sao Paulo later told us that he was angry at the fact we had been docked for so long and would not get to Manaus on time. Patiently waiting for a concrete answer as to was happening.... ENTER the military police. Our boat was not checked at Belem, apparently someone tipped them off about our boat. After inspecting the boats passengers and cargo they came outside to have a word with the captain. A big group of people crowded round to see what was going on, as did we. Again with Pedros translation, the military said that the boat was overpacked.

There were too many people packed into one area and too much cargo (mainly tomatoes). I could have told you that. We had passed a couple of other boats with much less hammocks and cargo. Apparently our boat was one of the worst boats to catch. Had a slower engine, and renowned for packing as many people and things on. The weight also effects the speed of the boat, especially as we were going upstream.

They had told the captain that we had to get rid of half the cargo, and move some of the people downstairs. Getting rid of the cargo wasn't really an option, as most of it was fresh fruit and wouldn't survive more than a few days. Finally we were told that the parts were in a shop across the road that was closed, and wouldn't open until tomorrow. Alas we were here for the night. The Brazilians on board were quite relaxed and calm about the situation. No was was kicking up a fuss about the delay, just a little shrug, ahh what you going to do. This stop seemed to unite the passengers, everyone was sat outside together sharing what little food they had and trying to make the most of a beautiful night. This mentality is symbolic of Brazilian culture. Always living life with a smile and making the most of any situation. People was dancing and laughing, getting to better know one another.

We later found out that Gabriels father could have been in the Olympics for Brazil. He was a professional hand ball player, and was meant to go to Spain to represent Brazil. He didnt go, as he wanted to stay with his wife during her pregnancy. His replacement, ended up going to Beijing to represent Brazil in the Olympics.

We said to him that Gabriel was worth more than any medal he could have won. I have fallen in love with their son, he is an adorable little boy, with his Mohican haircut. At 4 months old, i would have expected him to by crying constantly, far from it. You get caught in his big brown eyes and all you want to do is kiss him. The family have taken a liking to me, and I to them. They are constantly offering me food and trying to teach me some Portuguese. Everyone on board is so friendly, couldnt have asked for a better bunch of people to spend a week with in such close quarters.

DAY 4

After waking up late and missing breakfast, i look out to find we are still docked in Almerium. Wondered out to get some breakfast, returning to the boat to get showered up. Last night Pedro told us that the Brazilians thought us English were disgusting for not showering and changing our clothes. Today i put on some clean clothes and showered up to try and squash that rumour. Around 11:00am, and we are finally on the move. We were a bit worried that some people were still in the town.

As the boat left the dock, one of the English guys ran up trying to jump on board. The gap... to big, and wisely decided against it. Everyone was jeering him on, from the side, telling him to swim. BANTER.

We told the captain to stop the boat, but a nice man kindly brought him aboard on his boat. So much banter has been had on the boat, even if we have lost a day and speak very little Portuguese. If it takes that much longer to get to Manaus, this is an experience i will keep with me for the rest of my life.

The atmosphere was electric today. Everyone was in such good spirits. Probably because we were actually moving. People were dancing on the top deck to some brazilian classics... The Brazilian version of Rihannas 'under my umbrella´. People were laughing and joking all day. Mainly at an old brazilian man, trying to dance with some of the younger woman on board.

Although my participation was minimal you could not help but get lifted by their spirits. This infectious attitude soon worked its way round the boat. Such a layed back people with no time for negative thoughts. I love being on this boat, its the closet thing i have experienced so far, that truly reflects brazilian culture. They have excepted and integrated us the best way they can and vice versa. I am glad we lost a day, as it gives me that much more time to sample this unique atmosphere.

In other circumstances this could have been the worst week of my life, but on the contrary, i cant remember when ive had so much fun. My mum always says, its what you make of it, never listened and probably wont ever admit this to her, but she was right..... dont get happy mum..

DAY 5

Not going to bore you with the same old routine, although we stopped in santerium, a main stop over point on the way to manuas. We got a few hours to check out the town, although not enough time for me to find somewhere to watch the Liverpool game. Quite a few people got off the boat, Matt, Greg, Pedro, and Kevin, we said our goodbyes wishing them a safe journey. They were getting off to visit Alter de Chao, the carribean of Brazil. But since we were actually going to the Caribbean we passed.

We stopped off for 4 hours, and wondered about the small town. I wanted to buy something for baby Gabriel, as his family have treated me as one of their own. As he was only 4 months old, i wasn't quite sure what to get him. I ended up getting him a hand painted T-shirt with parrots. Hardly a memento since they pass through santerium all the time, but I'm sure they appreciated the gesture.

DAY 6

LIVERPOOL 4-0 REAL MADRID!!! what a result. Get in!! Cant believe i missed one of the best games ever. We docked somewhere quickly and i manged to call my dad to find out the score, i was sure he was joking as he usually does, or a bad connection. After he repeated himself several times i was convinced.

I woke up this morning with stomach cramps..diahoria!! something i had yesterday must not have agreed with me. Ah... lets see how i like the next couple of days now. Wish i had some Imodium.

The weather has been pretty bad, storms etc, this has mellowed everyone out. We seem to have lost some of the more bubbly characters in Santerium.

DAY 7

We finally arrive in Manaus on the 7th morning, around 1 am. People were packing up their things from and saying their goodbyes to the strangers who had become amigos. As it was too late to search for a hostel, the captain kindly allowed us to stay on board the night and leave in the morning. The now empty deck that hosted the hammock jungle of the amazon was a distant memory. The last week on board has been my favourite part of the trip so far. Getting a true flavour of the Latin lifestyle and culture is something i will take with me.

We have had alot of fun during this boat trip, weather it was Conor coming back from the top deck at 2 in the morning and missing his hammock, to raz constipated for a week. I actually couldn't believe it, I'm sure he will let it all out in the next few days. Sad to say goodbye to my home for the last week, but the adventure must continue.....

---