Week 15: Amazon River, Manaus
Day 99: April 10th, 2016

I woke up feeling ok and without a fever. We asked the owner to stay another night and decided to go to alter do chão, a beach area in the middle of the Amazon! We took a bus about 45 minutes from the city (after waiting an hour for the bus) and arrived in a beautiful area dubbed the “Caribbean of the Amazon”. There were beautiful sandy beaches and plenty of restaurants serving drinks and fresh fish. We took a boat about 100 yards across to a thin sandy peninsula bordering a lake. There were no mosquitos and we swam in the water assuming there were no piranha. It was really beautiful and nice. After a few more hours of relaxation we headed to the bus stop. We found a very long line but managed to be the last people to squeeze into a very crowded bus. We had to stand most of the way back but were happy to return to our nice apartment rather than waiting an hour for the next bus. It was dark by the time we reached our apartment. We had planned to make some soup but when we went to the store we couldn’t find everything we needed and were tired. We ended up having ramen noodles with eggs inside which was still delicious!
Day 100:

Although we enjoyed Santarem and our apartment we decided to take a boat to Manaus. After another lunch of ramen, the apartment owner helped us and around 2 pm we went to buy tickets to Manaus. He then dropped us off with our things at the museum while we waited for our boat. We walked around the museum twice to kill time and then went to a grocery store. We took a taxi to the boat and luckily found a very helpful taxi driver. We could not find the boat to Manaus that day because it apparently didn’t exist. We had been sold fake tickets but luckily there were a few very kind people who helped us find another boat for the next day without having to spend more. We headed back to the apartment in hopes that it was available and it was. We told the story to the owner and checked back in. I took a long nap and woke up with a fever again. Sarahi took great care of me and we eventually walked to the pharmacy, grocery store, and pizza place. We returned to our apartment with our purchases and watched iron man 2 while eating pizza. I was soon fast asleep again. 
*Day 101:

Our boat left around 11 so we ended up leaving the apartment earlier to set up our hammocks and prepare for our long journey. Luke saw a family with blonde hair and blue eyes and guessed that they weren’t from Brazil. I was a little iffy but it turns out he was right! They were a family of 11 Americans traveling to a few places in South America before settling down in Brasilia to work at the embassy. We spent the next 2 days hanging out with some of the 9 kids.

*Day 102:

It was nice to be on a boat again since Luke was still trying to recover and we spent the day reading books, coloring, talking, listening to podcasts, playing cards, and catching bugs. The scenery was still beautiful to us and we saw a few different sides of the Amazon like a few cliffs, farms, and tiny communities of houses on stilts. We ended up going to bed early and slept pretty well because there were no bugs and it was actually kind of chilly so we got to use our sleeping bags to sleep warmly.
*Day 103:

Since this boat wasn’t shipping much cargo the trip went quickly and we arrived around 6 in the morning. We saw the sunrise, packed up, said goodbye to the family, and went on our way to the hostel. We couldn’t check in until 12 but we got to drop our bags off and they let us have breakfast there. After some food in our bellies, we visited a beautiful and well kept park until the museum of the Black River Palace was opened. We spent some time talking and looking at all the plants and the art and the descriptions of the Amazonian state before we wandered a little more around the city. We got some delicious fruit juice and watched the news before heading back towards the hostel. We visited the Teatro de Amazonas which is the oldest opera house in Brazil. The super nice and helpful guy at the desk apparently liked us and gave us discounted student tour tickets (R$10 each) and we waited until 11 for the English tour. The opera house was so beautiful!! I was obviously day dreaming and was imagining myself singing Phantom of the Opera on that beautiful stage. We got to see a rehearsal of a symphony and an opera singer for a few minutes which made me miss my high school band. We got to hear the history of the building which was very colorful and saw many closed parts of it. After that, we were told that we should try an Amazonian dish named Tacaca which is made from a plant that numbs your mouth. We tried it in a nearby restaurant and decided it was a good flavor, but not really for us. After all that, we headed back to the hostel. Pretty much right after we settled in, we met two guys named David from Australia and Willam from Holland. After a little introductory chat, Luke and I headed out to go grocery shopping since I was itching to get back into a kitchen. Weirdly, Brazilians don’t eat tortillas so I couldn’t make chicken enchiladas like I wanted to but ended up getting other groceries instead. When we returned, we hung out on the terrace, drank a few beers, and met a few other people at the hostel. That night after an adequate stuffed chicken and rice meal, we ended up going to a local bar, Caldeira, and hung out until bedtime. We slept in an air conditioned room with 10 beds.

*Day 104:

The next morning, a few of us had breakfast together and started talking about the idea of going on a tour. One of our new friends, Hannah, had already done some research and was looking for a group of people to lower the cost. After a little discussion, a girl came up to ask if we had gone on a tour and Willam invited her to join the table’s discussion; her name was Iris. We figured out we all roughly wanted the same thing and decided to research together. We decided to meet up at 11 to go to an agency, Amazon Backpackers. Turns out, it sounded exactly like what we all wanted to do which was a non-touristy Amazon jungle experience. The agency offered us a 4 day, 3 night jungle experience where we would stay one night with a local family and the other 2 nights in the jungle with food, transportation, and a guide included. The area was only used by this specific agency so it wasn’t overrun by loads of people. The price we ended up paying was R$720 per person after a discussion and group consensus after lunch. There were 5 of us for this trip including myself, Luke, Hannah from England, Iris from France, and Willam from Holland. That night, I ended up making stuffed peppers and rice (which turned out bomb if I may say so myself). We wanted to go see a show at the opera house and since we scheduled our tour for the next morning, our only chance was that night. I told everyone that we were going to see a show and that I saw a band and an opera singer rehearsing for what I thought was that night’s show. Thanks to Willam, we all got student tickets for R$30 and went inside. Boy was I wrong! It turns out the show was this older man, Zezinho Correa, singing old songs from the “King”, Roberto Carlos. At first, we all looked at each other and started laughing in disbelief, but after a while, the crowd started singing with him and we all actually started appreciating the music. It was super romantic and a great show! The group made it even better since we could all look at each other in disbelief of this singer who was apparently a well loved artist in the region. After the show, we all went back to the hostel and hung out before getting ready for the Amazon adventure of a lifetime. 

*Day 105:

We all got up and had breakfast together then went to the agency. Our first stop was the Meeting of the Waters. It was even better than I thought it would be! Our guide, Eduardo, explained why the waters are separated. Turns out the Rio Negro has a higher acidity, is warmer, and it flows faster than the Solimoes. The contrast of the colors was striking. He made us put our hands in the water as we passed it and you could really tell the temperature change as well! After a few more hours of traveling, we get to our host home and have this amazing lunch and swam in the river. There was already another group with two French brothers, a girl from Sweden, and a girl from Germany there so we ended up hanging out with them until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. We left then to go fishing for our dinner. After finding a good fishing spot, Eduardo taught us how to lay out the net to catch fish. One thing I absolutely loved about our group is that there were no lazy people. We all put in effort and really wanted to delve into the experience together. After setting up the net, we spent some time swimming in the river (sounds crazy right?) and we all watched a gorgeous sunset together. It was an unforgettable experience. Later, we checked the nets and ended up catching about 6 or 7 fish and a few piranhas. After taking the fish, Eduardo took us on a night tour of the river. We saw how to look for sleeping fish to spear, how to search for caimans with a headlamp, and how to catch them. He actually ended up getting into the water, caught a small caiman, and explained a few details of it. For example, they don’t have a tongue and their sides are the only parts used for leather. Also, if you catch their eyes glowing at night, you can tell what size a caiman is by the color of the reflection. Orange is a smaller one, red is a huge one. He put a string around the mouth and let us all hold it and take a picture and then he put it to sleep! He told us that he only catches smaller ones and showed us a scar around his wrist from a bigger caiman that bit him. We ended up visiting a small convenient store on the river and ate snacks before heading back to the house. It was a beautiful, starry boat ride back. Luckily dinner was already made because we were starving so we saved the fish for lunch the next day. After another delicious dinner, we all hung out and went to bed in some hammocks on the first floor of a house with no walls, just a roof. 

 

Week 14: Belem, Amazon River, Santarem
Day 92: 

We woke up on the bus and still had several hours journey ahead of us. We stopped for breakfast and continued for a few more hours. We stopped again for lunch and we bought a couple of pastries. They were so dry it was like eating a mouthful of saltines and we laughed a lot. Sarahi accidentally threw all our change in the trash. We boarded the bus again and within a few hours arrived in Belem. We had no plans so we asked the taxi driver to take us to a restaurant with wifi. He said they were all closed because it was Sunday. So we had him recommend a hotel. He took us to one just across the street and we actually liked it a lot. We were starving and ordered some Chinese food. I guess we were exhausted and went to sleep after that before it was dark. 

Day 93: 
We woke up feeling refreshed and had a nice breakfast. We took a taxi across town to the river. The nature park was closed so we went to the port instead. There are some restaurants and shops in a pretty area along the river. We walked further to buy our boat tickets but we didn’t have enough cash. So we returned to the prior area for an atm. We drank some beer and then continued to the south and saw the market, a lot of boats, and an old fort. The museum and fort were closed so we returned all the way back to pay for our tickets. The sun was setting so we hurriedly returned back to the port area for the sunset. Then we walked all the way back the way we came until we found the awesome burger place Sarahi had been craving. We had great burgers and drinks and liked our waitress who spoke English. Then we were exhausted and returned to our hotel. We hung out a little longer and then went to bed. 

   
    
  
    
    
      
Day 94: 

We slept in later than intended and after breakfast we packed our bags. I needed a couple things before the boat trip and wandered around the city looking at all the shops with all kinds of fruits and veggies and seafood. Around noon we checked out and took a taxi to the boat. It was docked in a random place on the river but there were already many people on board. We found a good spot and put up our hammocks where we could see the river and the riverbank. Then we piled our bags together and left the boat hoping they would be safe. We walked about a mile past many poor houses on stilts. Eventually we reached the park/ nature reserve we were looking for and it was open. We walked around for awhile taking pictures of birds and butterflies. We went to the top of the tower observatory before it started pouring rain. Once it slowed down we left and looked for food. We had to walk awhile before we found something for lunch. Then we took a taxi back to the dock and got in our boat again. Luckily, our bags and hammocks were still there. We relaxed for a few hours until the boat finally left the dock and headed into the Amazon. It was dark and after sandwiches we headed to bed. It started raining heavily during the night but overall we slept well and enjoyed the boat rocking our hammocks as we slept. 

   
    
    
   
Day 95: 

We woke up on the boat well after sunrise. It started to heat up quickly so we got out of bed and ate some fruit and cereal for breakfast. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. We talked to a few Brazilians on the boat but mostly enjoyed the chance to read and relax. I read Huck Finn which I felt was fitting while floating down the river. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and ramen noodles for lunch and for dinner we ate in the boat restaurant where we had chicken, pasta, rice and beans. There is no menu and the food was left over from lunch but it was good and very cheap. Once it was dark we didn’t stay awake for too much longer. 

          
Day 96:

When we woke up the boat was pulling into the port of a small city. We ate some fruit and dry cereal for breakfast and relaxed. The boat did not leave port for six hours because many pipes were being unloaded from the front of the boat into trucks. We went on shore for a little while and walked around the city. We bought a couple of things and then headed back to the boat. Eventually the boat continued down the river and we ate lunch in the boat restaurant. We spent the rest of the day watching the bank slip by while reading and watching movies. After a nice sunset and dinner we went to bed in our hammocks again. 

   
    
   
Day 97:  

We woke up and were finally close to Santarem, our destination. We arrived by noon and walked around the city in the heat without backpacks looking for a hotel or place to eat. It was so hot we decided on a taxi and the driver was very helpful. He took us to a hotel that seemed good so we hung out for a bit before walking to a nearby Brazilian steakhouse for lunch. I started feeling quite sick so we returned to the hotel and relaxed. Luckily Sarahi brought a thermometer. I laughed at her when she brought it at first but we’ve used it many times. I had a high fever so we relaxed around the room and I slept on and off. We ate ramen noodles for dinner and watched part of a movie before sleeping. 

  
Day 98: 

I still felt quite sick the next day but we didn’t like the air conditioning in our room because it was too cold, couldn’t be fixed, and the wifi was slow. So we moved to a new place which was an apartment. The owner was a guy our age and very nice. He took us to the bank and grocery store in his car and told us a lot about the city. The air conditioning in our apartment didn’t work so he moved us to another unit in the same building. The apartment had four rooms and a bathroom as big as a hotel room. We loved it and tried to enjoy it despite my fever. I slept quite a bit and we enjoyed the fast wifi watching Netflix and researching a few things. We made a great pizza for dinner and then relaxed until bed. 

It was a great week and we enjoyed taking the slow way down the Amazon with a nice stop in the middle. The Amazon River is so huge it’s impossible to describe. We took sections of the river that were 100 yards wide and don’t even show up on a map because they’re so small compared to the main sections. At times its difficult to see the river bank on one side and it feels more like a lake than a river. We didn’t see much wildlife besides some dolphins, birds, cows, and many bugs. One of the coolest things was seeing children as young as three driving boats and canoes in front of their houses. It was a fun week in what felt like a completely different world.