Its now over 12 hours since we left the boat that took us up the Amazon for 36 hours from Macapa to Santarem. Quite a few people from the rally are still talking about the enormity of the Amazon.
It is a river like no other river I seen. I’ve be fortune enough to travel to the Nile, Mississippi, Mekong, Ganges, and the Yangtze. All big rivers in there own right and the Amazon makes them look like a creek in the back yard. We ended up about 800k’s up stream and bulk carriers are still steaming up stream and I’m told go another 700k’s to Manaus.
Tonight we are at Itaituba, 300k up a tributary called the Tapajos and its still 4 km’s wide and bigger then the above-mentioned rivers. We crossed the Tapajos by barge like most of our river crossings as bridges just don’t exist and don’t get built.
We are here in the dry season with the rivers at there low levels. In March at the end of the wet season when the river is up to 4 to 8 metres high it would be a whole new jaw dropping experience.
Back to the boat ride and loading the boat. We had to arrive at the boat at 1300 to load ready for a 1800 departure. The boat had 3 decks, a car deck, an air-conditioned hammock deck and an open hammock deck, with cabins forward on the 2 hammock decks. Our group had booked the car deck and all the cabins for our 2 nights cruise.
Loading the cars was a hoot to start with as the tide was down, to get the cars over the sharp angle of the dock ramp we drove over a seesaw plank. Then the cars were manoeuvred around posts and hatches on the boat till every one fitted on. Penny would not turn the sharp corner’s on the boat so was just backed on last ready to drive off at Santarem first.
All the locals’ travel and sleep in hammocks on either the AC deck or the open deck for the journey’s on any boat on the Amazon.
The next 36 hours was spent steaming up the river stopping at a few ports to load and unload people and freight. This freight was a real mix of eggs, spare parts, furniture and various sorts of fish. One stop was just with a local boat mid stream to load bags of fish, which were then packed on ice on our boat.
While at the port waiting to get away, a boat arrived with a lot of cheering. It then proceed to unload a couple hundred people and massive amount of freight which was all done by hand and thrown out of the holds one box at a time. This boats main cargo was Acai berries from a palm tree which was all in cane basket then measure in to woven bags at the port before leaving on a mix of different vehicles to places unknown. This was followed but oil, grease, printing paper, cabbages, onions, limes, oranges, carrots and many more sundry items of everyday use.
Most of the trip up the river was through cleared country with cattle grazing. We always steamed very close to the edge to keep out of the main current and every time I looked at the sounder we were in 15 to 30 metres of water so how deep is this river in the main channel? The thing that was always reminding you how immense it is was the other side was miles away and often not the other side and just an island in the middle. Occasionally we’d see a bulk tanker in the distance.
This morning we disembarked from the boat at Santarem for the continuation of our drive. Disembarking was over the edge on to the dock similar to loading.
Then it was heading south to the Trans Amazonica Highway to turn right and head to the Pacific Ocean. This trip was through cropping and grazing land with the main crop being Soya beans. The roads varied from great tarmac to potholed tarmac with the pothole that old weeds were growing in them.
James just read me a couple facts while I’m writing this Blog. “The Amazon flow is greater then the total flow of the next 8 biggest rivers in the world.” “The Amazon flow is 20% of the total river flow in the world.” “In the wet season it is up to 200 kilometres wide.”
When I set of on this I thought that it would tick the Amazon box for me. I will try and come back because it has that attraction I cant explain.
We are lead to believe that from here to Peru we are on dirt road for all but the big towns so it’s going to be a dusty week coming up.
Till next blog its goodbye!
