Amazon & Carnival Explorer Cruise - Day 43: Alter do Chao, Brazil

Monday, March 18

Today we are in Alter Do Chao and it will be our last port on the Amazon.  Alter Do Chao is an administrative district of Santarem, which is about 22 miles away.  It serves as the main resort and tourist spot for Santarem.

 

We had another tour with Gil Seriqueso today which took us into the rain forest for a hike.  We got up at 7:30, but with losing an hour last night due to the time zone change, it was 6:30 AM on our internal clocks and it seemed very early.  I was a little worried about today as even though I have been feeling much better, my energy level hasn’t gotten back to normal.  My worries were for nought as I had gotten a good night’s sleep and felt great when I got up so I was ready to go.

Today is another tender port and we had to meet Gil at the tender dock before 9:00, so after a quick bite in the Neptune Lounge, we were off to the tender platform and were on our way by 8:30.  Roy had also signed up for today’s tour and he got to the tender at the same time as we did so we tendered in together.  Gil was waiting for us and had two vans waiting.  He was dividing us into two groups with the first group leaving as soon as the first van was filled.

Vendors were setting up at the tender dock.

As we walked to the van to start our tour, Val caught a picture of this iguana.

Roy, Val and I were almost the last ones on our van so we were soon on our way.  It was an hours drive to the rain forest where we would start our hike.  Gil wanted us to see a preserved rain forest that had not been altered by human activity. It was a little shocking that it took us an hour to get there as we saw nothing but jungle from our vantage point on the ship as we sailed along the Amazon.  We did see why though, because as we drove along just a little ways inland, the jungle has been cut down and replaced by vast fields of soy beans.  We have heard of the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest and we saw it up close today.  It is rather shocking, and Gil spent quite a bit of time talking about the effect the deforestation has had on the rain forest that still exists.  Gil also entertained us with tales of his childhood in the Amazon, and also his young adult life including his love life; he is quite a character.

As we drove inland we were shocked to see how much of the rain forest had been cut down and turned into soy bean fields.

Very dense housing.

The drive was interesting not only for seeing the deforestation, but seeing the towns and communities along the way.  After an hours drive, we reached the Floresta Nacional do Tapajós (Tapajos National Forest) and left the bus to begin our hike.  At the beginning of the hike the temperature seemed relatively moderate, but after an hour’s hike, we were all pretty hot and uncomfortable.  Gil provided commentary on flora and fauna as we walked along.  

The entrance to the rain forest preserve.

Gil shows us a map of the area and explains the need to preserve the rain forest.  This area was once covered in rain forest and we had to drive an hour to see an unspoiled area of it.

The van dropped us off here to begin our hike.

 

This was created by ants.  The ants here are nasty, particularly the fire ants.

 

Gil told us this leaf is used as a natural toilet paper, it is remarkably soft.

The trail ended back at the road and we walked to a place where the vans were waiting.  There was a place to sit down and food and cold drinks were provided.

 

There was a very rustic restroom where Val got the shock of her life when, after sitting on the toilet, she flushed it and a frog jumped out, what a surprise!

The hike ended where Gil’s ancestral home had been and he talked about what it was like growing up here.  There was a very rustic restroom and a shaded seating area which everyone took advantage of.  Gil provided cold drinks and snacks which were also very welcome.  We stayed there for a while until the second group showed up and then we were back in the van and on our way.  We did get a new guide for the ride back as Gil now joined the second van to fill them in on the things he talked to us about. 

The way back was supposedly shorter, but it might have been in miles, but not much shorter in time as it was over dirt roads which were pretty rough in places.  It was a much more interesting drive though, as we were driving through the jungle as well as seeing smaller and more isolated communities.

Our next stop was very interesting particularly for Val.  On the cruise she had been reading the book “Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City” by Greg Grandin. It is about Henry Ford’s ill fated attempt to grow rubber trees and recreate small town America in the Amazon jungle in the 1930’s (for more details follow this link).  Our stop was the town of Belterra, a community built by Henry Ford for the workers on his rubber plantations.  Belterra was built to look like a small, rural town in 1930's America. We drove through the town, which looked like a Norman Rockwell painting.  It was in sharp contrast with the Amazonian and Brazilian style structures we had been seeing.  We walked around taking photos for a while, amazed at this attempt to turn the Amazon into something so American.  There are still people living in the homes, but they are barred from changing anything in order to keep them historically correct.  As Val read the book on the cruise she would fill me in every evening at dinner so I was as interested as she was to see Belterra, and she would highly recommend reading the book.

We left Belterra and headed back to Alter Do Chao and to Gil’s house, which was really a compound like area where he could entertain and feed his tour guests.  When we arrived, there was a table full of food consisting of various cooked dishes as well as fruit.  There was also a small group of musicians, a singer and two ladies dancing to the traditional Brazilian music we have gotten used to hearing.  It was very entertaining and despite the heat, the ladies put on a very energetic show.  Soon after we arrived, Gil and the second bus arrived and the party continued.

Some views from Gil's house.  Our ship is anchored on the other side of the land sticking out.

Those thatched structures in the background are restaurants.  We were told that during the dry season, you can walk to them.

 

Brazilian Cubari dance and music was born of a combination of African slavery and indigenous tribal cultures. The dance is performed with the feet close together as it would have been done with the ankle shackles worn by the African slaves. This was at the home of our guide after our hike in the jungle.

Most of us were getting pretty hot and tired and soon it was time for the short drive back to the tender dock.  There were a lot of vendors selling their goods around the dock area so we spent some time looking at that and Val found one last thing to buy as this is the last time we would be in Brazil.

It was getting late so we made our way to the tender dock, which was very primitive.  There was a small concrete pier with a wooden ramp which led down to a sandy beach.  During the dry season the water level will be 30 or 40 feet lower so permanent docks in these towns would be very difficult to build so they make do with what they have.  There was no wait to get on the tender, but once again it was hot and humid while we waited for more people to get on and fill the tender, and then it was a quick trip to the ship and the very welcome air conditioning.

That platform is the tender dock.  Step off of the tender on the one side and walk down to the sand on the other.

 

The tour today was not as good as the floodplain tour we took with Gil in Santarem, but still very interesting and well worth it.  Gil is a bit of a character and a very interesting guide so once again I would highly recommend him if you are ever in this area.  One of the really surprising and shocking things for us today is that we had to drive an hour to find undeveloped and pristine jungle. 

The weather again was very hot and humid and that is one thing we will not miss.  As we did yesterday, the first thing we did when we got back to our room was to take showers and cool off.  We had only had snacks today and no lunch so we also went to the Neptune Lounge where we ate several hors d'oeuvres, which was a mistake we paid for later.  After getting cleaned up and filled up, I went up on deck and took pictures as we sailed away from our last port on the Amazon and in Brazil.

After resting a bit, it was off to trivia, dinner and the casino.  We weren’t really hungry for dinner as we had filled up on snacks earlier so all we had was an appetizer and dessert (couldn’t miss dessert).  I had another short night in the casino, not because I was tired tonight, but because I lost my money so quickly.  Val continued her lucky streak and spent considerably longer than I did in the casino.  Tomorrow is a sea day and we are really looking forward to a relaxing day as we have had six straight day of ports.