Thursday August 2

There are some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed. This is one of them.
My itinerary shows that I needed to be met in the hotel lobby at 7 AM. I had my suspicions that something was wrong but I kept being assured that what it said was correct.

So I was up at 5:30 (thankfully my body thought it was 6:30) to pack, go for breakfast at 6, and be ready for 7.

By the time I get down to the lobby my suspicions were confirmed. I'm the only one there. Fortunately, I didn't check out ahead of time. After some checking it appears that the actual time is closer to 2 PM. So back to the room, catch a little more sleep, and read. To hot to do anything else. Actually, too humid. The temperature is about the same as Goiania but the humidity is much higher making it much more uncomfortable.

At 2 PM we hiked off down to the beach where small boats took us out to main vessel anchored offshore - 11 of us in total - 10 Spaniards and myself. I guess tourism from Europe is down this year so they are running light. The boat should hold 24 plus crew. The advantage for me is that I got an upper cabin even though I just paid for a lower. Karma for this morning I guess.

But once on the river the earlier troubles seem to disappear. And it is cooler, almost bearable.

We went downstream about 30 km. Technically we didn't start on the Amazon but the Rio Negra - Black River. The actual Amazon meets the Rio Negra downstream from here from Peru and carries many names as it works it's way to the Atlantic. But most non-Brazilians refer to the entire system as the Amazon. The stop for the evening will be along the Amazon although more upstream portions will be along the Rio Negra.

Upon reaching our destination for the evening we took to a canoe for a tour through the swamp-like area surrounding the river. The term canoe is not what it means to us. Think long fishing boat that seats 12 and you've got the Brazilian canoe. This was an eye opening experience. Dense vegetation and a canopy jungle covered the canals, channels and byways as our guide maneuvered us through passages barely wide enough for the canoe to go.

The jungle was alive with the sounds of birds and animals.

Our guide, Rudy, is very knowledgeable but the one that impressed me most was Manuel, the guy actually operating the boat. He is a short man, barely taller than I am when I'm sitting, but knows these waters inside and out. I would think it would take a long time to learn the intricate web of interconnecting canals that characterize this area.

Luckily for us, I didn't have to find my way back to the boat. Even my trusty GPS probably wouldn't have done the trick since it is so thick in spots that I don't think Satellite reception would be possible.

After dinner, and in the dark of night, we went caiman hunting. It is easier to spot them with a searchlight. There are four species of caiman in these waters ranging from smaller ones to the large Black Caiman.

We caught 3 small ones or I should say Rudy did. I was waiting for the really big ones before I tried my hand at it. I can only surmise that word has spread up and down the river that I'm in the area so the large ones are in hiding. Lucky for them.