Belém to Manaus - Day 2

After a 5-star breakfast of 4 crackers, I spent the day playing cards, chatting and feeling tired.

The river and jungle are absolutely amazing. In some places the river is no more than 10 metres wide and in others it’s hard to see the other shore. Small wooden houses dot the river bank some, oddly enough, with satellite dishes. Alex knows a lot about people and their life on the river and was saying that the people here just sustain themselves growing açai and some other fruits and vegetables, and by fishing in the river. It is such a different way of life that I don't feel I can relate to it.

As the boat passes these houses, kids from them wait in their canoes for packages of biscuits or clothes that passengers throw to them. Life is so different here than for me it's hard to know whether or not to feel sad for these kids. Even if no one throws anything out to them, the kids'’ faces light up as they ride the waves caused by the boat in their canoes. Seeing them, I'’m not convinced that our way of life is any more enlightened that theirs, or that everyone needs our way of life.

As night came to HMAS Gringo, so did the alcohol, and as happens with drunken boys, things started to get out of hand. One of the guys had the great idea to start a "“fight club", which resulted in two of the loudest in our group drunk and shirtless punching one another in the common area of the boat. About half the gringos were out there as well as older Brasilian guys who were somewhere between amused and really Hassling some of the Israeli guys, who've all done 3 years military service in a war zone, to get involved was dumb enough, but then asking some of the Brasilians to join was plain stupid. It ended peacefully enough, though an American and a Brasilian ended up on the floor. I have the feeling it pushed some of the Brasilian guys who have little kids on board too far. Hopefully the guys from our group will wise up before something bad happens.

To escape the insanity I chatted with Alex some more. incrediblynreligiousy religous and is tired of "civilisation" to the point where he has decided to leave it behind to spend the rest of his life with a Christian community deep in the jungle. The religion here Catholicism Catholocism, African and tribal religions and at monthly cleansing rituals they drink halucenagenic tea while praying for 15 hours to be closer to God. We talked for a while about life, religion and the jungle and he invited me to drink the tea with him, but it'’s not really my cup of tea... boom tsk!