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Ok, so this is the third time we will try and write this same journal.....its being a little b*****!!!
SO we departed, with farewells to our hosts and friends in Belem. We hadn't seen the boat before booking tickets so were pleasantly surprised. We boarded the Clivia with our hammocks at the ready, luckily the staff on board tied them (think we would have been swinging out to sea had we tied them ourselves!)
Our journey ended up being 6 days long, with stop offs, collections, unloading and generally just to piss us off! We didn't really laze around in our hammocks as we were to fascinated by the boat we were on, running around up and down the stairs, it wore off quickly! Cabin fever set in and Dal ran around like a demented banshee.....only joking, thats her normally!
Living on board was not quite what we expected, thinking that the hammocks would afford some space.....completely wrong....instead we were crammed in like sardines.....fingers, toes, feet, all jabbing into one another...great fun, we love shiatsu, accupressure and the best bit? It was all for free!!
The food was also free, overcooked spaghetti, yesterdays rice and big plateau's of beef. We were blessed with meeting a family who helped upgrade our food (sounds funny really, we managed to obtain salad and fresh fruit for breakfast, a real god send.) Meal times were like starved animals awaiting their prey, no mercy..... We were very fortunate as we ate downstairs with a handful of people, no elbows, interrogating looks....survival techniques weren't needed here!
It was an eye opening experience, mom's thank you for teaching us to eat with our mouth's closed and to chew food before swallowing!
We met some great people and our very own 5 year old Robbie Williams, he kept us entertained, in fits of laughter most of the time.
No half naked native tribal people running along the banks of the amazon as we had half expected due to our concept of the amazon being very difficult to navigate with lost secrets, deadly animals and tight passages. Instead we found the equivalent of a motorway...beep,beep. Families of the river banks racing in their canoes to the boat requesting foods. We have not discovered what hardships these people endeavour on a daily basis, but they seemed in good spirits, waving, smiling, with some attaching there canoes to the boat to sell fruits they had picked. Watermelons weighing 6kg for the price of a penny, huge bunches of tasty bananas, this was probably one of the highlights of our trip!
A calm, stillness enveloped us daily at dusk, accompanied by some of the most breathtaking sunsets.
Moments of hysteria when Dal accidentally flicked a huge cockroach off her hammock onto the head of the lady asleep beside her. Awakening her into a fit of fear....much to Maz's amusement and a very apologetic Dal.
We docked in Manaus, tired, weary and hungry, thankfully a good natured host was able to offer us accommodation.
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