A Thousand Miles Down the Amazon River
Have you ever had a thought pop into your head that you just couldn’t shake? For me, it’s usually Krispy Kreme donuts. I see the “Hot Donuts Now” sign flashing red in my mind, and it won’t go away until I go get a dozen of those warm, delicious rings of heaven.
This time it was different. I read somewhere about taking a trip down the Amazon River in a cargo boat. As much as I tried, I couldn’t get that thought out of my mind. I’d lie in bed with visions of going down the Amazon River with a Brazilian captain who was happy to have some company for the journey.
I’m very impulsive when it comes to traveling. I once flew to Madrid, Spain, with only a travel guide and the thought of seeing a bullfight – but that’s another story.
Driven by my newfound obsession, I booked a flight to Rio de Janeiro and secured a hotel room near the beach.
Wandering Around Rio de Janeiro
The flight from Miami put me at my hotel in the Copacabana section of Rio de Janeiro, around three o’clock in the afternoon. After checking into the hotel, I wandered down to the beach to check it out.
Copacabana and Ipanema are two of the most famous beaches in the world. Copacabana is known for its black and white mosaic pavement and its lively atmosphere. Ipanema is a beautiful beach that attracts a more stylish crowd and is considered an upscale beach. The beach was full of people enjoying the sun and surf.
I skipped the beach. I needed to find a travel agent who could help extinguish the burning obsession that had brought me to Brazil.
Filled with determination, I checked my map and arrived at the first travel agency right before closing time. They were unable to help, but they recommended someone at another agency. His name was Gabriel. I would have to visit him in the morning.
My Savior Gabriel
First thing the next morning, I went over to see Gabriel. He was a young guy with a lot of enthusiasm for his job. When I told him I wanted to take a cargo boat down the Amazon River, a big smile began to form on his face.
Gabriel was born and raised in Manaus, the capital and largest city of the state of Amazonas. It sits on the banks of the Rio Negro, and is the main departure point for excursions into the Amazon Rainforest. He was very familiar with that type of trip.
He made a phone call and had a quick conversation in Portuguese. He told me that he had just spoken to his brother, Bento, who lives in Manaus with their mother, Celia. Bento would be glad to help me find a boat. Just give him a call when I arrive in Manaus, and he will take me down to the docks. We booked a hotel and a flight to Manaus. I thanked Gabriel and left the agency feeling pleased with my trip so far.
Manaus
After arriving in Manaus, I checked into my hotel and called Bento. He said he’d be over in about half an hour. I was waiting in the lobby when I saw a young man, about twenty-five years old, walk in with an attractive lady who looked like his mother. They were looking around the lobby, and I knew it was Bento and Celia. I walked up and greeted them in Portuguese. “Boa tarde, meu nome é Tom.” We shook hands and did our best to communicate in broken English and practically non-existent Portuguese. The visit was a warm gathering, and before we departed, Celia invited me to lunch at their home. I thanked her and told her I would love to join them.
Bento and I walked down to the Port of Manaus to look for a boat. We went to see his friend Miguel, who transported bananas down the river. Miguel agreed to let me ride along if I was willing to help offload the bananas on the way downriver. I said I would. We were set to leave the next afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
I returned to the hotel room and lay on the bed, feeling good about my efforts. When the excitement started to fade and I began thinking about what it would be like to ride on that boat down the river, I started having second thoughts.
The smell of sweat and bananas replaced the romantic vision of the cargo boat down the Amazon. I was on vacation pursuing an adventure. I didn’t want to work. I didn’t want to spend three uncomfortable days on a small boat with a bunch of bananas. There had to be a better way.
Remembering the ferries I had seen earlier, I called Bento, and we returned to the docks. I stopped by and thanked Miguel for his offer, then booked a ride on a slow ferry that would take four days to travel from Manaus to the port city of Belém on Brazil’s northern coast. There were five stops along the way to offload cargo and passengers. The ferry would depart in two days.
Lunch and Shopping in Manaus
I had some shopping to do to prepare for my trip, and I was excited to have lunch with my new friends. I was grateful to have an extra day in Manaus.
Lunch was planned for the next day at noon. At 11:45 a.m. that morning, Bento came over to bring me to his home. When we arrived, I was greeted with a big, welcoming smile from Celia. A delicious aroma and a peaceful spirit gently touched my senses.
Celia had beautifully decorated the house with native artifacts and comfortable furniture in the living room. The dining room and adjoining kitchen were small but proportional to the rest of the house, which consisted of two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Our lunch was a typical Brazilian meal: baked fish with rice and beans, and a small salad. For dessert, we had coffee and a local dish called Cartola – fried bananas with cheese and cinnamon. It was delicious.
We talked about life in Florida and life in Manaus. All of us were full of curiosity. They had never met an American, and I had never met a family from the Amazon Rainforest. We had a wonderful time trying to communicate and get to know each other.
Bento reminded me that we had business to tend to. My ticket aboard the ferry required me to sleep in a hammock. When I mentioned I had never slept in a hammock before, Celia and Bento took me into their bedrooms and showed me the hammocks they slept on every night. They gave me a lesson on the best sleeping positions for a good night’s sleep. I greatly appreciated their advice.
I said goodbye to Celia, thanked her for lunch, and gave her a big hug. Then, Bento and I went hammock shopping at Mercado Adolpho Lisboa, the municipal market in Manaus.
The market was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Manaus was at its peak of prosperity. The city was known as the “Paris of the Tropics” due to its wealth from rubber production. The historic Art Nouveau building was constructed to serve as a large market and symbolize the city’s wealth and sophistication.
We spent a couple of hours walking around the market, taking in the wide variety of items available for sampling and purchase. Some kiosks sold fresh fish, meat, and vegetables, while others offered medicinal herbs and Amazonian handicrafts. Yes, there were hammocks too!
The sights and smells of the market reached all my senses, filling me with a feeling of excitement. Purchasing my hammock gave me peace of mind about having a place to sleep on the ferry.
As I lay in bed that night, reviewing my day, I couldn’t help but feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to meet Celia and Bento.
Departure Day
Departure time was 10:00 a.m. I arrived at the docks as the crew was loading the last of the cargo into the ferry’s hold. I found my spot in line when an announcement came over the loudspeaker that boarding would begin in 5 minutes.
The ferry had three levels. There was a large space under the roof of the first and second-level decks where passengers hung their hammocks for sleeping. A narrow walkway from bow to stern encircled the entire ferry on both levels. A small observation deck was located fore and aft of the sleeping areas.
The pilot house, where the Captain steered the vessel, was located on the top deck along with the crew’s quarters and five cabins, which were available for rent. A large open-air observation deck offered an unobstructed view of the sights on the river.
When the gates opened, the passengers raced to secure a spot for their hammock on the first two levels. I ran along with them.
Now, picture the number five on a pair of dice. Imagine your hammock is the dot in the center, and the other four surrounding dots are hammocks. Multiply that image by twenty, and you can see what the sleeping area on both decks looked like. Hammocks and people everywhere.
I wished I had paid better attention to Celia and Bento’s hammock sleeping instructions. It was going to be a long night.
Highlights of the Journey
We left the dock around 10:25 a.m. to start our four-day journey. I spent most of my waking hours in the observation areas on the second and third floors.
It was mid-July, the peak of the dry season. The average width of the river, from dry season to wet season, is approximately 4 to 25 miles at its widest point. It wasn’t easy to estimate, but it was approximately 4 miles wide when we left the dock. I would see points on the trip where it was much wider. The bottom line: It was huge.
Sitting on the bow, enjoying the beauty of the river, was very peaceful. A few small boats would pass us on their way upriver, but traffic on the river was light.
About six or seven miles after we left Manaus, we came to the point on the river known as the “Meeting of the Waters.” This is where the confluence of the Rio Negro and the Amazon River (known, before the confluence, as the Solimões River in Brazil) occurs, forming the Amazon River.
The Rio Negro flows from the Colombian hillsides. It is black in color due to its lack of sediment, tannic acid, and decaying plant material. The light, sandy-colored Solimões River carries sediment from the Andes Mountains.
Due to differences in temperature and speed of flow, these two rivers flow side by side for about 4 miles and eventually fully mix after traveling nearly 40 miles. This is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the river. It is a fascinating sight to see.
My Friends from Spain
On my first day, I met a friendly couple from Spain, Mateo and Julia. We sat together on the bow of the boat, and we got to know each other. They had been traveling around South America for a month and had just come to Brazil from Peru. I enjoyed learning about their hike up to Machu Picchu.
They told me they were staying in one of the cabins. I told them I was determined to sleep in a hammock for the entire trip despite the reluctance I felt earlier.
They invited me up to their cabin to take a look around. It was very nice. The picture I had in my head of sleeping in the hammock did not compare well to the comfort of the cabin I was standing in.
But, I remained determined, even as my new friends teased me about the good night’s sleep they were going to have.
The First Night in the Hammock
That night, I climbed into my hammock and attempted to get comfortable, along with the other dots on the dice. I tossed and turned for two hours and ended up being consumed by the hammock, like a big pea in a giant pod. Frustrated and unable to sleep, I spent the rest of the night on the bow of the boat, captured by the silence and stillness of the night.
I have never been far away from the lights of the city. Here, on the Amazon, I experienced total darkness. Darkness like I had never seen before. As I gazed at the starry night in the cloudless sky, my mind was filled with many thoughts. I remembered a song about seeing the Southern Cross for the first time and realized I was in a perfect spot to see that constellation. I searched the sky for about five minutes, and there it was. Bright and beautiful. I felt like I could reach up and grab it.
The next morning, I packed up my hammock, went to talk to the Captain, and rented a cabin for the rest of the trip. I put the hammock in the closet of my cabin. It would soon become part of a fantastic experience.
Onward Down the Amazon River
We followed the river at a constant pace. The day passed slowly. Small cargo boats moved back and forth across our bow carrying passengers, groceries, livestock, and other daily necessities to various villages along the river. Large ships and barges carrying cars and heavy equipment moved steadily towards their destinations.
About mid-morning the next day, I was standing on the side of the ferry looking at the shoreline. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something in the water about 1/4 mile ahead of the boat. As we approached, I could see that it was native people from the jungle who paddled out in their dugout canoes. They were sitting still in the water, looking at the ferry. There were about twenty canoes.
When we were alongside them, I saw a yellow plastic bag hit the water from the deck below. A mother and her daughter paddled over and retrieved the bag. Then, another and another bag. Other people picking up the bags and paddling back to shore.
The thought of my hammock flashed into my mind. I quickly ran to my cabin and put it in a plastic bag. When I returned to the side of the boat, I picked out a mother with her two sons on board. I timed my throw as best I could. The package slid across the top of the water and gently bumped into their canoe. They pulled it from the water with a big smile. I waved to them and they waved back. It was beautiful.
Shortly after that, I saw three teenage boys paddling very hard towards the side of the boat. They were on a collision course. No sooner than I thought “What the heck are they doing?,” did they pull out a big hook and latch it to one of the huge tires on the side of the boat. The line tightened, and their canoe swung towards the boat, resting there.
Slowly, the ferry continued downriver.
All three climbed onto the boat using the tire as a ladder. They were carrying a large burlap bag. I was a little nervous about their intent, but they seemed friendly. Inside the bag were containers of palm hearts and skewers of boiled shrimp. They walked around the boat and sold these items to the people on board. The ferry continued downriver, carrying them further away from their village.
After about an hour of watching them, I began wondering how they were going to get back home. We had gone way too far for them to paddle home before nightfall. I finally asked one of the crew, and he told me about the afternoon ferry that was heading in the direction of Manaus. Eventually, the boys unhooked their boat from the tire and drifted away, waiting patiently for their ride home. Life on the Amazon River.
Reflections
We would arrive in Belém early the next morning. For the rest of that day and much of the night, I thought about my time on the Amazon River and my trip so far.
I was deeply touched by all the kindness shown to me by the Brazilian people. Gabriel, connecting me with his family in Manaus. Celia and Bento, seeing my heart and trusting me enough to bring me into their home and share part of their life with me. The connection we were able to make despite the language barrier. I gained a deeper understanding of life.
I thought of seeing that yellow bag splash in the water and the feeling I had when I realized what was happening. How deeply that experience moved me. The generosity of the people on the deck below touched me. I realized that no matter how much or how little I have, there is always someone in need of help.
When I arrived in Belém, I went straight to the airport to catch my flight back to Rio de Janeiro.
Those four days on the Amazon River were some of the most interesting days of my life. I returned to Florida with a different perspective on life, a different person.
That’s what travel always does for me.