NOTE: my internet connection isn't very good, so for now I'm just uploading everything without arranging the text and pictures . . . will attempt to fix it next time I have a good connection, which may be when we get home . . .

Nov. 9

Boca da Valeria, Brazil

119.5° F. Yes, that’s right, it’s 119.5° F. at 1PM. Which means the hottest part of the day is still ahead! Glad we did our walk around earlier, when it was only around 100°, and we’re now back on the air-conditioned ship.

We arrived off this tiny little village around 8AM, but couldn’t go ashore until the “dock” – a term which, I assure you, was very loosely used, was set up for the tenders. The ship unloaded used equipment – deck chairs, basketball hoops, and even an old BBQ grill – before any passengers went ashore. Some of the deck chairs were carried off, probably to local houses, but much of the stuff was loaded on a small boat and taken up the river to the center of the village, where it was unloaded and put in what I would assume was the “town hall” or social center.

No organized tours here, , just the locals waiting to sell you something as you walked around their village. From everything we’ve learned so far, the broad flat area will flood soon, when the rainy season starts in a couple of weeks.

Some of the locals came out to the ship in canoes. Others waited on shore for the ship. Still others had their souvenir stands ready. There was a school, a church, what looked like a common social house, and of course, two bars. Inside the church, the chairs looked very familiar. I think I’ve seen those on a Princess ship! We saw one of the local women wearing a Royal Princess hat, too.

And of course, the children were all around – posing for ($1 US each, please) pictures, selling trinkets, etc.

Interesting to see, but my short tour was more than enough for me.

p.s. the temperature went up to 122° F, or 50° C, at 2:30PM before heading back down.

Nov. 10

Cruising the Amazon

It’s going to be another hot one today! 10 AM, and it’s already 115.5° F – so today I’ll spend looking out the cabin window.

High temperature for the day: 129° F, or 54° C. Even the ship’s crew I talked to, from Sri Lanka and the Philippines, think it’s too hot to do anything!

I never caught one, but lost count of the times they got my bait and escaped. All together, our boat caught nine. This is, of course, someone else's catch.

. . . and lots of locals fishing from their canoes.

Here also are the pink dolphins, we saw quite a few but the splash was as close as I got to a photo. :)

Santarém, population somewhere around 160,000, lies about half-way between Belem and Manaus on the Amazon River. It’s accessible only by water or by air for the most part, the only road is unpaved and, according to our guide, you get stuck in the wet season and fall in the potholes in the dry.

Mostly we passed just the river boats on their way downriver to Belém. We found out that people bring their own hammocks along for the trip, and hang them on the decks of the boats (where the plastic chairs where on our Belém tour). $40 US pays for passage for the 3 day trip from Belém to Santarém, or another 3 days from Santarém to Manaus.