Entering the Amazon River (MAR 06)

If you think entering the Amazon at high speed aboard a large ship is a good idea, you don’t know squat. 

This afternoon, VEENDAM slowed to 8.5 knots in preparation for crossing the sandbar at the mouth of the Amazon River.  This slower speed was to reduce the ship’s squat. 

“Squat” is the settling in the stern when a large ship increases its speed.  VEENDAM’s squat can be as much as 4 feet.  Area charts indicate VEENDAM has only 11 feet of bottom clearance over the sandbar at high tide, so going at a slower speed to eliminate squat is good seamanship as there could be uncharted shallower spots.

Passing over the 24-miles wide sandbar, we could not see bottom.  We could plainly see that the water color had changed from blue-green to a light brown. 

The sandbar is the dumping ground for the sediment transported by the Amazon.  It is approximately 50 miles offshore because it takes that long for the ocean to draw off the river’s energy that holds the sediment in suspension.

We entered the actual mouth of the river after dark, so we will not have our first sighting of the shoreline until tomorrow morning.

Steaming Upriver (MAR 07)

About 8:00 AM, we anchored off Macapa near the mouth of the Amazon.  The ship picked up two pilots and went through some inspection procedure.  The anchor came up about 10:00 AM and we began the trip upriver. 

Some things are just plain impressive.  The Amazon River is one of those things.  The fact that we transited it before made no difference in an enjoyable day watching pass by vast amounts of rainforest dotted with pockets of civilization. 

Santarem (MAR 08)

Our first port of call on the Amazon was Santarem.  About halfway between the ocean and Manaus, it a hub of activity on the lower part of the river system, the Amazon Basin being comprised of approximately 1,100 rivers feeding into the Amazon River.

The ship docked at a ferry terminal next to a large soybean plant.  Soybeans are a huge export cash crop in Brazil, replacing the revenue of the long-defunct rubber industry.

The ship docked at the soybean plant as appropriated named CANOLA

Pam & I having been here before (click here to read 2014 blog post), we decided to take a shuttle bus from the ship into town and just walk around.  Once we got to the shuttle bus drop-off/pick-up point in the city, we came up with a new plan.  We decided to walk along the waterfront all the way back to the ship.  The walk proved a bit longer than we anticipated, but we enjoyed it.

pink dolphins of the Amazon

(blue line has fish on it to attract, not hook, them)

large ferry headed to Manaus

Main deck = cargo

Second deck = cabins

Third deck = sling your own hammock

at the floating fish market – a nice change from seagulls

to lock up the stand, all they do is lower the roof

blue tarpaulins are everywhere on boats big and small

wooden hull

From what we observed, regardless of the size of the ferry, all cargo is loaded manually.  Truckloads of tomatoes, bananas, lemons & limes along with PVC piping, water tanks, motorcycles and all sorts of other items are manhandled aboard.  In many cases, 1-3 sacks or crates are stacked on bearer,s shoulders.  The bearer half-walks, half-runs under the heavy load, moving just as fast to come back for another load.  The speed with which the contents of the trucks dwindled was surprising. 

At Santarem, the Tapajos River flows into the Amazon.  For a while there is a distinct line between the muddy water of the Amazon and the clearer water of the Tapajos, but a few miles downriver it all becomes the same muddy color.

Soon we were upriver of the Tapajos, steaming generally west on the Amazon towards Boca de Valeria.

Boca da Valeria (MAR 09)

Pam & I having been here three years ago, knew what to expect.  (Click here to read 2014 blog post.) 

Now, like then, the image projected by the cruise line and at least a segment of the population of Boca de Valeria is that of a small, rural, community with a subsistence-level economy – simple people living a simple way of life.  As you approach the makeshift dock, this image is (mostly) sustained.  There is a one-room church, a one-room school and some basic homes.  Power lines and the occasional satellite dish are a bit of a contradiction, but can be dismissed without much effort.

However, you need some nearly opaque rose-colored glasses not to quickly recognize that every local and not-so-local awaiting you on shore is focused on getting as much money from you as possible.  “Have your picture taken with my sloth.”, “Come into my home.”, “Buy my handiwork.”, “Ride in my boat.”, “Help us build a new church.” – you get the idea. 

There is even an amphibious contingent that comes alongside the tenders while they are loading at the ship.

The good news is that this is a no-harm, no-foul situation.  The passengers going ashore want to be transported into a pre-conceived notion of rural life on the Amazon.  The locals are happy to fulfill this wish if you make it worth their while.  It is a win-win for other than a few locals who for whatever reason are marginalized in their attempt to tap into the supply of good will and cash emanating from the invaders.

We stepped ashore with four friends. After dropping off some crayons, pencils, etc. at the school for the teacher to distribute as she felt best, we found a boat to take us on a tour of the local waterways.  We did this by simply glancing at a woman holding a sign in English offering a 30-minute boat ride for $5.00 per person.  (We suspected the language and currency of her sign changed with the origin of the cruise ship.)  She immediately started urging us to get aboard her husband’s(?) boat, in broken English assuring us that the boat had a cover to protect us from the sun. 

We did come across a significantly larger church that the one in the village…

…and behind a pole I spotted a phone booth, but otherwise all was as it should be except for those damn tourists with their cameras.

Back at the village we wandered from one end of the village to the other, avoiding eye contact with the locals, then headed back to the ship.

Some sort of root vegetable being softened by soaking?

As VEENDAM departed Boca de Valeria, I turned my long lens back on the village.  It was as though a director had shouted, “That’s a wrap for today!”  There was not a single person, animal or boat in sight.

As VEENDAM continued west, we watch a potentially intense rainstorm pass off to our north. Seeing these weather cells is common.  So far we have not intersected one.  There would not be any concern if we did, just a lot of rain coming down fast, perhaps accompanied by some lightning and thunder.  On the plus side, the ship’s topsides would get a good freshwater wash-down.

Tomorrow we arrive at Manaus on the Rio Negro River.