Amazon River

THE AMAZON

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12: We started up the river, anchoring shortly thereafter to allow Brazilian authorities to board and check passports and visas. There are various estimates of the width of the river near the mouth, with the shortest estimate being 100 miles. At the anchor point I could see one side of the river but definitely not the other.

Depending on proximity to one of the tributaries the river can be brown (the main branch) or blue, or even black. Near the mouth of a tributary (such as the Rio Negro) the river can be one color on one side and a different color on the other side, with a clear line of demarcation.

In the morning Betty attended cooking class and we both attended a lecture on various species to be found in the Amazon Basin. In the afternoon we attended a talk/concert on the life of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The Amazon River is so much larger than I had imagined. Even hundreds of kilometers up river the width is still about 45 kilometers. However, the river is full of islands so there is almost never a clear stretch of water that goes from one side of the river to the other.

FRIDAY THE 13TH: We docked at Santarem (24 hours sail upriver from the sea) where we had an all-day private tour booked with our 12 "Cruise Critic" friends. Paulo, our guide, met us on the dock and we had a brief tour of the city (Santarem is a city of 300,000 but is accessible only by plane or boat). From the city centre we boarded a small boat (that looked a bit like Humphrey Bogart's "African Queen") and headed out to the confluence of the Amazon and the Tapajos Rivers. The Amazon has 1100 tributaries and the Tapajos is one of four that are each bigger than the Mississippi. Here we saw the clear line between the brown water of the Amazon and the blue water of the Tapajos. We then went upstream a short distance and spent about an hour watching pink dolphins (a species found only in the Amazon) steal fish from a fisher's net. After that we went piranha fishing. Didn't catch any piranha but I did manage a small catfish. Next we dropped anchor and went ashore where we were met by a toothless, machete waving local who took us for a walk through the jungle. It was hot (96 degrees) so most animals were asleep, but we managed to see 3 large sloths, several termite hills, lots of birds, and some rubber trees.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at a restaurant and drank ice cold beers which were in 600 ml bottles and cost $ 2. each. A quick dip in the pool followed by a shower had us somewhat revived and ready for the evening and the next day with temperatures predicted to reach 102 degrees.

DINNER: We sat a a table of six including a woman and her mother who were celebrating. They insisted on purchasing Champagne (the French stuff) for the table. The younger woman's business is managing the family property and she was celebrating having just sold 14 acres of commercial property in San Diego. Our dinner was briefly interrupted by a "Code Mike" urgently announced and which caused several chefs to run out of the kitchen. Code Mike is a medical emergency. I looked for a burial at sea this morning but didn't notice anything.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14: We anchored near the village of Boca da Valeria. This village has only about 100 inhabitants who live a subsistence based on fish, a few chickens and some vegetables. Oceania cruise lines stop here and bring boxes of books and other school supplies. The locals earn cash by having their pictures taken for $ 1. Each kid has a gimmick such as holding his pet sloth, or small caiman (alligator). The village is clearly very poor and the houses are of the standard of kids' treehouses.

There are two seasons in the Amazon Basin. During the rainy season the waters of the river rise as much as 45 feet, flooding the islands in the river and back from the banks of the river for many miles. All of the "houses" along the river and on the islands are built on stilts. Apparently fish are able to swim inland and eat fruit directly from the branches of the trees.

This morning we watched a group of large pink dolphins breeching at the back of the ship and nicely visible from our balcony. The ones we saw were very pink which is an indication of sexual excitation. The dophins appeared to be 6 or 8 feet long.