Today we start the next part of our journey: an 800-mile boat trip down the big Amazon River, from Manaus to Belém.
It was late afternoon when we got back to Manaus. My parents wanted to find at a hotel near the port. It would make it easier to get there early in the morning and find a boat for our trip. Unfortunately, we had to settle for the worst place on earth, Hotel Ana Cassia. I really hated it. It was dark and old, the beds were stiff as a rock and the breakfast, my favorite at hotels, was really bad. Luckily, we went to sleep early, and the plan of getting to the port at dawn worked out well.
From the port of Manaus, boats leave everyday for Belem, capital of Pará, where the might giant meets the ocean. On the docks you can shop around for deals, but the boats are pretty much the same. Known as gaiolas (bird cages) they usually offer three open decks: a first floor for cargo shipping, a second for a byoh (bring your own hammock) ride, and the top deck has a few cabins and an open area for leisure, a bar and a few outdoor showers.
We got cabin tickets for a boat called Golfinho do Mar, which they said had a double bed, but when we checked the room, it didn’t. Plus, it didn’t have a private bathroom. We had to walk back to the ticket booth and exchange our tickets for another boat. All of this was done in a bit of a hurry since it is first come, first served. So it was all a bit stressful.
Going downstream takes less days of travel, still, we decide to break our trip by getting off in Santarem, almost half way, which meant spending two nights on the Cisne Branco.
We had sometime to kill until departure, so we walked around the now lively port neighborhood and shopped for our trip: snacks (fruits, cashew nuts, and local pastries) and a lot of drinking water.
The boat we got, the Cisne Branco, which means White Swan was built in Glasgow in 1920. Our cabin is tiny with a bunk bed and a small bathroom. This definitely as not a “cruise”, but I was very excited with how local we were traveling and how many kids were on the boat. Since we had no windows with a view, we left the door open pretty much all day, with chairs just outside, overlooking the river view. It was fantastic, and the size and power of the water something truly amazing.
I walked around the boat, exploring every corner of it. There was so much to see. When checking out the hammock floor, I also understood better why my parents wanted to get a cabin. The sight is beautiful and very colorful but people looked like sardines in a can, cramped one next to the other, some on top of the other.
By the time I came back to my cabin, I had a whole group of friends with me, all local kids. We became inseparable. I brought a pack of cards, and that was the most popular game. We set up a table next to a group of men playing dominoes, and while we played, we talked and laughed a lot.
