Not having the time or the stamina to finish our route down the Amazon on a slow boat we opted to finish using speedboats. They are about 1/3 of the time and 3 times the cost. In order to break up the 30-hour route to Tabatinga, the border of Brazil, Columbia and Peru, we decided to stop off in Tefe. This is typically only a stopping point for the Mamiraua Reserve, with its floating lodge. Since the Mamiraua was out of our budget we decided to stay in town where the owner of our hotel promised us a rewarding tour through the flooded lake as compensation for not being able to go into the Mamiraua.
Our speedboat to Tefe, luxury compared to the slow boat (10 hours).
We arrived into the lively town full of motorbikes, with music blaring from extra-large speakers, late and headed to the hotel. The owners were not going to arrive until the next day so their assistant greeted us. She only spoke Portuguese which had not been a problem up until this point using simple words and hand gestures. This woman however, went on and on, ignoring my confused expression. I still have no clue as to what she was trying to tell us. We grabbed dinner at a snack stand (for under $1) and headed to bed excited for our tour the next day.
The owners finally arrived the next day and we started our tour around 3, this was slightly concerning to me as the tour was very expensive and we had found out that morning that the next boat left either that evening or in two days, which meant the if we wanted to leave that evening our tour would only be a few hours. This tour was already very expensive compared to other tours we had done which lasted the full day. I tried to put that aside as we started out.
In the Amazon it rains for half of the year leaving the forests flooded. By the end of the dry season the tress which are ¾ submerged underwater are fully exposed. We happen to be there at the end of the rainy season so the owner said he would take us in the flooded forest. What he failed to mention is that there was no cleared pathway. To our horror he headed straight in! For two hours we were dragged through the woods, trying desperately to hold back branches with insects, cobwebs and thorns and Jon on many occasions pushing our way through or over a tree. At one point we had to duck under a fairly large branch which could not be moved. Jon laid down flat and I sitting behind him followed his example only to end up falling off my seat backwards and laying on my back on the bottom of the canoe.
After two hours, covered in sweat, dirt, cobwebs and who knows what else, having seen no animals at all, Jon said the sweetest words I’ve ever heard. “Can we go back now.” During the course of our tour I found out our guide was a city boy from Manchester, England who had only been in the area for a few years. From the sound of it, he could not wait to get the hell out of Tefe either. It made us really appreciate the guides we had while on our tour on our jungle tour.
Treetops we headed straight into and close up of one of the trees with bugs the same distance as from my head.
We got to the hotel, said our goodbyes and hightailed it down to the boat to make sure we got out of there that night.
Where we stayed, Hotel Multicultura, which had amazing views of the lake city from its rooftop patio where a yummy breakfast was served. We had a private air-conditioned room with a bathroom for about $47 a night including breakfast, our most expensive room yet, but similar to our other rooms. The shower actually had hot water (rare since the start of our trip) run by electricity. Tip for anyone using an electric shower-head is not to try and change it while taking a shower. You might be a little shocked. The owners were pleasant. I do not recommend the tours!
View of Lake Tefe and floating houses from the breakfast terrace of the hotel and view of hotel (only house with actual windows) and surrounding houses from the water.
Journey with Christina 