Brazil - Part 2 (The Amazon)

Brazil: Part 2

Belem: From Rio it was a 3.5 hour flight to reach the northern Amazonian city of Belem. We unfortunately didn’t spend any time there as we had to rush off to buy tickets for our boat to Ilha de Marajo. We were frustrated when our taxi driver tried to drop us off at a wrong terminal (Rodoviaria instead of Hidroviaria) after which we had to pay more for the correction. It was, however, a lesson learned: always write down the address of where you want to go as the locals just don’t get the crazy accented gringo arm waving talk. Our ferry had a snack bar and TV screen displaying a very bad Brazilian soap opera. Most of the passengers didn’t share my distaste though as they sat wide-eyed and glued to the screen. It took us around 4 hours to reach the island as we travelled over the brown muddy water of the river. Along the way we saw islands with mangroves and birds, including blood red ibises. Disembarking the boat at Camara was utter chaos as people stampeded their way off the boat – some even jumping over the side rails for a quick exit! Back on terra firma we added even more luggage to an already overloaded minibus on our way to Salvatera. The minibus was dirt cheap and loaded with lots of luggage, shopping and even a bicycle as it slowly made its way to our hostel. 

Salvatera: We stayed in friendly Pousada Bosque dos Aruas which sure is a mouthful to pronounce! The rustic wooden huts are built on stilts and we shared our room with many insects. We allocated two days on the island intended for relaxing and lots of sunshine. Unfortunately the rain didn’t have the same plans and came down hard in unpredictable outbursts. On our first morning we cycled down to the local jetty where we took a water taxi across the river to Soure. Our bicycles were strapped, together with many others, on top of the boat. The long narrow boat itself looked like it could sink at any moment and I suspected it was built at the same time as Noah’s Ark! Our captain turned the fly wheel by hand to start the boat and he did the steering with his foot on the wheel while looking out the front. The throttle and steering was connected with a series of ropes slid along the cracks in the side of the boat. There is, however, no need to worry as I still managed to live to type this blog.

At Soure our boat docked next to a slanted wooden jetty where I discovered that my bicycle had a flat tyre. We had no choice but to walk although it suddenly started raining very hard. Instead, we had a very sweet coffee at one of the kiosks while waiting for the rain to clear. It seemed the norm as some of the locals paddled along on their bicycles while holding an umbrella in one hand. One of the main reasons for visiting Soure was to draw money which proved fruitless in the end as the machines didn’t recognize our cards. Luckily we had enough money to see us through. While waiting for another outburst of rain we had typical lunch of chicken, rice, spaghetti and beans at one of the restaurants. Soure was an interesting little town with large black buffalos roaming freely. There were also some strapped in front of wooden carts - used by the locals as transport. I would have liked to explore it more but the flat tyre and lots of rain thwarted our plans.

The next day we decided to explore Salvatera so we walked up the main road. One thing that struck me was the amount of mango trees – they were everywhere! I managed to scrounge about 15 ripe mangos that had simply fallen from the trees and which were probably the best tasting mangos I’ve ever eaten. There were also many other fruits including star fruit and cashew trees with red and yellow cashew apples. It was very interesting seeing all the different fruit and I tried as many as I could. Another thing that struck me about Salvatera was the amount of urubus which perch pretty much everywhere! Urubus are black vultures with a featherless head, beady black eyes and a stiff legged bouncy ass walk. They are especially numerous at fish markets and garbage dumps and we even saw a few pecking at a carcass of a dead pink dolphin. On really hot days they usually sit perched on top of roofs with their wings outstretched to keep cool. Although slightly evil looking, they are innocent and merely just doing their job of cleaning the mess us humans make.

We got to try buffalo meat and cheese on the island which tasted pretty good and for our last night in Salvaterra we dined at a pizza restaurant where we probably had one of the best tasting pizzas in all of South America. While sitting there listening to the noisy tweeting frogs, we could see constant sparks coming from one of the overhead power cables. Not too long after there was a small explosion which plunged the whole street, together with our restaurant, into darkness. The severed cable swung with an angry sparkling tip in the wind! We were amazed at the speed with which the technicians arrived to fix the cable and also glad that crispy fried electrician wasn’t on the menu that evening. Ilha de Marajo was an interesting island to visit, although other than exploring the towns on bicycles and lazing on the beaches, there is not that much. 


Spotting buffalos and urubus in the most random of places, while eating sweet ripe mangos, added to an authentic experience. I can definitely recommend a visit to this island. We had to get up at 4:30am for the minibus pickup at 5am which dropped us off at Camara for the ferry back to Belem. I was amazed by the amount of food vendors selling their wares at the dock. From the top deck I could see them selling anything from coffee, cakes, fruit, scoops of cooked prawns and pancakes made from cheesy tapioca. If you like the taste of cardboard then I can recommend the pancakes. I also got to learn that Amazonian coffee has at least 20 spoons of sugar in a tiny cup and I suspect that you could just about stand a spoon upright in it! I usually have a little sugar in my coffee but even I shuddered every time I took a sip!

Amazon boat trip (Belem to Santarem): Back in Belem we bought tickets for our Amazon boat trip and stocked up with some snacks from town. We debated between sleeping in hammocks for a more authentic experience or going for the cabins which were twice the price. After learning that there were going to be about 350 people all cramped in together in a tangle of hammocks we made a wise decision of booking a cabin. I’ve never seen so many hammocks in one place! They were tied side by side, above, below and even on top of one another and were inhabited by a diverse array of people ranging from old folk to screaming babies. Opting for the more expensive cabin was well worth the money! 


The ship itself had three decks – the two lower decks for hammocks and the upper for the bar which had plastic tables and chairs. They constantly played distorted bad covers over large speakers with one only dance CD that was evenly vaguely acceptable listening. The cabins were situated towards the front of the upper two decks while the toilets were situated towards the back section. The kitchen was located at the back of the lower deck behind the very noisy engine. I really don’t know how people could sleep next to the engine without getting permanent ear damage as it was so loud!

I loved the boat ride as we made our way up one of the many tributaries and onwards towards the main Amazon. With a cold beer in my hand I was able to watch the many huts go by while kids franticly paddled their dug-out canoes towards our ship. At first I could not work out why but it soon became apparent that they were waiting for food, snacks or gifts to be thrown overboard. I felt sorry for the poor blighters and bought some bags of sweets which I threw at them. I loved the way their hopeful faces turned into smiles as they hastily retrieved their little gift from the water. A few entrepreneurial kids paddled their small canoes dangerously close to ours to then attach themselves to our much larger ship with simple home-made hooks! Some of the kids must have been as young as five and my heart skipped a few beats as they performed their seemingly death defying stunts. Luckily none of them were hurt or drowned during our journey and they scrambled on-board to sell their wares. The food included nuts, fruit, cakes, palm hearts and my favourite, crispy fried prawns! These you could buy in a plastic bag and they tasted really good with a cold beer.

Meals on the boat were served at the most random of times – we even had lunch served at 10:30am one day! Otherwise food seemed to be fairly standard with fruit, bread, scrambled eggs and very sweet coffee in the morning followed by either beef or chicken served with rice, spaghetti, beans, a token bit of salad and farinha (the yellow meal) for lunch and dinner. The bar also sold snacks and toasted ham and cheese sandwiches so we were at least well fed during our boat trip, if a little bored with the cuisine! 



 Other than buying food off the local kids who boarded our ship I absolutely loved it when we docked at a small town along the way. The energy/vibe was contagious as we were met with a chorus of eager shouts coming from the vendors who waited for us. Some would balance on poles or simply jump aboard while walking along the decks advertising their wares. Usually there was a wider variety of goods to purchase as we saw many selling home-made wooden dolls, juices, coconut flapjacks, empanadas and even cooked meals carefully wrapped in foil containers. I love to try new things so I found it really exciting buying as many things possible! Most of the things we tried tasted really good with the only real exception being the cardboard pancake on the Ilha de Marajo ferry. Luckily none of the food gave us the runs so for a cheap meal option I can recommend buying from the locals!

Sleeping in our cabin was an experience as we had to share the air-con unit with the cabin next door. As the thermostat was broken it ran full throttle all the time turning our cabin into an igloo. I even had to use my down sleeping bag as it was that cold! Otherwise we spent most of our time lazing in the sun or playing card games on our notebooks. Gillian made the mistake of introducing me to Spider Solitaire and Hearts and I am now addicted. The Amazon river is massive and it was a good thing that our boat travelled close to the bank so that we could see everyday life go by. I was struck by the lack of wildlife as we merely saw a few common birds and some dolphins. Most of the animals I suspect had been hunted or driven from the land to make way for farming. It was a shame that there were so few animals as I expected the Amazon to be teeming with them.

Santarem: After our boat ride we stayed in Santarem for one night. It was nice to stretch our legs as we walked along the long riverside. Two rivers - the Amazon and the Tapajoes, meet in Santarem, one brown and one dark and they flow together for miles before finally merging. A visit to the local markets is a must as we really enjoyed them. The main fish market was situated in a stilted building on the bank of the river and I was amazed by the variety of fish on display. There was not a single one I recognized as I snapped away on my camera capturing all the various types, shapes, colors and sizes of the strange fish. On our walk to the food market we even saw a vendor selling live fish from the back of his truck which was lined with plastic and filled with water! 


The food market was just as interesting as we saw many different types of fruit and vegetables including bananas, passion fruit, mangos, papayas, pineapples, jackfruit, oranges, apples, yukka/manioc and much more! Spices and sauces were also displayed in neat rows. Many of the stalls had small charcoal barbecues on which they grilled fish and these were sold with rice for peanuts. One of the things that amazed me most were the quantities of prawns they sold – some stalls were solely dedicated selling them. It seemed to me that the Amazon must be very rich with them as we saw huge sacks of peeled prawns being loaded onto our boat.

We turned down yet another expensive Lonely Planet “on a shoestring” recommendation for dinner in Santarem – as we’ve done with many other so called “cheap” restaurant recommendations for South America.  Instead, we joined the locals on the pier where locally cooked food was sold very cheaply. I couldn’t remember the names of any of the food we had but trying to explain, we had a thick creamy yellow prawn sauce, black bean, pork & tripe stew and a curried meat soup. The food was good and definitely a much better option than the overprized recommended restaurant option.

Alter do Chao: The bus ride to Alter do Chao was an experience to say the least – all that was missing were a few live animals and chickens on the roof! We picked a very bad time to board the bus as all the locals were on their way home with their market shopping. I didn’t think it was possible to get more people onboard as we were wedged in like sardines standing on top of bags of farinha and holding on for dear life to the overhead bars. More and more people forced their way in while we could only laugh at the absurdity of it all. Our bus never terminated as indicated on front so we had to get off at a random spot where we then paid for a lift in one of the scruffiest cars I've ever seen. The car managed to make it to our hostel before promptly breaking down – I had to put a rock behind the back wheel as the gears weren't working anymore! We decided to pitch our tent in the hostel garden rather than pay for an expensive room.

Alter do Chao is a very small place with beautiful beaches on the Tapajoes river. The water was warm and I can see why people stayed longer than originally intended - we probably would have too if it weren’t for the rain. Getting to the main beach you could either brave swimming across and stepping on a stingray (aka wish-you-were-dead-fish) or take a cheap boat taxi across. Thatched huts lined the sandy beach and sold meals and cold drinks. Apparently it has been voted one of the best beaches in the world (or so they say…). A random conversation with another traveler in an internet café resulted in a 3 hour boat trip to spot dolphins. At first we saw nothing but all of a sudden they turned up and I had a hard time keeping track of them whilst trying to capture them on camera. I must have looked like a lunatic frantically snapping away following Gillian’s pointed finger aided by “There!” and “There!”. The elusive pink dolphins unfortunately avoided us as we only saw the grey ones that day. The ride back was a very wet one as it hammered down with torrential rain. Another recommendation from The Lonely Planet was to see the feeding of manatees but we were very disappointed though as we learned that the rescue project had been shut down a few years previously – yet again another error from The Lonely Planet.

Fishing Trip:  After seeing so many weird and wonderful types of fish in Santarem I was dying to try and catch a few. Our hostel owner got me in touch with a local fisherman and we arranged for a day and night trip leaving the next morning. I was very excited as we cruised over the river to reach the far bank where there was a small tributary ideal for catching bass. Before carrying on the captain pointed out more dolphins and we were amazed when we saw that most of them were pink! Once again I armed myself with the camera and zoom lens to snap away at anything that dared to move! They were very unlike any dolphins I’ve seen before having long thin noses and bumps on their heads. Every time they surfaced we could hear a quick blowing sound before they submerged again – this resulted in many just-about-got-them-on-camera moments. While I was snapping away our captain, together with his young helper, tried to net small fish for bait. They weren’t very successful though and not long after we made our way up the small river which was blocked with floating water plants. Captain opened the throttle and tried to barge his way through which only resulted in the prop getting caught on the plants! Luckily Gillian had her diving mask and snorkel and I had to dive underneath to free the prop of all the grass before we were able to cruise off again.

The actual fishing was very poor and I only managed to land a few fish, including a stingray. Captain did manage to net a few fish in the end which he barbequed and served with rice for dinner - it was a simple but very delicious dish. Trying to catch more fish during the night proved fruitless so we retired to our hammocks strung on the lower deck. That night it started raining which increased to a level I have never experienced before. It absolutely hammered down with rain and hail stones that crashed against the tarpaulin protectors covering the open sides of the boat. It continued to do so for most of the night and even though it died down a bit in the morning, it continued to rain for most of the day as well. 


The small canoe which we towed behind the larger boat was almost completely filled with water. It took our captain a long time and some serious bailing to get it to float again! I had one last chance of catching an elusive bass that morning as Rodrigo paddled us across a marshy stretch towards another river. The last thing I expected to see along the way were the many cows grazing in the water while half submerged! After lifting a net which they had set the night before we got to the river where I tried my best spinning with a lure to try and entice a bass. I only managed to get 2 strikes but alas, no fish! Reluctantly we headed back to the main boat and from there back to Alter do Chao. We did, however, repeat the same process of getting stuck in the grass that resulted in two prop cleaning sessions along with a free ear infection.

Back at the hostel we discovered that our whole tent was covered in sand as the heavy downpour cause it to splash all over. It was the first time ever that I had a romantic shower with my tent trying to get rid of the sand. Even though waterproof our tent was wet in the bottom as there was an almost constant river of water running underneath, along with the 100% humidity, causing our sleeping mats and bags to get wet and ultimately a bit mouldy. That night we opted for a hammock while desperately hoping that most of our gear would dry by the next morning. Luckily for us most of the stuff dried fairly well and soon we were on our way back to Santarem on the omnibus again amidst bags of meal, sacks of fruit and boxes of fish. After missing yet another stop we made our way back to the port via the local market for a few supplies.

Boat trip (Santarem – Manaus): Our boat cruise to Manaus was very much the same as from Belem to Santarem. Yet again we stayed in a cabin with a broken air-conditioning unit – this one leaked a lot which forced us to regularly empty one of our camping pots, placed underneath. Excitement came yet again when we docked at ports and vendors climbed aboard to sell their goods. We bought two cooked meals, home-made crisps, small sponge cakes, mangos, cheese and fresh fruit juice off them which tasted pretty good. It was unsurprising that our cooked meal consisted of chicken, rice, spaghetti, feajoada, farinha and very small amount of salad – the same that the boat served every day for both lunch and dinner! Along the way we saw many more dolphins when we ventured out from our cabin during the dry moments and deserted our games of spider solitaire or hearts. 


One thing that was a little weird though was when some of the locals, especially children, would come and stand in our doorway to simply stare at us - a few of them even took our picture! The role reversal was quite ironic and I could only smile as the kids kept bombarding us with questions, all in Portuguese. At one point we made a very unwise choice of offering them some cakes after which we really struggled to get rid of them! We were celebrities feeling uncomfortable in the gaze of curious kids (and adults) and were slightly relieved when we finally reached Manaus. They did, however, make me laugh when they asked us if we were hippies while waving their hands in front of their noses to indicate that they smell really bad.

Manaus: After declining an overpriced 30 Reals taxi we got one for 10 Reals to our hostel. Manaus, for some reason, has been labeled as a place to pass through rather than visit. I think this is a bit unfair as I have experienced much worse places in South America. There are many vendors on the streets selling pretty much anything from electronics to deep fried foods. I found it interesting seeing them actually making potato and plantain crisps by slicing them directly into the bubbling hot oil. In the centre of town stands the main theatre, Teatro Amazonas which was built with “rubber” money. A few restaurants have tables and chairs set outside in the square around it which has a nice atmosphere. We ate there one night and were both grateful that we could swap the rice and pasta accompaniments for chips and salad. From Manaus there are a fair few excursions on offer like jungle trips, visits to caves and waterfalls and trips to swim and feed pink dolphins. Manaus was meant to be a transit city for us on our way to Venezuela but our plans were thrown into disarray when we read a blog online about the Angel Falls being a dismal trickle in dry season. The author of the blog explained that their boat scraped along the bottom a few times and that the falls vaporized before hitting the bottom which left them disappointed. Our main reason for visiting Venezuela was visiting the falls so we had to cancel this idea and make new plans. We were very lucky to have read the blog and saved ourselves a wasted trip and money! 

Bosque do Cicenia: We paid a visit to this establishment also known as INPA (Institute National Pesquisas da Amazonia). They look after the survival of Amazonian animal life and as I’ve been looking forward to seeing manatees, it was great to finally see them! The manatees were very funny looking animals and seemed to be a cross between a British bulldog, dolphin and a hippo. They are, however, very placid animals as they gracefully swam in the water. We saw a very large bull in one of the tanks that swam around effortlessly. I loved the way that some of them would swim along the bottom and then suddenly stop, head down for a quick snooze, as if they ran out of steam.


When we were there they had just been fed as there were lots of vegetables floating on top of the water. We could see many manatee snouts pushing through the surface of the water to pick their snack off the top. Another favorite, especially for Gillian, were the cheeky squirrel monkeys. We saw many of them playing about or just lying on branches with their yellow feet dangling down. There were even a few mama monkeys around with their small babies clinging to their backs – very cute! At one stage we were given bananas to feed them and they were fearless as they ate out of our hands. Other animals there include giant otters, turtles, fish, caimans and an animal which looks like a large rat without a tail.


In general:

Brazilian food: In Brazil you could get a wide variety of food as long as it was chicken/fish/meat served with rice, spaghetti, feojoada and a token bit of salad. Sarcasm aside I have to admit that I wasn’t overly impressed with the food in general, especially because of repetition. I’ve also never in my entire life experienced coffee as sweet as we had in the Amazon. Exactly how they managed to dissolve that amount of sugar in such a small quantity of coffee is beyond me! Other than that I really loved the fresh fruit and juice in the mornings as well as buying food off the street vendors. There were so many things to choose from which were so alien from what I’m used to. 


There were fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, home-made potato or plantain crisps, sauces (especially very potent chilli ones), cheese, fresh juices, prawn kebabs (scoops or even bags of prawns if you wanted!) and pastries like empanadas, porcao, folhados and the iconic pear shaped coxinhas. I found the mobile “snack mobiles” especially interesting. They ranged from bicycles fitted with large hot glass boxes to what looked like special wheelbarrows loaded with large pots. Many ladies stood on street corners selling home cooked meals like soups or stews. I especially loved to try all the strange looking fruit – it was the first time I had tried jack fruit, cashew apples and juice, palm nuts, sugar cane juice, palm hearts, acai, cupuacu and another which name I can't remember. It had a thick brown skin with a large stone which tasted like it had a hint of mango - very weird flavour though.

Summary: Brazil is a very large country and although we spent 40 days in it we hardly made a dent. I found the people very friendly and helpful and we didn’t have any bad experiences to report along the way. Although the food wasn’t a highlight, the country charmed us with its beauty and diversity. Rio will remain one of my favorite cities and the Pantanal will always remind me of its abundant wildlife. I will miss the anticipation of finding new and wonderful things in the bustling markets as well as the sound of the jungle at night. It is a country not to be missed, but be warned, it is large and it is expensive!

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Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326982&id=749927742&l=0f39c2240c