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.