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Published: October 4th 2008
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Sept 22 - 26, 2008
This has been a very enjoyable adventure. Getting to my computer to note the days activities was impossible.
We were up every morning at 05:30 for a canoe trip into the wilderness before breakfast. After breakfast we followed that with various long walks ( 1 ½ - 2 hours ) through the woods with our expert guides ( at 35 + C ) to learn more about the flora and fauna of the region.
Back to the ship for cruising the beautiful river, some very interesting local village visits and very good night canoe trips into the unknown every night after dark to look for wildlife. We particularly enjoyed the night trips as they give you a whole different perspective on the wilderness. Spotting the Caiman, spiders, snakes, etc is amazing with the light from their eyes shining back from our flashlights.
To my enjoyment Alice stayed surprisingly close to me on these encounters ( considering how long we have been travelling together ). She particularly enjoyed the night that ( on 2 occasions ) small fish actually jumped into the canoe in the dark and hit us in the back of
the head !!! She also really appreciated our guide bringing the Tree Boa closer to us in the boat for a better look. The fish jumping into the boat became a joke as it happened in the daytime as well ( My very good friend and fishing partner, John Grant, in Canada will love to hear the fish stories )
Our other fishing adventure was fishing for PIRANIAS on the Rio Negro. What a great afternoon !! Little talent needed here. A 2 meter, very light, bamboo fishing rod, 2 meters of line a hook and some good beef ( Filet preferred ) for bait ( and a little local knowledge ) and you can have some great fun catching Piranias. And these are great to eat too !!! The biggest we caught today was about 30 CM nose to tail. Not much meat but our great, on board, cooks fried them up for some great snacks and they taste very good. Our afternoon included probable the hardest rain I’ve ever experienced, for 10 minutes or so, but we never missed a beat in our fishing. We were a sight to behold when we arrived back at the ship
looking like drowned rats.
We never saw as many “animals” as we thought we might but maybe on a future trip. The Rio Negro is a very special; environment and is not as “ busy “ as we expected. We did enjoy the forest, flora and fauna walks, great Tarantula photo ops and the ever present Pink and Grey Dolphins that are everywhere on the river.
We had several very interesting visits to local villages that we enjoyed very much. These are not “Indian” villages, as we expected, but local portuguese speaking people that have been here for many generations. The local Amazonians are mostly a mix of the European and aboriginal people. There are a few “Native Indians “ that are isolated from modern society on land reserves.
To try to write about this in a few words would be impossible. We can only recommend that you put this on your list as something you should do in your life.
We had a great time. We had great food, the small ship is great, for the most part the weather cooperated ( including the spectacular afternoon thunder, lightning, and rain we enjoyed one day on
board ) we all smelled as bad as the other guy ( with the heat and humidity ) and the people we met and new friends we made were wonderful. Except for Richard ! Myra was wonderful but I guess we have to get to know Richard better. We hope to do that if they ever visit the best part of Canada someday on a future trip from their home in Wales. We look forward to it guys !!
Amazonia is a wonderful place and well worth the visit soon before it loses it character.
We will fly from Manaus to Sao Paulo for an overnight stay and then on to Santiago and Punta Arenas, Chile for another adventure in Patagonia.
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Hello I amworking ona story about a rivr trip up the Amazon and I am seeking information Re; the distance from Manaus to Macapa in river mikes. I like to keep my stories accurate and the 130 craft i am using cruises at 10 knots pr hr. Thank you land lock prisoner