Phil's Amazon Adventure - Belém to Manaus - Day 1

The day started early, running around town to buy a hammock, reserve space for the hammock on the boat and stocking up on some provisions (water, tang and biscuits). The old 2-deck river boat takes 200 people, and there are about 120 on this voyage. The top deck has a small common area with a few seats and tables out the back, the cabin up front and a whole lots of hammocks in between. There are hammocks of all colours and sizes, some big enough for couples or parents with their children. There are hammocks high and low and some people are sleeping above one another as well as right next to people... like me for instance.

There are about 25 of us from the hotel in Belém, so we make up a big chunk on the passengers. A German guy called Alex, whose hammock is under me on the boat, commented that the captain said he’d never seen some many gringos on the boat before. Having a huge group is good and bad. There are always people around to watch the bags and chat to, but there are lots of excuses not to speak Spanish or Portuguese, I managed to have a good chat with a guy from Venezuela though.

Sleeping in the hammock, a life long dream, was anything but dreamy. I didn’t get much sleep and my back was killing me when I woke up, but my first glimpse of the river when I woke up made up for it.