Cruising down the Amazon river

I am currently in the middle of the Amazon river, at a town call Santarem. I am only stopping over here until this afternoon, when I will board another boat for Belem out on the coast.

The boat trip has been fantastic so far! The boat I board was call Ana Vitoria, it has 3 level, with the top being an open bar area. The boat itself is tiny, but it was full of passengers! Me and the Aussies was on the second floor, away from the engine room downstairs. We slept in the ``hammock class´´, otherwise known as Rede class, for the last 2 nights.

And what an experience! The whole floor was filled bumper to bumper with hammocks. I did not sleep too well on the first night as there were just too many hammocks, I was touching hammocks against 3 other hammocks! I am guessing the boat is full as most people are going home for Christmas.

Despite the number of people on board (I estimated 150) the boat was kept surprisingly clean. The staff swept the floor and clean the bathroom regularly. There was also unlimited drinking water and the meals was not too grubby tasting. Meal time is fantastic, the crew would bang on a pot, and everybody would rush downstairs to queue up for dinner. But the dining table is small, accommodating only 24 people at a time. So you could imagine the wait! But the crew are very efficient, clearing out the table as groups of 24 people finish. It all feels very boarding-school like due to the rush to eat as much as possible, in as little time as possible!

Cruising along the Amazon is not just for tourist here, the locals use the river as their major highway. In fact, the cities within the Amazon river are connected by boats only. So it is a great way to meet locals. I spent my time on board sleeping, hanging out with locals and other tourist, listen to my iPod or read. It is all very relaxing.

My favorite part of the trip is during sun set, sun rise and when docking at a local port. That is when all the action happens. Yesterday, I saw a bunch of Amazon river dolphins, playing near our boat whilst docked at a local port.

So, I still have another 2 days of down river to go. Am looking forward to getting back on, but this time I will be doing it alone as I say goodbye to Richard and Penny. They are off to a little ``beach´´ town call Alter do Chao.