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Published: April 6th 2009
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Day one and what a view!
Serious rain and fog coming in Tim Version:
* Got on the boat early but not early enough! Nearly all spots were gone, found aircon is not a special area but rather where 80% of people are, and got me a spot next to the girls toilets and engine noise, doh!
* Got to see incredible jungle, the river itself of which some portions are so wide that you feel more like you are at sea, to practise a lot of Portuguese, and finally to experience boredom and close quarters living previously unmatched in my life!
The version thats chugging against the current down the Amazon river, slowly but with excitement:
So "get there early!!" is the advice. Good advice!! I was 3 hours early and nearly all spots were gone! Being new to the world of hammocks and hammock tying I really didn't want to have to try and sling mine above or below someone else so I was very glad to get any free spot! It turned out I knew an Israeli guy on board and he had been on since the day before. Early means getting there 12 hours or more early! A little too dedicated for me. My spot
turned out to be not all too bad though... the upsides, its darker than some other spots so easier to sleep in, and hey if you need the toilet it is right there! I also had 2 elderly, one on either side, which made good security for my bags. The down sides though were a lackof natural light, having 2 SICK elderly on either side of you, being next to the toilets (when they open the door it hits your hammock strings and gives you a jolt which only happens every 5 minutes or so, more in the morning) and engine noise.
Instead of leaving at 6pm we actually didn't leave until 1am, very late. I found sleeping in my hammock actually quite comfortable once I hooked it up a bit higher than those around me but then found with the new space I had those slightly under me stretch out meaning when I wanted to get out I had to choose which person to land on heh. Apart from that though it doesn't stop for long at all in ports and speeds as fast as it can the whole way for the 3 days, never stopping for long.
As we were going against the current it is slower but we did get to travel on the very side of the river giving close up beautiful jungle viewing, something I was very thankful for. We got to view various bird life and some pink and grey river dolphins at the very end, and to see how the flora and landscapre changes as you move through the river, which is actually quite considerable. Some of the beaches near the start were beautiful!! Which can very easily make you forget just where you are.
To pass the time I had a combination of a book that my Belem host gave me ( I finished it by the morning of the second day unfortunately), my Portuguese which I listened to lots but you can only do so much of, and then talking with others with varying levels of success and failure! All of that and just staring at the junlge drifting by which I probably did the most.
Food, hmmm heh. I ate biscuits and nuts for 3 days that I bought before leaving! Dont expect to be able to buy this kind of stuff along the way, it isn't
going to happen. When at docks you are in your hammock protecting your spot and gear and so can only buy from passing by vendors which is often sweet basic things or cheese. The food from the boat that you can buy was always rice and chicken and 2 peopleI know of that are it got quite sick(both gringos, the locals are fine with it) so I wouldn't advise it too much as 500 people on a boat in cramped spaces, high levels of heat, and only 6 or so toilets that often clog isn't a good place to get the runs! Having said that, expect the first day our toilets were cleaned pretty regularly and were pretty damn good so I have no complaints there... they even have portholes for you to see the outside world floating by so you get a pretty good view from them!
The music on the boat was thankfully mostly confined to the top deck! "A night at the Roxbury" style music around the clock at high volume with just Brazilian guys dancing - heh which was just... odd. Some dickhead on the last day for some reason had a large speaker, amplifier
Islands in the distance
With this kind of view you could be mistaken for thinking you are at sea! and DVD player with him and a few of the people decided we're all want to listen to their shit including lots of songs of praise in Portuguese, so we had to put up with that for near on half a day but it wasn't as bad at all overall as I've heard other boat rides have been. Downstairs in the cheapest part also comes with the food bar and a large TV playing either loud static or loud soap operas so I truly felt for those people and wondered if it was punishment for them buying cheap tickets, rather cruel punishment.
Overall an experience I'm glad I did, but once is enough and I have no want for further destination to destination river cruises like this one. At least not in the swinging cramped hammock area! The complete loss of ability to find space to yourself and noise levels kinda stop you from being able to do anything constructive a lot of the time which is a killer for me so when we reached dry land I very happily stepped off and welcomed Santarem! 3 days and only 12 hours late, not too bad...
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