The Amazon River, Brazil

Again I have quite a little adventure to relate, first was the veiwing of the Paraniba delta which was as the lonely planet promised; ´good but not fantastic´, following that was our stop in Barranihas which was awesome, even if it was another desert. Sao Luis, another city stop, did provide something a little different: mini carnival, from there we moved into the polluted Belem (where I was scammed becasue I am too nice) and then onto the boat on which we traversed the Amazon.

In Paraniba we stayed in a very plush hotel with a nice pool and a T.V., which was good becasue the town was pretty dead. The one day we spent there we took a boat to see the delta, the place where the river and the ocean meet. The ride was pretty and we saw the huge mangrooves (trees apparently) and the boat driver also went for a swim to catch a crab and a prawn for us to see (prawns can really jump). The delta was not much to look at though the beach was fun, it was deserted and it had little pockets of really warm water and vibrating sand (which convinced me it was quick sand by hungrily eating my feet). Lunch on the river on the way back was also amazing, the prawns were delish.

Again we had a 4x4 adventure to get to Barranihas and it was bloddy bumping. Barranihas was another town with streets of sand, and although it lacked the charater (and the touristy air) of Jeri, I loved it. With our one day there we managed to do everything there was to do - a beautiful floating experience down the lazy river and a trip to the sand dunes and lagoons of the local national park (in fact much prettier than the lagoons in Jeri).

Sao Luis was just another city really but there were shops and there was C&A (I thought it died, I never realised they just pulled out of England!!), I bought a new dress and also a cute little top, v. cheap and I feel kinda left out when other people get dressed up to go out. I got to wear my new dress that evening when we went to Sao Luis mini carnival. It was a really cool evening, thought not quick what I expected. The parade was more like a move disco / bar and the dancers were dancing what ever the pleased and were not really in costume just in a sort of uniform. But in was really cool, we met a lovely brazillian lady called Lilly and she and her husband were trying to teach me and Helen how to Samba but she kept looking at me and shaking her head at my efforts!!! It was a really cool evening.

Belem was a little different. Much hotter, much bigger and much more polluted it was more your tipical big city, where Sao Luis was a pretty little town, Belem was a mad, rushed and people packed place. I bought lots of pretty earings, we had sushi and we generally just waited arround to get on the boat. We also found a huge, modern shopping mall which we wandered, but we didn´t really buy anyhting appart from boat supplies. Whilst out walking a German guy approached us in a panic saying he had been held at gun point in a taxi and all his belongings and money had been stolen, could we lend him some money for the airport tax (obviously the storey was longer and more heart felt). I gave him about twenty pounds, I just thought - what would I do if I was in the same position? I would very much hope someone would help me and it is not realistically that much money... Unfortunatly this guy is in the loney planet, under the section titled ´danger and avoidance´ (which I will be reading in detail about every city I enter from now on). So I feel stupid, but like ´boy who cried wolf´ or what? How unfair is that on those people who that does happen to? I definitly wont be as trusting next time.

So as for now, I am in Santarem, a stop over on our amazon river boat trip. The first tow days have actually been pretty cool. That being after the teathing problems. The guy our tour guide booked through messed up our booking for the boat and we got on the boat with the knowledge that we would be spending 2 nights in hammocks in a room with about 40 people. So, a little adventure, a little discomfort but we were still going (I was happy but there was a lot of complaining in the group). Went we arrived and moved to the hammock room we found the room brimming with around 150 people, this being in a room about 18 paces by 10 paces (I paced it so I could inform). As expected there was a lot more complaining, but we got our stuff together, set up our hammocks and went up top to sit in white plastic chairs, drink wine and eat cold pizza (our second suprise on the ´all meals included´ river boat trip being the lack of dinner). So we were mostly a misserable sorry lot, Helen was ill and convinced she was going to also be sea sick sleeping in a hammock, Sheila was parranoid about her stuff, and everyone was on an all time low. Then in comes Jose (the tour leader) and announces he has some news: it turns out our rooms have been ready all along and the guy we booked though just booked under the wrong name. There are gazes of wonderment, there are hugs and excited smiles and then everyone rushes below to grab all our stuff and move our bags. The rest of the evening was so nice, everyone was on a high from the change in atmoshphere. The first day on the boat was really cool, we saw cute little houses on the river side, we saw little post boxes sitting randomly seeming on the river edge with no house in sight, we saw tiny praw selling boats attach to the side of our boat and start selling or just hop on for a ride, and we saw pink and grey river dophins. All the time relaxing, reading, learning about fish (well that was just me), chatting and in the evening playing cards and drinking wine. The second day was not quite as fun as the breeze died and the boat was unbarably hot, we spent more time in the airconditioned rooms, but the houses and the scenery were not as good and we didn´t miss much.

More news soon,
Love you all,
Aims
xxxx