Amazon & Carnival Explorer Cruise - Day 38: Santarem, Brazil

Wednesday, March 13

When we got up at 7:30 this morning we were already docked in Santarem and it was raining outside.  Santarem is the first of six port days in a row on the Amazon.  The city of Santarem is a small size city of around 205,000 located where the Tapajós River meets the Amazon.  Santarem dates back to 1661 when it was founded as a Jesuit mission.  It is now the most important Amazon city between Belem and Manaus as it is a commerce center were small freighters are able to dock and bring goods in and out of the area.

Santarem is located in the lower middle part of the map.  You can see that there are many islands so navigating the right channel is very important and that is why there is a river pilot on board for our entire journey up the Amazon and back.  When looking at the map you wonder how a big ship can navigate the river, but that shows you just how big the Amazon is.

Today we have booked a tour with Gil Seriqueso that many people on our Cruise Critic Roll Call had also booked.  Val had done some research on Trip Advisor and found that he had gotten excellent reviews so we had high hopes for today's tour.  The tour was of the Amazon River Floodplain and sounded very interesting.  The only worry we had was that it would be too crowded as over 70 people had signed up for it.

The tour would be on one of the Amazon river boats that seem to be everywhere you look.  We got off the ship around 8:30 and the rain had stopped, but it was still pretty cloudy and overcast.  We were met by Gil who directed us to a spot right across the pier from our ship where his boat would dock.  He said it was a little delayed as they had to dry everything off on the boat after the rain.  Just before 9:00, the boat arrived and we all boarded.  There were a lot of people, but it seemed more like 40 - 50 people, and the boat was easily able to accommodate everyone without feeling crowded.  It had an upper and lower deck, and the upper deck was covered so we were protected from the sun and any rain if it occurred.

Val and I were one of the first to get on and we went to the upper deck and claimed a couple of deck chairs in a good location.  We were soon underway, and made our first stop at a fish market where we watched from the boat as they threw chunks of meat into the water to attract the pink dolphins.  It was a bit underwhelming as we did see the dolphins, but they weren’t leaping out of the water or anything.  The pink dolphins are a fresh water dolphin and are also known as the Amazon river dolphin or boto.  They are very interesting and their pink color makes them a beautiful fish, but we just couldn't see much of them.

From there we headed up river and were shown what was called the meeting of the waters where the Tapajós meets the Amazon.  The Amazon is a very muddy river and carries a lot of silt, so wherever a river joins the Amazon, there is a clear division of clear and brown water that is called the “meeting of the waters”.  It is interesting, but very common as there are many rivers running into the Amazon.

With the main mode of transportation being by boat, there are of course floating gas stations.  Notice the landscaping.

 

The meeting of the waters - the brown Amazon in the background with the bluer water from the Tapajos River entering the Amazon in the background.  This is pretty much a straight line, but often there are swirls and patterns like what happens sometimes when you pour two colors of paint together.

The weather looked pretty ominous, but except for one, brief hard rain, it was actually a pretty pleasant day, albeit without much sun.

After that we headed off into the floodplain and this is where our tour got really interesting.  There are two seasons on the Amazon, the wet and dry season.  The water level varies dramatically with it being very low by the end of the dry season, and very high by the end of the wet season with the difference being as much as 30 to 40 feet.  We are now in the middle of the wet season so the river is quite high, which means the river floods out over a wide area called the flood plain.  The people living along the Amazon have adapted to this and it is just a way of life for them.

As we traveled through the channels of the flood plain, we could see small dwellings and buildings on stilts with nothing but water around them.  There were also corrals where cattle would be in the dry season, but they are moved to higher ground before the flooding takes place in the wet season.  When we asked about the dwellings, Gil told us that if we took this tour in the dry season we would be hiking instead of on a boat.  People move back into the dwellings we saw and live there for half the year before the river rises again.

Water buffalo

 

Traffic jam ahead.

 

We saw quite a few similar river boats as we cruised along.  The ship had offered a tour where you go out and fish for piranha and as we went by one boat we saw Nancy and Wally from our trivia team with their lines dangling in the water.  They were too intent on fishing to notice us, but Val did take their picture.  At one point, the rain started again and the wind was blowing so they had to lower the plastic screens on one side of the boat to keeps us dry.  The rain didn’t last long and soon the screens were raised again and we had our full view again.

One of the boats from the ship excursion.

Nancy and Wally fishing for piranha.  Wally is near the back with the orange t-shirt and Nancy is beside him in pink waving.  She must have been just waving at the boat as she said she didn't see us.

We continued our way deeper into the floodplain and left most of the boats behind us.  It was fascinating to us and everything was just as we had imagined the Amazon to be.  There were areas of grasses that looked like meadows mixed in with all sorts of water plants, and areas of dense jungle mixed in.  It turns out that all of the grasses and water plants we saw were floating as the flooding eroded away the soil and left all the plants floating, getting their nutrients from the water.  When the dry season arrives, it will all die until the next rainy season.

As we continued on, we were given a chance to fish for piranha, but most people didn’t and of the people that did, I didn’t see anyone catch anything.  At one point, the boat was stopped and half of our group was transferred to smaller motorboats which went up into waterways that are too small for the larger boat.  Val and I didn’t go with the first group, but would have our turn later.

After the motorboats left, our boat continued deeper into the floodplain until we reached a spot where we stopped and waited for the motorboats to meet up with us.  It had been about 45 minutes since they had left and we had to wait another fifteen or twenty minutes until they arrived.  

The first group leaves on their side trip.

The boat seemed empty with half the group gone.

Our first sloth sighting, Val actually caught him eating some foliage.

 

Great picture by Val of these birds in flight.

 

The first group finally returns and now it's our turn.

We thought we would immediately get into the motorboats for our turn, but the boat sailed on for a while before they loaded the rest of us for our turn in the small motorboats.

Wow, what a great time we had!  The smaller boats wound their way through the small channels into dense jungles and we got closeup looks at the huge water lily pads and other water plants growing.  We spotted several sloths in the trees and at one point our boat and another pulled up to a tree and tried to get the sloth.  The sloth made the mistake of climbing down to safety instead of back up the tree and climbed right down into the arms of guides.  It didn’t come easy though as it dug it’s huge claws into the tree and didn’t want to let go.  Eventually it did and our guide brought it back on the boat for us to see.  We were a little concerned about what we were doing to the sloth, but they assured us that the sloth was a solitary animal and would be returned to the jungle unharmed.  The sloth was pretty passive and didn’t seem overly upset and actually fell asleep in the guides arms. 

Our group finally gets their side trip.

 

Giant lily pads.  The little fish jumped into the wrong place, but luckily for him, we came along and one of the guides flipped him back in the water with and oar.

When it got too narrow and shallow, the motors had to be raised and the boats paddled.  All that green, low growing foliage is floating, the soil underneath has all been washed away, but it will be replenished as the waters recede and the silt settles.

This poor sloth didn't know what he was in for.

 

They have very large claws for tree climbing.

 

That was really fun, but sadly we had to return to the boat.

After an hour of cruising the small channels we returned to the boat to rejoin the rest of our group.  To be able to get off the larger boat and explore the jungle close-up was a real treat and really made this tour special for us.  When we were back on the boat, the guide took the sloth and released it on the lower deck for everyone to see.  It immediately found a pole and climbed up to the ceiling on it just as it would do with a tree in the jungle.  After everyone had seen the sloth and taken their pictures, the guides got back in one of the motorboats and were off to set the sloth free.

When he was set on the deck, the sloth immediately did what he does best; he started to climb.

 

It was getting late in the afternoon and we had to be back at the ship by 5:30 so it was time to start the trip back.  This has been a wonderful day, second only to our visit to the Sambadrome for our favorite things about the trip so far.

This was one of the guides Val talked to quite a bit during the day.  His goal was to move to he U.S. and go to college.

The meeting of the water again.

Back to the ship and the end of a great day.

Gil was a wonderful tour guide and not only lived up to, but exceeded our expectations.  He had a crew of about 10 including his boat captain and crew as well as guides, a cook and an administrative person.  There was commentary throughout the tour and the guides were always available to answer our questions.  Drinks from water to sodas to beer and mixed drinks was provided free of charge as well as snacks throughout the trip.  Truly a wonderful day for us and I would highly recommend Gil Seriqueso if you are ever in this part of the Amazon.  We have another tour with Gil in a few days on our way back out of the Amazon.

We were back to the ship just before 5:00 and once again docked right across from the gangway so we were quickly onboard and back in our room.  Despite the rain, the weather today had been surprisingly pleasant.  Maybe it was because of the cloud cover, but it never seemed very hot.  The humidity was bad as usual, but a breeze off the water helped make even that seem not to bad.  All in all, a great day.

By the time we showered and got cleaned up, it was time for dinner so we were off to our trivia.  Roy and Gabriella weren’t there tonight, but we found out later that Gabriella is feeling much better, and they were just watching the sunset from their balcony and forgot about the time.  We talked to Wally and Nancy about their fishing and they said they hadn’t caught anything, but a member of the crew did.

Dinner seemed to take forever, but we finally made our way to the casino where my bad luck continued and Val’s winning streak ended.  We were very tired tonight and were looking forward to a good night’s sleep.  Another time change tonight and we will gain an hour of sleep so that will be nice.  Tomorrow we will be in the village of Boca da Valeria.