Santarem
Our first of 5 ports along the Amazon River is Santarem, one of the oldest cities, dating back to the 1600’s. We remember it as the place where the murky brown Amazon meets the blue Tapajos, a phenomenon called the “meeting of the waters.” The two rivers run side by side for miles without mixing - a fascinating sight.
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Centrally located between the large cities of Manaus and Belem, Santarem is a shopping hub for people living up and down the river. They travel by riverboat, sleeping on hammocks for days at a time in the port, to stock up on everything from flat screen TVs to rice.
We arrived on a Sunday, and we had both a tender ride and a shuttle ride to get to the heart of town. It was hot and humid, with a good chance of a downpour at some time during the day. We are in the rainforest, so this is to be expected.
In recent years, the waterfront has been cleaned up and modernized, making it a pleasant place to walk and watch the locals going about their daily lives.
If one just stays in town, there is a lookout point where you can observe the meeting of the waters. The Municipal Market is a popular spot for fresh caught fish and local produce. The more adventurous will board a regional boat for a cruise to see the meeting of the waters up close and a chance to fish for piranha - those frightening looking fish with very sharp teeth. Or as we did several years ago, there is a drive out to the 1.5-million-acre Tapajos National Forest for an informative walk to explore the local flora.
Of course, everyone wants to see the pink dolphins. A unique species found only in South America - very common along the Amazon. They are pink because their capillaries are close to the surface. We have seen them following the tender boats or just hanging out in shallow water near the shore. As true with all dolphins, it’s a fun experience to simply watch them playing.
Boca da Valeria
In contrast to the bustle of Santarem is our next port of Boca da Valeria. Our stop here is meant to be a cultural exploration of life along the river. It’s a tiny village with a school, church, and a dozen or so houses. We have found over several visits that this stop is a showplace set up for tourists. Children are dressed in colorful costumes and pose for pictures, some of the kids want to take us on tours, and an assortment of local animals are on display - sloths, iguanas, catfish, birds, monkeys, all this is set up for locals to gain funds from curious tourists.
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One worthwhile thing to do while in the village is to take the small boat ride about a half hour up the river to the real village. The boats are very primitive - large row boats with weed whacker motors, but the drivers know their way around, and we felt quite safe. For the $10 per person cost, we thought it was a bargain.
Our boat driver took us to his mother’s house, and we met his family and saw how they really live. They have many modern appliances, like phones and satellite dishes but live in open huts. Their school had computers on every desktop, and we saw stacks of brand-new textbooks.
Manaus
What better way to wake up than to a scenic sail-in to the city of Manaus and “Manaus Rolls.” These are the latest iteration of those soft and delicious pastries that come out on the bow of the ship when we are arriving at a beautiful port, and everyone wants to be out taking pictures.
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We must comment that this was not a beautiful sail-in the way the Panama Canal or Rio were. But it is probably in a class by itself as a huge city deep in the Amazon Rainforest. The skyline was a mix of tall high-rise buildings, painted with giant murals, a backdrop of colonial architecture, and container port facilities. The shoreline was filled with those double or triple-decker riverboats that are the main means of transportation up and down the river.
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We were docked in the container port, with a mandatory shuttle to the port gates. Once outside the gates, we were met by a sea of humanity - vendors everywhere selling food and merchandise, commuters waiting for buses, and people going in every direction. We crossed the main street and entered the park, which was much quieter but seemed to be the resting place for dozens of people sleeping on the benches and the grass. Across the park was the beautiful gold Cathedral that we had seen from the ship. It was the location for our first geocache of the day and we decided to hunt for more.
It also became a cultural tour, as we stopped at the famous Opera House, several important plazas and sculptures, as well as some unique museums and lesser-known churches. The heat and humidity finally got the best of us around midday, so we returned to the ship.
There are several interesting excursions offered in Manaus which we have taken in the past. Exploring the history of the rubber industry, visiting indigenous villages, riding the riverboats, or searching for pink dolphins – all popular tours both days of our stay.
Manaus has its own “meeting of the waters,” where the black Rio Negro meets with the brown and muddy Solimoes without mixing. Large riverboats take visitors out to see this phenomenon as well as to search for the pink dolphins.
A group of our Cruise Specialists guests, accompanied by Cruise Specialists Shore Excursion Manager, Heather Visser, spent “A Night in the Jungle” at the Amazon Ecopark. They rode by boat to the Ecopark Jungle Lodge, visited a native community, and took a nighttime canoe trip in search of alligators. They also spent some time learning about jungle survival techniques and unique Amazon flora and fauna. They will return just before the ship leaves Manaus to start our trip back out of the Amazon.
We now begin the journey back down the Amazon toward the Atlantic. We have two more ports along the way.
Parintins, Brazil
Parintins is a favorite small city of about 100,000 people. We’ve written about the spectacular Boi Bomba show many times and we should probably get a commission for all the people we’ve encouraged and convinced to get tickets. We know they will not be disappointed with the fabulous costumes and floats, the intense samba drumming, the free flowing Caipirinhas and the party atmosphere. Several hundred Holland America guests descended to the Convention Center for this one-of-a-kind performance.
The actual Boi Bomba Festival is held annually in June at their special Bumbodromo Stadium, which can hold 35,000 people. The blue and red teams, also known as Caprichoso and Garantido, compete to see which can tell a better version of the mythical story of the resurrection of an Ox. The ongoing rivalry can be seen all over the city in the form of billboards, storefronts, clothing, and every kind of accessory with the blue or red colors. Some businesses, so as not to take sides, have used both colors in equal amounts on their storefronts.
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We’re skipping the show this year. We’ve seen it at least 5 times and although it is different every time, we decided to bypass the crowds in favor of a more peaceful walk through the town. We have always found Parintins to be a more welcoming and much cleaner place than other Brazilian cities. Perhaps it is the ongoing competition that gives these locals more pride in their city.
There are two must-see places for us. The first is the Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, a short walk from the tender pier and the largest church in Parintins. Set in a big open plaza, it is not very ornate inside but there is something very peaceful and warm about it. We’ve always found the doors open whenever we have visited.
Our second destination is Bumbodromo, to see the magical collection of three-dimensional murals that line the street. The themes are historical, mythical, or contain scenes from the natural world. We were impressed to find absolutely no graffiti at any location. This visit, we were also able to enter the stadium and see the seats painted red and blue on opposite sides.
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Parintins remains our favorite port along the Amazon and perhaps in all of Brazil.
Alter do Chão, Brazil
We have one more stop along the Amazon, Alter do Chão. This spot is known for its beaches and is a weekend getaway spot for residents of Santarem. It is nicknamed the “Caribbean of Brazil,” and we saw many guests headed out with beach bags. We recall seeing umbrella-covered tables along the shoreline and guests happily drinking beer with their feet in the sand.
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There are only two tours offered here. We did the “Best of Santarem” on our last visit here and enjoyed visiting the Fish Market, Museum, Cathedral, and the Manioc Flour house for an up-close demo of how manioc root is processed and used.
The other tour today is a strenuous hike to Morro Ibitira-Piroca, the hill we can see from the ship. It is recommended for guests between 21 and 65, with lots of warnings about being slippery when it rains, seriously steep elevation changes, high heat and humidity, and plenty of insects. We wonder how many brave passengers will try this!
We now head further north to Devil’s Island, before crossing the Atlantic to the Cape Verde Islands and on to Africa! Today is the halfway point of our Voyage - Day #66 - so much more to come!
Fondly,
Wendy and Steve
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A Bon Voyage! | Costa Rica & Panama | Ecuador and Northern Peru | Wendy's Adventures in Peru | Steve's Adventure in Machu Picchu | Arica and San Antonio, Chile | Robinson Crusoe & Southern Chile | More Chile & Argentina | Antarctica | Falkland Islands | Montevideo & Punta del Este | Brazil | The Amazon | Salvation Islands | Arriving in Africa | Canary Islands & Morocco | Gibraltar and Barcelona | Spain & Portugal | France, Belgium and The Netherlands | Scotland and Norway | More Norway | Iceland | Greenland | Canada & New England | Voyage Summary
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