Getting up early, we saw that we were passing the large city of Santarem under very cloudy skies. However, this was not our port of call today. It was Alter do Chao located further up the river. Our arrival time was set at about 10:30am, but we got there sooner. There was a window of opportunity for us to leave the ship before the tour groups were let off. So we gathered our things, and happened to be the first in line for tender. Usually, we don't do this, but it sure looked like rain was imminent, and we wanted to walk the town before it began. As it turned out, we had a slight passing shower later in the afternoon, and never saw any more rain for the rest of the day. Just lucky.
There were two ship tours. One was a 40 minute drive to Tapajos National Forest to see the flora and fauna of the canopy. We did this tour years ago, and did see many hardwood trees such as the Brazil nut and the rubber trees. This protected forest covers 1,482,600 acres, but we are sure that 4 ½ hours would not cover that much ground. However it was priced right at $75. The other excursion took the folks back to Santarem, a 45 minute local bus ride, to tour the city. This will be a stop on January 16th, with a similar tour. The price was $80 for 4 ¾ hours.
The tender ride was not 30 minutes as suggested, but more like 15 minutes as the river was smooth as glass. We had also been warned that the tender landing may be wet and muddy. But today, the water level of the river was so low, that all we encountered was thick deep sand on the beach. Promoting tourism, the white sandy beaches are compared to those in the Caribbean. It was true that the muddy water of the river was not in this area. It wasn't the aqua-blue of the Caribbean, but much more clear than what we have seen the last couple of days.
Once reaching the banks of the river, we went upstairs to a café and a long fenced boardwalk that has seen better days. We recalled having to be careful walking the loose boards of this long stretch to reach the streets of town. Following the ship's map, we found our way on a side street walking uphill to the main streets. The central square was about a ½ mile walk with the Igreja Matriz Church at the top of the square. The steps were steep without handrails, so only one of went inside the church. Hiking further up the street, we came across the Araibe Culture Indigena, a place selling indigenous art, handicrafts, and clothing as well as a nice assortment of costume jewelry.
We passed by numerous nice-looking cafes, bars, and restaurants, and despite the fact it was getting close to noontime, none of them seemed to be opened. Perhaps they would open later in the day and definitely at night time. Checking out some of the souvenir shops, we made our way back down to the main road. We could see the sandy spit of a small island called Ilhe do Amor, a favorite spot for the beach crowd – both local and visitors. There is a series of thatch-roofs hut with cafes and bars there. It was interesting watching how people accessed this island since there was no bridge. Many canoes were lined up on the banks to take folks over to the island. But the smarter ones were actually walking through the shallow water to access it. Those were mostly the locals.
Just as we were watching this activity, we heard a cheering roar coming from the crowd of sunbathers as two river dolphins appeared swimming around the island. We happened to have the best view from up above and did see that one of these dolphins was the color pink. The other was a darker gray. They circled around the back of the spit, and continued up the other side jumping and swimming so fast, we could them moving underwater like submarines. Bet they were after fish. They disappeared as fast as they appeared. Another lucky sighting. Of course we searched for them the rest of our walk, but never saw them again.
Running across friends Mike and Nancy, they asked if we had seen the cemetery, which we had missed. So on the way back we headed that way. Following the low road along the coast, we spotted a grassy field with trees, mostly mango trees, and discovered this area was full of birds. You had to really stop and listen because they were well hidden in the grass and the trees. Some pretty yellow and red ones flew right on the railing and posed for pictures. They were larger than a canary, but very bright. Of course the males had all the color and the females were a drab brown. Normally this grassy field was not exposed, but due to the low water, now it is home to more birds. A lady stopped and mentioned that while here in 2017, the entire island of Ilha do Amor was totally underwater with only the tops of the thatched roofs exposed. Big difference this year.
We turned and walked up the last street and located the rather large cemetery. It was so old that most all of the headstones had no writing. Some of the graves were small, indicating that they were children. One tiny gravesite had a crib next to it. No doubt that yellow fever and malaria played a part in the infant mortality.
We headed back to the tender landing, checking out their souvenir tables. We already own the blow guns, masks, drums, and piranhas. But they did have a nice collection of fun jewelry, which appealed to one of us. And one turquoise and abalone necklace was our big purchase of the day. By the way, we happened to notice they were selling beer for $2 a can. It may not have been cold, but the price was good.
It had begun to sprinkle and we thought for sure the sky would open up. However, it just stayed muggy and hot with no breeze. The ride back was stifling inside the tender. We spent the rest of the afternoon working in our room and going for take-out……two cannonball burgers and fries from The Dive-In. Ice cold Cokes were the best.
At 5pm, the Captain sounded the horn, alerting the folks to come back on the tenders. As it turned out, some bus tours were late in getting back and 120 folks were still onshore. Finally back onboard, they pulled the anchor and we left after 6pm.
At dinnertime, we saw that we had stopped near Santarem where we think there was a pilot switch. Then the ship headed to the next port of Boca da Valeria, very close to our stop today. It will be a short day there.
Dinner was good with quesadilla starters, soup, and a Caesar salad. Mains were a pork porchetta, and what we call KFC chicken. Both very good and hot and tasty as well. One of the chefs came by and inquired as to how our meals were tonight. It seems he remembered we had received cold food last week, he advised us never to accept anything served cold, and inform the waiter or him. He promised to make it right. We thanked him and said that cold dinner never arrived again after that night. He promised to keep it that way.
And good news….the clocks went back one hour this evening, putting us at Manaus time. Fine and dandy with us.
Bill & Mary Ann
