Journey with Christina

With our tickets in hand and our new hammocks in our bags we happily jumped in our cab to head for our first leg of our Amazon river boat trip aboard the San Marino III. My trepidation grew as our taxi driver sped through what looked like a not so nice area of town anxiously searching for where the boat was docked. He finally noticed a wall with big metal doors that had the name of our pier. As the doors were unlocked to let us in my face turned pale as I saw what would be our accommodations for the next three days. Before me stood what looked like a shipping boat which was being loaded with more bags of onions than I have ever seen. We would come to find out that the boat transported not only passengers but also produce and other items, in our case mass quantity of broom handles. Each item packed with the precision of hundreds of years of shipping.

Shop where we purchased our hammocks in Belem.

Our boat, view of all of the produce being shipped and broom handles being moved on the boat as we moved.

White faced we boarded the boat and handed in our tickets to a gentleman who thankfully motioned for us to go to the top deck. Although we were not able to obtain a coveted outside spot because we were on the top deck (right behind the bar) there was only one middle row and only about 30 people versus the hundred or so on the bottom level. We picked a spot up against a wall and hung up our newly purchased hammocks (aka. rede’s). After settling in we purchased dinner which consisted of chicken, rice and beans for 15 reis and happily watched them finish loading the boat thinking that this was not going to be so bad.

Our view of our area and our hammocks.

My first inclination that the fun was about to begin was when I woke up from my sleep in the middle of the night to use the shared restroom to discover that there was throw-up all over the ladies’ room and the plastic sink was torn off of the wall and laying on the floor. I guess not such a good idea to be behind the bar. Thankfully the bathrooms were cleaned twice a day.

View of the bathroom area, you do not want to see any further in.

The next sweltering day passed leisurely reading, laying in our hammocks and watching the lush scenery of the jungle go by. We grabbed our dinner of a tasty but oily soup and watched the sunset from the top deck of our boat with the cool evening breeze blowing through our hair. Again I was woken in the middle of the night to Jon asking where the Imodium was. The soup had not settled well with him. I handed it over and gleeful swung in my hammock grateful for my iron stomach. Little did I know then that my turn was about to come.

View from the boat.

Due to his sleepless night and fear of anything consumed on the boat the next morning Jon refused to eat or drink anything but a banana I had brought with us. It wasn’t until around noon that I convinced him that he needed to eat and drink. He agreed and went off to purchase our meal tickets at the bar. I rounded the corner to follow and that is when I saw it. Jon, standing a foot taller than the five other men that were surrounding him holding him up. From the heat and lack of food and sleep he had actually fainted and thankfully there were several other men around to catch him. The very concerned passengers and crew scurried around offering him water, olives (salt) and air-conditioned rooms while I frantically tried to pull together one of our hydration packs and peel an orange.

It was at this point that my iron stomach gave in. I rushed to the bathroom and after hurriedly putting down like 10 layers of toilet paper on the seat. Seated and relieved I looked up to see a giant spider across the small bathroom (which is also a shower too, no separate stall) I sat there praying that it was not some Amazonian poisonous flying spider as this was definitely not the way I wanted to go.

Was it worth it? Absolutely, the lush scenery, gorgeous sunsets and meeting our new Brazilian and Korean friends made the trip worthwhile.

Jon and I on the boat with our new Brazilian and Korean friends.

 

Amazon sunset.