The chicken farm ride on mighty Amazonas

You may thinks riding down the Amazonas river in a hammock on a slow boat is one of the most romantic things you can do you might be right. But this except the case of you sharing the boat with 200 fellow passengers. And we’re not talking about a massive cruise ship but rather a 20m 3 floor boat.

The Amazon slow boats should definitely register for the most hammocks put up on small space. My boat was completely (over)crowded with hammocks making the ride somewhat special. Generally said it is a very convenient way of travelling. You have your bed, your seat and your couch all in one place. Of course you get bumped from the left or the right from time to time. But you get used to it.

As seen in my last post I was on the boat a day early. So I had it almost for myself. The next morning the boat started to get crowded. And when we left around noon (the boats are pretty punctual) my personal space was heavily reduced.

The next 30 hours I passed with talking to fellow passengers (my Portuguese is about to improve), having a drink at the bar, taking photos and watching a bunch of movies (yes, the power plug was still above my head).

When reaching Santarem I walked the kilometre from the harbour to the bus station. But there was no bus and when I asked around people pointed me two blocks down to another stop. Again Lonely Planet was wrong...

Finally I was on my bus to Alter de Chao reaching the town 9:30pm. Just in time to get a bed in the Hostel before reception was closing. What a retrieve this shower was after two days. Well, the bathrooms on the boat serve as toilet and shower. But I prefer the original.

Next day I really enjoyed the mighty Amazonas by having a swim in the river and sunbathing on sandy beaches. In the evening I was fed up with Brazilian food and tried the Pizzeria. It was OK but the only Italian thing in this restaurant was the name. But they had great Caipirinias!

After another good sleep and great breakfast (jammi Coconut juice on the display) it was time to get back to the boat. The ship was leaving on 6pm so I had some time to stroll around after hanging my hammock. But Santarem doesn’t serve much so I headed back to the boat waiting for departure. And this took some time as the boat was stuck in the sand.

This boat is even smaller then the first one. It has only two floors and one of them was well stocked with goods leaving not much space for hammocks. In the contest of the most hammocks in minimal space this ship wan against all others I’ve seen. So I was wondering who to get a decent sleep. Further the floors are only 1,70 and me being 1,80...

Luckily I discovered the roof top terrace of the ship. Officially this is not a passenger area. But I hung my hammock here and no-one complained. The good thing up here is that it has a power outlet. This made me enjoy the night and a good part of Saturday on this deck watching the mighty Amazonas pass by.

But suddenly a storm came in. And now I know why only the stupid tourist was up there. Within minutes all got wet. Luckily the sun came out again so I had the possibility to dry my stuff. Anyway, after this experience I decided to go back to the chicken cave until arriving in Macapa in the wee-hours.

The beaches of Alter do Chao, a slow boat, the chicken farm and my hamock space before the storm.

Crap, I missed my boat

Yes, I made it again. I missed something. But this time I’m pretty much relaxed. The reason why: I’m already on a boat enjoying my hammock. Departure is tomorrow 11am. But how could this happen?

It all started with another frustrating taxi ride. People know I really hate taxis. This is because I think most of them (more than 50%) are cheaters. So whenever I can avoid a taxi I do so. But arriving 11pm in Manaus doesn’t leave you many options. I all went fine till we reached the hotel. There he didn’t want to stop in the well lit curve of the hotel but on the dark road before??? And when asking to make some light in the vehicle it caused the driver big problems to find the light switch just above of his head. Twice he repeated “just money” but it appeared hard to understand my response “I need some light to find it”. Finally I had light and handed two 20R over. And here comes the thing. He quickly changed one of them with a 2R threatening me to give me another 20R. That’s such an old trick but it caused me 2 long seconds to realize. I should have crashed this guy’s car when stepping out...

Anyway, Cesar Business prepared for me a nice Suite with remote sea view. The bed was so comfortable I forgot my jet lag and had a long hour sleep. After getting up I enjoyed the Jacuzzi, the nearby mall and the pool. Late check-out let me leave the hotel at 2pm. And as it was so comfortable I reached the harbour when all boats were gone. But some guys were directing me to the next boat leaving a day later. I bought the ticket from the captain (60% of the lonely planet price) and tied up my hammock.

PS: There is a power outlet just next to my hammock space. Let’s see how many movies I’m goanna watch during the long dark nights :)

  

My Hammock space, the Manaus Opera and a sweet McDonalds.

Welcome to Miami

First I have to say that American Airlines is not as bad as expected. Service wise they are good. Food is OK. Plane including entertainment system is crap. So I had an OK flight to Miami stopping in JFK. And yes, Homeland Security sucks. As the US promotes to be the best country in the world they should compare their immigration queue with the one in Zurich or Geneva.

Anyway, I got into the country and had enough time to get my first US McDonalds Hamburger and a Caramel Macchiato just before boarding my flight to Miami. The flight left on time and arrived 45 minutes early! And here comes the frustrating thing. While switching on my mobile I got the text from Teo being upgraded for the flight home (we were supposed to meet on Miami airport as he has just passed his two weeks holiday here). This after suffering 12 hours in an American plane with a somewhat broken entertainment system...

Let’s get back to the good things. I reached Miami Beach on daylight and enjoyed US style dinner on the Ocean Drive during sunset. This included a weird cocktail served in a Malibu bucket. The bucket I had to keep of course :)

But just a few minutes after the Jet lag asked this tribute and I felt to sleep. The good thing is I woke up early and was just in time to enjoy sunset over Miami Beach. After breakfast bought at a Spanish supermarket I joined a bus tour to visit Miami before catching my bus back to the airport.

I thought I was late for the plane. But US customs has vanished emigration. This definitely speeds up travelling but was a weird experience. I feel betrayed regarding my exit stamp...

The flight to Miami would have been unremarkable. But it had free Wifi allowing me to surf and SMS the first time in my life from a flying airplane. YES, this is cool!

Ocean Drive, US Style Dinner with a cool cocktail basket and Miami Beach beach.